Nancy’s Photo a Week Challenge: Something New
Welcome Swallows
Brown Honeyeaters
Spangled Drongos
\Pied Currawong
Fig Bird
Tag: chicks
Seeking Warmth
The prompt from Terri for the Sunday Stills: Seeking #Warmth
We all seek warmth in our own way
Some have a way to catch those rays
It’s blissful with the sun warming your back
When the chill of the afternoon strikes you need family to huddle together
Or have a little brother to keep you warm
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Adorable
The Daily Word Prompt from Sheryl: Adorable
A cool day had the Superb Fairy Wren chicks keeping warm in the late afternoon sunshine
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New life
The word prompt for Nancy’s Photo a Week Challenge: New
Here is new life. The featured photo is a Red-necked Wallaby joey hanging around at the front of my place.
The three Welcome Swallow chicks crammed into their nest of grass and mud.
Grey Fantail chicks snoozing in the Spring sun.
The Brown Honeyeater chicks waiting for an adult to appear with food.
Fairy Wren chicks huddled together taking in the afternoon sun on a chilly day
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The Brown Honeyeaters – A Spring Story
During Spring, the Brown Honeyeater decided that a Lilli Pilli in a pot near the verandah at my besties house was a great place to build a nest. It gave me an opportunity to have a sneak peek into the life of Brown Honeyeaters.
Sitting on the verandah, having a cup of tea, we noticed a small bird flying in and out of the Lilli Pilli tree in a pot near the verandah. I had to go and see what was going on. I found the start of the nest construction. They must have been doing it for a few days before we saw the goings on. Both the female and the male were building the nest.
A few days later the nest was taking shape.
All manner of vegetation – grass, bark, lichen and spiders web was used. 
This is the location of the nest.
Looks like I was spotted!
Off she goes to gather more materials.
Every now and then she would wiggle about in the nest to get the shape right.
She was in there for a long time this day. I think she was laying an egg.
Yes! I was right, an egg is in the nest. It is so small. Probably about a thumb nail size.
A few days later another egg appeared.
It didn’t take long for some chicks to make an appearance. I missed out getting any photos when they were small pink chicks. A rather nasty storm was coming so my bestie dragged the pot onto the verandah. Luckily she did as the wind blew hard, the rain poured down and there was a bit of hail.
Now comes the hard work for the parents. Both the female and the male were constantly flying back and forth with food for their babies.
Ooops….looks like I was spotted again.
Chick one gets a morsel.
and then chick two.
Part of being a parent is cleaning up after your children. This is the removal of what I call a poo sac. This keeps the nest clean and stops insects, mainly ants, getting into the nest.
They are getting bigger. When I approached, they would flatten themselves against the sides of the nest.
After a busy day looking after the chicks, it’s good to have a bath and relax.
Unfortunately I missed out on the chicks leaving the nest. It didn’t take long from eggs to flying little birds.
I think I am lucky to be part of the Brown Honeyeaters life. They have all gone from my besties garden now. Off on their migratory path to a new place for Summer and I hope they come back next year. We are going to leave the nest in place to see what may happen.
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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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Little birds and flowers
What have I found over the past couple of weeks? The rooster has been doing what roosters do and the hen has been doing what hens do – sometimes. Yes, the Big Red Rooster (remember him) and the hens have produced a small but cute batch of chicks. The Fantail eggs (from the last blog) have hatched and two little chicks are doing well. But first, I have found some beautiful flowers.
This flower I have since found out can be rather weedy in its habit. The red and green together really caught my eye.
The Pelargoniums are flowering with their unusual petals and lovely colours.
Orange flowers stand out and this one was trying to attract insects.
The yellow colours around the garden add a splash among the greenery.
But the reds are very striking and this flower is most unusual.
The Lewins Honeyeaters are always zooming around the garden making sure that everyone behaves or sitting and watching.
The White-browed Scrub Wrens are always foraging among the leaf litter in the garden. They look quite small when they pop up onto the deck.
The chickens hatched out a week ago. I came home to the sounds of a very proud hen cluck clucking ready to show me how clever she was hatching out these little fluff balls.
The little red chick was always in or around the food bowl.
I hope it is a hen as I haven’t had any red hens for ages.
One of the yellow chicks seemed to be very interested in what I was doing.
The Fantails nest has been all go with both eggs hatching and two hungry mouths to feed.
Every now and then, they would curl up together and have a nap.
They always seem to know when one of the parents is around with food.
There is always something to catch around the garden.
Which is delivered quickly to the babies.
Afterwards there is time to have a bit of a stretch.
When it gets a bit cooler in the evening, one of the parents comes for a sit to keep them warm.
It’s good just to sit and contemplate their future.
I think the time spent sitting on eggs and keeping chicks warm may have seemed a bit boring.
Aren’t the whiskers around the beak amazing. I didn’t know that they had those did you?
That’s all from flowers and baby birds. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of new lives in my life.
