Front Yard Surprises

What a delight it was to see not one, but two kookaburras (large, native Australian kingfishers) having a quick fly and dance in the shrubs of our front yard this morning. They weren't the only birds seen from our driveway. A little earlier today we had a short visit from two beautiful galahs, having a feast on seeds amongst the grass.

I love seeing birds in or near our yard, 

especially as we live in town.

Earlier this week we even had a 

white-faced heron check out our back yard

for a brief minute.

As I was turning to go back inside this morning
after the galahs flew off, something white caught
my eye near our letter box. Could it be....
yes, it was.... a rose in our garden!

We have tried several times to remove some old roses which weren't doing very and replace them with Australian native shrubs. However some of the roses refuse to give up. I cannot remember ever seeing this rose bush flower, even when we were trying to nurture them. I had no idea what it's flower was like. I walk through my garden everyday, camera at the ready, and hadn't even noticed any buds on this rose regrowth. Then this morning I found two perfect, rather small rose flowers!!!! I won't be trying to remove this rose bush again - it can stay as a welcome survivor.

I hope your weekend brings some delightful surprises too.

Sharing at The Simple Things, World Bird Wednesday, This or That Thursday.