The distant hills

Published on September 25, 2022 by bushboy21 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #218: Over the Hill

This is August 2022

Published on August 31, 2022 by bushboy67 Comments

A bit of a quiet month for me. The days have been lovely so I have been in the garden or wandering about town – actually a quick coffee and shopping. There was a few days of almost rain. Enough to discourage taking the camera out.

As the nights have been quite cold, a lot of my days were spent with chainsaw in hand and gathering firewood, then splitting the rounds for the fire. This is a good bit of exercise plus pushing a full wheelbarrow of the split wood up to the house.

I have acquired a new friend but more about her later.

Here is your August song to help you get through this post

I have had some feral cats in my yard during the month so I set my live capture trap with a can of cat food in the hope to get one. I checked the trap and it hadn’t gone off but the food was gone. I immediately suspected rats so out with the smaller live trap just in case it wasn’t a Ratus ratus.

Here is the little one I trapped. It isn’t a Black Rat but not sure what it is, so I let it out in the bush nearby. Isn’t it cute?

OK lets start with a few flowers. The Grafton Regional Art Gallery is finally getting the gardens together. Some bulbs popped up and looked so good.

A house nearby has some lovely Hibiscus

I am not sure what flower this one is. It looks like a Purple Violet but the leaves are different. This just popped up in a new garden bed we made a few years ago.

This Winter is the first time the Giant Salvia (my name, not sure what they are really called) have flowered. The plant has really big leaves and is now over two metres tall.

This year being wet and now dryish has confused a lot of the plants in the garden. The Grevilleas and Bottlebrush have been flowering nearly all year now. The birds are loving the flowers and this pink Bottlebrush is a favourite of the small birds.

The small Nectarine and Peach trees have had a blossom bonanza as well. The bees are all over the trees.

The flowers look so lovely.

On one of my days in town, I decided to have a bit of a photo session of the Grafton Goal, some photos I have already posted (Thursday Doors) and there will be some more over the next week or so.

The crown above the gates looks like it has been recently refurbished. It is quite a grand Victorian building.

Walking around town, I spied a teapot on a fence. It was near a cafe and I forgot to ask if they put it there to attract customers.

Also just sitting there was a Pied Currawong in my garden. It is sitting on a dead palm that didn’t survive the drought at the end of the last decade. Pied Currawongs come down from the mountains when the weather gets cold.

Last week a couple of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos decided to stop over for a rest and a snack. This one just seemed to sit in the tree and didn’t do much at all.

Whereas it’s friend decided to gnaw at a tree. They listen for grubs in the tree and then commence to dig the grub out.

Stopping long enough to admire it’s handiwork.

and then back into hacking into the tree. By the time the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo finished there wasn’t much tree left but it is still standing. I am waiting for a strong wind to see if it comes crashing down. Luckily it is not in a part of the bush where I walk.

I have a number of bird baths scattered around the garden but some birds, like these female Satin Bowerbirds seem to like this rusty old drum

Yes the Whipbirds are still coming into the garden to forage. One day I hope to be outside and in a spot to get a photo and not through a window

The King Parrots are still around as well but not in the same numbers as last month or earlier this month. This female King Parrot sits outside of my office and ever now and then knocks on the window to get my attention to let me know the feeder is empty.

Remember I mentioned I have a new girlfriend? Well this is her. I came home from town one day and noticed a Brush Turkey walking across the garden and head down into the bush. I have never had Brush Turkeys on my place before so this was strange to say the least. Over the next few days I saw her in the garden sometimes pecking under the bird feeders getting spilt seed.

Over the weeks, she has gotten used to me and now hangs around me when I am in the garden or splitting firewood in the hope I’ll turn up insects. When I came home from town this afternoon, there she was on the verandah so she is becoming bolder.

I suspect she has been hand reared and has been dumped. People often dump birds and animals out my way but this is a rather strange one to say the least. As she looks like staying around I have named her Betty – Brush Turkey ➡ BT ➡ Betty

I saw a few Pink Galahs on a patch of lawn in nearby town, Lawrence. It was a case of “Hey bud, no paparazzi” as they walked down the hill

One day I looked at the sky and saw these clouds, grabbed my camera and started taking photos. People on the street wondered what I was doing, looked up and remarked to each other how wonderful the clouds were. Would they have noticed if they didn’t see me looking skyward?

Well speaking of looking upwards, the Moon is up in the morning on this day but even so once the Moon is up it must be time to finish off and get to bed.

I hope you enjoyed my August.

I hope this finds you serene and at peace with all that surrounds. Did you have a favourite?
Perhaps you would like to join us with your Changing Seasons 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.

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 and/or this post, so that we can update it with links to all of yours.

Pick a Word August 2022

Published on August 25, 2022 by bushboy26 Comments

Lost in Translation’s Pick a Word August 2022

Paulas words for this month are: INFINITE, LAGOON, MANE, SHOREWARD , SMOKING So let’s see how I go this month

INFINITE

LAGOON

MANE

SHOREWARD

SMOKING

To fill or not to fill

Published on August 21, 2022 by bushboy18 Comments

Sarah’s Friendly Friday Challenge: All or nothing

As part of this challenge Sarah said to either –

Fill the frame

“One option is to fill the frame with your subject, leaving little or no space around it. This can be very effective in certain situations. It encourages the viewer to explore the detail of the subject in more depth, with no distractions.”

Negative space

“Or why not do the exact opposite? Leaving a lot of empty or ‘negative’ space around your subject can be very impactful. It creates a sense of simplicity and minimalism. Just like filling the frame, it encourages the viewer to focus on the main subject without distractions.”

Re-living the Past #21 – My First Moon Photos

Published on August 16, 2022 by bushboy13 Comments

Todays Prompt: Moonlight

These are the early photos of Our Moon from 2012 to 2015

This afternoon and tonight

Published on August 10, 2022 by bushboy16 Comments

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Connects you to the present moment

Photo taken as the sun was setting this afternoon

This photo was taken about ten minutes ago. I love being able to see the craters on Our Moon

Our Moon connects us all. No matter where we live on this planet, our Moon connects us. We all see the same moon albeit from a different axis. This moon also connects us to our ancestors who also saw the same moon. Go outside and look at Our Moon and think of me also looking at the same time, feeling a cosmic thread that connects us all.

I am a Child of the Moon

This is very different Rolling Stones sound from the psychedelic are of 60’s music

Tending to Grey

Published on August 6, 2022 by bushboy19 Comments

The Weekly Prompts Colour Challenge: Greyish

This is June 2022

Published on June 30, 2022 by bushboy62 Comments

A wonderful start to Winter in my part of the world. The rain has stopped for the moment. The days are in the low 20’sC with cold night into single figures necessitating lighting the fire giving a warm glow to the loungeroom.

I have managed to get out for a few little excursions as well as take photos at home. A lot of time has been spent cutting and splitting firewood with a few delays as I have me camera with me just in case something happens – or has been the case a few times not have it.

I hope my June song to scroll with works for you. Please enjoy

I did make it out for a quite pastel sunrise. Something to begin with for having a look at what I found in June. I loved the lines across the sky.

Someone else was enjoying the early morning as well aboard their yacht

The sparse vegetation on the point at Wooli really does take the brunt of wind and water

On the other side of the point, the river winds its way to the sea. A Striated Heron took a stroll while the tide was out looking for lunch.

In the morning at Iluka, a fluffed up Pied Butcherbird warmed up among the Banksia trees

There was a look at the works the Iluka Landcare team had been doing planting Red Gums to increase the Koala habitat. While we were there looking around I spied a Pacific Baza. Later on her mate appeared and landed on a branch above her.

In the late afternoon a White-cheeked Honeyeater sitting atop a Banksia sang to the setting sun

A Silver Gull basking in the afternoon sun on a wharf post.

An Australian Pelican kept a wary eye on me while resting on the old wharf post

A nearby Darter was stretching probably contemplating heading off if I came any closer

There are all manner of ways to secure your craft at the wharf. I was attracted to the rust.

Overhead an Osprey patrolled the beach looking for breakfast

Back in South Grafton the copious amount of Little Corellas wheeled about before landing on their roost or in the paddock to scour the ground for seeds and grubs. Little Corellas are migrants who arrived on the coast after a very prolonged drought over the ranges. They liked it so much they never left, built up numbers and can now be found all along the coast.

The Little Corellas were flying over this part time wetland. The Black Swans had a nest among the reeds in early June. The Pacific Black Ducks were always around looking for a meal as well as other water birds. Towards the end of June the paddock dried out and the farmer let a few cattle in to graze. Unfortunately all the reeds you can see were eaten down to almost ground level. I fear that the Black Swans nest was disturbed, perhaps even trampled by the cattle as I never saw any Cygnets.

One surprise when I went to a small village, Diggers Camp, was this Pheasant Coucal hunting for insects. He didn’t even care about me walking about.

This little Superb Fairy Wren female, called a Jenny wren, blended well with the grass at Iluka as she foraged for food.

While this Jenny wren kept an eye on me at my place as I walked through the bush.

She was making sure I didn’t get too close to her babies

A Red-browed Firetail Finch took in the afternoon sun

A Grey Butcherbird stayed in the shadows while looking about for food.

Standing on your head to get some nectar an Eastern Spinebill enjoys a Bottlebrush in my garden.

Walking down my street I saw a Jackie Winter was just sitting on the wire fence

On the way back, a Restless Flycatcher was intently watching something while sitting on the wire fence.

I often have photos of Satin Bowerbirds but rarely have a male and a female in the same photo. They were hanging around the tree near the verandah. This photo is through my office door while sitting at my desk. I love lazy photography.

I had been putting out some bird seed on the verandah to see who was around. The Male Satin Bowerbird and a Blue-faced Honeyeater came for an inspection.

A young Blue-faced Honeyeater and a King Parrot looked hopeful.

A juvenile King Parrot just getting his adult feathers hopped about the verandah.

The Firesprite Grevillea is having a fantastic flowering. A number of the smaller honeyeaters are able to sit on the flowers. This Eastern Spinebill was always chasing the Brown Honeyeaters away from “his” flowers.

All of the Grevilleas had a good flowering in June. This one was a rescue plant that has done well.

The Coconut Ice Grevillea also having a great season.

In the Iluka Rainforest some of the old fallen trees have some wonderful wood fungi

The wood fungi at my place has been bright orange

OK Now for all the people who don’t like spiders get that scrolling finger ready to zoom past this beautiful Huntsman Spider I disturbed when I was cleaning up around a shed.

Here is your second warning…..you know who you are.

Ready, steady……scroll

Now for a bit of arty farty. Looking deep into a stump and a cascade of moss with a rim of lichen.

A stick on the beach

She Oak needles with a blue sea and sky – Minimalism

Sunset through the trees with some ICM (Intentional Camera Movement)

Looking out of my kitchen window at the Red-necked Wallabies grazing in the garden

I love a foggy morning. Looking down the hill near my shed.

Well it looks like the sun is setting so it must be time to get going. The sunset at Iluka was a treat.

The Super Moon was supposed to be a wonderful sight. This is the best I could do. Goodnight and see you next Changing Seasons for a wrap-up of what I found.

Of course I would love to know what your favourite photo is.

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.

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.