Spring close ups

Jo Bryant, , , , , , , ,

Lucky for me I am able to combine both the Weekly Photo Challenge: Spring & Ailsa’a Travel Theme: Close Up this week with a few close up shots that represent spring to me. With winter closing in here in New Zealand, it is enough to make a girl a bit jealous of those of you who are welcoming the flowers, the baby animals and the warmth back in to your worlds.

Bees…under threat here sadly.
These two like sharing.
Flowers are one of the best parts of spring.
I have to compete with these guys for my veges.
Baby hedgehogs squeal when Chevvy appears.
“Did someone say meow?”
Getting this shot was hard…man can these guys run !
“Can I have a crumb please?”

I found this video from an animal rescue mission in Australia. Edgar’s Mission is a sanctuary for rescued farm animals in Victoria. I hope you will visit their site and see some of the wonderful work they do for these precious animals.

On the other side…sadly today is the start of duck shooting season here in New Zealand. Safe is running a campaign here to try to educate people as to the cruelty these beautiful birds suffer:

The campaign highlights how to some, duck shooting may seem like fun but in reality, it means tremendous suffering for the birds.  It is expected that one million waterfowl, many of them native, will be brutally shot and killed.  Up to 250,000 will be left crippled, to die slow and painful deaths.

duck

Published by Jo Bryant

I was born in the land of Banjo Paterson, gum trees, and weather extremes. I am a freelance photographer. I love to make images that make people happy. To capture forever a precious moment. I am also a freelance writer/editor. I live in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, but still like to claim my Australian heritage. I graduated with a Bachelor of Communications in 2008. I am writing my first novel. I love to write poetry, short stories, and also write for the web. And there is nothing that is on a par with a sunny summer's day spent at Waihi Beach.

84 Comments

    1. They are so sweet. The day I took Crash in to the vet I had to rescue a tiny wee one from the road before he/she got flattened. But those little guys can hoof it when they want.

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    1. Thanks. It is heartwarming. They do such good work. It makes my heart lighter to know there are people out there trying to help these wonderful animals.

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      1. The lady my daughter and her husband bought their poodle from last May, ran a menagerie: any animal no-one wants. She has a farmhouse in the country. This poodle was given to her even though he’s a pure. He was given up by the breeder because he was of imperfect coloring. Turns out this dog is crazy about each and every member of the family. Even me. Best male dog.

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          1. He is. She called in a month, as she promised she would, to check how everyone was getting along. From the beginning she told my daughter if he didn’t work out she’d take the dog back in an instant.

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  3. The system wouldn’t let me comment on individual photographs. I loved them all! About the honey bees: Nature abhors a vacuum. Here in Pennsylvania, USA, I’ve noticed that bumblebees are proliferating. Maybe they will become the new major pollinators. I still fee sorry for the honey bees though. They’re just so cool!

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    1. Yes they are sweet BB. Glad you liked the photos. Can you get on the WP Weekly Photo Challenge: Spring sit. I keep getting an ‘oops’ message.

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    1. Thanks Amy. It has been getting down to about 5 at night. The days so far are pretty warm still, except for the odd one. Tomorrow rain is supposed to come in…so temperatures should stay a bit higher at night. They are predicting a warm winter for us this year. I won’t complain if that happens.

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  9. LOVE the post: HATE the shooters. As you know, you left behind an exactly similar situation. Your adorable hedgehog ( ? ) runs fast, eh ? – I wonder why that is ? I mean, I thought them spines … Is Chevvy your cat then ? (“Did someone say meow ?”)

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    1. This is Chevvy…

      And I hate the shooters as well. Funny story. Day 1 of the season…today…and 1 shooter already got shot. Now maybe he understands how the ducks feel.

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      1. YAAAAAAAAAAYYY !!! Chevvy is gorgeous. Are there family fotos (or phamily photos) on the site that I’ve stupidly overlooked ? Probably … I’ll check it more.

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          4. I save the images on Photobucket. Then when I want to put one in the comments I copy the direct link. Then I click on the little ‘img’ box in the reply to comment, and paste the link in there. Done !!!!

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          5. I am impressed, Jo ! Obviously, since there IS an ‘img’ box it was meant to be done; but I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone else do it.

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          7. EXTRAORDINARY !! Do those animated .gifs come from somewhere ? – I mean, you don’t actually make ’em, do you ???

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  13. The hedgehogs are so cute, we rarely see them alive sadly. I love your close ups, the butterfly is exquisite. Our bees are at risk here too, we are planting wild flower seeds on the allotment to try to help.

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    1. Hedgehogs are cute. Often I see them dead on the road, so i love it when I do see one like this. Our poor bees have to deal with a virus and the wasps here…which are out of control. Good on you for planting wild flower seeds.

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  15. You made a great spring-composition, Jo. I love the colors you combined here ànd of course the pictures too.

    have a gorgeous weekend
    -Dauw-

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  18. brilliant shots Jo, you are a pro! those insects and flowers can be enjoyed every day of the year can’t they? so sad about duck hunting .. we have been campaigning here against a Huntfest, what a horrible thing to be promoted locally 😦

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    1. I agree…about the duck hunting. It is such a waste of life, and such a cruel sport. I hate this time of year…it just makes me so mad.

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  19. I love your close up’s Jo! Beautiful! Now what is duck shooting? Is it to eat them or for sport? If it is not to eat, that is just wrong.

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    1. Thanks Nicole. I do have a hunter friend who takes a few…for his freezer. Mainly though people just go out and shoot willy nilly. Some don’t even bother to collect the ducks, which leads to some ducks who are wounded dying in terrible pain slowly.

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  21. Beautiful pictures…
    The film I couldn’t watch since I get so emotional hearing about the misery of (farm) animals. But I am so glad there are people stronger than I am, who really make a difference. I got to be a vegetarian when I travelled through New-Zealand (!) twenty years ago and met an inspring fellow-traveller who was a vegetarian already.
    How beautiful your country is… I have such wonderful memories! Best wishes from the Netherlands!

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    1. You should watch the film. It isn’t about misery. it is about how Alice got to live on this rescue farm. It really is beautiful to know she had freedom for those years.

      I lived in The Netherlands for three years in the eighties and adored your country. God how I miss a ‘frikandel speciaal’, though being a vegetarian now I couldn’t eat it anyways.

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  22. enjoyed these close-ups! those hedgehogs are sweet.
     
    sadly, honey bees are on the decline here, too. the ever-bearing raspberries in the back yard were brimming with bees all summer and autumn last year, however most of them were bumblebees. it always makes me happy to see a honeybee.

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  24. Amazing, so amazing! That first pic of the bee is especially beautiful. I didn’t know duck shooting was a big problem in NZ. Is it for sport? 😦

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    1. A lot of it yes. Some people do go out to stock their freezers. A friend of mine…her husband does that. While I still don’t condone it he use the duck and is as humane as he can be, He would never shoot a duck and not retrieve it, so you know it is not laying out there somewhere wounded, in pain or dying. But a great many of the shooters just do it for sport. What a great sport…take a powerful gun, hide so the ducks can’t see you and fire willy nilly at them They make me sick !!

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  25. Monarch butterflies are so striking Jo .. and love the little baby tiggywinkle 😉 not seen a hedgehog for awhile here .

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    1. Thanks Isobel. Getting out of the house as much as possible at the moment. Though today it will be a wet and windy walk foe Chevvvy and I.

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  27. Wow! Amazing close-ups indeed Jo! I totally love them all! It looks like you are enjoying Spring indeed. 😀

    What a pity about the ducks! I know what I would do if I catch someone shooting at them. 😉

    Great post and shots hon. Thanks for sharing. ♥ Hugs ♥

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      1. Oh, so you have Autumn there as well? The same here but just like here Autumn have its own beauty indeed. 😀
        Just chased Doc who was trying to catch a bushbaby. Silly cat!

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    1. Thanks Tina. I took that at a friend’s house. Every year she has a family of them. Luckily this year most of the babies made it through.

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