Yesterday's Surprise!!!!

I finally made it to my patchwork group day yesterday.  We only had a few members present as the weather has been fairly miserable here of late.  As I was driving home, well, almost home, luckily I glanced off to the side, and noticed quite a lot of brolgas grazing in a paddock.  I was so excited.  I had to stop myself from slamming on the brakes.  It took me a while to stop, but I quietly backed up until I could see them better, and hoped they wouldn't take fright.  It was quite open, and they often don't take too kindly to be 'observed'.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these beautiful creatures as much I as I did.  My photographs are not the best, as I had to take them into the sun.  This is by far the largest amount I've seen together.  One of them was starting a dance, so I thought I'd better snap quickly and just go.

Meet the Locals!!!!

I've been going through my photographs in an attempt to cull some that are not so 'important'. I thought some of the readers might like to see a few of the creatures that I see here in my part of the world.

We are often visited by Echidnas, such curious little creatures. I just love them. I had to spend some considerable time on the ground in amongst the prickly bushes to get this shot. He/she was making a decided effort to 'hide'.

For several years now we've been fortunate to have a pair of Tawny Frogmouths nest in the large trees close to our house. Sometimes they don't have any success, but last Spring they hatched out two little ones. The day I took this photo was an extremely hot November day, and sadly one of the youngsters didn't make it. They spend most of their days trying to look like the branches in the trees, and I can see by the look in those eyes that they were not at all pleased that I'd come along to disturb their nap time.

One of the greatest delights for me is the chance encounter with our beloved Australian bird, the Brolga. I haven't seen them often, and almost always when I don't have my camera with me. Luckily these three stayed long enough for me to get a reasonable close up, and even decided to try to intimidate me with a 'dance'.