Ragtag Daily Prompt Friday: Align

Bird Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds that eat Fish as their Primary Diet
A White-faced Heron
Silver Gulls like fish…..and chips
Osprey with lunch
White-bellied Sea Eagle on the lookout for lunch
The Great Cormorant has his lunch
A Darter chasing fish
A Pied Cormorant thinking of lunch
Pelican cruising the water looking for fish
Terri’s Sunday Stills: A #White Washed World
Puff Ball Fungi
White flower (can’t remember the name)
White Rose
Caper White Butterfly
White Native Hibiscus
White-headed Pigeon
Pelican
Dendrobium flowers
Pied Cormorant
Small white native flowers
White-throated Honeyeater
White Swans on Loch Lamond
White Hydrangea
White calf
A foggy morning
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
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.
The water levels are quite low. It is still a pretty place to stop and contemplate the world.
I was surprised to see quite a few small fish
There must be bigger fish in the Mann otherwise this Pied Cormorant is just hanging about enjoying the ambience.
I watched the White-faced Heron stalking among the rocks. He did eventually catch a small fish which was quickly gobbled down.
I think he may have followed me home. I saw him sitting in a tree in the garden.
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.
The older Kookaburra is showing his age now.
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.
Once lunch has been consumed, it’s off to sit in an old gum tree.
How hot has it been in November?
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.
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.
The Satin Bowerbird found a water pot on the ground where the Brush Tailed Possums and Wallabies drink.
At my besties place sometimes the bird bath gets quite crowded
Scaly-breasted Lorikeets and Rainbow Lorikeets often squabble over whose turn it is.
The “just out of the bath” is not a good look for a Scaly-breasted Lorikeet.
Meanwhile, a Olive-backed Oriel was keeping an eye on what was going on.
The Crested Pigeon really loved sitting on the shovel handle.
A rare visitor to my besties garden is an Australasian Pipit. He walked among the grasses looking for insects.
I don’t think this Noisy Friarbird wanted his photo taken
There may not be much water around but the dragonflies are flitting about the garden.
I love a close up
One of my pot plants, a Calathea has small delicate flowers.
The bees were everywhere on the Eucalypt flowers down at the river at Cangi.
Another plant my friend Geoff gave me has flowered. a wonderful Day Lily.
The Stingless Native Bees love it too.
Look at the well filled pollen sacs on these tiny bees.
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.
Well the sun is setting so it’s almost time to go.
The solar lights have come on in the garden.
and our Moon is bright overhead.
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
About time I hear you say. Yes I am a bit late with last months wrap up. I didn’t take as many photos early on and then I seemed to find lots to photograph. This months photos have a couple I have used in other photo challenges but I decided to keep this post a bit shorter by not including the those photos.
So sit back and have a scroll through my June
Let’s start in Inverell, a town about 200kms from my place. We decided to have a mini holiday and ventured west. My goodness the drought has really hit hard out there. Didn’t see the usual paddocks with sheep and cattle in them. Many farmers have de-stocked and just holding onto their core breeding stock for when the drought breaks.
We stayed at a fabulous B’n’B, Blair Athol a Manor house from the early 1900’s. It is a great place to stay
We did venture around the countryside. It was quite sad. I think this granite outcrop says it all.
I found a Pied Cormorant just after a bit of a dip in the water. I love how Cormorants do this. Makes me smile every time.
Back home I was surprised to see ducks on my house dam as the water level is quite low. Three Pacific Black Ducks cruise the dam.
Sometimes when I am about in the garden doing a bit of bird spotting I get a feeling I am being watched as well. This Grey-shrike Thrush was making sure I was being good.
Another Winter visitor to the garden are Golden Whistlers
Of course a monthly wrap wouldn’t be the same without the resident Eastern Yellow Robin who found a post to sit on while surveying the garden for a snack.
Little Striated Thornbills are flying about the garden in the afternoons
The Rose Robins are still around as well
The Agave looked lovely in the afternoon light
This is called Witches Broom it is on a small Eucalypt.
The variety of plants that are growing on a palm in the garden is wonderful. At the front is an Elk Horn, behind it on the right is a Birds nest Fern. They are surrounded by Hares Foot Fern and to the left rear is Fishbone Fern. All of these plants have decided to grow among the palm’s trunk.
Nearby, a Jacaranda has a lovely growth of moss that cascades to the ground.
My mate Geoffs Iris has flowered. Always will bring back a memory.
All around the place Lichen has sprung up as there has been showers of rain over the last part of the month enough to keep the garden happy and for some plants to emerge.
I love finding water drops. My besties place has had much more rain than here.
These are the seed pods from an Eucalypt tree I found in Inverell.
I haven’t taken many photos of the Red-necked Wallabies that hang around my place. I caught this bloke with a mouth full of grass.
Late one afternoon at my besties, she called out to come over to where she was in the garden. She found a little Bandi Bandi going across a log heading for a safe place to spend the night.
There appears to be lots of Wanderer Butterflies about at the moment. Found this one flying around the lane-ways of Lismore.
Meanwhile there are Wanderers in my besties garden feeding on Echinacea flowers.
One day we decided to head to the coast for lunch at the Ballina Beach Surf Club. Afterwards, after watching whales from the window while eating, we wandered up to the headland and watched the Humpback Whales cruising past. I bit of blow usually let me know where they were.
I love it when they gave a wave.
Managed to get some tail shots.
but could never be focused on the right place when a Humpback breached
Now for a bit of weird. Walking down a lane in Lismore we always look to see if this window has changed. I think the hand and flag on the right have been added.
A stack of chairs in a window.
One morning, the mist was settled in the valleys. I used to tell the kids that the mountains have captured the clouds.
A bit of my playing around with photos. A Magpie on a steel post
OK the sun is down so time for me to go.
I hope you have enjoyed a bit of a look at my June. The feature photo is a butterfly among the Zinnias in my besties garden.
The May Photo a Day Challenge from Maria at CitySonnet: Silhouette
I have been doing silhouettes for quite some time now. These are my original photos converted to black and white and the outline of the birds redrawn by hand. The black enhanced and filled but not “flood filled” but each pixel or a group of pixels. The same process with the white part of my photograph.
I haven’t done any new ones for a while now as it is rather time consuming. I haven’t applied borders. When the photo is framed it doesn’t need a border but on the web page perhaps. I hope you enjoy my bird silhouettes.
This is the first one I attempted. A White-faced Heron who was sitting on a tree in my garden.
A Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo flying at my place
The distinctive tail shape of a Spangled Drongo
Another easily identified bird by their tail – a Rainbow Bee Eater
A Golden Whistler singing in the tree
One of my best and most complicated, a Wattlebird on a Banksia flower at Evans Head
The featured image is a Pied Cormorant keeping watch on the dam at my place
the old song
The new song
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
Here we are at what I saw in March. There has been a couple of photo challenges I have done in March so some of those photos aren’t in this lot. It is another big photo post. There are a few photos of snakes, spiders and other insects but try to have a peek through your fingers when they come along. Nature is full of wondrous colours and shapes.
Of course there are flowers and birds plus my March obsession of spiders webs. So I do recommend getting your favourite drink and perhaps a snack as you settle in and have a look at my month of March.
OK, I’ll get the insects out of the way first for all those who have told me of their dislike of bugs. You will be rewarded with seeing some lovely little creatures from my world.
I’ll ease you into the insect section with a lovely Wanderer Butterfly
Remember My Quest to photograph a Blue Triangle Butterfly. Well now it seems they are waiting for me. This Blue Triangle was on the road when we went for a walk.
There were a lot of Easten Common Brown Butterflies around this year.
A long range photo of a lovely bug with orange feelers. Some close ups are coming next.
When you are a small insect you really have to hang on if there is a breeze about.
I look fearsome but I’m not.
A small Fly with red eyes came to sit with us while we had a drink on the deck. Spiders next
Remember the spiders web from my March Squares. Lots of people were glad the spider wasn’t in the web. Well here he is, all 5 or 6mm of him. Better watch out if you are a mossie.
Some spiders hang up side down on their web.
First prize in the messiest web. I love the droplets on the web from the morning mist.
As part of my obsession, I have been playing with my photo editor. Do you like this one?
A bit of respite now. A Lemon Migrant Butterfly on Lantana
While on a day trip, we stopped at an art gallery which wasn’t all that great. Outside life was far more interesting. I found a Praying Mantis eating a Bee in the flower bed.
This poor little bloke couldn’t get his wings folded
Photographing some grass seeds I was photo-bombed by a Dragonfly
I don’t think it was this lovely red Dragonfly. I love the shadow
My favourite Australian Native Bees are the Blue-banded Bees which are in other posts this month. This Australian Native Bee has the best named of all. Let me introduce you to the Teddy Bear Bee. Do you know of a cuter bee name?
When we look out of the kitchen window at my besties place, neatly framed in the arch, waiting for his breakfast too is PJ the horse. He knows where to stand to get attention doesn’t he?
The grass seed photo I talked about earlier.
An Australian Native flower that grows at my place. This one was on the side of the road.
My besties Roses are lovely this year. The camera couldn’t capture the wonderful red colour though
A great year for Bromiliad flowering too.
This plant is called Ink Weed. Apparently you can make ink from the plant. Not sure which part but they did in the early days of the colony.
I have often shown the Blue Ginger flowers up close, sometimes with a Blue-banded Bee in them. This is one patch of them in my besties garden.
I love Cats Whiskers flowers. They are just opening in March.
Aren’t the colours of the garden striking?
Remember the many posts about the Dancing Lady Hibiscus. Here is a shot of the many flowers that came out this year taken from the verandah where we sometimes have breakfast, the most flowers we have ever seen. The Hibiscus bush trails up the Poinciana tree trunks. How many Dancing Ladies can you count?
A tiny Eco-system in a tree trunk on the side of the road.
The fence post was covered on one side with these fungi.
A lone fungus on the side of the hill.
I love this shot from under the Poinciana tree at the small fungi high up.
The Common Garden Skink, I call a Copper Headed Skink, doing its best not to look at the camera before it scurried away.
Apart from flowers, fungi, birds, the Poinciana also has a non-venomous Green Tree Snake who lives in the hollows. These Pythons are harmless
Beautiful little snake. Aren’t the colours and markings lovely?
I wondered why the chook was hesitant about coming out of her yard. When she did she would run across the yard to a sheltered spot. She never came into the front garden. Then I spied why. The Square-tailed Kites have built a nest in a eucalypt in the front yard
The Black Kites are everywhere near the Lismore Waste Center
On a drive to Caniaba, while waiting for some dairy cows to cross the road, I saw two Wedged-tailed Eagles wheeling about high in the sky.
The Little Wattlebird enjoyed singing and searching for food in the Poinciana tree
He saw me with my camera while up side down looking for grubs.
The tiny Buff-rumped Thornbill defied gravity looking for a snack in the Poinciana tree too
A Golden Whistler was in fine voice in the Poinciana tree.
Another singer in the garden is the Varied Triller
A flock of Silvereyes called in to have a feed
A Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike strained to see if it was food or just the wind blowing leaves about
On a recent walk, I spied a young Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike harassing its parent for food
“Where is everyone?” the Pied Cormorant seemed to say as it looked around before diving for fish once more in the Brunswick River.
Meanwhile on the beach at Brunswick Heads, a Welcome Swallow found a convenient stick to perch
Remember the Bromiliad Flower? The Lewins Honeyeater has been sticking his head into the flower to get a snack. The flower also rewarded him but giving him a pollen crown.
I love Wonga Pigeons. This pair were sitting in the garden preening and looking about.
The Grey Fantail looked like he was walking on stilts.
A great moment in March was seeing the Green Catbird feeding her young. Seconds later another young one came along which disturbed the scene and soon all three had flown off.
I can’t do a post with birds and not included Bobbin, the cute resident Northern Yellow Robin. I recently discovered that I have been calling the Yellow Robins around here and at my besties, Eastern Yellow Robins. There are two distinct races of Yellow Robins. So from now on Bobbin and his friends are Northern Yellow Robins.
Thanks for getting this far. I even made a second coffee to keep me going to the end.
The afternoon colour and trees looked so lovely
The Full Moon earlier in March looked great with the clouds drifting by.
I like to put the captions before the photo. What do you do? Do you prefer the captions before or after a photo? Let me know what you think?
Did you have a favourite photo from March?
Have you ever seen a Nest hotel? The Pied Cormorants must enjoy nesting together as it was rather raucous with calls of “It’s your turn” or “Bring me a fish” or just chatting to while the time away. How many nests can you count?
There are more nests here have a look
Check out all the other fab “N” photos at Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge
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