No old duck..

Put the sprinkler on at Pete's old house and the water pressure is so low that has to be left on in one place for at least an hour to give the garden a good water...otherwise it is just a waste of time and water. So I had an hour to kill before heading back to move it. Of course I had my camera with me and headed the river to see if I could get the Purple Swamphen. Yeah...success at last and on my second shot.

The Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio - why the double barrelled name I don't know) is found in Africa, Asia and New Zealand with the Western Australian subspecies bellus having a bluer, less purple breast colour. It has massive feet and apparently uses these to rip off the succulent part of plant roots that it eats.

There was also an Australian White Ibis at the river but it was upstream too far to photograph and there was no way I was going to traipse through the bush in my thongs (actually the area is fenced off to protect the vegetation so it was never going to happen).

While walking back from investigating if I could get any closer to the Ibis I was thinking about the descriptive names of birds I have photographed (red-breast, white-browed, red-winged, red-eared, ring-necked) and thought that if I was a bird I could be called a grey, curly-haired scrub-hen (scrub came to mind because todays chores include dishes and scrubbing the floors). Thought that name beats luva duck, silly galah, nagging crow or even old mother hen.

Internet not working at home and as I have to go and move that sprinkler yet again I will pack the computer and call into the bookshop which has wifi available. Best take my wallet as I am not sure if they charge. Don't want to miss out on making my Blip for today. Having haircut in town for the first time this afternoon so perhaps my name could be short-haired scrub-hen.