Surprise yourself

I did. I looked through my pictures of 2013 since arriving in Australia and was very surprised to see how many I had of birds - Now you have to understand that I come from an island in the Mediterranean  where the inhabitants spend their time either catching them, hunting them, or eating them in equal abandon. And even attempts by the EU and other bodies have not managed to bring these practices to a complete stop though they are much reduced. So lets just say I did not grow up with a love for birds.

I did however marry a man who likes birds, books and taxonomy and is quick to identify and compartmentalise. Right form the start he would point out a bird and give me a name but sadly not many stuck in my brain.On safari in India, very different from those in Africa, we came to focus on the birds, and I started recognising and being able to name quite a few.  Arriving in Australia this has been taken to a whole new level. They are on our deck, in our garden, up the street, in the botanical gardens, outside our bedroom window. They are plain, gaudy, striped, spotted, bright. 
They are, to my surprise, a complete delight. 

 Rainbow lorikeets on our deck

Kookaburra in our tree

A magpie on our balcony

The beautifully coloured purple swamp hen 

 Another kookaburra  in our tree

 Australian white ibis

 Magpie Lark

 Egrets maybe ?

Noisy miners

 Crested pigeon

 Sulphur crested cockatoos

Moor hen and baby 

A twitcher in the making - who knows ? 

What has surprised you in your life lately ?