Blackbird

This blackbird’s orange-tinged beak and legs suggest a juvenile male. I thought I was taking pictures of a female who, despite lurking cats, is making a nest in the ivy. (Nikon D3000)

Blackbird_female

Tomorrow, 1st September, is the official beginning of the Australian spring, though the feel in the air has not yet changed.

Excitement is mounting here in the Randall household for our next camping holiday is mere weeks away! On our itinerary are the New South Wales cemeteries where my direct ancestors dwell. The most exciting will be visiting my Betsey Whiley at Prospect, in Sydney. Her gravestone is just a few paces from the historic church. The widowed Betsey was 63 when she decided to leave Lincolnshire, England, arriving here in 1844. Her sons, Isaac, George, and Joshua had all arrived separately, with their families, during the 1830s.

The living are on the list, too, of course – my son, up near Port Macquarie, and my brother at Condobolin.

Thanks for looking.

🙂

Birds

Turdus merula & travel plans

Image

4 thoughts on “Turdus merula & travel plans”

  1. sue says:

    The blackbird looks rather light in colour or is that just the light. I usually see them a darker colour.

    Great about your next holiday. Lovely to be able to “pop in” and visit with your son and brother. They both live rather a distance away so not easy to visit when you feel like it.

    Betsey must have been a very brave woman. A big undertaking for younger ones and families to take let alone by herself at her age, when you think she would have been wanting a quiet life. Did she travel with friends or just on her own?

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    • The juvenile and the female are both brown and mottled. I read that the female will have dark legs, so that’s why I think this one is a juvenile male.

      Oh yes, Betsey would be a tough one, all right. She was a publican in the 1841 census, aged 60. Son John was a brewer. her husband died in 1838, and I guess she wanted to see her other sons and grandchildren. She came on her own.

      Our holiday is open-ended, this time. No idea how long we’ll be gone – suppose it depends on how much free camping we manage. 🙂

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