It was one of those mornings when I looked out the window when I got out of bed and it looked clear. No Wind.
Bonus. Didn’t take long to work out what to do. Check again, just in case. Yep, no sun up yet. Crisp twinkling stars set against a perfect black velvet setting. Good to be alive.
Mind, most of the apprehension of the morning was based on dire predictions of Noahic proportion winds and rain from the weather prognosticators on the telly the previous evening. But most times they leave me amazed at the amount of descriptive words that can be used to create fear and despair among the masses, when it comes to describing the following day’s weather.
So we went.
Sun rose on a beautiful blue sky and all looked well. By the time we’d arrived at the You Yangs, the rangers too had hung out the “Dire Weather Event” warning sign. It looked good in the sunshine. 🙂 Warnings to stay away from trees, be careful on the road and the other things that now seem part of the nanna society.
However by the time we got to Philomena’s place, the weather had indeed taken, as they say, a turn for the worse. And the wind raced across the barren carpark. We must have arrived just on the turn of the weather.
Quickly checking the usual (now windy) places, we failed to find the lady at all. In fact failed to find any birds. Not surprising really. “How about in the lee of Big Rock”, she said. Sounds good I replied, hoping above the wind EE could actually hear me.
So.
We went.
And on cue, out popped the lady herself. “Good morning, Philomena, bit windy isn’t it.” She however had food to gather and was gone. So we waited and sure enough she was back. Her Scarlet Robin friend was nowhere to be seen. But to compensate a pair of Scarlets came up the open area, probably also looking for a respite from the wind.
Then a flock of Thornbills mostly Yellow-rumped, and just as it was getting ready to leave a, a brown and yellow flash skipped and jumped along the down logs and twigs. Speckled Warbler. How cool.
And to top it off, just before we moved on, Philomena came along the edge of the scrub. Popped onto a small log near me, and sat. So close I had to move backward to get focus.
Enjoy.
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Red-browed Finch
Scarlet Robin
Scarlet Robin
Speckled Warbler
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER - --doesn't mean I'm LOST 
Seriously gorgeous collection of images David. Thank you for sharing them.
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Gorgeous shots David
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Not a bad find David considering the weather turn. All lovely captures. The speckled warbler is one I have not yet seen. You will have to take me through your You Yangs one day when I am down your way. Have a great week!
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Outstanding images (as per usual) Dave.
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Delightful story and absolutely beautiful photos, as usual. Thanks for sharing
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G’day David, Philomena is the incontestable star! Obvioulsy she favours you and Dorothy but I will try to catch a better glimpse of her and make another trip to the You Yangs when the weather is more predictable. I am also rather irritated by the imprecise forecasts. All I need to know is whether the sun will be unobstructed by too many clouds between its rise and 10-11 AM. Is this too much to ask for?
Thanks for sharing your photos and thoughts.
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G,day Adam,
Have to agree with the weatherforcasters. Last night is was “Be afraid be very afraid”< but on waking this morning and venturing out for our early morning constitutional, the sky was clear, no wind and ideal.
However we had abandoned plans to go out. But as I look out the window now in the afternoon at lovely blue sky, warm sunshine, and no wind, We really should have ignored the advice.
Still its always going to be a challenge that between 8am and 10am that the Office will be clear skies. Oh that it were true.
Philomena is much more comfortable with people around than most Robins we've worked with. The Scarlet pairs in the area seem just as difficult as always.
Good luck with your quest.
Hope to catch up on the track somewhere, sometime.
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Lovely images and narration, David!
The way the forecasts are made these days puzzles me, as do other predictions and descriptions of events. Everything, it seems, has to be bigger/worse/never before seen……..!
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Hi David,
Too true. We seem to have a ‘news’ mentality that shows a hiccup to be a major catastrophe, a freeway smash, the end of society as we know it, and the faintest glimmer of hope is all gone.
I can read the charts, and I suspect, apart from the severity of the wind, make a good guess as to what its probably going to be like.
Also if I put my hand out the window, I am convinced its raining. Speaking of which, you’d think people had never seen rain before. The way, I, and the birds I work with deal with it, is if tis raining, I get wet, then I dry out. Seems to have worked 100% of the time so far 🙂
Glad you liked the story.
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