I was quite pleased to see that today’s prompt was about birds as I already had a draft on the subject. So here, as they say, is one I prepared earlier.
I’ve often mentioned how much I enjoy the birds that visit my garden. I think that I’m quite lucky that as I live in the country we get a wide variety of birds although not all of them visit me. Some prefer the tall gum trees of adjacent properties and some I spot just flying past. I am always trying to photograph them but rarely succeed. Here are a few of my attempts.
Of the garden visitors of course the most common are the sparrows, starlings, swallows and honeyeaters. I have a soft spot for sparrows although some consider them vermin.
Not sure what this is . A Welcome Swallow I think. They like to nest in my garage.A common sparrow.Yellow Throated Honeyeater Looking in my back door
Less common visitors are the blue wrens and robins who only seem to be around in winter time. I have seen Zebra Finches too but I haven’t managed to photograph any of these small birds successfully. I have also had occasional visits from a pair of Green Rosella’s and once a flock of ducks but they had escaped from a neighbour’s garden so I can’t really count them I suppose.
Green or Tasmanian RosellaThese four ducks wandered into my garden.
The plover family dynasty has adopted the plot of land adjoining my driveway and I often see them looking for food there or flying around shrieking. They are quite vocal birds.
Out for a stroll with mum or dad.
Plover (Masked Lapwing)
Masked Lapwing, commonly knows as a plover. These are common in my area.
In the neighbourhood category the crows are the ones I hear most often. Their distinctive “Caw, caw” call is easy to pick. Surprisingly I don’t see or hear magpies nearby but we do have kookaburras. They prefer the taller gum trees or perhaps a power pole to perch on. I also hear seagulls as it is not far to Port Huon where there are plenty of fish and sometimes flocks of noisy Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. Sometimes I’ll even see an eagle flying overhead. They are too far away for me to say what kind they are.
I really should have had a longer lens.
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo. One of a flock I saw feeding on the Queen’s Domain, Hobart.
On Friday my garden guys came to prune the apple tree and after they left I went out to take some photos of it as I do every year. The sun was quite bright and concentrating on the tree I entirely failed to notice that Cindy had more pressing business on her mind. Oh well at least it gave me a bad photo Monday shot.
When I wrote my cat post last week I said that I often felt that dogs were like four-legged people. Since the first dogs became human companions we’ve bred them for a variety of purposes. We’ve bred dogs to hunt game large and small, dogs to herd and protect sheep, dogs that won’t shed hair and dogs in every shape, size and colour just because we can. I have read that over time we have encouraged the puppy like traits in our dogs and I guess that is why our dogs often seem like exuberant, hairy toddlers rather than animals.
Cindy has two beds, one at each end of the house but she still prefers ours.
My dog Cindy is twelve years old now and although she has slowed down a bit she is still very puppy like at times. When David and I arrived home from somewhere the first thing we’d usually see was Cindy capering in excitement at the back door. We used to say to each other. “There’s the dancing dog.” These days I mostly enter the house at the front door and as soon as she hears my key in the lock she’s there at the door wriggling and jumping before racing down the passage to the back door to be let out.
A dog doesn’t have complicated needs. mostly they want food, a warm place to sleep and to be with you. Dogs are always glad to see you when you get home, always ready to go for a walk or play a game but if you feel like lounging on the couch that’s fine too. They often mistake your bed or your favourite chair for theirs or perhaps they were just keeping it warm for you. In my family we have always let our dogs be in the house with us despite the wear and tear on furniture and the permanent covering of dog hair over pretty much everything. We’ve had neighbours who left their dogs outside all the time and of course the poor things are lonely if the family doesn’t spend time with them so they bark and howl. That seems mean to me. If a pristine house is so important get outside and spend time with your dog, or don’t have one.
Sheep dog working at Middleton Country Fair
Dogs are smart. You can teach them to do all sorts of thing from a simple “fetch” game to performing all kinds of services, farmers still use dogs for herding sheep and cattle, police and the military use them for a variety of tasks. The quarantine service uses them. Here in Tasmania certain foodstuffs are not allowed in from mainland Australia and at the airport or ferry terminal you may be greeted by a beagle who will sniff out any fruit you may have forgotten about in your luggage.
The Guide Dogs in training enjoyed the walk.
Vision impaired people rely on their guide dogs, they are usually Labradors and sometimes I’ve seen the Vision Australia volunteer puppy walkers taking the trainee guide dogs about town to get them socialised. People have service dogs for other reasons though. My friend Gillian who has a hearing impairment has a service dog who can alert her to sounds around the house like the phone, the microwave and washing machine if she is in another room. Service dogs are allowed the same privileges of travelling on public transport and going into buildings where pet dogs are not allowed as guide dogs are. They wear a distinctive coat but as yet they are still unfamiliar to many people. These dogs are not a specific breed as they are usually sourced from shelters as young dogs and trained before being matched with a new owner. The Lions Club of Australia who fundraise for the Hearing Dogs put out a calendar every year. It shows a variety of dogs, Labradors of course but a lot of mixed breed dogs from a German Shepherd X Kelpie to a Spaniel X, Jack Russell X and even a Maltese X Shi Tzu. Gillian has a mixed breed terrier and sometimes speaks at clubs and schools to raise awareness of the need for Hearing Dogs. Dusty, her dog, goes too of course and he thoroughly enjoys the attention. Of course you should not pat a service dog when he is working but once the coat is off they like it as much as any other dog.
Gillian with Dusty who is a Lions Hearing Dog. Dusty was “off duty” in this photo.
Most dogs love to play and to meet other dogs if they have been socialised as puppies although some like it more than others. Cindy used to play with other dogs when David took her to the leash free park but she was always more focussed on her tennis ball. Three of our four dogs have had the tennis ball obsession. There was Nicki who, if you couldn’t find a ball for her to chase, would bring you a rock when we were at our local beach. She would chase them for as long as you wanted to throw and if you threw it in to the sea to end the game she’d plunge in after it and return with a rock, not necessarily the same one but she figured it would do. Nicki tended to bring back rocks the size of half a brick even if you had only thrown a pebble.
Scrapbook page about Tessie
Tessie, who we had for twelve years was also a tennis ball fanatic. We lived next door to a reserve where there were tennis courts and if we walked that way she’d want to stop and watch, sometimes she’d find a stray tennis ball in the grass and pick it up. One of the coaches from the tennis club took a liking to Tessie and would sometimes give her an old ball so we had some very good quality tennis balls. Tessie was a friendly dog and she was cute, a Corgi X Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. At the beach she would take her ball up to anyone who happened to be there drop it in front of them and give a bark inviting them to join her game. Most people did, some I had to explain what she wanted, like the group of Japanese tourists we met one day. Tessie did not discriminate, all were welcome to play. Sometimes she used to drop her ball by a baby or small child and she was just as happy with their baby sized throws as the ones that sent the ball down the beach. Tessie’s bark was her way of speaking to us; whether she wanted a ball thrown or to go for a walk she let us know.
And now I’ve written over eleven hundred words and I still haven’t said all I want to say about dogs. They are our best friends. We couldn’t get by without them.
I’ve had both cats and dogs as pets and while I often see my dogs as four legged people when I look at my cats I see the wild creature in them. They may have chosen to live with us but they are not like us.
Watch a cat stalking a bird or even a bug, they are as focussed on their target as if their lives depended on catching their own food. Even Polly who was not allowed outside the house for the first year or two of her life knows how to stalk prey. It’s all instinct.
Polly watching a sparrow.
Polly goes in for the kill.
“Where did it go?”
Polly is interested in the birds in the apple tree.
Cat’s are not needy. Some cats like to cuddle and some don’t. Some love to hang out with you and some are much more independent. One ginger male we had used to follow us to the railway station when we went to work meowing piteously all the way, often he’d be on or near the platform on the opposite side of the tracks in the afternoon when we came home. I don’t know how he learned that but he did.
Most of our previous cats have liked to sit on laps or sleep on the bed. Polly has never wanted to sleep in the bedroom let alone on the bed. She has never been a lap cat either, at least not with me. I was very surprised that over the last week or two she has suddenly decided to curl up on my lap in the evenings but that may have as much to do with the fact that I was sitting in the armchair nearest to the heater as love. She’s sleeping on that chair herself right now and I am banished to the couch.
Polly taking it easy on the armchair.
I’m always amused by the saying “Dogs have owners, cats have staff.” They demand their food, usually at a set time.They demand your food and may help themselves from your plate if you don’t stop them. They will wake you up with a pat on the face if they want breakfast, even at 3 am and they make you get up and let them in or out fifteen times in an evening sometimes coming in one door and going straight out another. If they want to sit on your lap you must accommodate them no matter what you might be doing. Never mind that newspaper you were trying to read or your knitting. Once they are settled you don’t get up out of your chair for fear of disturbing them. I am sure TV remotes were invented by a cat owner.
Then there is Naomi’s cat Tigerwoods who thinks it is amusing to jump into your chair the minute you get out of it. I’ve nearly sat on him more than once. I think that he does that just for a joke but often cats will do something annoying because they want attention and have worked out what action is likely to get it.
Despite their bossy ways I can’t help feeling very privileged when a cat likes me though.
This week has been a rotten one for taking photos. The birds in my garden have been uncooperative and although my phone may be smart I am not. At least not where it is concerned and it took me all my time to take photos for the Fun Foto Challenge this week . In my files I had some photos of birds I had taken at Lake Dulverton in Oatlands some years ago. This is the spot where Naomi walks her dogs. I am still trialling Adobe Photo Shop Elements so I had a play with it to make these.
This is a photo of my neighbours dog. I was going to use this in a previous photo challenge but never got around to doing it. I thought it was a good photo of her so decided to use it today instead. She was hopeful of getting a treat. I often give her one when I give my two boys a treat. She has come to expect it now and is often waiting for me when I come home in the car.
