Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 23 October 2022

HAPPY NEW WEEK! 

I hope everyone has a relaxing, safe, joyful week! 

The sky was intensely blue and cloudless this afternoon. I saw both red-tailed hawks soaring when I walked to my small town to get some groceries. 

Our annual Covered Bridge Festival ends tomorrow. We usually have over a million tourists visit our rural area during the two-week festival. They tour the 32 covered bridges, visit other historic sites, buy quilts and other hand-made items from the hundreds of venders, and eat the traditional foods on offer. So, our country roads have been busy. It's a real economic boon for our people, so I'm glad for it, but I think the wildlife and I are happy it's almost over.

  • Diane: Our thanks again for the new week. Hope the covered bridge fest gave the local economy a boost. Enjoy the peace and quiet!
  • DIANE – Thank you for starting us off. I’m glad you are safely home and RTHs are keeping guard. That’s an amazing number of tourists; let’s hope they spend lots.

    Light rain all day. Obviously too wet for weeding. Anyway, one should not work on Sunday, right?

    Our state’s Riverland (Renmark, Berri, Loxton, Waikerie, etc) expect the River Murray to peak in a few weeks time when the interstate floods pass on. A lot of discussion about the levees at Renmark that have been allowed to deteriorate, more talk and more talk, maybe in a few weeks someone will actually do something about repairing them before it is too late. Ho hum.

  • Unknown said:
    I saw both red-tailed hawks soaring when I walked to my small town to get some groceries. 

    How wonderful.  Is it still the same pair of birds?

    Our herring gulls are red listed birds.  Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.

  • Thank you Diane for starting us off. The covered bridge festival sounds great. I remember seeing some when I visited New England once. What a good idea to attract tourists. Good news about the RTHs too.
    Lindy - thanks for the photos from yesterday. It’s always good to be able to explore a bit further afield. You never know what you will come across. I did enlarge them to appreciate more detail.
    I was going to do some cleaning this morning but a friend popped in for a cup of tea and a chat. That was much better!!!!
  • Good evening, all.  I took Limpy to Abberton Reservoir this afternoon so we could both get some much needed fresh air ........ I imagine a few of you would like to see the photos.  Click on these cheeky geese to see a few more birds:

    Our herring gulls are red listed birds.  Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.

  • Fantastic photos Clare. I really enjoyed them. I love pintails. They are so elegant. When I went birding last Thursday there were quite a few pintails but only one male had got its breeding plumage.
    I still call them great white egrets too.
    That is a most unusual teal. I have never seen one of those.
    I managed to get all upstairs cleaned this afternoon and will tackle downstairs tomorrow. Cleaning is not my favourite thing but it is nice when it is done.
  • Clare: I'm almost sure that it's the same two birds, based on their appearance and their behavior around me. Red-tailed hawks live a long time.

    I hope you, Limpy, and Helen are all feeling well now.
  • We've had a couple of great days out: photos to follow.

    Rusty, the only good thing about housework is the good feeling after it's done with!

    An art installation at the side of the road yesterday. EDIT: it was massive - note the tiny wing mirror of our car as I took the pic through the window!

  • Lindybird: Any idea what that massive piece of sculpture was supposed to signify?
  • Lindy - what an amazing statue. Like Annette, I do wonder what it was supposed to signify.

    Before I resume my house cleaning (!) I need to complete my photo journey through Portugal.

    From Viseu we travelled back to the Atlantic Coast to a little town know as the Venice of Portugal called Aviero. It was charming. Naturally, my friend and I went for a boat trip and found out all about the salt pans there.