April was another wet month but not as wet as March. The ground around the house is still soggy thanks to rain last night. Thankfully a few days of little or no rain made it possible to mow the jungle around the house but it is still too wet to get the chainsaw out to cut firewood for Winter.
I have lots of logs to choose from nearby that have been the fallen trees after the fire. They are nicely seasoned now and will make good burning timber once I can get to them.
Here is your April music to scroll through the photos. I think you will enjoy this one. I haven’t heard it before so a new one for me too.
Here’s an appropriate car so jump in and let’s get going.
Tiny wants me to get off the computer and hand out some seeds for his breakfast.
Another photo from my office. This time through the door of a Satin Bowerbird.
Lots of birds have been making Durranbah a place to rest, eat and have a bit of a song. Golden Whistlers songs fill the bush. This is a female Golden Whistler
The little Brown Honeyeaters like to sip from Pentas flowers
Especially in the early morning
It was good to see a group of Grey-crowned Babblers in my garden
They like to rip apart the Stringybark trees looking for insects or walk about on the ground flicking over leaves and bits of bark.
Another visitor is a number of
Sometimes they look quite serious
A little Silvereye was digging around in some leaves that were bound with web. I kept watching and it found lunch
Always have to include my favourite in the garden, an Eastern Yellow Robin
I heard that the Magpie Geese had arrived at a wetland near Casino, about 100kms north of my place. There is a wetland near Grafton where they spend their Winter so I went to see if they had arrived. I found an Australian Raven silhouetted in a tree on a grey day.
There were a flock of Plumed Whistling Ducks
and a large group of Magpie Geese
They kept on flying in. It looks lie a sequential shot but it is actually three Magpie Geese
In another piece of still inundated farmland in South Grafton, a Pacific Heron is getting lots to eat. I drive past this place when I go to town. This morning I went in early and was able to get a few photos of the birds who I have seen there in the past few times heading into town.
I was so pleased to see a pair of Comb-crested Jacanas foraging among the reeds
There were a number of Black Swans foraging as well
Soon she was joined by her mate
OK back at home there have been a few butterflies but not as many as I would have tough. Probably because of the rain. I was happy to see a Wanderer
The strange looking Leafwing Butterfly was heading past and stopped for a photo
There were a few Black Jezebels in the garden. This one stayed for a while on the Bottlebrush flowers.
This is what the Black Jezebels look like with their wings folded.
This is the inside view. They are like this because when they fly it is similar to a strobe effect to confuse predators.
One of my favourite bees, a Teddy Bear Bee zooms in on a Pentas flower
While my other favourite, a Blue-banded Bee enjoys a Salvia flower
Over at the dam the frogs aren’t as vocal but the dragonflies are in abundance. A Black-headed Skimmer found a twig to rest upon.
A Red Skimmer decided a reed was the place of choice
It took a lot of photos to get a dragonfly zipping around the dam.
The Cape Waterlilies are in bloom this Autumn
I have a couple of Golden Corn plants and this year they have flowered
The Pink Trumpet bushes have had one of the best flowering. Looks like I need to water them a lot more to get lots of flowers like this. The bushes have hundreds of flowers
It is always lovely to see native flowers pop up
I was sitting at the computer when this bloke decided to walk around my desk
Well, Our Moon is up, so I better get going. I hope you enjoyed a look at what I found in April. As always I would like to know your favourite photo or photos.
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 or this post, so that she can update it with links to all of yours.
Welcome to a mixed bag of stuff. I have been trying to do things in between rain showers as well as days of rain. As the weather, albeit wet, has given a month of flowers and I have already posted quite a few during the month so there’s not an overload in here.
Not much news to tell so let’s get going shall we?
A January song to scroll to if you wish, a bit of Aussie music.
Where to start….how about we hop straight in with a few frogs. This little beauty, a Broad-palmed Rocket Frog, came into the house one night and was keen to explore. They move quite quickly hence being a rocket frog.
I was about to go to town when I noticed a strange lump on the top of my car. I found a Perons Tree Frog looking back at me. Goodness knows what he was doing there. Relocated to somewhere safer.
The rain during the month has had the waterfalls in the Gibraltar Ranges flowing. This is the Boundary Falls
A lot of the mornings were quite foggy. I love the trees rising out of the fog.
A while ago Graham from Hawaii posted a photo of a Japanese lantern flower, I thought the ones I had were different nut they seemed to be the same. I wonder who had a munch on this one?
There’s quite a bunch of stamens
The cap and the veins are so red which counterpoints the yellow.
This is one of the first flowers on a Hibiscus in my besties garden. It is so lovely again with reds and yellows
I love this orange and pink blush on this Hibiscus in my garden
This Summer the Marigolds have looked a treat
The Purple Gerbera really stand out in the garden
I this is a Livingstone Daisy, a brilliant splash of pink
Not only are flowers pretty in the garden but new leaves on a rose bush stand out as well.
The colour on the shed wall at my besties goes well with the flowers
The hanging pot of Geraniums has flowered well this month
A type of native Frangipanni in it’s stunning white colour
On a walk along a track at Evans Head we found some Wattles flowering possibly Acacia longifolia
There were also some seed pods on the trees as well
A Dragonfly decided to pay a visit to my verandah
The Lemon Migrant Butterflies arrived on their annual migration
I can’t help stalking Blue-banded Bees around the garden. Salvia flowers are a favourite
They like to dive straight in to one of my favorite coloured Salvias.
I had to go down river so I decided to keep driving to Brooms Head hoping to see the Coastal Emus that live down that way. I didn’t see any unfortunately. It wasn’t good weather at the beach and the Crested Terns faced into the wind so their feathers didn’t get too ruffled.
This Australian Pelican was standing on a rock for ages. I wondered what it was doing, then some fishers came over to the fish table to scale and gut their catch. Very soon the Pelican wandered closer.
The Sooty Oystercatches were hanging around looking for a snack to appear.
I haven’t made a silhouette for a while. This is a Male Figbird. The Figbirds have a nest in a Macaranga tree in my besties garden
Here is the female Figbird keeping watch on the power-line
I saw the Restless Flycatcher baby on the wire and soon a parent came to feed a tidbit
More birds on a wire. A Nankeen Kestrel waiting for something to move in the paddock down the road
A Peaceful Dove checking out the swimming pool
Sitting at my desk I had a feeling someone was watching me. A Rainbow Lorikeet was sitting in the tree
A Scarlet Honeyeater all puffed up after a dip in the bird bath
A delightful pairing. A Brown Honeyeater and purple Hibiscus. The Honeyeaters dip their beaks into the back of the flower to get the nectar
A couple of Australian Magpies enjoying the sunset on the roof
The sunset kissed clouds billowing in the west heralding the evening storm
I have never seen a rainbow with the colours so prominent. The storm clouds were getting closer.
Our Moon was just rising in the afternoon. I love the blue sky and the moon
Well the sun is setting over the four tree hill, one of my favourite vistas to witness sunset, so I better get going.
I hope you enjoyed my Changing Season. Join Ju-Lyn and I next month and don’t forget to link your Changing Season post to Ju-Lyns or my post
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.
Hammad had a little surprise for us this weekend and I thought I should as well for it’s Hammads birthday. I don’t have any cake or a lavish meal but I do have a surprise ending, not my normal weekend sky photo. Neither is my normal sky song. Happy birthday Hammad. Everyone can sing and dance….c’mon!!
Yesterday afternoon the electricity went out and stayed out until this afternoon. As it was dark and I had enough of trying to read by candlelight, I went to be quite early. As a result I awoke at around 3am. I found my tablet and decided to go through the comments and read others posts. Seeing that the sky was clear, I thought the morning photos may have some colour. I lay down again at around 5am and didn’t wake until almost 9am.
These are the usual photos, just a bit later than normal. As you can see the sun is a bit higher in the sky and the clouds have returned
The sky has given the photos almost a monochrome feel
OK, so you are still wondering where my surprise for Hammad is for his birthday. Well while I was in the sun room I noticed a glow on the horizon and I thought the sun was coming up. But no it was the moon so for the first time, here is a morning moon through the trees photo for Weekend Sky.
It has been raining still. This morning, a day later than I usually take my Weekend Sky photos, there are blue skies. I also had a bit of a sleep-in so the sun is a bit higher in the sky. Todays weekend sky photos I have added a couple of added bonuses.
Here is your sky song for your Saturday night or Sunday morning
From my small deck, the usual view
The Sun is shining on more of the Eucalypts
Bonus number one – Our Moon is still awake in the western sky
The new leaves and sun on the Paperbark tree were too good to leave out
December and 2021 are gone. It was a mixed bag of weather – rain and lots of it, quite hot days and even cooler nights. My garden and my besties looked fabulous. The rain made everything bloom and look so good. This made reducing the number of flower photos quite difficult.
A lot of birds have come and gone, the regulars stayed around as food is plentiful. Even a pair of Currawongs have been hanging around and have a young one. Most years they go back up into the mountains where it is a bit cooler and return in Winter. The Willie Wagtails at my besties have been busy with nesting and raising babies.
A few photos are from some trips around the area but most are from my besties and here at Durranbah.
Here is you scrolling song. I hope you enjoy Frightened Rabbit, one of my favourite groups
The old wagon up the road is still there and not quite falling apart yet
These tree fungi were the yellowist I have ever seen
Love this plant. The white edges really stand out
From my besties garden
A small native grass flower at my place
The re Frangipanni looked good with a few water drops.
I love the grass seeds along my road
Cats Whiskers must be one of my favourite flowers
A Dahlia and the sky
More native flowers along the road
My besties Brugmansia has flowered like mad this year
When we went for a walk in Casino, we found a Sausage Tree
We also found a New Zealand Christmas Bush in flower
The Bahinia has just flowered but not as good as last year
My Honeysuckle looked good among the trees along the fence line
The Blue-banded Bees love the Salvia flowers
I found Metallic Green Carpenter Bees in a shrub I had to look it up to find out what species of bee it was and found that it is endangered after the fires as their nest sites are either damaged or take years to become soft enough to burrow into and nest. They nest in Grass Tree spears and Banksia trees mainly. This one is a female. The males are fuzzy and look similar to Blue-banded Bees
Remember my Pineapple, It’s still growing and will soon be ready to harvest
The Cheese Tree fruit weren’t as abundant as last year as well
I love the purple berries of Dianella (Flax Lily) grasses. Just to photograph as I haven’t tried them but are supposed to be edible
The Olive-backed Oriels arrived in time to sample the Tuckaroo fruit
It is always a decision
The Figbird hid among the foliage snacking on the fruit as well
When I went to the Clarence River near my place to see if the water had receded below the Lilydale bridge, I found Rainbow Bee-eaters enjoying the sun.
As well as a White-faced Heron looking for his breakfast
An Australasian Pipit found something to eat on the road as I went back home
A young morphing King Parrot watched me through the window
The Rainbow Lorikeets seemed to find a snack or two in the garden
A Laughing Kookaburra had breakfast too
The Willie Wagtail babies wanted their lunch. Dad was none to impressed with their carry on
This is the same Willie Wagtail babies a week later. Don’t they grow up fast?
A Satin Bowerbird was not impressed to be spied upon whilst having a bath
but still dived in and splashed about
Well it looks like a wonderful pink sky is telling me to say goodnight
and a wonderful sunset has painted the sky with streaks of red, yellow and orange
Our Moon has risen so I better say goodnight and thanks for stopping by
As usual I always ask if you had a favourite photo.
This post is also part of Changing Seasons – Shared hosting between Ju-Lyn and myself. Just add your Changing Seasons post to Ju-Lyns Changing Seasons or here. We would love to see what you have and for you to have a look at what the others have posted.
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
I decided to do a slideshow of the images from 2021 I posted for Hammad’s weekend sky photo challenge. All the photos were taken from the same spot but at varying times on Saturday mornings.
Here’s one of the songs I included for your listening pleasure whilst scrolling
Here is the small deck where I took the photos
The slideshow from the first few months of 2021
One time I was away and decided to do a night photo when I got home
Here is the second slide show for the latter part of 2021. I changed my media folder as the one I used was getting full, hence a second slideshow.
Who know what I will do for 2022 if Hammad can keep going with his photo challenge. Lots of people love Weekend Sky and contribute their wonderful skies from around the world
bushboys world 