The word prompt from CitySonnet: Olive
There are a few birds that come around my place that have lovely olive coloured feathers. The featured bird is a Figbird.
This one is actually an Olive-backed Oriel
The little White-throated Honeyeaters
Blue-faced Honeyeater
A Silvereye
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
Joining in with Kate and here theme: Birds
This particular post is in memorium to the terracotta bird bath that has given so much pleasure over the years. Over the weekend, possibly during a wild storm on Saturday, the terracotta bird bath plummeted to the ground and breaking into many many pieces. The bird bath had survived other falls but not this time unfortunately.
There has been lots of activity at the bird bath. August was very dry so the water in the bird baths at home had to be replenished often. I have three bird baths around my house. This is what has been happening at just one.
This is the view I have of the bird bath from my verandah so it makes it easier to get a few photos. The birds still notice me and often fly off.
The King Parrots are easy to spot when they visit the bird bath.
When competing families arrive at the same time, a bit of arguing takes place.
Notice the look on the Yellow-faced Honeyeater on the left. They are the guardians of the bird bath and swoop in to scare other birds away. The Lewins Honeyeater was rather nonplussed at the Yellow-faced Honeyeaters presence.
The Silvereyes quite often arrive on mass
Looks like the White-throated Honeyeater is surrounded. One Yellow-faced Honeyeater has been in for a bath, no longer looking sleek.
I only just caught a Buff-rumped Thornbill who flew off before I could get set for another photo.
The Eastern Yellow Robin didn’t look pleased to have a post bath photo taken.
A typical stance of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater. The Eastern Yellow Robin didn’t care much while a White-throated Treecreeper waits his turn.
A Grey Fantail gets ready to get into the bird bath.
As usual, a White-throated Honeyeater waits out of sight when a gang of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters arrive at the bird bath.
I love the way the Treecreepers sit on the edge of the bird bath. He seems taken a back at the Yellow-faced Honeyeaters attitude.
Peace at last and time for a bath. Look at those feet, made for scaling vertical surfaces.
The White-throated Honeyeaters often arrive in numbers too.
How embarrassing seeing me like this the Eastern Yellow Robins seems to say as a flock of Silvereyes arrive.
A Scarlet Honeyeater watches on as the Silvereyes take a drink
The Red-browed Firetail Finch and Silvereye discuss their day while hanging around the bird bath.
The Eastern Spinebill was not sure about having a Yellow-faced Honeyeater at the bird bath.
The Noisy Friarbird isn’t the most handsome visitor to the bird bath
Pied Currawongs drop in from time to time. They have a disgusting habit of vomiting food pellets into the water before drinking necessitating in water changes.
The Female or Juvenile Satin Bowerbird love the bird bath.
They make a huge splash when the plop into the water.
The Male Satin Bowerbird is wonderful. The camera doesn’t quite catch the sheen and colour shifts from black to blue
The Rainbow Lorikeets are the most colourful visitors to the bird bath.
I hoped you enjoyed your visit to the bird bath. Did you have a favourite bird at the bird bath?
Welcome to my world in June. Not an abundance of photos this time but I do recommend getting comfortable. June was the month where my bestie sold her 103 year old farmhouse in a Rain-forest, where a lot of bird bath and bird photos came from, and moved into her new place which is similar to my climate. It is a newish house but has a bird bath and a great bird attracting garden. So far we have identified 38 birds, some are in this post. As you can see I have been a bit busy helping move house.
The house is still in a rural setting.
This is my first attempt at photographing Dandelion seed heads.
One afternoon the sky became fierce looking. Quite an angry face looking out isn’t it?
The early morning at my place walking through the Blady Grass. It was very dry in the previous months. Green shoots struggled to grow among the dry brown grass.
This native plant is growing in the middle of a paddock. The Autumn saw the stalk covered in white flowers. I hope the seeds have spread and not harvested by ants.
June is the month for the Lismore, a town nearby, Lantern Parade. I didn’t get many good parade photos. There were a number of Orchid lanterns hanging in the trees in the park where the show and fireworks took place.
The fireworks were quite spectacular.
While my bestie was moving house, I was given some, OK a lot, of plants to look after. The Kalenchoe loved being in my sun room and has put on a wonderful display of flowers.
Winter has also brought some other visitors into the house. I usually have native rodents come into the warmth. I have a trap to catch them and then they get taken back into the bush. This time I have had a House Mouse or two in the pantry. This little fat one, I suspect to be a pregnant female, was relocated up the road.
This is the big section of birds for the month of June
The little Silvereyes have really taken to the hanging pot bird bath and drinking place.
The other bigger birds prefer to use this bird bath. A female or juvenile Satin Bowerbird was chatting to someone nearby.
A Yellow-faced Honeyeater takes a drink.
A Yellow-faced Honeyeater at my besties has claimed this branch of a tree.
There has been quite a number of Yellow-rumped Thornbills around my garden
A very cute looking Jackie Winter enjoyed the morning sun on the fence.
While we were walking along a road, we came across a small flock of Variegated Fairy Wrens darting in the grass beside the road. A young one made an appearance on a nearby tree. 
Of course I couldn’t let a post go past without my favourite, an Eastern Yellow Robin. Sadly we had to leave Bobbin behind so maybe this one at my place will be the the new substitute. I haven’t found the right name yet. Any suggestions?
One afternoon a small flock of Red-browed Firetails came looking for grass seeds in the front garden.
A young Lewins Honeyeater found a great lookout atop a red flowering Eucalypt.
The Rainbow Lorikeets came for the Eucalypt flowers too.
A Rufous Whistler singing an early morning song
It was lovely to have a welcome to the new place with a number of Welcome Swallows who zoom around the verandahs and sit on the fence to do their laundry.
Another bloke who likes to sit on the fence to survey the lawn for insects is the Restless Flycatcher. They make the most amazing sound. I tried to make a video but it wasn’t the best sound quality.
An Eastern Rosella wanted to see what we were doing in the new garden.
At my place, a number of Noisy Miners were carrying on. They didn’t like the Kookaburra being too close to their nests.
I thought it was going to be a cold night after finding a Kookaburra family cosying up for the night in the late evening.
A Pacific Black Duck showing a flash of turquoise as it paddled on the creek.
A young Straw-necked Ibis didn’t want me to take its photo as it strolled in a nearby paddock.
This bloke didn’t seem to mind though.
The Sacred Ibis look wonderful as they wheel about in the sky
A Common Tern was fishing down by the estuary. Gliding along and then suddemly plumetting into the water. I didn’t see it catch a fish though.
The Moon and a plane.
Well the sun is almost setting. Thanks for joining me in This is June
Hope to see you next month
Another wrap up of whats been happening in bushboys world in May. This month has been so dry. Many of the usual birds that are around here in May are absent. The most exciting thing is that I have two new birds that have dropped in on their migration to warmer places.
Some of the photos are from my besties place where it has been raining almost every day. There isn’t a huge amount of photos but I still recommend grabbing a drink suitable for the time of day you are scrolling through This is May 2018.
I think I’ll start with a couple of flowers. I can’t wait for some of the plants which flower in the cooler months to flower.
I love the purple colour
The last hibiscus flower
Just a mud puddle with a bit of the sun and sky
This is the shell of a Frasers Banded Snail. One of the advantages of following scientists on Twitter is that if I can’t ID anything, there is always someone to ask. Bronwen Scott gave me the name of the snail. Bronwen is at Snailseyeview
Another view of the Frasers Banded Snail shell
When the cooler weather arrives, quite often so do some of the marsupial mice from out of the forest looking for somewhere warm to nest. I have a live trap where I can trap, ID and release back into the forest.
This is a view into the trap with a House Mouse, not an Antechinus as I first thought, who has been enjoying a bit of peanut butter. ID help from Dr Dave and Dale Nimmo
Here is the little bloke ready to hop off and find another place to spend Winter other than my pantry
Another new discovery at my besties was this Eastern Stoney Creek Frog. The ID on the frog was also from a Twitter. The wonderful Jodi Rowley
Here’s a bit of orange fungi growing on the side of a tree glowing in the afternoon sun
This fungi was so soft and really did feel like velvet. Also an added bit of Lichen as well as some Moss. Yes it was a wet habitat.
Here is the usual warning for those who have an aversion to spiders. Try to have a peek as the Golden Orb Weaver is a rather beautiful spider.
Lets break in gently with a tiny but lovely web glowing in the morning suns golden glow. Not an Orb Weavers web as this spider is tiny
Here she is, a Golden Orb Weaver looking lovely against the blue Autumn sky.
The markings underneath are so wonderful. She is not quite 75mm long.
This is why she is a Golden Orb Weaver. She is attending to her larder dangling on the golden threads of her rather messy web
A rainy day in Ballina. A Willie Wagtail found a place to try and stay dry during a downpour
Only a few bits of green grass when this photo was taken of a Willie Wagtail hunting for a snack.
The Eastern Spinebills have arrived. A few will hang around over winter as long as the Grevilleas have flowers.
A small flock of Silvereyes have taken up residence as well
Not sure who this Silvereye is yelling at while at he bird bath
On a drive I spotted a group of Ibis resting and preening. Among the group were a couple of Spoonbills having a rest.
It was disturbing to see 4WD wheel tracks on a section of South Ballina Beach which is a no go zone as the birds rest and nest on that part of the beach.
A Sooty Oystercatcher and a Little Tern in the wheel tracks, with some Crested Terns in the background
A Little Tern resting on the beach
Sometimes you have to wait for your turn in the bird bath. A White-throated Treecreeper hangs about waiting for a Lewins Honeyeater to finish his bath.
Ahhh……that’s better. I love how the White-throated Treecreepers sit in the bird bath, the totally opposite to all the other birds.
The Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are on their migration too. Some of the flock will stay here over winter. They are the bullies of the bird bath and chase the other birds away.
The Northern Yellow Robins are always around the forest . This bloke and his family are hanging around my garden
My bestie has sold her place. Here is one of the last photos of Bobbin, the Northern Yellow Robin who lives at her place on the garden chair where he loves to survey the garden for something to eat. Bobbin is such a cutie isn’t he?
An Emerald Dove found a good drinking spot in the garden. A stem of a Bangalow Palm filled with rain water.
Here is the first of the new birds at my place. This is a Striated Pardalote
The other new bird is a tiny Varied Sittella. A small flock dropped in one day for a drink, rest and a bite to eat before continuing on their way north. Another little cute bird.
The butterflies are becoming scarce as the weather gets colder. I have been lucky enough to get some photos of the inside wings as well as the usually more colourful outer wings. This butterfly is a Yellow or Common Albatross showing the inside wings
The outer wings are a lovely yellow with a brown edging.
A Zebra Blue or Plumbago Blue Butterfly. You can see the blue on the inside.
The outer wings have a lovely marbling and striking pattern.
The inside wings of the Common Jezabel are rather dull compared to the outer wings.
Here is a Common Jezabel sitting high upon a flower stalk on a sunny day.
I hope you have enjoyed a scroll through my May.
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?
At last I am able to sit down and write this blog. I have a chest infection which made my concentration levels drop and a lack of interest in doing anything. Looking at the screen made my eyes sore as well. July was interesting as the days became more like Summer than Winter. There hasn’t been much rain so the garden is suffering. Most of the flowers are from elsewhere, some of the birds are from around here and there is a bit of what is that photo. There is a bit of excitement but that will come later. There are quite a number of photos so perhaps a cup of tea or coffee or whatever you drink while sitting have a look at my July.
This is the view from Raspberry Lookout in the Gibraltar Ranges, about 70kms from my place, which is somewhere to the left of the photo a few gullies over.
I thought I’d start with the bugs I found. A moth isn’t really a bug but an insect but this beauty had to go in somewhere.
We found a caterpillar munching a plant. Look at how much it has eaten for such a small sized caterpillar.
The winter flowering stone fruits are alive with bees.
I was enjoying a cuppa on the verandah when this bloke came buzzing around. I like the confusion of fly and shadow.
At the Raspberry Lookout I found a log. Not just an ordinary log but one that had a lichen that made it look so green.
Can you see the face on this old tree stump. The big cut mark on the left is where the timber cutters used to put a board to stand on to cut the tree down with an axe. The “graffiti” isn’t all that old though.
My bestie found this fantastic leaf.
One day the clouds just decided to look rather special. Something to do with a hot day, cold upper air or whatever.
“What are you looking at?”
I call this photo “The Electric Fish”. I would love to tell you how I took the photo but have no idea. The leaves and flowers were in the bottom of the bowl and the spots on the surface are fish food.
Late one evening when going for a walk, I saw the red and green leaves glowing in the afternoon sun.
A neighbours place glowed in that afternoon sun. This plant is called Firesticks.
I have never looked at a Dandelion flower. Isn’t it beautiful.
In a garden in Grafton the rest of the garden was bare and a few of the flowers were doing their last gasp but this Gazania stood out among the rest.
A fragrant Rose. I love Roses.
The Grevillea flower shone in the early morning sun.
Some birds come back every year to spend Winter here or perhaps just drop in for a snack and rest on their migratory route to further warming climes. The Blue-faced Honeyeaters stay around and nest. The mornings and evenings are filled with their calls.
The Silvereyes flock through, some keep going but some hang around for a while eating and building their strength for the next part of their journey.
The Figbirds are after the fruiting trees in the rainforest gullies. This Figbird seemed to have an interest in a Eucalypt nut.
The Lewins Honeyeater found a tasty morsel in the bark of the tree.
It doesn’t look like it was that appealing does it?
A White-throated Honeyeater, a bowl and a garden bench. There are a number of places where birds can get a drink in my garden.
Going to my besties one day, I came across a flock of Brolgas in a farmers field beside the highway. This is only the second time I have seen Brolgas and to see around twenty was wonderful.
Some birds will do anything not to have their photo taken. The Eurasian Coot did a great dive.
Have you ever been so angry that you just had to shout at a tree?
I hadn’t noticed the rich orange around the eye of a White-throated Tree Creeper before. Since the blog was published, Carol Probets who often lets me know what’s what informed me that this is a Red-browed Tree Creeper. See Carols blog at Lyreades
The Welcome Swallow was ignoring me as he sat on the old bridge watching the workings building the new one.
The Spotted Pardalote had a ritual of checking out the verandah every morning for snacks.
The Grey Shrike-Thrush have set up home at my besties.
Adorable looking birds aren’t they?
The Grey Fantail was a bit puffed up in the cool afternoon breeze.
Another regular Winter visitor to my place are the Noisy Friarbirds. Their calls resound through the forest all day long. These two were having an in depth conversation.
Every now and then a large flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos descend on the pine trees to feed and then take off to find a place to roost.
The lovely little Rose Robins are occasional visitors. So cute as the bounce in the garden looking for snacks.
This is excitement number one. First time I have seen a Grey Goshawk. It was high in the trees at my besties place.
Excitement number two. The first time I have seen a Fan-tailed Cuckoo. It was so happy to sit on a post and pose for a minute or two at my besties place.
This was the sunset in some of the photos mentioned before. So it must be time to go.
Thank you for stopping by. Drop me a note if you found something that interested you.
life through my lens
I'm Victoria Stuart, a poet who philosophizes and sings about family matters and entanglements.
Capturing the tiniest details of God’s artistry
Less is not enough.
Everyone Has Something To Teach Us
age is just a (biggish) number
Taking the camera for a walk!!!
Capturing the beauty of God's creation through the lens of a camera
Expressing Thought Through Photography
Reflections on Life through poetry, essays and photos
a painter´s attempt to conquer the great white canvas
Wits End Photography
Creative Exploration in Words and Pictures
Dil se Dil tak...
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