Kookaburra at Abbotsbury sub-tropical gardens

We set off from the B'n'B in Dorchester with the sun shining strongly, a blue sky and no wind.  How lucky we were to be heading for the beach area at Abbotsbury, just a few miles away.  We climbed up towards the prominent Hardy's monument and passed the entrance to a farm, where a man was attempting to gather a flock of sheep into pens.  We felt we had to stop to watch, as there was a convenient pull-in at the roadside.  Many minutes passed by as we watched him and his two sheepdogs working together to encircle the flock inside the modern hurdles.  I wanted to get out to take pictures of this classic Dorset scene but worried I might annoy them.

So we headed off down the steep road towards the sea and passed through the rather too pretty Abbotsbury  before driving down a side road towards the beach.  The sub-tropical gardens are very well known and have won awards, which we now know to be well deserved.  We could enter for free using our Heritage Houses Association passes, even though there wasn't a house there. 

We actually managed to get around most of the gardens and my sore foot didn't affect me too badly.  The gardens are well established and very beautiful even at this early part of the year.  We could tell that the protection afforded by the site would easily allow a great variety of plants from much warmer climates to survive.

I will try to add some more pictures of the actual plants, trees and the flowers that were already blooming as well as hungry insects buzzing around for food.  But I can't resist blipping a Kookaburra which caught our attention s]as soon as we arrived by its wonderful vocal calling.  We didn't actually see it until we had completed the tour of the garden and were just about ready for a light meal.

I stood outside the long elongated cages where the birds were living and spotted a pair of Kookaburras perched at the far end.  As I watched them and took a few pictures they started to wind up to 'sing' to each other.  It was only then that I realised that there was another of the birds only a few feet from my head where I was standing. Their calling to each other has always amused and delighted me ever since I first heard them when I lived for six months in Sydney, Australia, where they seemed ever present.

I moved to get a better shot and actually caught one bird taking flight with its wings fully outstretched.  But I prefer this shot as it shows the colours of its feathers well and the quiet stance just before it too burst into song a few seconds later. Here is a video clip showing a Kookaburra bursting into song.

I will try to add some more views from our morning at the gardens in a day or so in another Flickr gallery.  Right now I am struggling to learn how to process and best work with images in Lightroom so I feel like I'm back at school, but without a teacher.