The Sunday Stills Photo Challenge: #Yellow Leaves
What a month September was. A month of fear of fires, another month of not much rain, watching the dam level drop and not being able to water the garden with the last bit of water in case I needed the water in case a fire appeared. The fires were not close, over 40kms away from my place but the sky and atmosphere was choked with smoke. A few rainfalls during the month helped alleviate my concerns, topped up my water tanks so I have enough water for my household needs and I have been watering the pot plants around the verandahs and in the house with the tank water. I also use this water to put in the various bird baths around the house as well as other water containers for the animals that may pop in and need a drink.
The downside is I am watching a lot of my garden die. Some palms that provide lovely shade for my house have already lost their tops and the others are struggling. Most of the garden is Australian native plants and some, like the lilli pillis are not looking all that flash. The Wallabies and Possums are also eating some of the garden plants so I may have to put fences around gardens so the new shoots appearing now the weather is warming don’t get nibbled.
There are a few photos to get through, so maybe a cup of tea, coffee or glass of wine or beer, depending when you are reading, Sit back and I hope you enjoy a scroll through my September.
I have found a few photogenic animals on my travels. The horses have already had their post and some others have appeared already as well but I have to put this fluffy Donkey in again.
I love going past the dairy and seeing these beautiful cows.
It is never good to see one of these ants on the verandah. Their bite is quite painful for such a small insect.
I do enjoy finding a spiders web in the right light.
The start of Spring has a few butterflies appearing. The Caper White Butterflies are migratory and this one is one of the first to arrive.
Meadow Argus are enjoying the early Spring flowers on the Pittosporum.
The Stingless Native Bees certainly loved the Rocket flowers.
As did the honey bees.
Flies are pollinators as well. This one was in a nursery we went to in Byron Bay. There were lots of other insects on the flowers too.
Saw this amazing flower but forgot to write down the name, sorry.
The Cacti were in bloom as well.
Yes it is a bud, a very weird hairy bud. Can you guess what flower may appear from this in my besties garden?
The yellow Poppy enjoyed the sunshine.
Here is the hairy buds flower, a red Poppy.
Spring brings out the Begonia flowers
And the Bottlebrush are starting to look fabulous at my besties but mine are having a hard time and the bushes haven’t looked like flowering yet.
Her Roses are looking wonderful. This one is a Double Delight just opening.
This Double Delight is open showing lovely delicate colours.
My White Fig tree is struggling a bit in the dry weather. The figs often drop their leaves at this time of year. The ground is covered in the yellow and orange leaves.
It also likes to show its true Aussie colours of Green and Gold
There are lots of birds around at the moment too. The Red-browed Firetails are cruising the grass eating the seeds
The Straw-necked Ibis are also wandering about looking for grubs in the paddocks.
I have a few Australian Ravens who have a walk about the garden looking for snacks.
We saw some Chestnut-breasted Mannikins down the road. They must have followed us home as later on I saw around 20 to 30 sitting in the fence.
The King Parrots are enjoying the last of the seeds in the Leopard Tree.
The Mistletoe Bird has wonderful red colours.
Remember the Willie Wagtails nest that was destroyed by something a month or so ago? Well they found a safe place and have raised three chicks. Only a mother could love a baby like this.
The Welcome Swallows have four chicks in two nests at my besties under the verandah. They are always hungry.
Some years, Welcome Swallows have two nestings. Here comes another feather to line the nest for the next lot of babies.
The Restless Flycatchers like to patrol the fence lines in the morning.
As the season was so bad I felt sorry for the birds and put a container of food out every now and then. The Currawongs tended to dominate but one morning a small flock of Satin Bowerbirds turned up. I have never seen so many bower birds together. These are females and juveniles. The male sat by and kept watch from a nearby branch.
A lot of the birds at my place are not hanging around the house as there isn’t much food in the garden. Normally the grevilleas are full of flowers but a lack of rain has seen a reduced number of grevillea flowers. There are a lot of birds down the lower part of my property at the waterhole. A Yellow-faced Honeyeater and a White-throated Honeyeater enjoy a drink together.
The little Striated Honeyeater just jumped straight into the bird bath.
Whereas the White-throated Honeyeater just dived straight in.
This is the first time I have seen a Little Friarbird and a Noisy Friarbird together.
A female Olive-backed Oriel came to the bird bath for the first time at my besties.
The Male shows why they are Olive-backed Oriels.
He doesn’t look to pleased to see me with my camera does he?
Everyone like the Australian Raven skipping down the hill last month. How about a Silver Gull dancing?
AS I said, the sky was been choked with smoke from the fires. I couldn’t quite capture the red sun at sunset one afternoon
Other sunsets were quite orange.
or a blaze of yellow!
The smoke mixed with cloud made for some interesting shapes and spooky atmosphere.
Well here we are at the end. The grass seed heads made a lovely part of the afternoons walk. When I looked at the photo on the computer screen, there was, I think, a Grasshopper winging away for the night.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed my September.
Also a contribution to Su’s The Changing Seasons
The August Photo a day Challenge from Maria at CitySonnet for the 29th: Reflections
When life gets you down
head down to the waterhole
A place where life gathers
A place where the day dissolves
Find yourself a rock
even though the water
is diminishing with drought
Sit
wait
listen to the bush
Hear the sounds of life
immerse yourself in life
The bush is never quiet
the buzzing of insects
the crunch of leaves
as animals and lizards
move about
The smell of the dry bush
the sounds of plants dying
dropping leaves and branches
surviving
waiting
The Rains will come
one day.
So for now
sit and reflect
your heart will not
be heavy for long
Cry if you want
let the bush
wash over
Sit and listen on
the rock by the waterhole.
Here they come
finding a place to be
a small puddle
of life
reflecting.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: 3 items or the number 3
The Pelicans
The Pelican and friends
At the bird bath series of threes
Silvereyes and a Red-browed Firetail Finch
Yellow-faced Honeyeaters drop in
Red-browed Firetail Finches have their turn
The Scarlet Honeyeater watched as the Silvereyes had a drink
The word prompt from Nancys Photo a Week Photo Challenge: Fire
So much fire.
There’s the to keep warm outside on a winters night
Of course there is the Fire Sticks plant in the afternoon sun
or the flowers of a Fire Wheel Tree
The glowing embers as the fire dies down
Always need a fireplace
and firewood to go into the fireplace to cook or keep warm
There is the fire of hell that religion depicts on church windows
Some days it seems like our Sun is on fire
The magic of fireworks
The skill of the fire twirler
The life savers in the Sky Crane to put out the bushfires
I couldn’t forget to put in a Red-browed Firetail finch
Or candles to remember and pray in the church
The word prompt from Bren for the Photo for the Week 27: Time
I love the bird baths that are at my besties place and here at mine. Some birds opt for a quick dip while others just love to splash about.
It’s time for bath time
The first few are from the bird baths at my besties old place. This one in particular was near the verandah so it gave me plenty of opportunities for bird bath photos.
Some birds, like this Eastern Yellow Robin, just enjoyed a splash around
A Magpie getting right in
I think this was a Whipbird really splashing about
The Noisy Miners loved to get wet
Sometimes it is just good to sit and soak like the little Thornbill
The Eastern Whipbird jumped right in
A Red-browed Firetail Finch made sure the water went in everywhere
Onto a few photos from my place. It is a pity that possums managed to smash my lovely terracotta bird bath while trying to get a drink even though they had lots of ground level watering places around the garden.
The White-throated Treecreeper enjoyed a good butt soak
A female Satin Bowerbird liked to sit and think
As did a Rainbow Lorikeet
The little hanging pot is a favourite for small birds
Really getting a splash on
A quick in and out for a White-throated Honeyeater
Quite often it was mixed bathing. The Eastern Yellow Robin and Silvereyes shared a quick dip
Often the Rainbow Lorikeets came in numbers which often ended up in squabbles
Hope you enjoyed Bath Time
The word prompt for Ragtag Daily Prompt Saturday: Three
A Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Eastern Spinebill and a Red-browed Firetail
Red-browed Firetail and a couple of Silvereyes
Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and a White-browed Treecreeper
Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and a White-throated Honeyeater
Yellow-faced Honeyeaters
A Scarlet Honeyeater and Silvereyes having a drink
Rainbow Lorikeets
Red-browed Firetails
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