Heritage of the Black Swans

[Swan River Gypsy]

I've been fascinated by stories of the Dreamtime since we arrived in Australia many years ago. The graceful black swan is a faunal emblem of our state so in this layout, I've tried to marry the two.

The background photo is from yotophoto.com and I used the opacity button in all layers except the bird and flower pics.

For those who'd like to know, the bird in top left is the crow, now known as the Australian Raven. The black swan is slightly smaller than the white (probably lost weight during the traumatic flight from the northern hemisphere ;) ) but can be equally aggressive. There are only about 3 white feathers on the underside of the wings and they cannot be seen when the bird has its' wings folded.

Sorry Karen, I live in Langford (southern suburb) not Mundaring.

Cheers
Sue


http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1tVG4eywudaEPAn3cl9LSGHScCvIJ0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1tVG4eywudaEPAn3cl9LSGHScCvIJ0)

[Swan River Gypsy]

Is anyone else having problems with pixentral? I keep getting the dreaded red X in my mails and an error message when I try to find the main site.

Sue

[Bayla]

Sue,

Same here. Can't even get the Pixentral site up & all posts with a Pixentral thumbnail in are showing up with a red cross:( Guess we'll just have to be patient.....I find this happens every few weeks or so.

Bayla

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Looks like the site is down at the moment :(

Wendy

[Swan River Gypsy]

Thanks Bayla and Wendy.

This is only my second attempt at posting an image so I was a little worried that I'd forgotten how to do it - already;).

Do you know if the site will auto pick up my image or must I repost the link?

Sue

[kimh]

Sue, looking forward to your image.
Kimh

[Chuck S.]

Sue, you may have to repost. Looking forward to your images!

Chuck

[Wendy]

hi Sue ...

The site is still down so hang on a while until it comes back up :)

Wendy

[Swan River Gypsy]

It's just about bedtime here, so I'll try posting again tomorrow.

Thank you all for reassuring me that the fault is more likely to be with the website than with me.

Sue

[Bayla]

Sue,

Pixentral is up and running & your beautiful image is there, no need to repost. Can't read the text though, even with my glasses (old age creeping up I guess) - what does it say?

Bayla

[SenorSlick]

The pixentral site is fine now. That is one beautiful montage. Excellent layout and subject presentation.
Harvey

[Swan River Gypsy]

Hi Bayla

Thanks for your comment - glad you liked this. Sorry I downsized so much that you can't read the text. :D This is what it says:

In the days of the Dreamtime all swans were white. During that time, two swans rested on a lagoon, unaware that it belonged to the eage-hawks.

The eagle-hawks resented this intrusion and savagely attacked the swans. Then they picked them up in their sharp, strong claws and flew with them far to the south. Even while the swans were being carried away to this strange new land, other eagle-hawks tore at their wounded bodies, plucking out still more feathers. Finally, the swans were dropped on the rocks of a stony desert.

There, naked and almost dead, the swans heard the call of the black mountain-crows. They looked up and saw hundreds of them, either on the wing or struggling for places on the few branches of the desert trees.

'The eagles are our enemies too' the crows called in their strange croaking voices. 'But we won't let you die. We will send down on the breeze, some of our feathers to keep you warm, and when you feel strong enough, they will help you fly again.

The torn out white feathers of the wounded swans, taking root between the rocks on which they fell, grew into the dainty flannel flowers of the eastern Australian coast and the blood of the birds was transformed into the blossoms of the scarlet heath.

And ever since that day all Australian swans, except for a few white feathers on their wings, have feathers as black as the crows which clad their nakedness and helped them to fly again.

Cheers
Sue

[Swan River Gypsy]

Harvey

Thank you for your comments, glad you like it.

Sue