Lovey Dovey

Yes I know it's a cheesy title.

But while I was having fun taking photos of finches, these doves kind of stole the show. They were pretty adorable sitting in the branches, and even though it was approaching the middle of the day, the sun filtering through the yellow and green leaves made for some beautiful golden light underneath the shady tree.

These guys were preening each other, just chilling in the shade. I love springtime. It's important to recognise that even in the Pilbara, where springtime marks the end of the cool weather and warmer temperatures returning, it also is the time for love and new life.

Birds of a Feather...

There are some things that I would love to have photos of but don't - simply because I don't have a huge zoom lens and I always manage to scare things away. And I'm not the world's most patient person so I very rarely will wait for something to come by.

Finches are one of these things. (FYI they are pretty much all birds of some kind - budgies, jabiru, bee eater...you get the picture). You get flocks of them around the Pilbara - more of that stunning wildlife that you can't understand how it flourishes - but they don't hang around for long. I did manage to snap a few last year while camping in Exmouth but in typical me style, I wasn't real happy with them and I couldn't get close enough to them.

So after the adventure with the Brolgas, my sister in law and I headed into Cossack to sample the coffee at the coffee shop (although it was over 30 degrees, so I actually had an iced coffee...). There is a gorgeous setting in this little cafe - it's set up under a big tree, not sure what kind but any kind that provides shade you can sit under in the Pilbara is big. It was around 10:30am in the morning. Cossack is so peaceful.

We ordered our drinks and went outside and sat down. I noticed a grey nomad with his camera out taking pictures of the branches and thought this could be interesting.

While sitting there we noticed that this grand tree was full of finches building nests. Like FULL of finches. Right above us. I counted at least four nests that I could see. Needless to say that I grabbed my camera and started snapping away. I took 100 photos. Finally, the perfect opportunity for finch photos had come!

The only downer was the midgies - we got hammered. Was it worth it?

A Brolga Blessing

Yay! My first post after having bubs! It only took me two months...Taking photos with a little one, that are not of the little one is much harder than anticipated!

While on our trip around Australia, my husband managed to see some brolgas dancing in Kakadu National Park. I can't remember why I wasn't there - but I wasn't. I missed out and so did my camera.

So I was thrilled when my sister in law and I stumbled upon a pair of brolgas near Cossack. They weren't dancing but they were terrific to see!

The Pilbara never ceases to amaze me with the shear amount of wildlife that is here - the birds, the lizards, the skippies...it's incredible that such arid land can support such a range of flora and fauna.

It's not a great photo - it's a bit boring composition, it's more of a snapshot really, but I was thankful to have my camera, and to have my zoom lens on my camera.