Birds and Haircuts

I am sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday today for the first time in forever. :)  Many thanks to Stewart for such faithful administration of the meme.  His photos are truly spectacular.  Today, he shows us the Blue-faced Honeyeater.

As some of you may have read in this post, Bill's cousin, Maryel (photo of her with Bill about half way down this post) has taken up drawing.  She is having so much success, it inspired me to buy some art supplies, but sadly, I haven't yet drawn so much as a stick man.  I'm sure impressed with this little owl, though.  Isn't it magnificent? 

 Yesterday, after getting haircuts, Bill and I walked along Richards Street.  I know the sound of Bushtits (scroll a tiny bit down this page to hear a variety of calls that they make), but often, only their sounds catch my attention as I can't seem to spot them.  Short of standing forever while Bill and Black Jack wait, it often makes more sense just to walk on.  Some days, however, they are impossible to miss.  It was like that yesterday.  Not sure if we are seeing a Bushtit's tongue here.

 They like to eat insects, and though the temperature was about 0 degrees Celsius yesterday, the insects must have been plentiful in these trees. 

 I caught some flitting and fanned tails..

 but no flight shots.

Here's a look at one lovely, amber eye.

The next 9 photos show their gymnastic skills.  Flipping..

 upside down is no big deal at all.  They remind me of trapeze artists.

 Two feet holding,

 and then swinging on one foot to..

 transfer to the other side. This one seems all puffed up with a "Look Ma...." pose.

 From there, a flit to the branch above.

 Catch it with one foot,

 and hang on with two.

 Was this one eating the green moss, or perhaps finding insects inside?

 Their feet hang on so efficiently.

 Wonderful little birds.

Anyone strictly here for the birds :) is excused now.  The rest of this post is about our haircuts.  Elvis, of Zhape Studio, is a former student whom I met when I first taught at an international school over 15 years ago.  It was a stroke of luck to discover him one day, quite a few years later, as I walked past his studio.  

 I post on facebook or in the blog about him almost every time we go for haircuts.

We love that he is very cool; we never know what outfit or hairstyle he will be sporting when we arrive.  Yesterday, he had pink hair (he said it is a wax product that just lasts for a day).  If you are interested, he also has blue and purple choices.  As cool as he is, he understands that Bill and I are more conventional.  He gives us wonderful cuts and wonderful care.

 Here are Bill and Black Jack at our favourite café after leaving Zhape.

 And here I am.

 Side view here.

 Apart from the fact that we love Elvis, I promised Bill's sister that I would send her a photo of the two of us after our haircuts.  These are a fail.  Too dark and out of..

 focus, but we laughed quite a lot in the attempt to get them, so thank you, Phyllis!  I'll try to get another photo for you fairly soon in better light.

For any bird lovers still reading, don't forget to take a little trip over to Wild Bird Wednesday.  Many thanks, as always, for stopping by!