It’s in the eyes

Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge – June alphabet letter I anywhere in the words or Eyes

Here is a selection of eyes to enjoy and a song to scroll to. All the names are in the tags if you are interested.

The colour is gone

The Bird Weekly Photo Challenge: Birds in Black and White

I thought I had already contributed to Lisa’s photo challenge and looking through my posts I can see that I have written quite a number of posts with a similar theme. I will have to dig into the archives for this one so sorry if you have seen some of these before

Here’s a short song that I discovered many many years ago. I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do.

This is November 2019

November has been quite a month. I managed to get away for a week and a half, part of October and the beginning of November, to Tasmania where I experienced fresh air, so many different sights and managed to relax. I am still working on a post of my Tasmanian adventure. I have already shared a couple of photos in some of the photo challenges.

Unfortunately I came back to the heavy smoky atmosphere which has made it quite difficult to relax or feel calm. The constant smoke has affected my lungs, a bit of a “smokers cough” and my eyes are quite sore at times. Be assured I am safe and will remain so. I have repacked my car with some of my “treasures” and am ready to go when I have to. I shan’t dwell on this part of my life but there will be touches along the way in This is November.

This isn’t huge but you may like to make yourself comfortable, settle back and let’s go…..

Most of my sunrises are like this through the smoke
sunrise_fire_orange_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019

I had to get out and see where the fires were to the west. Took a bit of a detour to Cangi. You cross this wooden bridge over the Mann River.bridge_wood_mann river_named_cangi_nov 2019
The water levels are quite low. It is still a pretty place to stop and contemplate the world.mann river_named_cangi_nov 2019
I was surprised to see quite a few small fishfish_mann river_named_cangi_nov 2019
There must be bigger fish in the Mann otherwise this Pied Cormorant is just hanging about enjoying the ambience.pied cormorant_mann river_named_cangi_nov 2019
I watched the White-faced Heron stalking among the rocks. He did eventually catch a small fish which was quickly gobbled down.white-faced heron_mann river_named_cangi_nov 2019
I think he may have followed me home. I saw him sitting in a tree in the garden.white faced heron_garden_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
I have a family of Laughing Kookaburras who are around the garden on a regular basis. This fella liked to show his tail feathers off.kookaburra+tail_colour_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
The older Kookaburra is showing his age now.kookaburra_gate_watching_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
I have an old swimming pool which is a bit of a frog pond. The evaporation is taking the water so the frogs are getting snapped up.kookaburra_frog_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
Once lunch has been consumed, it’s off to sit in an old gum tree.kookaburra_flying_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
How hot has it been in November?king parrot_hot2_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
The young King Parrot liked to sit in the shade of the verandah and let a cool breeze get through his feathers. He also asked for a drink and a snack with an enquiring face.king parrot_hot_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019

Some days there was a queue to get a drink and a quick splash at the bird bath. A White-throated Honeyeater makes a King Parrot wait her turn.
king parrot_female_white throated honeyeater_garden_water_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
The Satin Bowerbird found a water pot on the ground where the Brush Tailed Possums and Wallabies drink.satin bowerbird_drink_ground_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
At my besties place sometimes the bird bath gets quite crowdedscaly-breasted lorikeets_rainbow lorikeets_croiwd_bird bath_named_caniaba_nov 2019
Scaly-breasted Lorikeets and Rainbow Lorikeets often squabble over whose turn it is.scaly-breasted lorikeets_rainbow lorikeet_flying_bird bath_named_caniaba_nov 2019
The “just out of the bath” is not a good look for a Scaly-breasted Lorikeet.scaly-breasted lorikeet_bird bath_named_caniaba_nov 2019
Meanwhile, a Olive-backed Oriel was keeping an eye on what was going on.olive-backed oriel_garden_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
The Crested Pigeon really loved sitting on the shovel handle.crested pigeon_shovel_named_caniaba_nov 2019
A rare visitor to my besties garden is an Australasian Pipit. He walked among the grasses looking for insects.australiasian pipit_named_caniaba_nov 2019
I don’t think this Noisy Friarbird wanted his photo takenfriar bird_looking_close_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
There may not be much water around but the dragonflies are flitting about the garden.dragonfly_red_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
I love a close updragonfly_red_close_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
One of my pot plants, a Calathea has small delicate flowers.flower_calathea_plant_pot_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
The bees were everywhere on the Eucalypt flowers down at the river at Cangi.flower_eucalypt_white_bee_named_cangi_nov 2019
Another plant my friend Geoff gave me has flowered. a wonderful Day Lily.day lily_yellow_garden_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
The Stingless Native Bees love it too.stingless native bee_day lily_orange_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
Look at the well filled pollen sacs on these tiny bees.stingless native bees_hippeastrum_garden_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
One of the almost daily occurrences are the helicopters going to the nearby Clarence River to fill the water buckets. Sometimes they fly over my house. That is smoke not cloud. The fires are not near my place.helicopter_bucket_fires_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
Well the sun is setting so it’s almost time to go.sun_smoke_fire_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
The solar lights have come on in the garden.garden_light_solar_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019
and our Moon is bright overhead.full moon_named_home_jackadgery_nov 2019

I hope you had a lovely time wandering through my world. We must do it again sometime.
PS Yesterday the fires jumped the highway and are at Cangi today. This does not bode well for me as westerly winds will eventually send the fire towards my place. Cangi is around 25kms from here. Hopefully that old wooden bridge will be OK. The Rural Fire Service has the fire under control at the moment.

Also included in Su’s  The Changing Seasons Do drop by and see the wonderful posts over at Su’s place

Pick a Word in September

Paula’s Pick a Word in September

This month Paula has supplied some words that are a lot easier than the previous Pick a Word photo challenges. No you aren’t losing your edge.

Combusting

180627_colourful_fireworks1

Hot Dog

truck_dog_m-bah_named_jan 2014

Fluttering

170519_blog challenge_movement_orchard butterflies08

Scrumptious

blog_feeding-kookaburra07_home_jan-2017

Avian

190107_blog_challenge_birds_rainbow_bee-eaters

 

 

 

This is June 2018

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

Where

The word prompt from Debbie at Travel With Intent: Where

Where have these photos been taken?

From my desk in the office through the glass door
A chook often comes to see what I am doing
chook_named_home_nov 2017
A Noisy Friarbird looking in the door
noisy friarbird_named_home_oct 2017
The Kookaburra heard me move I think
kookaburra_named_home_oct 2017

A Brush-tailed Possum found a snack
brush tailed possum_baby_named_home_oct 2017

A tiny Spotted Pardalote investigating for insects
spotted paradalote_verandah_named_home_july 2017

The Rose Robin was tweeting away
rose robin02_home_named_july 2014

Sometimes a Huntsman Spider will find insects hovering around the computer screen
huntsman02_screen _named_home_feb 2016

Black and White Birds

Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: Heads or Facial Features

A Blue-faced Honeyeater enjoying some lunch
180323_faces_blackandwhite_blue faced honeyeater

A Bush Stone Curlew was not impressed with me waking it up
180323_faces_blackandwhite_curlew

Getting up close and personal with a Kookaburra
180323_faces_blackandwhite_kookaburra

Black-&-White-Banner