Footy Season Begins!

Thank goodness!  The footy is back!  Dragons V Knights tonight is the Season Opener and we are currently watching the game as I speak.  It's half time and Dragons are leading 8 - 6.

My start to the day was most enjoyable today.

I forgot my purse, but luckily, being a regular customer meant that the Bakery gave me my morning coffee on credit!

I had an hour with my boys at the Seat of Knowledge and we were entertained by hundreds of mullet jumping out of the river.

It looked like they were being chased by a big fish - it was suggested perhaps a shark - because suddenly out of nowhere, a huge school of them would all splash out of the water and race a couple of metres and then disappear again.

There were men in boats coming from all directions with their cast nets trying to catch the mullet and about a dozen men lined the banks of the river casting their nets as well.

Only one man caught a couple of mullet and the rest, from what I witnessed, failed miserably.  They had plenty of enthusiasm!

I also failed miserably, trying to capture a shot to document the phenomenon!

I did witness something quite strange with the birds.  A beautiful Eagle had caught a fish (I did NOT witness this event) and was flying towards a tree with it firmly clasped in it's talons, when it was suddenly attacked by three seagulls!

Scared Eagle - not a great shot - tightly cropped, so much detail is lost, but gives you an idea of the action.

It was afraid of the gulls and even though he tried to outrun (or outfly) them, they eventually forced him to drop the fish into the river.

He flew off and they enjoyed the spoils!

After I left the Seat of Knowledge, I pedalled home to get my purse and then returned to the bakery to pay for my coffee.

I decided to head down to the Lions Park and sit in the shade by the water to just soak in the day and enjoy the serenity.  It was a beautiful sunshiny day with a light breeze and some scattered cloud to keep the temperature down a little.

While I was sitting there watching the mullet dancing out of the water, I heard the familiar call of the Whistling Kite and as I looked to my left, I noticed two of them fly along the tree line and land in a tree.

I watched and listened for a while and one of them flew off.  As I looked through my viewfinder, it flew back to the tree with a big bunch of twigs in it's talons!

I deduced that it may have been building a nest, so I grabbed my camera gear and headed down the bank, across the beach and down to the edge of the inlet.  As I got closer, the bigger bird flew off, but the smaller one waited until I aimed the camera ...

Juvenile Whistling Kite

I was over the moon with this shot. I think this is the juvenile.

I haven't any more contributions to my 104 challenge yet, but the March Photo a Day Challenge started today and the first brief was 'UP'.

1. UP

This is looking up from under the canopy of the beautiful fig tree that shelters the Seat of Knowledge.

On the way home, I stopped at the Post Office to check our mail, and to my delight, a parcel arrived for me!

On Monday I ordered a fashion camera bag and it arrived today!

I packed my camera with a lens attached, two extra lenses AND my laptop into the bag comfortably.  It has a detachable long satchel strap, as well as a short strap if preferred and there is a zipped flap on one side of the bag that holds everything that would normally be kept in my purse eg credit cards and money.

Plenty of room for my glasses case, my fan, phone, notebook & pens, lipstick etc etc.  I love it!!

I would like to finish with a quote that I truly believe.

"Everlasting friends go for long periods of time without speaking, and never question the friendship. These friends pick up phones like they just spoke yesterday, regardless of how long it has been or how close or far away they live, and they don't hold grudges.  They understand that life is busy and that you will ALWAYS love them."

I have friends like this - you know who you are.  I love you.

Nite all.