Welcome …
Welcome Swallow. Welcome the spring after a long cold – relatively speaking – winter.
Early morning and the days activity has only just begun.
And curious too, wondering ‘what is this attention directed at me …’
Victoria Point jetty before sunrise, where the Welcome Swallow lives out the winter.
Sun rise …
Welcome swallow, so called as it welcomes in the spring down south of Australia. So it probably migrates north from there for the warmer winter in Queensland and up into the Northern Territory.
It’s a native bird so it knows its way around. Considered to be lucky as it brings the warmer weather with it after winter, not that people from the northern hemisphere would consider our winter cold. But cold it gets …
In the common psyche they are also associated with hope, renewal and protection. The power of suggestion and belief is strong. But there is a power in the presence of these little creatures. The quiet beauty of birds.
They build nests out of mud and grass or other suitable material, in all the nooks and crannies of the pier at Victoria Point. Can be seen in any daylight tracking and catching food on the wing. And the cyclones and king tides don’t get them.
Great little survivors.
But not to worry, ‘I can fly away at the first sign of trouble.’
No trouble here though. Just a quiet time for the little ones to gather themselves for the coming days work.
Ready or not … Sun is rising and it’s time to spread those wings.
Ok, not just yet …
Hello little one …
Ready …
Steady …
Go …
Hahaha …
© Mark Berkery … Click on those pictures for a closer look …
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Cold Cold Night …
Was a bracing cold night on the way to and from the grey metal letterbox I rarely check except by torchlight.
My shadow firmly outlined under the bright moon, not quite full, as I walked the long dusty driveway, careful not to abandon my footfall to the uneven stone studded surface.
Stars faded in a bright night sky, a jet plane blinking red and white as it passed above, its distant engines moaning faintly, suggestive of other times, other places.
Blank faces the other side of glass, no names, no life.
Just a grey memory now.
Time passes.
Time’s gone.
© Mark Berkery … Click on those pictures for a closer look …
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Nature's Place 
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