Colour Me Happy

A thankyou to @derangedvisions whos challenge got me inspired! At this time of year, I get up before the sun, and get home after it's gone to bed, and yet, in those tones of twilight, the brightest colours fill up my life.

I get up, in the dark, the last dregs of nighttime still heavy in the air. I take a few moments, opening the window, letting the cool air rush in and wake me up, hoping for a hint of the coming morning to dance the sky.

I love the colours of early morning, the soft glow of houses, spilling onto the gold, turning leaves. The stark silhouette of autumn, black against the whisper of sunrise. It's so surreal to wake up in the dark and turn the lights on, part of me always wants to crawl back to bed, bury my face back in the pillow and sleep for another few hours, but there is someone, or two someones, waiting for me.

I know Mia, it's early, but we just agreed not to go bury our faces! Although given that Aiko is made of sunshine, I suppose we can let you off.

These two light fluff balls have opened up a whole world of colour I never noticed before, the way their feathers glow in the light, each fine strand illuminated iridescence. It really makes me wonder how they see the world.

It must be on fire with light and colour for them. Conures have a fourth cone in their eyes that allows them to see UV light, so they get to see the world in a whole other wavelength! But it isn't just about how they see the world, research has found that feather patterns are considerable more intricate than we humans can see. Not only do they have that extra cone, but the other three cones have drops of coloured oil which works as a lens, and amplifies the colours to help provide greater contrast, and starker, sharper colours.

Not only are their feathers more beautiful than we realize, but so is their view of the world. Now we know who stunning flowers were putting a UV show on for!

There is so much more beauty to the world of colour, even with my limited human vision, these guys take my breath away! Aiko with his red heart, bleeding into the mango yellow of his tummy, up to the soft peachy-pineapple of his head, interrupted only by the pink blush of his cheeks. Mia with her colours so strong and vibrant, the amazing depth of greens and reds dappled into yellow down her cheeks like flowers in a golden meadow, contrast against her dark beak and matching dark tongue, her clumsy nature transcending to elegance with a bat of her fine, little black eye lashes.