A Valentine card from the garden.

When you have a large garden filled with birds there are lots of opportunities to create photographic images for occasions such as Christmas and New Year. So why not Valentine’s Day? Admittedly I’ve been married over 40 years, but Rob is still my knight in shining armour. 💛

I was inspired by watching birds land on the rustic handle of a fork as they flitted back and forth from a shallow birdbath. I found a red rubber ‘heart’, set it up…… and hoped for the best.

Garden art for Valentine's Day — All set.

I could actually keep watch from the comfort of my bed, camera at the ready.

Garden view — Keeping watch from my bed, cup of tea in hand.

There have been plenty of little wrens using the bath.

One of my cheeky ‘friends’ could not resist the urge to have a bit of fun at my expense. He posted this on Facebook, asking if I was keeping a close eye on things. Oh yes, very funny, Mike.

A silly nephew of mine said the heart looked more like an apple, and was I eventually going shoot it off Rob’s head? Good grief, unromantic nincompoops!

My associate Editor Des was yet another interfering wretch. ‘Hey, I said I wanted a bird to sit there, Des, not a bear!’

Garden art with Editor Des — Just no, Des…get down!

Anyway, a few days later I heard lots of chirping and sure enough there were little birds everywhere, fantails, scrub wrens and thornbills. Then finally…success!

Thormbill on the Valentine post. — First visitor on the Valentine post.

I was delighted with the thornbill, they are such cute little characters. I should have been satisfied, but a rather crabby male blue wren was teasing me.