Once again, Monique and I have been of similar minds: Both of us have visited nearby lakes and captured the bird life.

For me, the lake at sunset is like a balm. The softer light, its golden glow, and the longer shadows. Oftentimes, the surface of the water is so still it’s like a mirror, and the reflection is so perfect it’s hard to tell what is real and what is reflected. Under a clear sky, the water is the colour of cobalt, and on a cloudy day, it looks as dark as molten iron. As you walk around, you sometimes smell the boggy soil, and as you pass the wood chip piles, you catch a whiff of eucalyptus. There’s the twitter of a woodland bird, the caw of a gull, the cackle of a kookaburra, the honk of a swan. And then there’s the flapping of wings on water, and the occasional squawking disagreement over territorial space.

I took these photos last Friday in the late-afternoon: a seagull annoyed at an intruder; another gull basking in the late-afternoon sun; two ducks and their almost perfect reflection; and a gull in flight.

Monique was out and about photographing bird life at a lake, too. She writes:

A brisk morning. The anticipation of frost at the park. Rugged up in several layers and fingerless gloves, I made my way down the hill, enjoying the cool whisper of air on my skin, the tingling in my fingers, and fog-like mist as I breathed out. The frost was almost gone, lingering only in the shade. There was no rising mist over the lake to give me the atmospheric shots I was hoping for.

 

Instead, I tiptoed up to some ducks perched on the railing around the lake and snapped away, getting as close as they would allow, until they leapt into the air and skidded onto the water. And once the ripples cleared, I took this photo.

I love the mirror-like reflections, the vibrancy of the blue, and the sense of movement the ripples give.

See Monique’s post for more photos.

About Midweek Moment:
Monique Mulligan and I are writers who share a passion for photography. As a digression from the written word, we share our favourite photos each week in ‘Midweek Moment’. Please click over to Monique’s website to view more of her photography and to read her writing.
If you’d like to see more of our moments, click here.