Today wasn’t a good walking day. I didn’t want to drive to walk somewhere and the gravel trucks have been trundling up and down all day. You wouldn’t believe the dust they throw up.
Therefore I want to take you on a bit of a walk along the track to the beach at Evans Head. Here’s your song so let’s go
Out of the car park down we go. On the top of the hind dune She-oaks and Banksias are growing
Sometimes the track goes up and over the next dune and a small stream
Once the vegetation starts to change you know you are getting close to the beach. The Pandanus are the dominant vegetation on thee front dunes and beach and they even grow on rocks.
And around the last bend, through some Pandanus and onto the sand
Sometimes the welcoming committee is large
and at other times, just a couple to greet you but someone will always be on the sand to greet you
PS I know lots of you have seen this little bloke. This is where he was put together with a Pandanus nut and some red kelp. I wonder how long he was sitting in the Paperbark tree before some one noticed. I hope he was treated kindly.
I am quite late with my wrap up for Changing Season for October. Lots has happened and but nothing significant. A lack of rain meant a lot of garden watering but when it did rain it was welcomed by everyone. Managed to do a bit of driving around having a look here and there. The garden looked good when the Hippesatrums flowered adding a splash of colour. Some of the seasonal birds have dropped in, some have stayed, some have kept going to another destination.
Here’s a bit of Aussie rock hoping for a bit of rain. I don’t know if you’ll need a drink and snacks but you could always have some handy just in case. Hit play and start scrolling. If Dragon aren’t to your taste, scroll back up and hit pause or stop.
OK The Sun is up so lets get going. Sunrise at my besties
The fog, the shed and trees next door in the morning
Some mornings everyone is awake early, just singing in the sunrise. Brown Honeyeaters are quite loud for their size.
So are Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. It was a foggy morning at home and sometimes you could hear a bird but not see them.
In the Ponytail Palm, the Willie Wagtails have made a nest. At the moment there are three babies.
Down at the beach a Sooty Oystercatcher takes a stroll past a disinterested Silver Gull
I love these little vertical birds. White-throated Treecreepers start at the bottom of a tree and just hop up and around the tree looking for insects living in the bark. I recently found out that the red spot under the eye means it is a female.
Here is the better one of the Satin Bower Bird and the pear. Much better than my October Last on the Card
At this time of year the Spangled Drongos arrive in the garden.
There is always someone checking out the available real estate. We were out for a walk and on the way I spotted some Rainbow Lorikeets on a big old Spotted Gum. They were inspecting the trees hollows to see if was a move in ready or if someone else already owns the space.
The Leaden Flycatchers were here for a few weeks in October. They don’t stay still for long
The Eastern Rosellas are always lovely to see.
After one of the irregular down pours, a Pied Currawong looked none too pleased……
…….neither did the Australian Raven
No one seems to mind if you hang out your washing when you’re at the beach. The other Darter just looks the other way while the Pied Cormorant tends to his own laundry.
While further along the Evans Head Breakwall an Eastern Water Dragon did a good impression of an Iguana
At my besties we were heading out for the day and the regular Koala to her place was just sitting beneath a tree and then he hopped up the tree a little way
Isn’t she pretty? A young Red-necked Wallaby who comes into my garden regularly. She doesn’t have a Joey or should I say a big Joey yet. Her pouch was flat. When Joeys are born they weigh about two grams. They pop their heads out of the pouch at around six months.
Just a tree and bit of blue sky to segue into the plants and flower section
Looking at the cactus centre as they have just started their Spring spurt. Look sorta familiar. Which blogger has a similar photo as her header?
A view down the garden when the Hippeastrums in the wheelbarrow just dominated the garden colour
The Frangipannis in the garden are starting to shoot
In Grafton the Jacaranda trees are in full bloom, so are the Flame Trees
The Jacaranda flowers have so many shades of purple.
A shower of rain came though giving the cactus with the most fantastic flowers a lovely drink and a water drop display. You’ll have to wait for photos of the flower as they have only just bloomed. Drop by for Macro Monday next week the 8th as there will be an open flower.
The Orange Hippeastrums where starting to bud at the end of October
Getting this photo of a white Daisy and a tiny Ghost Crab Spider, I took quite a lot from all angles. I wrote a post called What do you think? which generated so much traffic, in fact one of my most “popular” posts with 223 views and 124 likes 110 comments. The post was about whether I should delete or keep a photo of the Daisy and spider from another angle completely, as I am trying to be ruthless about keeping some photos that really should go.
On the way to my besties along The Summerland Way, the Coreopsis is flowering and the wind was blowing.
and the flowers stretched out along the side of the road. The background is a forestry pine forest that was burnt in the horrible 2019 statewide fires. Some tree are recovering while others have died. The understory are Eucalypts growing where they used to grow before the pine plantations. Some trees love fire to germinate the seeds that have been stored in the ground for years.
Many years ago there were Impatiens plants in garden beds at the front of my house. I have since removed those garden beds. This year all of these plants have sprung up all around the place with lovely flowers but not necessarily in the garden bed they were planted originally.
Going for a walk at Evans Head we were lucky to find some Flannel Flowers still growing. One of my favourite Australian Native Flowers.
A few days before a Full Moon, Our Moon was around in the early afternoon
I love it when the sunset is so good from my besties place in a spot we call Sunset Hill, the highest part of her place. My favourite is capturing these four trees that are a long way in the distance
Here is the same sunset a while later on from lower down in the yard. The tree and fence posts on the right hand side is Sunset Hill
I do hope you enjoyed a scroll thought my October. Any favourites?
I found this anchor on the headland at Evans Head. It dates from around 1900 according to the plaque. I should have paid more attention to what was written, alas I did not. The anchor doesn’t come from a named vessel as it was found by fishermen caught in their nets. It is quite rusty which was the appeal.
When I took my best mate for a drive during the week, we went to Evans Head on a rainy cool day. We went to the headland to have a look at the rugged up fishers on the beach, a couple of brave blokes surfing and generally at the wonderful view from there.
I saw a bird wheeling about over the waves and managed to get a couple of photos as the bird picked up speed with the winds assistance. They weren’t the best but at least the distant photo was OK
When I got home I looked up to see if I could identify what species of bird as I had never seen one before. I had to do an #asktwitter one of the scientists I follow. Dr Maggie Watson (@terngirl) confirmed that it was a Lesser Crested Tern. They are not seen this far south as their range is from the Mediterranean in the north to the lower part of the northern east coast of Australia around Brisbane.
bushboys world 