The Photo Challenge from Judy: All Lined Up
Tag: pee wee
This is December 2018
First of all, thanks to everyone who has been part of my life this year. I have enjoyed sharing my part of this world with you. Your comments and feedback has been quite overwhelming at times. I take photos because I enjoy the results I achieve. I have a basic Canon PowerShot SX60HS which takes great macros, amazing telephotos and does everything I could ask, except focus where I want sometimes. Even then the capture can be a photo that goes into my Arty Ones folder. Some of those are posted in a recent photo challenge – Abstract.
On to December. This month was taken up in part with Becky’s great square format photo challenge #timesquare The featured image is one of the photos from Beckys challenge. Sometime last year I made a suggestion for the challenge which I cannot remember.
I have tried to cut down the number of photos but again it may be a bit of long read, so a drink, perhaps a snack may be in order. All settled back and ready. Join me in looking at This is December 2018
Sunrise is always a good place to start
The wind blew the grass seed heads
One morning, the tiny Line-blue Butterflies were all over the grass area while we were having breakfast. They loved the clover flowers.
A Blue-banded Bee made a morning ritual of visiting the Chinese Lantern flowers. I never was ready to get that photo.
A delicate flowering plant we were told was called Herb Robert. A lovely flower and bud.
A Mistletoe Bird was a visitor for a few days
After the demise of the terracotta bird bath, a tempory replacement was found. A Rainbow Lorikeet looks unsure.
Since the hatching of the Brown Honeyeaters, they have stayed around the garden. This is one of their favourite sitting places in the morning.
Luckily one of the Grevilleas is flowering for them.
I love it when you can see our Moon during the day.
Many people call Dandelions weeds. The flowers add a great splash of colour in the garden.
The Bees love the flowers too. Look at how much pollen has been gathered into the bees pollen sacs.
I think it is wonderful.
A Pumpkin display at the markets. So many varieties to choose from.
This van belongs to one of the market stall holders at The Channon markets. I would love this van.
Now Summer is here and it is hot and dry, the birds have to share the bird bath.
Coming in for a landing
“I made it safely….so what are you looking at?”
The Brown Honeyeaters. An adult and one of the young ones. Always look up to your elders.
This is my bird bath the Magpie Lark (or better known as Pee Wee) is telling everyone.
A spot of grub hunting has paid off.
The Cape Chestnut Tree at The Channon Market was in full bloom.
Now for a couple of native flowers I found at my daughters place. I looked in my books to try and identify so I could tell you their names, but wasn’t successful. I will have to ask an ecologist who said I could send him photos and he would try to tell me their names. Isn’t this one pretty?
Like the above flower, most native flowers are quite small. The one above was about 10 to 15mm from petal tip to petal tip. This little flower is about 5mms
Another tiny flower with an amazing structure
Such a delicate ball of even smaller flowers. Each ball is around 10-15mm in diameter.
The Stingless Native Bees just love the native flowers. The flower seems huge compared to the bee
The start of Summer. The Frangipanni flowers around the garden are stating to emerge.
I love the soft pink and yellow of this Frangipanni flower which has a heavenly fragrance.
The pinks and yellows of this one are much more stronger.
The Pink Frangipanni is stunning.
This Poinciana tree I see on the way home was the best I have seen.
The tiny flowers of one of the Tea Trees I have in my garden is waiting for the bees.
This year, my Agapanthus flowers were the best flowering ever. All through the garden was spots of white and blue
One of the blues.
The tree Begonia decided to have another flowering this December.
I have a number of Datura Erecta plants around the garden. The berries looked lovely one morning. I think they may be poisonous as nothing seem to eat them.
If anyone would, it would be a Fig Bird, seen here keeping an eye on me as I walked about.
The King Parrots are starting to want some food as a couple of people who fed them in the street have since moved on. I give them a small amount of wild bird mix occasionally. Actually I hadn’t been home for a couple of days and this bloke came to the verandah and whistled to get my attention
A migratory visitor to my place are Leaden Flycatchers, This female was scouting the verandah for a snack. Yes a photo taken while I was inside at my desk.
One afternoon as I drove through the front gates, a Forest Kingfisher swooped in front of me and sat in the tree, almost like a welcome home.
The Australian Air force is saying goodbye to the fleet of Orions. One of the planes is going to an Air Museum at Evans Head. It flew into Lismore. This was taken from my besties backyard.
The old swimming pool, which is now a frog pond of sorts, is host to so many water insects and frogs. One of the frog species in the pool is the Perons Tree Frog. I think this may be one just emerging from tadpole to frog.
I am unsure who these beastly looking gang are. Hopefully are dragonflies.
Christmas is always a wonderful time in December. I wasn’t in a Christmas mood this year. My bestie had some decorations at her place. An op-shop angel and some lights looked great.
An Australian Lilli Pilli tree in the corner with some little lights mad the room look bright.
The Full Moon, just before Christmas Day was big and bright.
One of the photo challenges was Abstract – see the opening words – I didn’t include this Moon photo as I thought it was rather special and needed to be in my monthly wrap-up post.
I didn’t have my tripod so just had to have a go hand held. At least one turned out OK lol
Summer arrives and the plants start to thrive so along come the Grasshoppers to have a snack. This one likes Basil….or used to.
Another little Grasshopper from my daughters place. Her garden hasn’t been attacked yet.
The Ponytail Palm has so many flowers, the bees don’t know where to begin. I walked outside and the buzzing was quite loud I looked up and the flower spikes were full of bees.
The Blue-banded bee I couldn’t get in the Chinese Lantern Flower didn’t escape my attention as it buzzed about the Basil flowers.
The Hover Fly loved the garden too
The Palm Trees, the water and the ripples
Late afternoon looking from my besties verandah across the paddocks
The December sun is almost set.
Goodbye December and 2018.
Thanks for being a part of my world. I hope to see you again in 2019.
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One Morning on the Power lines
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge (among others):Â Power lines and Black and White
The day was just beginning. As usual, the birds were singing from the trees, flying about, some collecting insects on the wing others strolling about the garden finding things to have for breakfast.
Once their morning rituals had been observed, it was time to chill out and discuss what the day ahead had planned. This morning, the chosen meeting place for the Mud Larks, Magpie Larks or more commonly called Pee Wees, was to be on the power lines where all could observe the surroundings.
This morning, some gathered as agreed, a flurry of small black and white settled onto the power lines.
But wait, something doesn’t seem right.
“Hey…….you blokes………..who is the big bloke over there?” “I don’t know” as they looked from one to the other.
“I don’t know either, but I’ll get rid of him!” “This swoop will see him off.”
“What do you think you are about buster……now rack off……these are my Power lines”
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More Birds for Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge
I have lots of birds for Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge of Birds
Here are my Black and White Birds
Magpie Geese resting up after a long migratory flight
Wonderful Willie Wagtail as he hops about the grass looking for a snack
A White-winged Chough surveys where to walk to next
A raucous Magpie Lark, or better known as Pee Wees, shouts at a tree
Meet Chip, the Magpie who used to knock on the door to get a small snack, at my besties
This Pied Butcher Bird would always come when I was in the bush cutting firewood hoping that I would disturb a grub or two.
A Pied Cormorant catching a bit of afternoon sun
A Pied Currawong looking for a free feed at the picnic table
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Birds, Bugs and Flowers
I have been meaning to do the last lot of photos for December. Being on holidays makes it hard to sit and do useful things. I haven’t really gone anywhere. Just doing the usual day trips around the north coast of NSW, trying to avoid the places where the tourists are massed and clogging the roads. Managed to get caught in a 7km traffic jam because I didn’t check Live traffic before I left home. A useful website when driving around here in the school holidays.
The title doesn’t really tell you everything that is in this blog but there are birds, bugs and flowers. I suppose I should warn some of my more squeamish readers that this blog may contain spiders and moths. Yes someone doesn’t enjoy my moth photos.
The Ibis is the garbage scavenger quickly replacing the Seagull. I looked up one fine day and there, high above me, wheeling around on the air currents were some Ibis. They looked so graceful.
It was a hot day and the young Magpie Lark or Pee Wee as we called them as kids, was in the trees occasionally squawking but mainly panting – that’s if birds pant.
The heat of the day also brings some visitors to the verandah into the cool. The hanging plants make a good resting place for this King Parrot. King Parrots are regular visitors.
Walking around Lismore Heights, we stopped at the lookout where there were heaps of Copperheaded Skinks. Mostly small ones that were quite fast who ran away when I got too close.
I love coming across caterpillars. I have no idea what this one is and am feeling too lazy to get the books out. They are always ready to have their photo taken.
There has been a hatching of Cabbage White butterflies. There were quite a few flitting about the garden. I am not sure of the name of the flower this butterfly was enjoying.
Bugs. I really need a bug book as there are so many in the gardens and places I go to. I just call these types of insects shield bugs. It was quite intent on sucking on the stem of the plant and didn’t mind me taking a few photos.
Whereas this bloke was quite busy trotting about the vege garden. As you can see it wasn’t a very big bug.
The tiny moth just settled on the door frame, keeping dry from a passing shower. I love how hairy some moths can be. This one looks like it even has feathers on its back.
Bees. I love trying to get good photos of bees as you would know. I wonder how many bee photos I have?
As I was doing a bit of a tidy up in the garden, I came to the Crinum and was removing some of the debris that had gathered in the leaf stalks. I was also looking for spiders as well because they love to make a home in there. This time it wasn’t a spider I found but a cricket. It tried to wiggle its way deeper into the stem. This was the first photo before it made itself smaller.
One evening I got into the shower and this girl was in there as well. I gently moved her out of the shower as I don’t think she would find hot water beneficial. She decided that the mirror was a good place to sit. Maybe she was reflecting on her day.
I have developed an obsession in photographing Dragonflies. I didn’t realise there were so many different colours in dragonflies. This one almost looks like the stick it is sitting on.
Some dragonflies are quite orange. They seem to hold their wings out to the side when they are resting.
And then there are the red dragonflies that I have been trying to get a photo of for quite a while. The red is almost fluorescent. The red dragonflies hold their wings to the front.
Dragonflies can also be a bit hairy.
Of course any blog of mine would be complete without a fungi appearing somewhere.
It looks like we are up to the flowers. I have had a fascination with photographing flowers since I got my first SLR camera. The small geranium flowers all seem quite different if you look carefully.
The ball of flowers that make up the Pentas flowers looks so striking even when you get right into the flower and see the individuals that make up the whole ball.
Flowers grow in all sorts of shapes and patterns. I didn’t notice the structure of this flower until I looked from directly above. What a lovely circle of flowers.
These marigolds have so many subtle shades of orange that changes when viewed in sunlight. In the shade they seem to darken with lighter highlights.
What would summer be without the scent of a Frangipani? I can almost smell them when I see the photos, can’t you?
Buddha has a nice shady spot to sit. I like to visit him often for a chat.
Well that is the last of the 2015 photos. I hope you have enjoyed being with me as I made some lovely discoveries over the 2015. Here is the year in review that WordPress build – http://bushboy54.com/2015/12/31/2015-in-review/
Thanks for the positive comments and support and I hope I can let you see what will be in my world in 2016.
