Cockatiel and Naked Ladies

I had heard a different bird call this morning and I wondered all day what it might have been. It wasn't till this evening that I spotted the Cockatiel having a drink at the pond. It is most likely an escapee from someones aviary or even someones' home.                                                                Now I am battling with this jolly cursor again as it will not do what I want it to do.

Oh , here we are it has decided to obey me, praise be....

The beautiful lilies on the right here, are the white version of the pink Naked Ladies. I have no idea why they are called that other than that they suddenly appear after the first rains in March or at the earliest late February straight out of the earth and their leaves appear much later. We have had a cool summer so far and last week we had 36 ml of rain which is a great blessing for gardens but I am not sure about the vineyards.

 We have also had a few red Water lilies and Mrs Wood Duck was swimming around looking at them. The White faced Heron has also visited most days but I was pleased to see some of our Gold fish still swimming about. I no longer hear frogs at night so am not sure if they have all been eaten. There is plenty of cover now in the pond with the edges fringed with Mill foil.

Do click on the photos for a better look and also view some of my earlier Blogs of photos and Haikus....