V.J’s Weekly Challenge: Upside down
Sometimes the world looks better upside down
or the flower goes upside down when you sit on the branch
or when your lunch is easier to eat that way
Tag: little wattlebird
Thursday’s Special: Pick a Word in November
I have been waiting all month for Paula to let this months Pick a Word out.
Here are the words that Paula has supplied and my interpretation through my photos
Palatial
Squirting
Cerulean
Radiating
Comic
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From below
The word prompt from Nancy: From Below
I am often scouting the trees for birds so sometimes I get unusual aspects of birds.
This could be called heads and tails of Little Wattlebirds
The Brown Pigeon was up high in the tree
Not all have been in the trees though
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Cees Black & White Photo Challenge
This photo challenge from Cee is words with double letters
I have gone double letters with two words. I took these photos of a Little Wattlebird a couple of days ago.
Looking about the Poinciana for a insect or two
You have to be an acrobat to find food under leaves
Perhaps there is something over there
Oh….it’s just a bloke with a camera
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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter T
This is interesting and challenging as I had to think of a subject that had two T’s for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: letter T – Needs to have two T’s anywhere in the word
The lovely Yellow Tufted Honeyeater
And the craziness of a Little Wattlebird
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Elevation
Join in with Debbie over at Travel with Intent with the word prompt: Elevation
Here is a my Elevations for the photo challenge
The Wattlebird has a good lookout in the coastal heath atop a Banksia
Pelicans in the harbour will find anywhere to sit
High in the Pine Tree, a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo surveys the best pine cones for dinner
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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter L
So many great blogs have already contributed to the Fun Foto Challenge: Letter L
My search found some “L” birds for your enjoyment
A Little Friarbird wondering what’s going on over there
Lewins Honeyeater feeling rather proud of himself
Little Wattlebirds “Oh come now Dave…..turn around”
The lovely little Leaden Flycatcher
Early morning, the Laughing Kookaburra has always something to say
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The Things of January
THE HOT SUMMERS DAYS are here and the lack of consistent rainfall has sapped my energy causing me to be indoors more often than out in the biting rays of the Sun.
However I did get out and about and went to the Bangalow Markets hoping for some photographic inspiration. There was a bit of action but on the whole my mojo wasn’t there.
The colours did grab my attention.
In some part of my besties garden, the flowers are always around. There is more rainfall and cooler weather there. I was taken by the red flower buds getting ready to burst forth.
Back in my garden the storms gave relief to the plants with a Murraya sending out its perfumed blossoms.
I love the Hibiscus schizopetalus. The flowers hang down from the long stems and dance in the breeze.
The small amounts of rain and a bit of hot weather has made a fungi or two pop out of the soil. This one was the biggest I have seen for a long while. I didn’t know what to use to show its size but a brick came in handy
It looked just as amazing from beneath as well.
It may be Summer but the Teak Tree has decided that it is time to lose its leaves making the garden have a temporary Autumn feel.
Summer time and the wasps are constructing their nests from chewed wood giving them a papery look, hence the name Paper Wasps. Unfortunately these are under the gutter at my besties and will have to go. When I had a bloke doing some building work at my place, he managed to disturb a nest and was stung on his ear and back. They chased him as he ran away from the nest. Paper Wasps in the bush are OK but around the house they have to move on.
Even though it is hot, early morning and late in the day, the butterflies are about. I think this is a Skipper whose wings have seen better days.
The Caper Whites are still around but no where near the numbers of late Spring.
Here is a large horse fly Triclista singularis’ These fly slowly with a loud buzzing and we gave them the nickname of B52s. When they do land and bite you really know it. This is the biggest fly around my place, around 25mm. It is rather pretty for a fly.
I noticed movement in the kitchen on a potted begonia I found a Praying Mantis. He hung around the kitchen for a few days before going outside. Fearsome looking but quite friendly.
The Yellow-faced Honeyeater looked pleased with itself as it puffed out its chest.
The constant calls of the Bar-shouldered Dove ring around the garden as they sit high among the trees.
They have a pink ring around their eyes which I hadn’t noticed before.
I love the feather patterns on the Little Wattlebird
There is a queue at the bird bath waiting for their turn.
A return visitor to the garden is a lovely little Forest Kingfisher. The orange spots stand out as does the wonderful white chest.
He was so obliging to turn around to show the striking blue feathers. When flying about the garden the flashes of blue catch the eye.
I hope the hot weather soon abates and February brings more things for me to share with you.
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Birds and butterflies and perhaps a snail
I really enjoy sitting down and writing. Something I haven’t done a lot of lately so this little bit of writing includes a lot of photos. I was intending to do a series of birdbath photos. Instead here is a selection of the two birdbaths, my besties birdbath and the small hanging pot that I found some of the birds at my place love to visit.
First off is the birdbath that has been a regular feature in a lot of my blogs. I still remember the first time I saw a Noisy Friarbird. They are so prehistoric looking. I tell visitors that they are Australia’s only vulture. Naughty aren’t I? Their songs are one of the most distinctive as they call in the bush. I love seeing them when two Noisy Friarbirds sing in unison, both doing the same movements as well.
The little Eastern Yellow Robin must have had a hot tail as he sat with his tail in the water for quite some time.
The White-browed Scrubwren was far more interested in what the other scrubwrens were doing underneath the birdbath.
“Oh for goodness sake, tidy yourself up!” The Spangled Drongos having a lovely time at the birdbath.
I wonder what the Little Wattlebird was giving the Drongo the stink eye about?
Here is the little hanging pot. One day the hole in the bottom was blocked with some leaves and dirt. It filled with water after the rain and I heard some birds having a good time, drinking and having a splash about. I sealed the bottom and now keep it filled with water. The small birds, especially the honeyeaters, are the ones who use it the most.
The White-throated Honeyeaters are regular users. They are here every afternoon to have a drink or a bit of a splash in the water.
One has a bath while the others keep a look out.
The Brown Honeyeater caught with his tongue out after taking a drink.
The Lewins Honeyeaters are in the garden most of the day. This one came for a drink in the middle of a rather warm March day.
Another tongue out shot. This time of a White-throated Honeyeater.
You can see why I need to keep the water up to the birdbath. The Lewins certainly enjoy a good splash.
The White-throated Honeyeaters are a bit more refined in their bathing habits.
I love seeing the little Thornbills in the garden. They always seem to have something to investigate.
The Whipbirds are always hiding behind something or rustling about in the garden under the bushes.
Enough of the birds. I also love Dragonflies. We were doing some bush regen down at the spring, when this Dragonfly took an interest in what we were doing. Yes, that is one of the lantana bushes he is sitting on that got pulled out.
After a bit more zooming around, I realised that he was doing something other than watching what we were doing. At least it reminded us to have a break and a snack.
Speaking of snacks. There was a loud buzzing and upon investigating, there was the fly caught in the web and a Daddy Long Legs getting ready to wrap the fly up for his dinner. Fly wrap anybody?
I don’t think it is fair to be called common but the butterfly world has many “common” butterflies. This Common Crow was very obliging to have its photo taken.
The Pentas are a great flowering shrub for butterflies.
Butterflies are so delicate as they stand on flowers to gather nectar.
Getting your proboscis right in there seems to be the way to go.
The Orchard Butterflies were in the garden a lot in march. These two were having a good time fluttering around the garden.
Quite often their dance became quite close and eventually there was a lot of blurred photos as they mated. As this isn’t one of “those” blogs I haven’t included the very blurry photos, mainly as they were very blurry
Aren’t they beautiful big butterflies?
Oh. That’s right. I did mention a snail didn’t I. One evening I went into the bathroom and saw something high up on the wall. The soft-shelled native snail was very shy and seemed to sense when I was close trying to get a photo and went into it’s shell. At least I know what was making holes in the leaves of the plant in the bathroom.
I am glad you have gotten to the end of one of the longest blogs I have done. Did you enjoy the journey? What was your favourite photo?
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Novembers discoveries
I love this time of year. The warmth starts everything growing, flowers bloom in the garden, many birds arrive to spend the end of the year and life just abounds. It also gives me a chance to find things at my place, at my besties, in town and everywhere I am wandering.
This year, the Hippeastrums were spectacular. The red ones were full of life and colour. Remember the native bees? The other colours bloomed after the reds and I found this little grasshopper while I was admiring the flowers. The grasshopper was inside the flowers trumpet but tended to be camera shy and started to get away from the lens.
I have no idea what this bug is! Maybe a grasshopper? I was standing in the garden when it decided to walk onto my foot. This bloke wasn’t camera shy at all and kept walking towards me. Just after I took this photo, he jumped onto the camera.
On my besties place, a farm for more than one hundred years, I came across this concrete pier from a building long since gone. This is the only pier I have found, covered in moss, laying in what is now a young rainforest.
Also down among the leaf litter are the fungi. This one looks like it has been tied up by the grass.
There is lots of this type of fungi. It seems to grow on rotting wood especially bits of the fig trees which have tumbled from the big old trees, the remnants of the original Big Scrub rainforest.
Now back to my place. I have found a couple of this grass species throughout the bush. The stem has a lot of purple fruit which really catch the eye when walking in the bush. This plant is growing beside the track to the house.
I love Gerberas, don’t you? They come in so many colours adding a splash of colour to the garden.
Enough of bugs and plants. The Bar-shouldered Doves have taken to walking around the garden in the mornings, examining the bits of bark and grass to find their breakfast.
We went to Ballina and came across these fluffy plover chicks who were in constant movement as the walked across the field, closely followed by the parents. Yes I was a chicken and stayed on the other side of the road as the parents didn’t like me getting too close.
My besties birdbath is a constant source of photo opportunities. The Little Wattlebirds have become a fixture in the garden over the past 3 years. This one looks like it saw me hiding on the verandah.
This year the Jacarandas in Grafton were amazing. The large tree near the building where I work had an extra surprise this year. A Figbird pair decided to make their nest close to the building. Here is mum coming back to the nest to feed the young one. I think she saw me at the window don’t you?
But she soon settled down the sit on the nest among the Jacaranda blooms.
A few days later, the wind was blowing when dad turned up to give the little feller a snack, blowing the blossoms away allowing a sneak peak at the young one.
Then he took over the nest sitting duties.
Late in the evening at my besties, the Green Catbirds start making their strange calls from high among the trees.
Yes it is getting dark. The flowers in the garden still shine in the encroaching darkness.
Well the sun is setting, so I must say goodnight and a goodnight from the Kookaburra too.
See you next time. What did you enjoy the most, the bugs, the fungi, the flowers or the birds?
