Terri’s Sunday Stills: A Rosy Outlook
I was wondering what I should post – perhaps flowers, perhaps berries, perhaps man made stuff or blimey lets go with all of them.
So many reds to pick from
Tag: bromiliad flowers
Triangles
The word prompt from Terri for Sunday Stills: Triangles
I had to think but yes there are triangles everywhere
Bromiliad flower
The rooster has triangles
I have no idea lol
Blue Triangle Butterfly
Can you guess the link?
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In My Garden
The Ragtag Daily Prompt for Tuesday: Garden
Have a quick wander about my garden.
Blue-banded Bees like dropping in
When the pink Crocus flowers the Stingless Native Bees all come around
One of the wheelbarrow gardens with Hippeastrums
The Frangipanni flowers scent fills the air
The Bromiliads flower too
One of my favourite flowers – Cats Whiskers
The Dietis look great buit trhey are taking over in places in the garden
One of the many Hibiscus flowers
The Agapanthus put on a show around the garden borders
The garden is a place to relax
Even Long-necked Tortoise stroll through heading to the dam
Every now and then when working in the garden, I surprise a frog. The Broad-palmed Frog took a while to wake before hopping off
Lots of Bottlebrush flowers
The Pelagoniums add colour
There is always help in the garden
So many Grevilleas too
The Native Wisteria winds its way among the foliage
Always wear gloves and shoes as you never know who you might disturb. The Mouse Spider was rather fiesty
The Bullants let you know if you are getting too close to their nest
Every now and then another variety of fungus appears
The garden is a lovely place to raise a family
The fruit trees look wonderful in Spring
and of course the garden is home to lots and lots of birds from the smallest Honeyeater, the Scarlet Honeyeater
to the larger birds like the Satin Bowerbirds
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Contrasts
Weekly Prompts – Green
The word prompt from Sue is Green
A bit of green from my part of the world
Sometimes everything is so green
A patch of green among a circle of red
Here’s that blasted grasshopper again
I love the green among the other colours in the King Parrots feathers
The Green Tree Snake looking for something to eat
OH….those eyes
Emerald Doves certainly make the place look bright
Green just shoots out from the pine tree
Praying Mantis are always on the look out for anything that may be delicious
I miss the Green Catbirds that live at my besties old place
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This is November 2018
My last post Time #6 was post number 1,000. I was hoping this one would be number 1,000 but it has taken a lot of time getting it together.
November was where Spring really came to life. Rain in the previous months led to life appearing, flowers brightened, the little native flowers, some only 10mm in diameter sprung up in the paddocks and in the bush. Birds who come to my place over Spring and Summer appeared, in some instances with their chicks.
This is another long post as I couldn’t cut back and also have had a couple of double ups. I have a some things left out as they deserve their own post.
So I recommend getting your drink of choice, perhaps a snack and if you are lucky, someone to bring refills. 😀
I have tried to arrange the photos in some sort of grouping. OK off we go………
Some days saw the storm clouds appear bring some destruction but also welcoming rain
The water plants on the dams are pleased that the water levels are up
The Bromiliads in the garden are sending their flower spikes up.
or just colouring while the flower appears in the watery centre
One of my favourite flowers, the Cats Whiskers flowered after the rain.
Day lilies flowered some with multiple buds
The Dietes, which are all through the garden, showed the borders with their white and purple flowers. If you look on the left side of the flower, you can see a little native bee.
The pink Pentas were planted two years ago and this year the flowers were prolific.
I thought these were the last of the Pandoreas but when I walked past today, more have appeared
I have a miniature Native Frangipanni in a pot at the front of the house. The warm breeze send a delightful scent into the house. The flowers start as white flowers and gradually turn yellow
Also in the garden is quite a big Native Frangipanni. It is constantly flowering through November. You can see the various stages of flowering from the white and yellow buds, white flowers and then the yellow flowers on their way out.
The Gardenias are looking good this year
Had to show the buds too
This Pentas is great for attracting insects
The original red Hibiscus that my Mother bought from her garden when the gardens were first planted many years ago. This was one of my Mums favourites
This is the bush still in the part of the place where gardens and the old house once were
Another Hibiscus that had a good flowering too.
The Grevilleas took a while to flower compared to other gardens around the area.
This Grevillea flower hangs downwards
The second year for the Ivanhoe Grevillea and the first flower
Two Grevilleas in the front garden that always have birds squabbling over the flowers
I love the pastel colours of this Grevillea
The Bottlebrush flowers add splashes of red throughout the garden
The Balsam flowers appear in many places in the garden. The just pop up
A Bottlebrush just starting to flower
One of my favourite small trees is Jacksonia. They add touches of yellow through the bush
Another small tree in an old part of the garden. The last few years it has taken to flower for months
A large tree in the garden, a Silky Oak, which is also one of the biggest Grevilleas
The Eucalypts are flowering following a prolonged dry spell. Some are flowering now and I haven’t seen them flower at this time of year before
A ground cover flower that I thought had gone but has reappeared. I had an orange version as well. I wonder if that one will come back?
The Duranta flowers are another flower with soft pastel colours
I planted this native in a rockery. The Red-necked Wallabies love it. The constant trimming looks like a benefit as it is covered with flowers this November
The flowers appear on soft stalks and the spots seem to darken too
The Hippeastrums looked wonderful this November. The wheelbarrow gardens looked a treat. There is a post about them earlier this month
The red Hippeastrums seemed very red this year
A tiny native flower about 10mm in diameter
You can see how small this native flower is by the grass and size of the leaves
I love clover flowers
A Calathea I have in a pot flowered this year with tiny flowers with delicate colour
This Native flower is called a Smooth Parrot Pea
Even the patch of Spider Plants flowered
With the flowers growing well the flower sellers at the market were selling bunches and most market days, sold out before the end.
Saw this car and just had to get a photo. It is a ute as well as a tad rusty
The clouds one day were quite spectacular
What a tiny Grasshopper on the Brunsfelsia flower
The Caper White Butterflies are migrating. This one is the first to arrive at my place
The Stingfless native Bees are loving collecting pollen from the orange Hippeastrum
A Crab Spider showed me his scary end when I disturbed its rest. Not a very big spider either
Meet Gus, my axolotl. He is always happy looking
A Noisy Friarbird snacking on a Honey Gem Grevillea
Noisy Friarbirds always have something to say
A female Figbird contemplates her next meal
Always singing around the house and in the forest, a Grey_shrike Thrush was looking through the window
Aren’t the Masked Lapwings strange looking. They are also called Plovers
but their eggs are quite pretty. They lay their eggs anywhere. These were on a walkway to the beach.
Peaceful Doves are always around the house
Royal Spoonbills were another of my quests to photograph
The ferry cable is as good as anywhere to hang out to dry
On a visit to a small degraded wetland I was amazed to see the amount of birds there. The flock of Hardhead Ducks was rather large
On another wetland, where the Royal Spoonbills were, some Pink-eared Ducks also were paddling around
Eurasian Coots paddled about looking for food
I was surprised to see a Crested Tern so far from the coast. A Purple Swamp Hen strode around the edge of the water
Aren’t Australasian Grebe chicks cute
A pacific Black Duck was closely followed by a young one
When you go calling on your girlfriend always take flowers
The Superb Fairy Wrens hopped around us at the lookout
Well the sun is going down so it’s time for me to go. Thanks for hanging around with me. I hope you enjoyed my November
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Yesterday in my garden
I was on the verandah and noticed all the colour in the garden. I grabbed my camera and walked around getting photos of the flowers. I even found a native Smooth Pea just popped up. This will be a huge post so I think I’ll do a slide show. I also haven’t included all the flowers as it would be too much. There are some flowers I have posted before as well. Maybe I’ll do another post if you want.
I am sure you will know some of the flowers but if you want to know about any of them, please ask. I will group them as best I can.
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This was June
It has taken me ages to sort through the photos that I took in June. Luckily I took out the photos of birds that I encountered and put them in this blog. I was surprised at some of the subjects that I managed to capture as it is Winter here which is normally a bit dry but we have had a rather wet Autumn. I am wondering where to start as I have quite a number of photos so maybe I will get going with some of the old bits and pieces I came across in June. The photos are at my place unless otherwise stated.
When I visited a neighbour, I had to stop and photograph the old farm stuff they have near their front gate. I think this is a horse drawn stick rake.
The old cart has seen better days. My Grandfather was a Wheel Wright and I reckon he would love to have a go at restoring this cart.
As you know, I love rust, the colours and the shapes that make the metal into an art work.
The chains and hook are a wonderful knot of rust.
This old pulley is hanging on the besties verandah. It may have been part of the old dairy that used to be on her place years ago.
I love the tiny water drops in the spiders webs from the misty rain.
The rain has put water drops on the flowers in pots on her verandah.
The Zygote Cactus water drops seem to be able to defy gravity
Even the spiders web caught a water drop or two.
The spiders web in the Red Ironbark had a golden glow. The Red Ironbarks are majestic trees on my place.
The rain drops on the spiders web in the grass looked like jewels.
Moss and lichen are other favourites of mine to photograph. A lovely green on the Bloodwood tree.
The wonderful coloured red sap from the Red Ironbark oozes from fissures in the bark.
The Tuckeroos are in flower and the trees are full of these tiny flowers.
The trees were abuzz with the sounds of bees and insects.
I am not sure if this is a bee or a wasp.
The bees certainly have to scrunch to get to the pollen and nectar.
I didn’t notice the red eye on this insect until I down loaded the photos.
The Blue-banded Bees were still hanging around the Pentas. I love their blue bums.
They hardly sit still and this bee looks like he hasn’t any wings.
Down on the forest floor, I was trying to get the right angle for a photo of the fungi when along came this fellow. I love the colours of the fungi. The reds are very striking to see. just little red dots on the ground.
I found this bunch of fungi during a Landcare visit to a site in Tucabia emerging from the mulch.
In the rainforest on my besties place I always come across fungi growing on the fallen trees. This is the first time I have seen this wood fungi which went the length of the log. Amazing colour isn’t it?
This wood fungi was on the end of a log nearby. Such a contrast in colour from the fungi above.
I found this little Stink Horn Fungus walking down the driveway at her place. I think I was stalking the Brush Turkey trying to get a photo of him on the mound he built.
Isn’t the yellow of this fungi just lovely? And it even curled its edge to show me its frill.
The Gold Top mushrooms are everywhere at the moment on my place.
I love looking under the fungi to see the frills which have a fascinating shape and texture.
Growing on a log in the forest, the mix of moss with its seed pods and the fungi looked like a tiny elfin garden.
The Bromiliads in my besties garden are flowering but mine haven’t as yet. The mix of colours on this flower is just right.
The Matchstick Bromiliad flower is different.
This is me being a bit artistic with the hanging Hibiscus flower.
I can’t remember what this vine flower is called but it certainly caught my eye in my besties garden. I love the curly tendril as well.
Looking deep inside the flower, it almost looks like it is exploding outwards.
The Banksia flower in the afternoon sun.
My neighbour has a wheelbarrow full of these Pancake cactus. They are becoming one of my favourite cacti.
When I was watering some pot plants on the front verandah, out popped the little Broad-palmed Frog.
Isn’t it one of the cutest frogs you have ever seen?
At the Landcare walk at Tucabia you know I couldn’t resist chasing a butterfly. The Large Grass Yellow was feeding on a Farmers Friend or Cobblers Peg plant.
The Orange Palm Dart butterfly just happened to sit on a leaf while I was stalking a bird in my besties garden. What wonderful colours
The Orange Palm Dart was very co-operative in getting its photo taken.
In Winter, you have to be careful when you go to the wood pile. You never know who is getting the warmth of the afternoon sun. Luckily I saw this small Red-bellied Black Snake
Well the sun is setting so I better get off and do stuff. Hope you enjoyed the things I found in June.
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Birds. Bugs, Flowers and Things
I love it when I have a mixed lot of photos I have taken. This blog does contain a lot of birds and things that have been previously in past blogs but they keep doing things that are different or I just like the photo and hope you do too. There is one photo that has something different from the usual photos, can you spot it?
The weather over winter and early spring has been dry with some hot days and some windy days. Since 1 August to end of October there only a couple of days where there was good rainfall, but only 14 days of rain over 3 months. Some of the flowering plants have enjoyed the dry. This year the bottlebrushes and paperbarks have had the best flowering ever.
One of the things I like to photograph is when I can see faces in things. These are a couple I have seen lately. Can you see the faces too? The first on was taken at the beach during a walk after a North Coast Landcare get together.
Can you see a dog?
Sometimes the faces can seem rather scary. I had a feeling that someone was watching me.
The Red-necked Wallabies have had a bumper Joey season this year, so it may indicate that the grass in the paddocks will soon turn green and there will be a good summer. These two were eating beside the veranda where there are patches of feed. The Joey may be too big for the pouch but still likes to get a drink from Mum.
One plant that has had a fabulous flowering this year has been the Native Frangipanni. The birds and insects are always around the tree in the early morning and late evening.
My besties garden always has flowers as the rainfall there is much better than at my place. I love the way that this flower seems to explode towards you.
The colours of this small flower are stunning adding a splash of colour throughout the garden.
My hanging pot of bromeliads have never had so many of these striking red flowers. I counted six flowers around the hanging pot. Yes that is a bird’s nest I found on the ground and was placed in the pot.
I wanted a few flowers around and planted some Alyssum seeds and they all came up giving cascades of white flowers from the many pots they were planted in. There were bees and this Hover Fly (I think) buzzing around. What a golden coloured fly!!!
Other visitors to the Alyssum flowers were small butterflies. I managed to get a photo of the Ochre Butterfly before is zoomed off to another flower in the garden.
You can see how dry the ground was when I took a photo of a Meadow Argus. They prefer to land on the ground. The underside of their wings seem fluffy and dull…..
….but the inside wings are very colourful.
In late October the Caper White Butterflies started to fly through my place on their migration to SE Queensland. They have been constantly been in the garden since then. The Pentas is a great butterfly attracting bush.
While walking around Grafton we spied some bee activity around a large Camphor Laurel. I am glad they were too busy to notice me trying to get some photos. When we went back a couple of weeks later there weren’t many bees around at all. Sadly I suspect the Council may have sprayed the nest.
The coming of warm days brings out the insects. There are a good number of varieties of flys at the moment. This brown fly spent some time walking around the rim of the jug on the window sill.
While this insect preferred the window to walk about.
The garden also has its share of insects and bugs. I love the colours on this beetle, don’t you?.
The Dragonflies are swooping around the garden and the dams. This is the blue variety. I think will do a blog just on Dragonflies as I have some other varieties.
I just had to include another White-throated Honeyeater and the hanging watering come small bird birdbath pot. He looks to be saying “Ok mate, where’s my water!!!”
On the walk along the beach I spotted some birds sitting on some rock off the shore. The Pied Cormorants were doing their washing.
Here is bird number 91 I have identified on my place. (I say “I” but has been a team effort from lots of people in my network.) The Common Bronzewing was just strolling along but I managed to get a not very good photo.
Back at the beach walk, on the way down to the beach through the dune I saw a New Holland Honeyeater gathering material for the nest.I’m sure the spider didn’t mind a bit of web taken.
Isn’t it funny how birds can have their heads looking back. The Brown Pigeon was certainly keeping an eye on me.
Amongst the vegetation, chit chatting away the Eastern Whipbird foraged for insects. Their distinctive whip crack call (from You Tube by Linda Hansbauer) many people know but when they are on the ground bustling about the have an insane cackle going on.
The most elusive bird at my besties is the Green Catbird and I am always excited when I find a Catbird amongst the foliage.
In Spring, the Figbirds arrive at my place. Late one afternoon I found this pair cosying up for the night among the branches of the fig tree.
Of course you have seen lots of Blue-faced Honeyeaters on the Honey Gem Grevillea in my previous blogs but the way they can have a snack upside down always fascinates me.
The Yellow-faced Honeyeater is contemplating the first flower on a Grevillea I planted a few years ago. I will have to try to find out the name of this Grevillea.
The Tawny Frogmouth (or it may be a Marbled Frogmouth) has the most basic of nests. Just a few twigs thrown onto a flattish spot in a tree. This bird hatched two babies.
Late in the evening, a walk along the shore at Ballina saw many pelicans coming in to roost. First stopping on the light post to make sure the fishermen weren’t cleaning their catch. It’s almost time to go….
…..the moon is up casting a glow so I must be off. See you next time.
