These little swallows were gliding out over the water. I've never taken a close look a them before ... aren't they pretty little chaps ... my bird book says they are Welcome Swallows.
We passed through Bakers Swamp without noticing anything. Then reached our last dot on the map for this trip - Larras Lee and saw this. The roadside monument says: In Memory of WILLIAM LEE (1794 - 1870) of "Larras Lake" a pioneer of the sheep and cattle industry and first member for Roxburgh under responsible government (1856 - 1859). This stone was erected by his descendants. --- 1938 --- This is a repost from a few days ago. Thinking I would use this for this week’s Taphophile Tragics post I dug a little further into William Lee’s story, it’s a very colonial Australian one. William was born of convict parents, living his childhood years around the Sydney region. In his early 20s he was issued with some government cattle, recommended as a suitable settler and granted 134 acres at Kelso near Bathurst. He was one of the first in the area and did well. A few years later he was granted a ram and an inc...
A beautiful photo. I would never have thought this a swallow - looks totally different to the swallows around here. Really? I like your swallow more :-)
ReplyDeleteSwallows are favourites of mine: flocks of them lived on the farm with me as a child, but the best experience of all was in the hot springs at 5am in Central Australia watching them cavort in the early morning steam. They are so streamlined and agile. And clean.
ReplyDelete... and I love the shade of brown ...
Martina, when they are flying they are clearly a swallow but they just look black ... I was so surprised to see they are blue and brown in close up.
ReplyDeleteJulie, I think that brown with the blue is a lovely combination. I don't think I've ever had swallows as a regular visitor anywhere I have lived.
How beautiful! Very different from the ones we see here. Wonderful photo!
ReplyDeleteJoan Elizabeth.... nice photo... the colours are really beautiful! Are they back from their migration already? I may be wrong but where would these ones "migrate" to?
ReplyDeleteFantastic capture, Joan! Right time, right place.
ReplyDeleteSean, I did a bit more investigation and it seems the ones in the East of Australia migrate to the north of Australia whereas the ones in the west stay put. I'm not sure if these ones were back from their winter home or whether they just don't bother moving because it really is quite warm throughout the winter at the coast.
ReplyDeleteWelcome because they bring Spring?
ReplyDeleteJE - you might like this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ramonah/3876986971/
Thanks for the link Lettie, nice artwork and I see it is from Germany. At that angle the tail streamers that make it a swallow are so much clearer.
ReplyDeleteAB, that's a good suggestion as to a reason for the name. Despite all my best google-foo I could not find the real reason.
They aren't visitors around here in the mountains in any season because apparently they are not keen on forests ... hence my relative ignorance about them.