When I was a kid I would occasionally wag school (sorry Mum) and catch the train to the Zoo. Once or twice there happened to be school groups visiting the zoo and I joined the cue to get in for free, then quietly sliped past the roll call and off to the aviaries! (Hmm I may have some kind of amends to make for that) I was obsessed with birds and had practicaly enclosed my parents whole back yard in a aviaries and cages. I loved to watch them and always dreamed of creating some kind of bird Utopia (behind wire). It took a few more years of experiencing life and many visits to various zoos, petshops , and bird dealers to realize that a bird in a cage could never be as beutiful as one in the wild. No cage I could ever build would replicate the splendour of a wild creature living in it's own natural environment. Eventualy I realized I could never possess the thing I loved about these creatures.
So anyway in the aviaries that I used to haunt at the zoo (not always when I was wagging!) there where these peculiar long-legged birds with huge eyes that I was totaly fascinated by. I'd never seen anything like them and was supprized to learn that they were native. I read somewhere that they were once more widely spread but that their numbers had diminished due to land clearing for agriculture. Just like the brightly coloured Gouldian finch, I wondered if I would ever see one in the wild.
There are two pair of Curlews that I've been seeing on my way to work lately. The bird in the photo above has at least one precocious chick hiding under it's wing, it's mate is just out of shot and keeping a very close eye on me as it crouches close to the ground totaly motionless.
When I finaly left Victoria and came to live in Darwin I found that creatures I'd once thought of as rare or exotic can actualy be found in abundance in the suburban environment of Darwin. Not just birds but reptiles and mamals too. The list of creatures I have become familiar with since I've lived here is astounding! This is the way to enjoy God's creatures! I'd rather be dodging them in the street than petting them in a zoo any day!
Back to the fun business of Bicycle activism!
The ABC’s Australia wide ran a story on Melbourne’s Critical Mass, which is now a regular event and becoming quite popular. The story can be viewed online. Check it out.
www.abc.net.au/tv/australiawide/video/
Not a bad story. Thanks AustraliaWide.
The perfume from these frangipani flowers was quite strong, this afternoon, the conditions must have been just right for me to get such a good whiff of them. The trees have some kind of welcoming allure. What a privileged life I live. My work is just a 15 minute bike ride from home and the early morning ride often graces me with the luxuriant tropical scent of frangipani and, lately ripe mangoes that are easily picked from trees as I pass.
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