durranbah – bushboys world

Superstition

Published on July 13, 2018 by bushboy14 Comments

What?
Superstition
Why pick
on black cats?
What have we done?
I am content
resting here.
Look at me.
Angelic.
Come closer
Yes
Come closer
my pretty.
Superstition
will evaporate
as you become
lost in my eyes.
Come closer……

benny_with toy_eyes open_2011_selective colour

*This is Benny.
He lived a long happy life but could be a devil. He could be purring in your lap and suddenly he would attack your arm or leg. All the dogs in the neighbourhood were scared of him. Any dog that strayed down the drive, no matter if it was a big farm dog or small dog, you would always see them running up the drive with Benny in close pursuit.
So I guess it was bad luck for any other cat or dog to wander into Benny’s place.

My Winter Visitor

Published on July 7, 2018 by bushboy21 Comments

You all know how I go on about the Eastern Yellow Robins that are around here all the time…..this is a Rose Robin who drops in here when the weather gets a bit cooler. This bloke has his bright breeding plumage on. I have seen the female flitting around the garden but haven’t had my camera with me at the time.

rose robin1_named_home_july 2018

This is June 2018

Published on July 5, 2018 by bushboy13 Comments

Welcome to my world in June. Not an abundance of photos this time but I do recommend getting comfortable. June was the month where my bestie sold her 103 year old farmhouse in a Rain-forest, where a lot of bird bath and bird photos came from, and moved into her new place which is similar to my climate. It is a newish house but has a bird bath and a great bird attracting garden. So far we have identified 38 birds, some are in this post. As you can see I have been a bit busy helping move house.

The house is still in a rural setting.
cow_clothes line_named_caniaba_june 2018

This is my first attempt at photographing Dandelion seed heads.
dandelion seed head_named_caniaba_june 2018

One afternoon the sky became fierce looking. Quite an angry face looking out isn’t it?
cloud_named_caniaba_june 2018

The early morning at my place walking through the Blady Grass. It was very dry in the previous months. Green shoots struggled to grow among the dry brown grass.
blady grass_named_home_june 2018

This native plant is growing in the middle of a paddock. The Autumn saw the stalk covered in white flowers. I hope the seeds have spread and not harvested by ants.
seed pods_plant_named_home_june 2018
June is the month for the Lismore, a town nearby, Lantern Parade. I didn’t get many good parade photos. There were a number of Orchid lanterns hanging in the trees in the park where the show and fireworks took place. lantern_named_lismore_june 2018
The fireworks were quite spectacular. fireworks_named_lismore_june 2018

While my bestie was moving house, I was given some, OK a lot, of plants to look after. The Kalenchoe loved being in my sun room and has put on a wonderful display of flowers.
kalenchoe flower_named_home_hune 2018
Winter has also brought some other visitors into the house. I usually have native rodents come into the warmth. I have a trap to catch them and then they get taken back into the bush. This time I have had a House Mouse or two in the pantry. This little fat one, I suspect to be a pregnant female, was relocated up the road. mouse_named_home_june 2018
This is the big section of birds for the month of June

The little Silvereyes have really taken to the hanging pot bird bath and drinking place.
silvereyes_hanging pot_named_home_june 2018

The other bigger birds prefer to use this bird bath. A female or juvenile Satin Bowerbird was chatting to someone nearby.
satin bowerbird_female_bird bath_named_home_june 2018

A Yellow-faced Honeyeater takes a drink.
yellow faced honeyater_named_home_june 2018

A Yellow-faced Honeyeater at my besties has claimed this branch of a tree.
yellow faced honeyeater_named_caniaba_june 2018

There has been quite a number of Yellow-rumped Thornbills around my garden
yellow rumped thornbill_named_home_june 2018

A very cute looking Jackie Winter enjoyed the morning sun on the fence.
jackie winter_named_home_june 2018
While we were walking along a road, we came across a small flock of Variegated Fairy Wrens darting in the grass beside the road. A young one made an appearance on a nearby tree. vareigated fairy wren_young_named_caniaba_june 2018

Of course I couldn’t let a post go past without my favourite, an Eastern Yellow Robin. Sadly we had to leave Bobbin behind so maybe this one at my place will be the the new substitute. I haven’t found the right name yet. Any suggestions?
northern yellow robin_named_home_june 2018

One afternoon a small flock of Red-browed Firetails came looking for grass seeds in the front garden.
red browed finches_named_home_june 2018

A young Lewins Honeyeater found a great lookout atop a red flowering Eucalypt.
lewins honeyeater_red gum flowers_named_caniaba_june 2018

The Rainbow Lorikeets came for the Eucalypt flowers too.
rainbow lorikeet_named_caniaba_june 2018

A Rufous Whistler singing an early morning song
rufous whistler_named_caniaba_june 2018

It was lovely to have a welcome to the new place with a number of Welcome Swallows who zoom around the verandahs and sit on the fence to do their laundry.
welcome swallow_named_caniaba_june 2018

Another bloke who likes to sit on the fence to survey the lawn for insects is the Restless Flycatcher. They make the most amazing sound. I tried to make a video but it wasn’t the best sound quality.
restless flycatcher_named_caniaba_june 2018

An Eastern Rosella wanted to see what we were doing in the new garden.
eastern rosella_named_caniaba_june 2018

At my place, a number of Noisy Miners were carrying on. They didn’t like the Kookaburra being too close to their nests.
kookaburra_noisey minors_named_home_june 2018

I thought it was going to be a cold night after finding a Kookaburra family cosying up for the night in the late evening.
kookaburras_named_lilydale_june 2018

A Pacific Black Duck showing a flash of turquoise as it paddled on the creek.
pacific black duck_named_caniaba_june 2018

A young Straw-necked Ibis didn’t want me to take its photo as it strolled in a nearby paddock.
Ibis_named_caniaba_june 2018

This bloke didn’t seem to mind though.
straw necked ibis_named_lismore_june 2018

The Sacred Ibis look wonderful as they wheel about in the sky
ibis_flying_named_lismore_june 2018

A Common Tern was fishing down by the estuary. Gliding along and then suddemly plumetting into the water. I didn’t see it catch a fish though.
common tern_flying_named_ballina_june 2018

The Moon and a plane.
plane_moon_day_named_caniaba_june 2018

Well the sun is almost setting. Thanks for joining me in This is June
sunset_named_caniaba_june 2018

Hope to see you next month

A Track

Published on June 30, 2018 by bushboy4 Comments

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge

Can you see the tracks through the waist high Blady Grass? Left, right and straight ahead. The tracks are made by Red-necked Wallabies mainly. Bettongs and other small animals use them as well

180630_blog challenge_which way_track_blady grass

Cee's-which-way-1

Square Rooves #30

Published on June 30, 2018July 6, 2018 by bushboy15 Comments

It’s the last day for #RoofSquares in June. I have shown rooves from Europe, Asia and Australia.

For the last post I thought I would show you my rooves. Living in the bush a man needs his sheds. From the first house I built to the many sheds with their own purpose. OK I enjoyed building sheds. There have been previous posts with a bit of a story of the building. Have a look at the past posts The old house My daughters playhouse

Here is the rooves of my place
The remains of the first home I built. This part is the bathroom and laundry and is now where I park the farm ute, Old Smokey.
180630_square rooves_my place_old house
The girls playhouse totally built from recycled materials
180630_square rooves_my rooves_playhouse
The old chook house which has seen better days

The early workshop, feed shed and general storage

The same shed from a different angle. This part was the potting shed, garden tools and plant house.
180630_square rooves_my place_tool shed2
The big shed. Has ~~junk~~ worthwhile stuff, things that will come in handy one day. Built from poles in the ground cut, barked from the property across the road. They were going to burn the timber that was pushed down with a dozer and piled up. I asked if I could take some poles and built the chook house, this shed and a couple of water tank stands. The bit behind the water tank is where the Grey Fergie lives
180630_square rooves_my rooves_tall shed
Another view of the shed and carport. Upstairs is furniture that will be restored one day

The big tin shed that is becoming my new workshop
180630_square rooves_my place_tin shed

I almost forgot to include my home. Luckily I had this one from the Square Sky series
171220_storm on way_named_home_dec 2017 - Copy

Thanks to Becky for hosting this photo challenge. I had fun and hope you enjoyed my Square Rooves for June.

Check out the rooves at Beckys

More Birds for Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge

Published on June 29, 2018 by bushboy19 Comments

I have lots of birds for Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge of Birds

Here are my Black and White Birds

Magpie Geese resting up after a long migratory flight
180629_blog challenge_black and white_birds_magpie geese

Wonderful Willie Wagtail as he hops about the grass looking for a snack
180629_blog challenge_black and white_birds_willie wagtail

A White-winged Chough surveys where to walk to next
180629_blog challenge_black and white_birds_white winged chough

A raucous Magpie Lark, or better known as Pee Wees, shouts at a tree
180629_blog challenge_black and white_birds_magpie lark

Meet Chip, the Magpie who used to knock on the door to get a small snack, at my besties
180629_blog challenge_black and white_birds_magpie

This Pied Butcher Bird would always come when I was in the bush cutting firewood hoping that I would disturb a grub or two.
180629_blog challenge_black and white_birds_pied butcher bird

A Pied Cormorant catching a bit of afternoon sun
180629_blog challenge_black and white_birds_pied cormorant

A Pied Currawong looking for a free feed at the picnic table
pied currawong91_named_home_oct 2017

Birds in Black and White

Published on June 29, 2018 by bushboy11 Comments

Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge : Birds

One day I was looking at some of my bird photos. One in particular was of a heron standing in a tree in my backyard with the sun behind. The silhouette wasn’t that clear, so I set about changing the white areas to very white and the bird and tree to black.

Of course this started a series of converting colour photos to grey-scale so I could hand colour what I wanted. You can see at the very top of the Rainbow Bee Eater below where I missed a small amount of the white.

When I print these and frame them I didn’t need a frame around the photo. On a blog post the white does disappear and the edges are gone. The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo just flies around the page.

This one, a New Holland Honeyeater on a Banksia, was the most difficult but worth the effort don’t you think?
The Golden Whistler singing among the many branches was also a bit fiddly. I left a little bit of his yellow on his throat but didn’t make it white as something different to the others

Writing the post wasn’t easy either as I added all the photos in one go and had to find the spaces to write. I thought about doing borders for this post. Do you think I should have put borders on the photos?