cattle – bushboys world

Hi there, I found February to be a weird month. It rained for thirteen days with heavy rain at the end of the month filling dams and water tanks for the coming Winter. The rest of the time it was hot and humid so I have limited a lot of photos and might use as separate posts later.

The good news is at the end of the month the doctors looked at my latest EEG, this time I was tested for three hours. Well by tested I mean sleep for two and three-quarters of the three hours of the testing. So after almost eight months of not being allowed to drive, I have my drivers licence back with the only condition that I am not allowed to drive between sunset and sunrise. I better have a swag in the back of the ute just in case I’m heading home late from shopping!!!

Anyway, on with the bits and pieces I found in February. I found The Lumineers from a free CD that comes with a music magazine I get. Have a listen while you scroll

It’s morning already. Through the lifting fog, the morning sun kisses the tops of the eucalypts across the valley

High in the dead branches an Old Mans Beard, Tillandsia usneoides which is from Florida but it doesn’t grow meters long like the ones in the swamps, sway in the gentle morning breeze

The farm next door to my besties usually leave the paddock next to her fence as a last minute fattening paddock. They open the gate and the cattle run in to savour the sweet grass or like the bull does, make sue that everyone knows that this is his place.

Meanwhile atop the hillock, a cow wonders what all the fuss is down below while snacking on the long juicy grass.

Willie Wagtails use anything for a vantage spot; not even a sleeping cow is shown any dignity!

One of the downsides of growing grass for cattle to eat is that a lot of small seed eaters come in to feed in the mornings and afternoons. Wrens, Finches, Cisticolas and Chestnut-breasted Mannikins. It’s lucky that there is a lot of grasses along the road verges and fence lines so there is plenty to eat for everyone.
This Chestnut-breasted Mannikin contemplates whether the seed head over there will be tastier than the one he’s sitting on.

The Willie Wagtail chicks are out of the nest but still as demanding as ever.

The Scaly-breasted Lorikeets come in for a breakfast of Mistletoe flowers and seeds. I love how they land on the branch on walk down head first, sampling food along the way. These Mistletoe hang down almost two meters from the tree branch. You can see the difference in the leaves. The Eucalypt on the right and Mistletoe on left, both have sickle leaf shapes.

In the garden, A Lewins Honeyeater and a Yellow Grevillea.

When out on a drive before I was allowed to, there was a Black Swan pair are setting up on a dam not far from my place. Now I can drive, I can go and see how they are going and hope they hung around. The property doesn’t have much vegetation and cattle. You can see the edge of the dam in the background.

While out on the drive, at the Raspberry Lookout while I was taking photos, a Wedged-tailed Eagle was watching me

After finding a safe spot to stop on a narrow road, I took the photo of the White-bellied Sea Eagle through the open car window. He was on the far side of the Nymboida River so I was amazed that I managed to get a photo on full telephoto without a tripod.

We went down to Ballina with some friends and on the entrance to the North Wall, a break-wall where the Richmond River meets the sea, on the Marine Rescues radio tower, an Osprey was having his lunch of fish. The young Osprey was sitting nearby and must have been fed as it was asleep.

Late afternoon, low light I came across a juvenile Black-necked Stork doing it’s stretches in preparation for take off from the intermittent wetlands on a farm, again not vegetation in or around the wetland. The next time I had to go to town, the Storks were gone so practice pays off.

While the youngster was flapping about, not far away one of the Black-necked Stork parents was keeping watch.

OK we are heading into the bugs. Nothing to be concerned about in this lot I can assure you. See, first off is the egg casing for Praying Mantis. I must go and try and find it to see if it’s still there.

This Dragonfly almost looks like a helicopter. Such beautiful markings and colours no wonder it is called an Australian Tiger.

A Blue Skimmer found his favourite stick. I was watching for a minute and noticed he would always come back to this stick after a bit of a fly around the river bank. Made for getting a good photo of his wings.

The Lemon Migrants have hung around my place and some are still here.

I have some old chook watering and feed bits and pieces I use when I want to give the birds a snack. I went down that way and noticed a weevil deciding he’d had enough grain for the moment and was off.

Another butterfly that has been around is a Common Albatross Butterfly. They are quite quick and don’t land for long.

The Blue-banded Bees are still hard at gathering pollen. This Salvia is a favourite. Blue-banded Bees are solitary bees and make their nest on the ground.

This year, the lovely pink flowers of the Crepe Myrtle looked stunning

The Cassia flowers are the main attraction for the Lemon Migrant Butterflies. I tried to get butterflies and flowers but the butterflies seem to disappear when the shutter button is pushed. Perhaps there is a lot of Lemon Migrants in there somewhere.

This Native Plant grows grows throughout the place. This is the first time one has grown in a garden bed.

The rain had sparked up the Hibiscus. The Miniature Red looks a treat covered in small red flowers…..

…..and there are many more on the way.

The red Salvia has so many flowers

Last month, the Ivory Curl flowers were just in the almost open stage. Now the Ivory Curl Bush is full of scented flowers and full of all manner if insects. Here a bee burrows down inside to get his pollen while the plant “paints” the bee with pollen from each of the tiny paint brushes.

Foxgloves, old and new, with water drops.

One of the weirdness of some Callistemon trees is the flowers come straight from the old growth branch. Here is a three stage of flower development in the one photo.

The tangerine flowers are stunning

The Champagne Pink Callistemon with yellow tips is so lovely.

The Roses are looking so good

I love the explosive effect you can get photographing Eucalypt flowers

A Lomandra flower and seed spear live up to their common name Spiky Club Rush, a waters edge plant that happily lives in garden and makes great borders.

Speaking of spiky, when out driving there always someone who says slow down, I’m sun-baking here mate. I had to get out of the car and almost touch the Bearded Dragon to get him to move off the road and find a safer spot to catch some rays.

I thought I would save the Yellow Paper Daisies so you could have a rest. I found these at the Raspberry Lookout. I had to clamber down the slope to get the photos. This is what I was concentrating on when the Wedge-tailed Eagle was watching me.