The Ravens of Matilda Bay

The tea rooms at Matilda Bay have been remodelled and for a while, it seemed that there would be no visits from the birds, but then – some ravens came.

They sat a while in the flame tree:

a couple chatting:

eyeing the pickings below:

  

they sat in chairs backing onto the river, becoming silhouettes:

 

calling to others about the food:

walking the fence:

Then it was onto an abandoned table:

 

 

is it any good?

shall we use this for chips or something else?

You looking at me???

 

I love the ravens 🙂

MtLawleyShire’s Ravens from Matilda Bay

My last 2 visits to Matilda Bay have been graced with visits from the ravens.  Wonderful birds, clever, personable and their personalities are so visible in face and carriage.

I love taking portraits.

Here we have contemplative, quizzical and slightly surprised

 

The raucous:

 

Quizzical and beautiful:

 

and iconically disconcerting, even slightly creepy:

These, taken as this raven strutted along a stone wall, illustrate a sense of play – and possible threat:

slightly gangsterish: ‘you lookin’ at me?’

 

 

 

MtLawleyShire and Matilda Bay trees

Taken over 2 visits – one a cloudy day with soft, uncertain light – typical look for Autumn though the day itself was humid and warm and unpleasant.  And then there was today: bright and brassy and warm but not humid, the loveliest of Autumn weather (though we need rain).

That Autumn is here is written in the plane trees:

 

I love teh sculptural attitude of these:

Banks of Autumn:

and leaves:

Today – a couple of weeks later: delicate gold.  I am wondering what will remain next time I go!

And then there are the other trees:

on the cloudy day, everything was shrouded in that soft light:

 

even the mighty Moreton Bay fig was softened and others were enriched by a golden sort of light:

 

but today – no such uncertainty, everything written in bold lines of light and shadow:

 

this one – tall in trunk and branch:

 

I love this tree – it is massive & photos don’t do it justice:

 

and these:

 

I do love the trees of Matilda Bay.

MtLawleyShire would love to fly: birds at Matilda Bay

Birds – well, mostly seagulls.  Seagulls sitting, flying.  Oddly enough, they were well-behaved today because normally, the raucous scallywags are everywhere, squabbling and messing with the peace of mind of patrons at the tearooms.

So I photographed them sitting in the dappled shade of the plane tree:

Standing as though in a meditative trance or preening on the river’s edge:

 

A little stranger standing quietly, possibly a fairy tern, and this seagull looking as though he’s going to have a go (he didn’t):

Three short-billed corellas who flew in from an earlier post

and seagulls flying: towards the tables of the tearooms:

 

over the river:

solitary but never alone: flying with your shadow:

 

 

 

or your reflection:

  

and this little guy playing at being Narcissus 😀

Now these – they came with the dolphins and left with them too.  Some I think are fairy terns, like this one:

but I am not sure of the others.  They were too far away.  But I loved their shape against sky or water:

 

 

And that is the last post of MtLawleyShire’s visit to Matilda Bay.

I hope you enjoyed it.  I will go again…..

 

MtLawleyShire sees Dolphins at Matilda Bay

So there we were, my friend and I, at our favourite table overlooking the Swan river with uninterrupted views to the city on this hazy, humid afternoon.  The boats in the yacht club against that sky were intriguing with the heavy shadows and the bright light:

 

Then the surface of the placid river was disturbed

 

Was that a fin?  No!  Two of them!

 

Dolphins!

 

I like this one:

 

And here – you can see a face 🙂

they were rounding a shoal of fish and the birds were there too:

 

 

It seems to me there was a little argy-bargy going on every now and then:

Then they were swimming away and out of sight:

and the birds followed them

I wish Id had my zoom lens on but there wasn’t time to change.  Damn it.  But it was lovely and such a special experience 🙂

Next: birds

MtLawleyShire’s raven portraits at Matilda Bay

There are many birds at Matilda Bay, and I love them all, even the seagulls with their pristine feathers and terrible table manners 🙂  But perhaps my favourites are the ravens.  Some I almost know by sight now.  This one with his repaired wing is one I have photographed many times:

this one was near the carpark against the light:

 

My friend with the repaired wing at the tearooms:

 

Another one perched on the sprawling roots of a Moreton Bay fig tree at the end of the carpark:

 

This fellow was sitting on fence posts by my car:

You lookin’ at me?  Well, yes I am, actually ’cause you’re beautiful!

 

Then he answered a group of his friends from trees across the road and he was gone:

Now – how did this young fellow get in here? This juvenile magpie should be with his mum in the previous post 😀

I hope you don’t think I’m overdoing the ravens.  Next post – the delightful surprise.

🙂

MtLawleyShire at Matilda Bay

It was hot and humid at Matilda Bay, and the city was shrouded in a mixture of humid haze and smoke from ever-present bushfires when viewed across the river:

Light on the plane trees made them appear almost autumnal:

 

but I can assure you, it was anything but!

Walking to the tearooms for lunch with a dear friend, I passed a convivial duck:

a magpie with a juvenile whining and begging for food:

A gracious view of the river framed by two old peppermint trees  – and a smaller one that looks almost delicate in the light:

 

A shade-giving Moreton Bay fig leaning towards the water

and then these – cypress and others as I approached the tearooms:

 

As I walked into the tearooms, I was greeted by a magpie lark:

Then I was joined by my friend.  As we chatted, a flock of short-billed corellas swooped by, calling and screeching, in threes and twos:

 

 

and in a larger flock, swooped over the river to join a larger flock to roost in one of the larger trees on the other side of the tearooms:

 

From under the plane tree, the view across the river was serene, despite the haze.  We saw dolphins, ravens, watched the antics of the seagulls – all of which are included in the following posts.

It was time to go, so I said goodbye to the trees, including this graceful moreton bay fig:

 

Smiled at a seagull appropriating a seat, although he wasn’t gazing over the river as people usually do, and here’s a wee bottlebush flower.  There were bees, but I wasn’t fortunate enough to catch any.

 

I hope you enjoyed this little stroll.  Next post: raven portraits, then the dolphins…and more birds 😀

MtLawleyShire at Matilda Bay

An afternoon at Matilda Bay with a dear friend – not a cloud in the sky but, thankfully, it wasn’t too hot.

The light through the trees on the banks of the Swan River was magical:

 

trees on the edge of this vast expanse of the salty river always intrigue me:

The Matilda Bay Cafe isn’t just a haven for humans – the ubiquitous inhabitants, the seagulls.  Squabbling, fighting, flying, thinking – I can’t help liking them:

 

and they are beautiful, like all birds, in flight:

 

 

 

and there was another in the skies:

 

We were blessed by a glimpse of the endangered and beautiful Black Cockatoo.  They have come up to Perth as their remaining habitat is destroyed by logging and a drying climate:

 

just a glimpse of the pretty yellow bottom of a wattled honey eater:

and the river was graced by its most dignified inhabitant:

  

What magical moments will my next visit hold…

MtLawleyShire and the Ravens at Matilda Bay

An afternoon at Matilda Bay with a dear friend – and there were ravens everywhere. Adults and juveniles.  Some were so cheeky – playing peekaboo over our table:

 

I never thought to do portraits of ravens, but these fellows were just irresistible:

 

 

\

This fellow has had his wing fixed

 

He was delightful

And this is the best of them all:

They are beautiful birds and I feel honoured to have had them in my camera.

I hope you enjoyed them as well 🙂

 

 

 

MtLawleyshire visits wintry Matilda Bay

Well – *I* visited Matilda Bay, not all of MtLawleyshire, but you know what I mean.  Last month, July, was wet and cold – in the depths of a beautiful winter.  And what a day.  They were forecasting rain, but what happened was a cloud descended.

This photo shows the city – not in focus because I was focused on the 3  flying corellas.

In fact, it wasn’t raining when I arrived.  There were crowds of corellas:

flying:

and feeding on the foreshore of the Swan River:

 

There were swans:

 

even grooming swans have a certain elegance:

then, in the cafe, I watched the city disappear

and then it was gone. I looked out over a river that vanished into infinity:

 

the cloud covered all – the view from the cafe was made magical by a cloud taking a break on the ground:

slowly – very slowly, it lifted and the city began to reappear:

 

the clouds passed to the west:

& the sun came out. Everything was covered in gems!

 

 

the corellas basked in the light

finally – my favourite photos of the visit.  A companionable little willy wagtail who sat beside me outside the cafe.  He didn’t mind me pointing the camera at him.

 

and in one shot – between pressing the button and releasing it, he opened his beak.  He looks angry, as though he’s squawking all sorts, but no.  Almost as though he was yawning, maybe asking for food.  I can’t believe I got the shot!

 

I hope I haven’t overloaded you with photos – & also hope you enjoyed these snips from a magical day for MtLaweyshire at Matilda Bay

🙂