For those who want details on this Wrensday Wednesday: The Australasian wrens are a family, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. While commonly known as wrens, they are not closely related to the true wrens. The family comprises 33 species.

This article is poorly written. Headline refers to "superb fairywren" yet it's called "wren", "superb wren" and "superb fairy wren" in the text. One: we don't have wrens in Australia. Two: is this article written by AI? No author is noted. @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Happy Wrensday Wednesday! This one is from my archives. A red-backed fairywren on a farm gate at Amamoor near Gympie. #wrensday

This is interesting. Toyota went hard on hybrids and played around with hydrogen. They have been late to the EV party. Meanwhile, other manufacturers have had good success in the EV market. torquecafe.com/toyota-news-...

For those with my calendar, this has been the photo for March. It was taken at Gluepot on a freezing cold weekend last June. Striated grasswrens had eluded me on previous visits, but @boyfrombruce.bsky.social helped me find them at last. His 'beginner's luck' rubbed off on me 😄

An old photo of a quiet country road and some nice clouds. This is at Beaufort, South Australia. North of Port Wakefield. Bluebonnet parrot territory.

Sending this busy echidna to brighten your day. The echidna is a native Australian mammal and one of only two egg-laying mammals (monotremes). Fun fact: A baby echidna is called a puggle. I spotted this one at Red Banks CP near Burra a few years ago. (A good place to find these creatures, btw.)

Cathy's moving into my territory. Bird photography 😂

Homestead sentry. I took this photo in 2021 when I was farm-sitting with friends at Saltia in the southern Flinders Ranges. It started raining so I retreated to the homestead verandah where I spotted this white-plumed honeyeater that settled briefly on the front gate.

Plague doctor. Actually - a little friarbird (Philemon citreogularis) in my sister's backyard. Gympie, Queensland. From April 2022.

My contract expires at the end of tomorrow. I've heard nothing from PR. This is a level of stress I could really do without right now. 🙄

A diamond firetail (Stagonopleura guttata) safely hiding deep in the wave-shaped branches of a tree with a nankeen kestrel hanging around nearby. Monarto Woodlands, South Australia, 2022.

Bool Lagoon (with assorted waterbirds) near Naracoorte, South Australia. Obviously an archival photo of mine as, last I heard, it was dry.

People bitching about using taxpayer funds for free transport are never the ones bitching about using them for company subsidies.

About EVs and range: I took this photo of my daughter-in-law's EV that my son and I took up to Mount Baker in Washington state. A round-trip of about 200 km from where we were staying, with some quite steep sections. Easy peasy. I was anxious about the range. My son was not 😆

They finally solved the issues of building a commuter rail line across a floating bridge and Seattle now has a new route. This links Redmond (where my son lives) with Seattle and he was excited to try it out today. (He's really passionate about public transport.)

Photos from my son and daughter-in-law in Seattle. I love PNW people 😄

People on Facebook automatically wishing someone a happy birthday when they see the reminder - but she died almost three years ago 🫤

From my dash cam. A road rage incident at Prospect on Monday. It continued around the corner too. www.flickr.com/photos/13043...

Yesterday I came across an article Leigh Sales wrote on Thursday when the ABC was on strike. It is one of the worst commentary pieces on Australian political-economic history I've read. It was clear no one of quality was around to check her work or prevent it from being published. 1/13

Trees in the lake. River red gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) growing in Lake Hattah, Victoria. Experimenting with intentional camera movement (ICM). This is a long exposure with vertical panning. Hand-held. Entered into the competition because it's arty and abstract and they like that sort of thing.

The internet is asking why it takes three Coalition politicians to pump fuel. Let me explain … Angus is the leader, so he has to prove he can pull the trigger. Bridget is trying to figure how much she can skim off the top of her travel claim, and Matt doesn’t trust either out of his sight. #auspol

For those who wanted to see more competition "fails" 😄 ... Here's a shot I haven't shared publicly before (though I did put up a very similar one). Sunset over Lake Menindee, New South Wales. Taken during an extreme heatwave in late January.

A plump grey plover in the dry seaweed at Bald Hill Beach, South Australia.

Minimalism. Just before dawn on a freezing morning last winter, I captured two silver gulls floating on a calm sea at Bald Hill Beach. When taking this shot, I deliberately placed the birds at the lower left side of the frame in order to isolate them on a large clean canvas of blue.

For those who are encouraging me to "keep trying" (thank you!), please note that I had some success in this competition in 2022. So much fun 🙂

I got the rejection email today. I didn't have any luck with the Australian Geographic photo comp this year. No need for sympathy. I'm used to it. It's very competitive. Here's one of my unsuccessful entries. A yellow-tailed rock wallaby at Boolcoomatta Reserve.

A bar-tailed godwit showing some breeding plumage. This bird could be on its way to Siberia right now. Word on the grapevine is that the godwits have probably left on their migration. Bald Hill Beach, South Australia.

Tight deadlines and chasing missing references will be the death of me.

I just found a dead rosella underneath one of my apple trees 😢

A red-necked stint at BHB. Now, I hear you ask: Why doesn't it have a red neck? That's because we usually only see the migratory birds in their non-breeding plumage here in Australia. But, at this time of year, just prior to migration, a few birds will show some colour. Not this one though.

My muso friend, Nick, does a lovely job of this song ...

So ... April Fools' Day is coming up. But it's not fun anymore. Every day is April Fools' Day now. Let's not do it.

A white-faced heron conducting a flypast. Bald Hill Beach, South Australia.

Bar-tailed godwits - in various shades of breeding plumage - at Bald Hill Beach, South Australia.

Wow! Tone-deaf #Vodafone ad has Ali Wong with an emu. Ali Wong declares there's no need for phone coverage out in regional Australia bc "nothing's out here except for massive chickens!", insulting regional Australian communities who struggle with tv, radio and phone reception. 📺📻📱

It used to be that a luxury treat was a box of Belgian chocolates or a bottle of French champagne or something. Now it's filling the car (which I just did) 😐 On the upside, with a specialist ordering some new tests (more! sigh), I should get into Medicare safety net territory 🙂

I wish I could sleep like this 😄 Bar-tailed godwits resting at Bald Hill Beach.

The lurch towards One Nation is the same as the MAGA wave. It is white people voting for their own pride, a pride which is threatened by their economic anxiety. Their whiteness makes them feel privileged and they’re desperate to hold onto that feeling of power, as they feel powerless in other ways.

Little pied cormorants taking flight. There were hundreds of them! Bald Hill Beach, South Australia.

An eastern curlew in the early morning light. Bald Hill Beach, South Australia.

Another size comparison. A grey plover on the left and a red-necked stint on the right. At Bald Hill Beach early yesterday.

A ruddy turnstone (all dressed up in breeding plumage) in the foreground and a grey plover at the back. A nice demonstration of the size difference. These will be migrating soon. At Bald Hill Beach early yesterday.

I started taking this video to show how quickly the tide was rushing in ... and then I noticed the godwits flying!

A couple of pelicans basking in the early morning sunshine at Bald Hill Beach yesterday. Love em.

Tony Benn's "Don't arab women weep when their children die, doesn't bombing strengthen their resolve?" Is as relevant now as it was 25 years ago.

A curlew sandpiper way out on the mud flats at Bald Hill Beach. Listed as critically endangered in Australia. Safe travels, little buddy. I hope the water quality is better when you return in spring.

Just a few godwits 🙂 These are spectacular birds. Most of these are bar-tailed godwits but it's possible the group contains the odd black-tailed godwit. I haven't studied it closely. They tend to gather at Bald Hill Beach in large numbers in March - just ahead of migration.

The seaweed at Bald Hill Beach is very deep right now. In fact, I've never seen so much. And it's a real workout to wade through it (wearing gumboots) to get to the firm mud flats. Here's fellow birder Simon, knee deep in the weeds 😆

Labor has been re-elected in South Australia The Liberal Party will be the opposition & able to car pool to work in a minivan One Nation will get between 0-1 seats yet Corey Bernardi will get more media coverage than any other SA politician because lunacy is promoted as “news” “News” must improve