dj pettitt - gentle whispering hues

And we're off! --australian photo adventure continued

When Bevlea and I boarded the plane and headed north to Queensland, we both had jackets on as it was a bit chilly in Melbourne. When we stepped out of the airport in Cairns, we were hit with super high humidity and about 90 degrees- and it was only about 9:30 in the morning!

 Mossman Gorge -a section of Daintree National Park

We picked up our adorable lime green rental car and headed north, filled with excitement and anticipation. I was so looking forward to seeing and photographing the bird life,

Pied Heron

and the gorgeous, tropical scenery,  Josephine Falls

as well as just being there and soaking it all in.

Bevlea on Thala Beach

The plan was to drive north on Captain Cook Highway to Port Douglas for the night,
then Breakfast with the Birds the following morning, and continue up to the Daintree River area.

Cattle Egret

We would spend the night there, go on a guided 6:30 AM cruise the next morning in hopes of seeing some crocs, and then continue exploring the area for another day (unfortunately, we didn't see any crocs on the cruise, but I was able to shoot one at the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas a couple days later).

We would then spend the remainder of our holiday driving back down to Cairns, stopping at a few planned locations, as well as wherever our artistic mood took us, and then fly back to Melbourne at the end of 6 days.

the route we traveled

The trip far exceeded anything I had hoped for. Every inch of Queensland is relaxing, tranquil, out-of-this-world gorgeous, and filled with energetic fun and adventure all at the same time. The excitement of photo ops at every turn, the fun of traveling with a girlfriend who loved the birds and hearing the shutter click as much as I did,

The great zipper pull heist- and yes, he ripped it completely off of Bevlea's backpack!

and the beauty- there are just no words to describe the hypnotic non-stop beauty. It was almost overwhelming with its enchanting dazzle and spellbinding loveliness. There was so much to see and all of it a potential photo op, but how can you stop at every beautiful scene when it's ALL so beautiful? Well, you can't, but we did make a valiant effort, and managed to cover over 550 miles in our 6 days! 

We spent the first night at Thala Beach Resort in Port Douglas.
What a fabulous way to begin our holiday! The resort is situated on a private beach, with immaculate bungalows amidst lush, tropical landscape,

and a delicious restaurant perched above the treetops overlooking the Coral Sea. We were greeted with a yummy fruit drink to enjoy while our bags were delivered to the bungalow.

It was all so dreamy...and such a magically wonderful time! The following morning we were up at dawn to greet the sunrise down on the beach,

then off to have Breakfast With The Birds, and continue our trip north to the Daintree River. Bush Stone Curlew

Tawny Frogmouth -aren't these just the coolest birds ever?

  Rainbow Lorikeet 

  Blue and Yellow Macaw

 Yellow Indian Ringneck Parakeet

  Peaceful Dove

  Mandarin Duck

White Faced Egret

 Green Parrot

    Pacific Heron

         Noisy Miner Bird

 

   Lesser Sooty Owl with lunch

 Cassowary

Cattle Egret 

I still have another installment or two to share, so stay tuned!

Springtime!

I thought it would be a fun challenge to try writing some haiku this morning. I'm not gifted at writing but I really enjoyed my first attempt at haiku. It's pretty easy since it's short and isn't supposed to rhyme. Not sure if it's supposed to be more than just thoughts and feelings,  but I decided to add Tulla in one anyway :-)

Hope you're all having a wonderful day!

 

 
 

painted crow photo

Before painting, this was a photo of a bunch of crows on the beach that I snapped last year.
Today was the first warm day we've had this year! And to make it extra special, there wasn't any wind. It was so incredibly nice to go outside without a coat, scarf, or boots, and feel the warmth of the sun soaking through me. This afternoon I enjoyed photographing the few flowers we have blooming as well as some happy birds. And the topper... it stayed light out until 8 PM.

Tulla and I had such a wonderful day.
Below are a few photos from the past few days, beginning with the winning Mr S of course :-) Such a busy boy he is. I laugh at how smart I thought I was when we had an arborist out to trim the trees, and I worked with him to preserve certain branches so I would have the perfect props when photographing birds.  Ha, Mr S sees things a bit differently.  He'll do anything for Mrs S, and constantly looks for the perfect twig or piece of bark to make the nursery more comfy for her. He makes many trips up the Maple and over to the Pine tree with the perfect token of his affection.

   

finished a journal

Sweet little Goldfinch...

Journal is sold.

a few bird shots

 

I haven't felt up to going out and taking photos for a while, but I had a bit more energy today, so I went out and played with Tulla and attempted to take some photos. LOL it's a bit hard to coax the birds in while throwing the "bannana" for Tulla. But eventually, I was able to capture a few shots while we played. She's worth every ounce of extra effort :-)

Click on the English Sparrow below to see it larger, and look at her eye. It reflected the light beautifully.

This is a House Finch and has the most beautiful red head. We also have a Cassin's Finch but it has less red.

The beautiful Bluy Jay, or Scrub-Jay, has a bad reputation, but I love them. They aren't agressive and eat nicely with the smaller birds.

And our ever-plentiful Goldfinch. Both the male and female lose their bright yellow color this time of year, and are more brownish all over, but they remain sweet and easy to photograph.