I Stopped and Smelt The Roses.

Watching the news on the devastation and suffering of the Ukrainian people and talks of a 5th wave of covid with possible new restrictions here in South Africa, my mood dropped to a 0% low.
Navigating through my emotions from empathic pain for the Ukrainians to anger against the thought of going through another lock down, I felt my mind taking a direction in which I didn't have the strength for today.
So before I disappeared down that dark rabbit hole, I armed myself with my smart phone camera and my "Nikon Binoculars" disappearing into my garden to do a bit of bird watching, hoping it would lift my spirits.

But!.... before I settled in amongst the bushes, I took a deep breath and walked towards the rose bush, then bent over and smelt the beautiful sent of the Roses which perked my spirits up to the level of around 35%.
As the saying goes, "Stop and smell the Roses".

We have a flock of about 50 Turaco (Loerie)birds in our garden. I always wanted to take some pictures of them.
Their loud "kow-kow-kow call is heard from early morning to late afternoon, very busy birds, I could hear them jumping around in their favorite play ground, the bushes at the bottom of the garden, hiding from sight, making life difficult in my case in trying to take a decent shot of them, unfortunately they're a bit camera shy.

I wasn't going to give up hope on getting a good shot of these little buggers, I think I must've spent at least two hours in the garden determined to get the best picture, binoculars and camera in hand, waiting in anticipation for the right moment.
Putting my camera on max zoom, I managed to take a shot of one flying high above then settling in the avocado tree.

My loyal fur babies waiting patiently with me, wondering what their mommy's up to with that strange apparatus attached to her face.

We have quite a few of these Hadeda Ibis birds, we call them "Hadada" they're quite an odd looking bird, their call is very loud and can be some what piercing to the ears as they fly over the house early hours of the morning, rattling the nerves a wee bit especially when one wants to sleep in.
These two come for breakfast every morning to snack on the dog food.

While surveilling around the area waiting for the Turaco (Loerie) to appear, my eye caught this very unusual looking green bird on the roof of my house.
I've never seen that species in my garden before; was it a duck or a bird?; I had to get a closer look.
"Maybe if I put my glasses on I'd be able to see it better", I thought excitedly.
Climbing to the top of the bank in the back yard where I could get a better eyes view onto the roof, I cautiously approached it so not to frighten it away, I got close enough ready to take a picture.
Then I saw it.....Omg......I almost dropped the camera as I broke into laughter.
I'm such a "dork".... it's a bloody weed. Lol!!
I hope no one was watching, "what on earth was this retiree thinking".
I laughed so loud, my stomach hurt.
Oh dear!...getting old isn't for the faint hearted, Lol!
That little green alien bird made my day, I felt my spirit take a 90 degrees u turn to an all 101% high after that little episode. It's what I needed to move out of that dark space I'd been in for the last few days.

As I turned, camera still on photo mode, I saw it.... flying proudly , wings stretched, above my head, the African Loerie (Turaco).
I felt my wait was worth it after all.
I'm so glad I stopped to smell the roses first. Lol!

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