Collection created for the Down Under Challenge 1176
using my photos taken at Parrots in Paradise, Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland, in July 2017.
I enjoyed some time there with the Sunshine Coast photography group.
The sexes of the Eclectus Parrot appear so different that they were originally thought to have been different species. The male is mostly bright green, with light-blue trim on the wings and tail, while the female is crimson and royal blue. In many species, the female is drabber than the male because she needs to remain inconspicuous while incubating the eggs, but because Eclectus Parrots nest in dark tree-hollows, the female does not need to be camouflaged to stay out of the sight of predators.
www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/eclectus-parrot
Tags: Parrot Eclectus Australia DUC 1176 Collection
© All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
Created for the Down Under Challenge 1188
Japanese gardens are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden designers to suggest an ancient and faraway natural landscape, and to express the fragility of existence as well as time's unstoppable advance.
Reference to guardian lions as dogs in Western cultures may be due to the Japanese reference to them as "Korean dogs" due to their transmission from China through Korea into Japan… The lions are traditionally carved from decorative stone, such as marble and granite or cast in bronze or iron. Because of the high cost of these materials and the labour required to produce them, private use of guardian lions was traditionally reserved for wealthy or elite families. Indeed, a traditional symbol of a family's wealth or social status was the placement of guardian lions in front of the family home.
During the Asuka Period, around the 6th century, at the start of Buddhism in Japan, many Koreans took up the dangerous trip across the sea from Korea to Japan to live there. During this time Korea was ruled by China so many of these folks brought over their knowledge and techniques of China's culture, religion, and arts. The Japanese were so pleased with this influx of craftsmen that they commissioned the building of the first temple in Japan, the Asuka Temple.
Typically, the Japanese garden lantern is made of stone, although another idea that gardeners use in their Japanese gardens are paper lanterns. These are typically globe shaped lanterns that are strung together to form a long line of lighted globes.
The Chinese lantern symbolises the wish for a bright future. It is believed that red is a symbol of happiness.
With thanks to Cindy Mc for the Japanese stone garden and for the Lion Dog from DUC 863
plus my Chinese lantern and Japanese Temple.
Originals are in comments.
Tags: Japanese Garden manipulated processed Symbolism Five DUC 1188 symmetry Red
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