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.
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.
Baby Hedgehogs. Awwww! I love close-ups. They are my favorite. Wonderful images you have picked. 🙂
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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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Gorgeous photos, Jo.
I checked out the site and the animals are adorable. Heartwarming to hear such good work is being done. 🙂
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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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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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Thank goodness he found his forever home. And what a blessing this lady is.
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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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Awwww…I love people like that.
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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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I can’t even get on the WP page for this challenge to leave a link or check out anyone else who did the challenge…grrrrrr
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Alice and Edgar – too sweet.
Beautiful photos, Jo.
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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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Yes, I just tested and I can get on.
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I can too now…weird, but thanks for trying for me BB.
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These are gorgeous Jo
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Thanks Al.
🙂
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Superb shots! Really, really cool!!!
Is it cold already, Jo?
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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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Glad you guys are getting rain! I guess the drought is gone 🙂
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In some parts yes, but up north they are still struggling with it.
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lovely pics. beautiful macro, and I just saw a family of quails walking on the trail here where I live too!
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Thanks. I love quail. These guys were at a friend’s house.
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wow! fabulous photos!! is that a raccoon? LOVE that one!!
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Thanks Tobyo…no it is a hedgehog. A baby hedgehog.
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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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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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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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Type ‘Chevvy or Jack or Jackie or Charlie or Crash’ in the search bar. You will be inundated.
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How absolutely delightful. WOT a sensible blog !
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HOW DO YOU DO THAT ?
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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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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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You should check this post out to see how much fun you can have in the comments.
Heads Up People…It’s My Birthday.
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EXTRAORDINARY !! Do those animated .gifs come from somewhere ? – I mean, you don’t actually make ’em, do you ???
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Those…no !! I stole them [with permission] from another blogger. But you can look them up via Google…they are everywhere.
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Phew … that’s a relief !!!
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I’ve fallen in love with Celi’s piggies at her Farmy and now you, with another piggy story – a real tearjerker. 🙂
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Okay I am sorry…but wait until you see Leon Trotsky.
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Gorgeous shots! I love the butterfly and the snail (sorry about your veges though but the snail look so cute in your photo).
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It did…and no snails wee harmed. I am a bit of a softie even for then and go to extraordinary lengths to share with them.
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Great spring sequence…
Cheers Aquileana 😛
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Thanks. Glad you liked it.
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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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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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Lovely pictures, the bee photo is gorgeous, oh and the hedgehogs, cute! 🙂
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Thanks Katie. I like the wee hedgehogs myself. Such cute critters.
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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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Thank you. Have a great weekend yourself.
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What a lovely selection you have shown us for the 2 challenges, well done
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Thanks PP.
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Lovely gallery of pics, Jo. Love your captions too. Gorgeous baby hedgehogs and birdies. 🙂 Duck Shooting ? What a dreadful ‘sport’! 😦
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It is. Especially because so many are wounded and left to die slowly. It is just barbaric.
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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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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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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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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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That is so terrible. I can’t believe people can just shoot them for fun. This stuff makes me so mad.
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Me too. I know this sounds terrible…but earlier this week a duck hunter got shot. And I smirked.
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Stunning shots! 🙂
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Thank you.
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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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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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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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forgot to mention – that header photo makes me smile 🙂
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🙂
So glad it does.
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Me too. With the NZ wasps [said to be the worst wasp ratio in the world]
http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news/wasps-in-nz-worst-world-video-5948243
Add the virus, and the mite…the bees are really in trouble.
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Love your spring photos!!
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Thank you !!!!
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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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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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Monarch butterflies are so striking Jo .. and love the little baby tiggywinkle 😉 not seen a hedgehog for awhile here .
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Thanks Poppy. I love the Monarchs, but man they are so hard to catch…very skittish.
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Stunning, Jo. Good work.
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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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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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It is autumn here !! But luckily there are still flowers about, and bees and baby [or maybe toddler] hedgehogs.
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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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Oh dear…silly pussy.
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Told him he will get a spanking if he tries that again. Went home sulking. 😆
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Hahahahaha. Thank you. That got my first laugh of the day !!!
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LOL! Glad to hear that hon. 😀 ♥ Hugs ♥
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Wonderful captures Jo – especially like the quail? in a row! Great job with the theme combination!
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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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