Kate’s Friday Fun: Portraits
The many portraits from the collection
Tag: goanna
Spiky Squares #26
Becky has started a new photo challenge for March #SpikySquare Drop into Beckys Spiky Square site for some details and other peoples spiky photos.
The rules are simple:
Have fun interpreting the spikiness but don’t forget there is ONE absolute rule for this daily photo challenge – your main photograph must be square.
Share this:
Animals in Nature
The weekly word prompt: Animals in Nature
I thought I would show a bit about the Animals in Nature that are around my place. I have snakes that I occasionally see. Most are quick to disappear as I come along.
The Green Tree Snake is a small harmless snake with beautiful colours.
I caught this Carpet Snake or Python in my chook house and had to take him for a walk up the road. Another harmless snake who will give you a good squeeze though.
A Long-necked Tortoise sunning on a rock that looks like a tortoise.
Goannas are quick to run up the nearest thing they find so never pretend to be a tree. Another animal that likes to eat my chooks eggs. When I can I catch them and take them for a drive as once they know where easy eating is, they will keep coming back.
Perhaps I should finish on a bit of warm and cuddly. Rarely are Koalas on my place or actually more the fact that I don’t see them. My place is on the travelling corridor they use to move about so they pass through.
Share this:
Spring brings life
Spring has begun and is almost over so I better get going and post some of my world in spring so far. There has been a lot happening, too many photos to sort through and making time to write, sort, edit and get it out!!!!
My old friend a few properties down the street is no longer able to care for himself and has gone into a care facility. His garden has been a source of inspiration and his help has made my garden a better place. He was always coming with bulbs, seeds or cuttings some of which have survived the dry periods and some just reappear much to my amazement.
This Iris was one of the first things I saw as I visited him before he left. A stunning splash of purple.
Of course it attracted the native stingless bees
The Grevilleas begin to bud at the start of spring. They don’t look as spectacular as the flowers but have a certain furry interest……
….and then they bloom into the most fantastic flower displaying many hues and colours.
The Honey Gem attracts so many birds to my garden but when you look closely you find some of the smaller creatures in my garden.
Throughout the bush around my place, the yellows and oranges of the Jacksonias splash colour into the bush.
I love the tiny native flowers that appear throughout the bush. This tiny yellow flower is about 10mm in diameter.
Another tiny native that has the most hairy leaves.
I am amazed that the lichen has regenerated from what looked like a dead blob in the grass. A small amount of rain bought it to life.
This is part of my “front lawn” I don’t have much grass and what is here is native grasses. I rarely cut the grass as there are so many tiny flowers that either grow at ground level or are on small stalks. This moss has gone to seed or is it the flowers?
Come spring everyone wakes up. Some like to prowl around the garden and “back yard” looking for things to eat. This bloke was looking for my chooks eggs!!!
One day coming home from town, there was a raucous noise and the sky suddenly was dotted with a huge flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. This year there has seemed to be lots of them around. Sometimes in large flock or in just a few, screeching as they wheel about the sky.
I spent ages by the side of the road watching the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos argue of the best perch and change trees to find something to eat. Their aerobatics are superb don’t you think?
I am the boss of this tree and can see for kilometers.
Ahh….there is nothing as good as a pine cone.
Heralding in the morning, Kookaburras fill the air with their call. I love the bit of blue on their wings.
The beautiful call of the Grey Shrike Thrush is such a pleasant change from the usual suspects, Friarbirds, Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Ravens.
At my besties, the Emerald doves pop in for a quick drink from the bird bath. THe shimmer of green is eye-catching as they move through the bush.
A rare visitor to my road were these Crimson Rosellas. The bloke up the road put out feed for his horses and a flock of Rosellas dropped in for lunch.
Their colours are very striking. The red can be seen from a distance s they jumped about among the horses.
On a walk up the road, I found a Blue-faced Honeyeaters nest. As I was watching it became change over time.
A keen eye was kept on me before he settled onto the nest.
The best part was the Rainbow Bee Eaters as they swooped around. I played around with my photo program to see if I could get a different effect.
Thanks for hanging out with me for a while.
Share this:
Decembers last bits
December has almost gone as is 2014. It has been a year of new discoveries through the camera’s lens. One of finding new people reading the words and looking at the photos as well as friends who send words of encouragement and love. This blog is one of looking at a series of photos in small snap shots of my world, some of it fascinating, some of it amazing as well as a bit of new life that has been happening around my place over the past month. How about we start off with one of my favourite subjects – fungi.
As the weather has turned from ever so dry to one of good rains, so the fungi have started to emerge in the forest floor. This little one was doing what fungi like to do, live in the darkness.
The wood fungus looked ever so coloured as the rain was falling as I found this stick with the two fungi and an air fern.
The birds have been enjoying the bananas at my besties place. The cows snuck into the house yard and decided to have a munch on some banana leaves which also resulted in the bunch being pushed over and needing rescuing. Some of the birds thought it was a good idea to hang the bunch up too. The Lewins Honeyeaters licked their beaks at the thought of bananas for breakfast.
The Catbirds also enjoyed their snack too
Really getting into the mood for eating
The sound of the Spangled Drongos calling caught my attention. When I got to their nest tree I saw a battle of epic proportions. The goanna was going to get up there no matter what, licking his lips all the way. Can you spot the Drongo?
The Drongos were having none of it though.
They swooped and dived clicking their beaks near the goannas head.
After a while the goanna was a bit sick of all the attention and decided that it was more fun to be somewhere else.
Then it was back to business, with the young ones and their demanding ways.
Another trip back from the “bush supermarket”.
While watching the Drongos, nearby was this young Bar-shouldered Dove sitting very still.
Every sunset is so different. One afternoon the setting sun was just glorious
The colours deepened the reds and oranges just burst through the sky
Looking a bit closer, the sky looked like the embers of a raging fire.
I love our moon and even when it’s only half, it still shine its light upon us.
That’s all for 2014, see you next year with hopefully many more discoveries and wonders that our world has for all of us to share. Have a great 2015.
PS When I got home yesterday, I went to see the Drongos and it looks like the goanna had finally won. The nest was empty and a bit dishevelled and the Spangled Drongos have gone…a sad end to my year 😦
Share this:
At the beach and in the garden
This time of year plants get a boost on before the cold sets in around here. March is the best time to plant. This year summer was extremely dry but when the rains came flowers appeared showing their fantastic colours, shapes and scents attracting pollinating insects. The days are quite warm and quite often a trip to the beach is taken and sometimes, if the water isn’t too cold, a swim but usually I sit around camera in hand hoping something interesting will come into view.
Here is a few things I found, the good the bad and the ugly. Ready to go? I think I might start with a couple of photos at the beach and see where we go from there. I like to find a nice pandanus to sit under out of the sun.
Always there are seagulls whizzing around, perhaps looking for that chip tossed by someone.
But this day the bonus was the Osprey wheeling about the sky.
And occasionally hovering over the water.
As I said, it was wonderful when the rain came, clouds full of promise and delivery. I liked the way the clouds and trees matched shapes.
The insects are busy buzzing around before the cold sets in. They are everywhere looking for nectar or whatever will sustain them for the coming months. The honey bees and little native bees were all over the Hibiscus zipping from flower to flower.
This year, the cicadas were in full song, at time deafening. The garden is full of their shells.
I found this tiny tiny moth on the door. It is about 10mm in length and very hairy.
Among the flowers in the garden, the Pink Euodia was the pick of many insects and birds.
The Lewins Honeyeater was very protective of “his” tree giving anyone who dared try to sample the blossoms a quick seeing off.
The Butterfly Bush was full of flowers as well. They just look superb as the flowers seem ready to fly.
This year the Cats Whiskers seemed to have more purple on the tips.
I was disappointed that the bees didn’t seem to want to be around the White Crocus as much as they were around the pink one.
This so white flower with its lovely red centre was the only one in the garden.
I love the shadow of the stamens shadow on the petals of the flower.
Early morning and the buds were almost ready to burst.
On the ground, the Grey Shrike-thrush hopped about the garden looking here and there for a bit of lunch.
While one of my favourite bird, the Eastern Yellow Robin sat on the post watching for movement in the garden.
During the long hot summer days I go down to the chook house to gather the eggs. Sometimes I come back empty-handed. This bloke is one of the reasons for that. I went into the chook house and he scarpered out, too fast for me to catch and sat up in the tree.
Well the Moon has risen so it must be time for bed. I hope you have had a good time at the beach and in the garden with me.
brian
Share this:
February has been interesting
As usual I have been out and about finding stuff and having stuff find me. There has been some nice moments as well as some that were a bit on the reptilian side. The world still is an amazing place with wonders that has colour from the sky above to the little creatures who live among us. If you love being alive to experience stuff then come with me to the things I find that sometimes take my breath away or make me sit and watch with amazement.
Let’s begin with a wonderous morning sky. Not a barrage of colour, just light bright sky with the most amazing clouds.
This time I am going to get the photos that could frighten some people out-of-the-way early. So if you are scared of reptile have a quick scroll now. I love Goannas, except when the eat my chooks eggs!! When I can I catch them and move them up the road to eat someone elses eggs ha ha ha. This one was a bit big – around 2 meters and the cat treed him.
You can see how they manage to climb a tree so quickly.
But they have interesting faces.
OK You can stop scrolling here if that was too much for you delicate constitutions.
The dam at the top of the road often has some interesting visitors. The other day two different species of Heron were stalking the edges, a White Faced Heron…
And a Pacific Heron
While a Pacific Baza watched from a nearby tree, probably eyeing off the chooks
The large bits of the world are always easy to see and find but it’s often the small that take my eye. Some bugs just wander into my world, wander about for a while then off they go on important bug business. Remember that Shield Bug
This time the dragonfly flitting about was a brilliant red not like the last one who was more a yellow colour
While the Cassia are in flower the bees buzz about. This bloke was given a pat on the back for a flower visit.
And as always there are butterflies…The Speckled Line Blue was playing catch with another. It was fun to watch one hide until discovered by the other and then they just spiralled into the air until one zipped away and hid.
And the Northern Ringlet – I think – has great spot “eyes” to keep predators at bay.
As butterflies enjoy flowers, so do I, the colours and shapes are a source of great photos.
And again this time a yellow explosion from the ground
Have you ever looked closely at a Hydrangea flower
Silk Tree flowers have great colour and form but do look a bit messy as they don’t last long.
Well the sun is going down once again, February has had a bit of variety hasn’t it?
Thanks for the visit….see you next time
brian
