Thursday 14 May 2009

Beyond bizarre!?!

The Thrift is out in flower, and it is nearly time to look for the Thrift Clearwing moth which may, or may not, occur on this stretch of coast. I say 'look for' as if I've done it before but I've not actually had the chance yet. All very well meaning, but time, time, time...where does it go?



It is a very beautiful plant, one of my favourites. It takes all the winter wild weather and still comes up smelling of roses...does it? I'll have to stick my nose in a clump tomorrow morning and find out what if anything it does smell of.
But what have the photo above and the next one got in common?



Any ideas? The next is the same.


Got it yet? - I'll tell you then...they were all taken on super macro, you can see the reflection of the camera in the glass. The lens was only 2cm from the bird, possibly nearer the bird than the Thrift flower. I'll never ever get that close to a free flying wild bird again! The bird is a male Linnet and I first noticed him as something fluutering on the window ledge as I was walking down the corridor. Grabbing the camera I got the following shot off. But what on earth was it doing there?

Then I realised due to the mirror finish he couldn't see me and I was able to get right close.



We have had anti-glare mirrored film fitted to the windows and he could see his reflection in it and was distinctly unhappy - attacking 'himself' every so often, hence the futtering.



So why all the fuss? The female was building in the Gorse bush a foot the other side of the window.

And Mr Linnet was keeping a watchful protective eye on her.


Gorse, by the way, smells wonderfully of coconut shampoo.


So what could be more bizarre than taking a photo of a truly wild uninjured bird with the camera set on super macro?....This...it's surreal....A wind turbine powered old fashioned train!!!! Do I need to learn some photoshop techniques or what?

This is the brand spankingly newly refurbished Western Train tram immediately after its official (re)-inauguration. Can anyone else remember Casey Jones and the Cannonball Express...a steamin' an' a rollin'... whhoooo...whhoooo...


Yes...it even steams like the real thing.
It can only be Blackpool, glitzy, full of pazzazz and just a little bizarre...
Where to next? Frustratingly, I'm still struggling with the sea bird passage...doh...
In the meantime let us know what is the bizarrest thing in your outback.

1 comment:

Monika said...

Yet another plant we have in common, the thrift. Most of ours had bloomed out already by the time I came upon them last week, and they are known more commonly as sea-pink over here.

Poor linnet! You can really feel the emotions that must be running through that guy looking at those photos, and all for naught!