Feathered Friends

IMG_6359 (4).jpeg

IMG_6359 (5).jpeg

the forest has eyes
coquettes flirtatiously wave
shuttered feathered fans

A big virtual hug to all you, Hivelanders, who have noted my absence. It is nice to be missed. I have missed you too and was poking my netted nose into the place just about everyday, but simply didn't have the time to post. It has been a very busy few months for me. Paperwork, packing, cleaning, and unpacking.

Minime and I have changed houses, not just houses but provinces too. I can no longer count myself a soggy denizen of the Wet Coast (Vancouver). I now live in Northern Alberta, in the Peace River District. From a city of millions to a village of hundreds. I better watch out as I search out a shot for #FeatheredFriday. I have become a country mouse.

IMG_6393 (1).jpeg

Speaking of rodents. Some of you might smell and rat and doubt the ability of these heat-loving peacocks to survive a cold Alberta winter.

No ... their days of are not numbered.

Before we left British Columbia, Minime and I took a day-trip to Victoria and its Beacon Hill Park, where the male peacocks run free and the pea hens, seemingly vastly outnumbered, hide in the bushes. Some times, a girl can indeed get too much attention.

IMG_6359 (1).jpeg

IMG_6359 (2).jpeg

the peacock reclines
among the evergreen cast offs
the eye of the needle

IMG_6355 (1).jpeg

IMG_6359 (6).jpeg

You are unlikely to miss the comparatively dowdy and illusive pen hens. The males birds are ubiquitous and far from shy. Not the least bit bothered by the enamoured tourist and her Iphone lens. They obligingly move from one divine photo-op to another, as evident by these shots. Believe it or not, I heavily culled the photos. I have whole lot more that did not make the cut that on any other day I would have been over-joyed to take.

We were blessed with rare warm and dry late-April weather for our day adventure in Victoria. Everyone was happy and content. Especially these adored birds. With the spring flowers, including fields and fields of the wild Camus flower, Beacon Hill Park was as close to a paradise that could be imagined. It was a marvellous way to say good-bye to British Columbia with the empress of birds to see us off.