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When I was stumbling around in the mallee, surrounded by budgies, I looked up to see this wedge-tailed eagle cruise right over me. It was probably looking for budgies too. Gluepot Reserve, South Australia.

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And the other cockatiel that landed in front of me and posed nicely at Kangaroo Dam at Gluepot. This is the female.

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An orange potter wasp (Delta bicinctum) floating on the surface tension of the water at Picnic Dam, Gluepot Reserve.

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Machi wishes you a happy tongue-out-Tuesday 🙂 #tongueouttuesday

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9 times out of 10, I can sit quietly and patiently while dealing with heat and dust and flies - and get nothing. Then, on that 10th time, the universe will gift me a moment like this. Two cockatiels landed right in front of me at Gluepot - right in the spot I was hoping they would land. A miracle!

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I visited my daughter today and spent some time with my grand-dogs. Machi is growing! She's a gorgeous dog. But Lawson is really over having an annoying little sister 😄

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I took this photo of a male mulga parrot while at my camping ground. You really don't have to walk far to go birding sometimes. Gluepot Reserve, South Australia.

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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

A small sand goanna at Gluepot Reserve. It didn't give me much of an opportunity to get photos. They don't tend to hang around 😄

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Due to heavy autumn and winter rains across central Australia, I predicted that it would be a bumper spring/summer season for budgies and cockatiels. Well, I wasn't wrong! There were 1000s of budgies and cockatiels at Gluepot. That's not an exaggeration. It was incredible.

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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

So ... this is what I was doing on my Sunday morning. How was yours? A cockatiel enjoying a drink at Gluepot Reserve. #birdsseenin2026

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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I'll be off grid for a couple of days. You lot be good while I'm gone. And if you can't be good, be careful 😄

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Well, some good news ... That tendonitis (or whatever it is) seems to be easing. I'm pretty sure that taking Meloxicam has helped. My left foot/ankle is still sore but much more manageable. In other good news - I'm heading up to Gluepot in the morning 😀

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2026 Sept 11 - Blinman creek crossings

For those curious about road conditions up north, this is a short segment east of Blinman. There were 18 creek crossings between Blinman and the Sturt desert peas (36 if you count the return). They weren't bad but it was tiring and I was glad I had a 4WD. www.flickr.com/photos/13043...

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2026 Sept 11 - Flinders Ranges

Come for a late afternoon drive along Flinders Ranges Way! It was so pretty and green! (The purple flowers are weeds though.) And this shows some of the damage to the highway caused by repeated severe weather events in recent months. www.flickr.com/photos/13043...

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2026 Sept 12 - Tickle Belly Hill

Leaving Tickle Belly Hill, the white car kindly pulled over and waved me through. Then this happened. I have no idea why they fell off the Harley but, for some strange reason, he thought it was my fault 🤷‍♀️ www.flickr.com/photos/13043...

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A white-browed babbler on the farm near Quorn, South Australia.

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Vincent Ledvina @vincentledvina.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A close look at Sturt desert peas between Woomera and Roxby Downs. The floral emblem of the state of South Australia.

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Reposted by Sandy Horne

An incredible auroral display in Beaver, Alaska, filmed in real-time (NOT sped up) and NOT AI (never will post AI aurora content on my pages). This display occured when I was helping with a NASA sounding rocket mission earlier this year.

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The young Adelaide rosella being fed by its parent in one of my backyard apple trees. (As I tried to hide behind a rose bush 😄)

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Here's the young Adelaide rosella that visited my backyard this afternoon. A recently fledged bird, still being fed by a parent.

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Well, I've talked up my state to Carl and he has decided to visit! I hope we don't let him down. C'mon South Aussies - turn on the charm 😄

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I heard rosellas outside. So I grabbed my camera and snuck out the back and waited. Amazingly, an adult and young one flew into my backyard. I wasn't very well hidden so it's a bit of a miracle they didn't skidaddle. The adult went down on the ground to feast on the freshly whipper-snippered grass 😀

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A female white-winged fairywren (with food for the kids) on the farm near Quorn, South Australia. #wrensday

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A blue dot in the distance. To see these electric blue delights skipping around brings me much joy. A male white-winged fairywren on the farm near Quorn, South Australia. #wrensday

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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Happy Wrensday Wednesday! A male white-winged fairywren at the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden. #wrensday

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I must get back to this place and walk this trail. An inviting path leading towards the Elder Range. Arkaba Hill Lookout, Flinders Ranges, South Australia.

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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Thanks Dr Google. While I wait to see my oncologist next week, I believe I have worked out why my feet/ankles are incredibly painful. I reckon I have bilateral Achilles tendonitis due to Tamoxifen (which I have now stopped). This is probably a case of toxic tendinopathy. Man it sucks 🙄

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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I'm a bit late with this - it was for Plover Appreciation Day - but it's very funny. [And to save me having to type it several times in replies - masked lapwings are not plovers. Don't tell me about your aggressive local plovers.] www.facebook.com/watch/?v=169...

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23K views · 2.3K reactions | Sound on 🎵 Love to all the plovers ❤️ Happy Plover Appreciation Day. Which plover has your heart? | Weekend Birder

Sound on 🎵 Love to all the plovers ❤️ Happy Plover Appreciation Day. Which plover has your heart?

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Reposted by Sandy Horne

Harry Turtledove @hntdove.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Venn you see the truth...

Venn diagram. Top circle, Canada Geese. Bottom left circle, Toddler. Bottom right circle, Anti-Vaxxer

Intersection Canada Geese/Toddler: always pooping
Intersection Canada Geese/Anti-Vaxxer: wants everydead
Intersection Toddler/Anti-Vaxxer: incoherent ramblings
Intersection of all 3: can't reason with them

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Reposted by Sandy Horne

Cate Ruth (Sista) ♿ @sistacatruthpurry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I noticed today that Joanna Howe (anti-abortion fanatic) had a post pinned on her X page about a photo she says she received from a hospital worker, of a foetus aborted at 16 weeks. She claimed its name was Samuel & it sucked its thumb, surviving for 30 minutes in the "Butterfly Room" post-abortion.

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A red-backed kingfisher. Southern Flinders Ranges, South Australia.

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On this day, which would have been Don Dunstan's 100th birthday, I remembered the time in 2013 when I found his chair in a storeroom in the Napier Building at UoA. How did I know it was his chair? There was a sign "Don Dunstan's chair. Do not sit." (which I removed to take this pic).

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Orange chat. Southern Flinders Ranges, South Australia.

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A type of Goodenia. Quorn Native Flora Reserve, South Australia.

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Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo. Southern Flinders Ranges, South Australia.

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Fat little wild budgies 🙂 This is the natural colour of budgerigars. You don't find blue, purple, etc budgies in the wild. Also, Americans call these 'parakeets'. Most Australians won't recognise that bird name. (It took me years to figure out that parakeets were actually budgies.)

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A cockatiel seen in the Quorn area.

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Some more Flinders Ranges scenery. I believe this is part of Chace Range. The yellow flowers in the foreground would be a type of senna which was extremely abundant up there. Very pretty.

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You can take helicopter tours at Rawnsley Park. No, I didn't go up in this thing. And, fortunately, my photos didn't end up being evidence for the coroner 😂

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