flood – bushboys world

The tower is only just visible

Published on July 9, 2022 by bushboy16 Comments

This is May 2022

Published on May 31, 2022May 31, 2022 by bushboy45 Comments

Well another wet and rainy month. Not as much rain as the previous three months but enough to keep the ground sodden. I didn’t take a lot of photos and some I did take just weren’t all that good as the light was quite poor.

Some of these photos have been enhanced using my photo editing program. Some people have asked what I use to edit my photos. I use Corel PaintShop Pro Ultimate 2022. I used to use Corel when I was working so it made sense to use the same program only a better version. I have used it since 2009 and upgraded every year as some of the function change and improve.

Trying to think of a May song for you to scroll to. Arcade Fire’s Month of May is a bit fast and you might get scrolling in a rapid fashion but I really like Arcade Fire. ACDC’s Stormy May Day seems appropriate being Aussie and the weather but not all enjoy ACDC. So I went for something a bit gentler and also a band who started their career in Australia with one of their lesser know songs which I love. Enjoy your scroll while having a listen.

I managed to get away for a few days to visit a mate at Port Stephens. I started my drive in rain and after a while the skies cleared and I was lucky enough to have a couple of days in sunshine.

This is sunrise from his place. So as the sun is up, lets go.

We went for a picnic and saw a White-bellied Sea Eagle cruising the shore line.

Meanwhile back at home the rains continued and again the Clarence Valley experienced a minor flood. Previous floods in March, the water went over the pylons but under the Grafton Bridge.

The Pacific Black Ducks didn’t seem to mind the high water.

I had fungi popping up around the place but not as much or as many as I thought. Possibly as it was wet and not much sunshine or heat in the soil.

I love the colour and frills on this little fungus

When I went to clean out the leaves from my water tank strainers, this big fat Green Tree Frog was sitting on the tank. It was not a good idea as a bird would have loved to make a meal of it. This photo was taken in my green house where I relocated the frog so it may have some insects to snack on as well be safe.

While in the shade house I took a few photos of the Begonias and the flowers. This is one is the better photos of Wax Begonia flowers with some water drops.

Water drops were everywhere and it was hard not to try and get a few photos despite the dismal overcast days. This orange Hibiscus has loved all the rain and has flowered better than ever.

I saw sparkles when one evening the sunset looked spectacular through the trees

This year the Zygote Cactus are flowering so well. I love this apricot coloured one which is a new one in the shade house getting started. Also has water drops all over.

I had this Zygote on the verandah and it wasn’t happy so I put the pot in the garden. It certainly enjoyed a change of scenery.

The Satin Bowerbird didn’t seem to mind when the rain started to fall. He was more intent on enjoying lunch.

Christine – Stine Writing – said she didn’t know that birds, other than parrots, could be green when I posted a photo of a Green Catbird Well here you go Christine here’s another one. A female Satin Bowerbird in the tree outside of my office.

The Satin Bowerbirds liked the fruit of the Benjamina Fig Tree

The Benjamina Fig Tree had a fantastic fruiting this year as well. The fruits are around 10mm and when they fall the Peaceful Doves walk around under the tree eating the fallen fruits

The little Silvereyes liked eating the figs too and then pop over to the Grevilleas for a bit of a sweet drink.

The bees enjoyed the sweet nectar too. Here a couple of bees shooting are the breeze over a few drinks.

The Chinese Lanterns looked good in May and continue to flower.

The Cats Whiskers are having a full on flowering too. After this flowering I will have to get some cuttings as I love Cats Whiskers as do insects. Unfortunately the Red-necked Wallabies like them as well so I have to fence the plants.

Through the bush the Egg and Bacon plants are flowering. Some are covered in these tiny 10-12mm flowers other plants have less numbers of flowers but are showy nevertheless.

At this time of year, the Eastern Spinebills turn up at my place. This Spinebill enjoyed the Pentas flowers in the garden.

One exciting thing to happen was that the Eastern Whipbirds that live in the gullies around my house have started to come into the garden. They are quite allusive and move rapidly through the undergrowth occasionally giving off their whip cracking call in the bushes. I managed to get this photo from my verandah.

The Golden Whistlers are in the garden too. This female was quite happy to pose for a few photos before flying off into the bush.

Sometimes the birds come to me. This Blue-faced Honeyeater flew onto the verandah to come to see what I was doing in my office.

What has been lacking for a lot of this year has been Red-necked Wallabies around the house. I was pleased to see a small mob turn up for a couple of days and one female had a joey. I grabbed a photo from the verandah down toward the end of the garden just as they were hopping away.

I was so glad that they turned up the next day and were in the garden for quite a while. The little Joey was quite adventurous and hopped away from Mum but not too far. Yes another verandah shot.

I did get out a couple of times and again I had a sunny day when I left the rain at my place and went to see a mate who was holidaying at Woolgoolga. On the way home I stopped at the lookout and there was a pair of Australasian Pipits hopping around the car park.

Another car park stroller. This time at the riverbank in Grafton while I was checking out the floodwaters a Crested Pigeon just walked past.

Another bit of excitement was when I was driving home from town one afternoon and I saw a Black-necked Stork in a flooded paddock that has turned into a quasi wetland. That is where I took the photos of the Black Swans recently. This time she was close to the road so I managed to get quite a number of good photos.

The Black-necked Stork is the only species of stork that occurs in Australia. Its name is a little misleading, as the bird’s neck is not black, but an iridescent green-and-blue sheen. I only just found out that the female has a yellow eye.

Another bit of excitement was hearing a sound in the garden late one afternoon and seeing a shape moving around the garden. I realised it wasn’t a Wallaby and saw a Northern Bandicoot looking for dinner in the garden. I rarely see Bandicoots but know they are around by the holes that are dug around the garden looking for worms and grubs.

The only other time I have taken a video of a Bandicoot in the chook house in 2014. You can see that this one is a female as there is movement in her pouch.

I think this could be a male but it moved quickly and I didn’t get a good look at it. When it stood on it’s back legs to see what it heard in the garden, it had its back to me. Males can weigh up to 3kg

As I mentioned before, one evening there was a spectacular sunset. I don’t get to see sunsets and sunrises living among the trees in the bush or forest, so when I do they are spectacular.

About The Changing Seasons

The Changing Seasons is a monthly project where bloggers around the world share their thoughts and feelings about the month just gone. We all approach this slightly differently — though generally with an emphasis on the photos we’ve taken during the month.

For many of us, looking back over these photos provides the structure and narrative of our post, so each month is different. Some focus on documenting the changes in a particular project — such as a garden, an art or craft project, or a photographic diary of a familiar landscape.

But in the end, it is your changing season, and you should approach it however works for you.

There are no fixed rules around post length or photo number — just a request that you respect your readers’ time and engagement.

Tags and ping-backs

Tag your photos with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

Create a ping-back to Ju-lyn at Touring My Backyard or this post, so that we can update it with links to all of yours.

Silent Sunday#2 – 13 March – The Sadness of Lismore

Published on March 13, 2022March 12, 2022 by bushboy46 Comments

Remember my photo of a church in Lismore?

This is what it looked like last week after floodwaters inundated the town.

Photo by Kirran Shah from https://www.facebook.com/groups/161370884384945/

Fandangos FOWC: Water

Hello world – a disjointed bit of a rave from a weary soul

Published on March 4, 2022 by bushboy74 Comments

Wow what a weird, sometimes hellish five days. I lost power on Monday afternoon and woke Tuesday to no phone. I thought it be all back on sometime Tuesday. Boy was I wrong. There were landslides on the Highway on Sunday night so no one could get into town. They were cleared on Tuesday. So much rain. I have have well over 300mls at my place at times winds as well. I have a leak in the roof from where the solar panels are installed but I can’t get to from inside the ceiling space as it is too small. I filled a twenty litre bucket one night from the drip from the ceiling.

There hasn’t been any other damage around the house and sheds that I have found. The ground is still squelchy, isn’t that a fabulous word, some plants in the garden don’t lie wet roots while others have thrived. Some are flowering for the second time. Yesterday I spent chasing butterflies to no avail but the garden has had over 15 different species. Some flit past the window and by the time I have my camera they are gone or tease by flying high and not landing or fly over the roof.

My sleep patterns are crap. Last night I went to bed at 7pm as I was so tired and of course woke at 3am. I managed to have a light breakfast and after a while snoozed from about 5:30 to 6:15. The Brush-tailed Possums are in mating mode so there is thumping on the roof as they scamper about. In case you don’t know, possum sex is very noisy as well.

Luckily my besties place is high on a hill and the dairy flats were under water, the cows were on the high paddocks at the rear of the dairy, so she is OK. Her nearest town Lismore is like a war zone and the whole town went under water, in some places well over two metres. Her daughter, partner and granddaughter are staying with her as her house went under water as well as her business. A lot can be saved but she won’t go back to the house and the building her business is in isn’t safe. When people needed saving from the rising flood waters, the State Emergency Service put a call out for people with boats to help. The “tinnie navy” responded and around two hundred people went out and rescued people from house roofs and some inside the roof space. With no access in or out of the town and everything under water the evacuation centres set up were overwhelmed with displaced people.

Now the flood waters are receding there is mountains of destroyed belongings on the streets as well as wrecked cars that just floated in the water banging into each other on bridges where people parked thinking their cars would be safe. There is a wonderful group of Sikh volunteers who turn up to natural disasters and cook meals and hand them out for free. They are wonderful people.

It is estimated that there are about 5,000 people who are homeless but it probably is more like 10,000 and there is no where for them to go. A lot of people are opening their homes to strangers and family.

Will rebuilding happen again on the floodplain? The building that my besties daughters business was in wasn’t insured as the premium was $28,000 per year and the owner couldn’t afford that or even justify passing the costs onto people renting space in the building.

My nearest town. Grafton, missed out on flood only by centimeters but the towns further down river have been flooded. A lot of the minor damage was from storm water and the small creeks that flow through the town. The hinterland had floodwaters in the lower part of their houses but most of those were built to the 1:100 year flood levels but this exceeded that so their garage and lower areas were flooded.

I didn’t take any photos when I went to town but there are hundreds on the internet and Facebook. Here’s some from years ago. The bottom is the Clarence River near my place

I want to thank everyone for their concern and wishes, I love my blog family

It’s in the elements

Published on February 2, 2022 by bushboy36 Comments

Terri’s Sunday Stills: The Power of the #Elements

Water – “All know that the drop merges into the ocean but few know that the ocean merges into the drop.” Kabir

Air – “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” Thich Nhat Hanh

Fire – “Set your life on fire, seek those who fan your flames. ” Rumi

Earth – “To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” Mahatma Gandhi

“A great silent space holds all of nature in its embrace. It also holds you” – Eckhart Tolle

Pick a Word – November 2021

Published on December 1, 2021 by bushboy20 Comments

Lost in Translation’s Thursdays Special: Pick a Word November 2021

Here is my November song to have a listen while looking at blogs

Paulas words are:

EMBELLISHED

LEAFAGE

PANORAMIC

PONDEROUS

SURROUNDED

It’s a bit wet

Published on March 22, 2021 by bushboy47 Comments

Fandango’s One Word Challenge: Inundate
Jez’s Water Water Everywhere #70

These two photo challenges are quite pertinent at the moment. There has been so much rain south of my place and now it has hit my bit of the East Coast of Australia. So many places are flooded and the rain is going to continue until Wednesday. At my place I have recorded 252mls of rain in the past week and that is what some of the Cities further south of me recorded in one day!!! And it is still raining.

I would love to show you some recent photos but it’s too wet and I also have had car troubles so you will have to make do with some old photos from past inundations.

My House Dam has been overflowing for days.

A bit of an Aussie song to scroll to

This is the Clarence River up the road from my place. Yes there is a bridge under there somewhere. The bridge was built as a low level bridge so debris and large trees up rooted wouldn’t slam into it causing damage.

The floodwater bubble and boil. Bottlebrush trees are riverine species and the bend with the flow. The more rigid trees will snap and break with the force of the water.