Skink – bushboys world

This is October 2018

Published on November 7, 2018November 7, 2018 by bushboy17 Comments

OK folks strap yourself in for this ride. You will need stamina, food, drinks and a possible toilet break as I have been unrelenting in snapping away with all manner of things. I was going to break the photos down into subject groups in separate posts, but I thought “What the heck, you can scroll through at your own pace.”

What better way to start the day (or post) than with a sunrise from my besties new place

Let’s start with things. I don’t know what to call this bunch of photos as they are different. Enough talk. Off we go!

I found these gelatinous blobs on the beach, hundreds of them. Perhaps baby jelly fish?

When you see a land form that resembles something else

The planes have been showing themselves a bit in October.

Just love these rock cliff, the colours and again, can you see a face?

The moss gave the tree a bit of a dress with a vine for dramatic effect.

More moss. This time at the waters edge at the beach

The rock pool took on an ethereal mood

Just the shelf at my besties place

When I put on this lamp, I just had to take the photo. Another shelf at my besties

October saw the rain come. This dam, I use the water around the house and garden, was about one-eighth full. Seeing the water flow into the dam cured my blues.

The waterhole on my place never is dry but came very close this year. Seeing it full again made me happy. I think the birds and animals are pleased as well

Waterfalls make such a soothing sound don’t you think? Even little waterfalls that help fill the waterhole.

Of course a bit of rain and sunshine brings out the fungi

Fungi of all shapes and colours. Some big….

…some small

and some are edible

I love Grass Trees. These are at a place called Naughtons Gap. They are bigger than some of the Grass Trees on my place.

A wonderful discovery was a whole street in Grafton lined with Bottle Trees. This will be investigated as to why and how and perhaps a bushboy post about the history of the Bottle Trees in Grafton may evolve.

The early morning dew and spiders webs. I can’t resist

Sitting having a cup of tea with my bestie when a large Skink wandered about the garden. Wonderful markings aren’t they?

Would you believe that this tree is called a Cheese Tree?

Just an ant having a swim. He did get out eventually.

The flower and a bee. The flower is on what is called a broad leaf weed which is supposed to be undesirable in a lawn. Look at the bees pollen sacks. I don’t think the bee would be as happy if the “weed” wasn’t there. Think before you mow please.

Just a feather

and another

The Forest Kingfishers have arrived. The male looked about for anything that moved in the grass or the garden.

The colours on his back are lovely.

This photo shows a bit more of the iridescence

Galahs are funny birds. This bloke is sitting on the stock trough on next doors place at my besties

It’s a bit of a way down to get a drink.

Another arrival in Spring are the Grey Shrike Thrush. They are in the trees around the garden and sing in the morning and in the afternoons. What a delight to have in my garden.

The Pied Currawong didn’t mind a bit of rain.

Doesn’t he look great. The black with the red of the Flame Tree

The Fig Bird was spotted eating Mulberries

So was his mate

A Coucal Pheasant came for a visit and sat high in the Gum Tree.

Later on, I think he was checking me out through the undergrowth.

Another October visitor, a Brown Honeyeater

He soon found the bird bath

The Blue-faced Honeyeaters have arrived in numbers to feast on the Honey Gem Grevillea

The female Blue-faced Honeyeaters also drop in for a snack

Remember the post about the Post where the Noisy Friar Bird was chased away by the Spangled Drongo. Here Rainbow Lorikeets get a serve from the Friar Bird. A bit of a peck to the head.

The Rainbow Lorikeets were a bit bemused by all the carry on.

A female Satin Bowerbird enjoyed the nectar in the Yamba Sunshine Grevillea.

But like everyone else, the Honey Gem Grevillea is the best place to get a meal.

Yellow-faced Honeyeaters seem to have a constant scowl on their faces.

I think this Yellow-faced Honeyeater spotted me and my camera
The gravity defying White-throated Treecreeper taken from the comfort of the chair in my office

They are lovely as they hop up and down the trees looking for something to eat.

Another photo from my office chair. I call this one, “I can see what you are doing” is what the King Parrot is saying.

A young King Parrot morphing into a male

Getting a good Eastern Rosella photo quest continues

Out for a drive, we spotted a smallish bird run across the road and into a paddock. A new bird has been seen, an Australasian Pipit.

On another adventure drive, we spotted flashes of green zooming across the road. A flock of Rainbow Bee Eaters were hanging about. This is a breeding pair

Aren’t the males colours amazing?

You may wonder why we are back at a couple of young King Parrots. I thought it was lovely to have them sitting on a hanging pot under the verandah, until I spotted what they were doing

Yes, these “lovely” young birds had eaten half of the succulents in the pot. All around the pot, the succulent trailed over the edge. Can you see the bit trailing over the edge now. This hanging pot is no longer hanging where pesky King Parrots can get at it.

Water drops and new growth

I love the colour of this Succulent. Was tempted to pinch a leaf or two

I love the colours in this photo of a Hanging Violet with red in the background

A lovely Native Geranium growing in the “lawn” Another reason not to mow

Pansies, pansies, pansies
and more Pansies
This year the Silky Oaks flowering was spectacular

A flower of a Succulent

The Budlea flower spike wonderful and smells delightful

Some of the Roses looked a treat this year

A pink Bottlebrush flower

The native water lillies on my dam. Water Snowflake

The rain knocked a lot of the flowers off the Flame Tree. The little cups filled with water

Some native flowers that grow on my place. This yellow beauty is Dogwood

I think this native flower is a Hairy Guinea Flower

I have been encouraging a lot of Egg and Bacon plant to grow on one part of my property. It’s spikey habit is good for protecting small birds when it is in a fairly dense thicket

Plus the flowers are lovely. You can see the sharp points in the leaves

A small pink Grevillea.

My besties flower beds are looking great

and yet more flowers
This flower has caused great excitement for me. This is the first time I have seen a Hakea Florulenta on my property.

Aren’t the tiny flowers delightful?

The early morning fog gives a sense of wonder to start the day

Of course when it rains, you also find rainbows. This one had a faint double above.

Well, the sun is setting and you have reached the end. Well done for sticking around to get to the end and thanks for having a look at my October 2018

Did you have a favourite photo?

Bricks

Published on July 13, 2018August 30, 2018 by bushboy11 Comments

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Geometry, bushes, window, brick, curtain, green, tan, wall, building, dark red, tree

OK. I have covered Geometry and Window. Now for Brick

Bricks with a bit of paint
180510_odd balls_bricks

A brick wall in Bologna, Italy
brick wall_bologna_named_oct 2015

Brick pathway with some moss in Lismore Australia
170719_blog challenge_mundane monday_moss

What would a brick wall be without a skink hanging on the warm bricks
skink_named_grafton_sept 2017

Some old sandstone bricks on a church in Springwood Australia
170713_blog chalenge_the past_springwood_churc

Some ferns growing out of a brick wall in Bangalow Australia
2018-02-03 17.20.51

The wonderful brick of the Ponte Vecchio Avignon France
171116_blog challenge_bridges_castel vecchio_verona

CFFC

This is March 2018

Published on April 1, 2018 by bushboy25 Comments

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?

Black and White Sunday – The Cathedral

Published on February 28, 2018February 28, 2018 by bushboy17 Comments

For this Traces of the Past, I recently spent a bit of time on a rainy day in the Cathedral Church of Christ the King in my town of Grafton NSW Australia. The Cathedral was finished in 1884. Originally there was a small wooden church on the site built in 1842. The Cathedral is in a great green space in the heart town with the bell tower ringing out the time, a tradition I love.

The hand carved foundations made of sandstone

This side of the Cathedral has lots of lichen

The northern face. You can see the two halves of the church in the roof line where the second part was added

Looking toward the front door and the white roses in the garden.

Looking towards the old bell tower

Looking along the aisle to the back of the Cathedral

The pews have been replaced by comfortable chairs with cushions

Some of the old pews have been retained

The old wooden seats in the front of the cathedral have been kept as well but with cushions added for the comfort of the cathedral officials.

There are many parts of the Cathedral that have been kept in good order

The font in front of the dedication to the Indigenous history of the Clarence Valley.

The ceiling is wonderful highlighting the history of the Valleys timber history

One of the brick arches that support the structure

The back of the Cathedral where you can see the shapes of the stained glass windows

Looking inside. Aren’t the lights lovely

A bit of selective colour

I couldn’t not show you the colour version

And of course I also had to include a bit of the nature who live around the Cathedral. You will always see a Skink or two on the walls.

Hope you enjoyed a look around the Cathedral in my town.

This is December

Published on January 5, 2018 by bushboy21 Comments

This is just the one big photo blog. I hope you have time to scroll through. It started rather small at the start of December and just seemed to grow as stuff happened. I have included some of the skies that may have been in Beckys Square Sky photo challenge or missed out. I really enjoyed Beckys #SquareSky challenge. Perhaps you may need a pot of tea to get to the end!

Lets go. I love skinks and how they just move about on brick walls.

Come Summer and the Dragonflies are flitting about the garden.

I couldn’t find this Dragonfly at first when it disappeared into the garden.

Summer in Australia with the deafening cacophony of cicadas. When the tree you were in many years ago has gone, make do with anything to get out of your shell.

Brown Ringlets have wonderful “eyes” on their wings.

I was visited by an Assassin Bug who did a bit of fluff cleaning for me.

Mud Daubers make wonderful clay pots to raise their young. They lay an egg in the clay pot, they go about gathering spiders which they comatose for the grub to eat when it hatches.

I have been watching this one build a cone shape on the architrave of the office door.

Some mornings the chicken wire fence has lots of spider webs in the mesh.

What a fabulous green the grasshopper has which contrasts with the yellow of the Deities flower.

I love the Line Blue Butterflys antennae

The Bromiliad flower with a bonus spider shell.

The Stingless Native Bees loved the Day Lily flower.

After the rain, the Crocus flowered much to the delight of the Stingless Native Bees

They certainly have a laconic way of flying don’y they?

The red Dahlia is one of my favourite flowers.

The Tree Begonias supplied a splash of red in the garden too.

It was a great year for the Agapanthus flowers.

A tiny native flower with a fluffy centre.

Another lovely flower I was given from my friend Geoff.

A very pretty Rose in a friends garden.

I think this flower is an Egg and Bacon plant flower.

The Hibiscus flowers welcomed the rain in December.

A field of Daisys on the side of the road.

The Curry Bush had a great flowering last year as well

The storm season arrived a bit late last year but when it came, it was spectacular.

This sky was incredible

And again

I love capturing the suns rays.

The palm leaf had shiny spots of water which glistened in the sunlight.

People must have thought I was mad walking around trying to get the sun in the right spot.

This sunset was amazing. The colours changed every minute.

It’s hard getting a sunrise photo when you live in a forest.

The Spangled Drongo was wondering what I was doing interrupting bath time.

It isn’t often I see a Peaceful Dove at the bird bath.

When White Ibis flocks glide overhead it is just magnificent.

A female Figbird or a young Figbird just getting his red mask.

One day he will look like his dad.

Check out the pants on the Channel-bill Cuckoo

They have a very serious looking bill don’t they?

Rainbow Lorikeets are quite raucous as they nibble about on the Lemon Scented Tea Tree.

I am so glad the Forest Kingfisher has returned this Summer to forage around the house.

An activities box outside of a Cafe in Toowoomba.

The Moon was just wonderful with the coloured rings on a cloudy night.

If pupils were white it could look like an eye.

Some people have said this photo has a Japanese feel about it. What do you think?

Thanks for dropping by

Lizard

Published on November 29, 2017 by bushboy16 Comments

The One Word Photo Challenge from Jennifer Nichole Wells Photography: Lizard

Just hanging around
skink_named_grafton_sept 2017

PS: Not really a lizard. It’s a Skink

This is September: the other bits

Published on October 6, 2017 by bushboy20 Comments

Well here is the second installment of This is September. Here is an assortment of stuff but mainly nature.

First off I’d like to let you know my sad news. My elderly neighbour and good friend Geoff, the bloke who gave me this beautiful Iris, died earlier this week. I have so many plants from his wonderful garden, perhaps a future blog, that I will always have good memories especially when the plants flower and spread sunshine to my garden.

I might as well stay on the flowers that managed to bloom despite the lack of rain. Orange Trumpet flowers hang from the shed.

The Bromiliad flowers are most unusual

The Pansys battled on with a watering every now and then.

I like the lion face in this Pansy

The Rose Geraniums flowered looking so spectacular dotted through the garden

Most of the flowers also had other things happening too. Can you find the insect on the Westringia? Hint it’s a bee

The butterflies liked resting on the Westringia. Not sure if this is a Grass Dart or a Skipper

Stingless Native Bees were a buzz about the Orange Trumpet flowers.

Other bees likes to get among the Grevilleas

The Wisteria came out to bloom for a few weeks. Wanderer Butterflies were attracted to the flowers perfume.

Another sign of Spring is Orchard Swallowtails in the garden.

One of the biggest butterflies that come around the garden.

Some moths are hard to find when they sit on the ground

Other butterflies are rather small like this Barred Skipper who didn’t mind resting on a leaf

Do you remember the Assassin Bug photo? Here is the full photo

Come warmer weather, spider webs appear. The St Andrews Cross Spider didn’t quite get the “this is what a cross looks like” memo

I din’t think he cares very much

Insects are everywhere. Some like to see what you are doing on the computer

Just a fly sitting on a leaf

An ant scurried away when it saw the camera

A Common Yellow Butterfly shows the birds how to hide among the leaves

Some leaves look wonderful. The colours the White Fig leaves turn merge so well

The sunlight on the Bottlebrush leaf drew my attention. This is without the photo bombing bee

The Bloodwood Tree nuts litter the forest floor

On a walk we came across a Spotted Gum with interesting bark patterns and lumps. What can you see?

The Ironbark looked like it had a claw emerging down its trunk.

Can you see a cat?

We saw a bear…can you?

The Silk Tree pods are like orange velvet in the tree tops

Sometimes the pods drop with their seeds intact

The Agave looked lovely in the morning sun

The Skink hung on to the bricks as it surveyed the scene on the church in Grafton

The Joeys are now too big to fit in the pouch any more

The Spring sunsets have been amazing

The sun is almost gone so it’s time to say see ya later.

Birds, Bugs, Butterflies and Flowers

Published on December 21, 2016December 29, 2016 by bushboy3 Comments

Another hot day has made me think it will be better being inside rather than the baking sun out there. At the moment there is thunder rumbling about. But that happened last night and didn’t result in rain. I hope this lot will as it is dry as anything here.

This is the third year of lower than average rainfall. There has been enough to keep the water tanks topped up but the dams are either empty or very low. The main dam I use for watering the house gardens is about one third full so it is rationing the water to the plants in pots first and then the new plantings (planted in the hope of rain).

From there I feel like the bad parent and water the plants that look like they need water more and the others are left to fend for themselves. Most are OK and I have only lost one or two plants although they may surprise and send out shoots when the rains come.

I am always putting water into the bird baths which is appreciated by the birds who come to my garden for a drink. The hanging pot is usually a favourite for the small birds. Once when I was watering the plants, a White-throated Honeyeater sat in a branch near the hanging pot and almost seemed to say “How about you top up the hanging pot so we can get a drink.” After putting some water into the pot, about 4 or 5 of its mates went to the pot for a drink.

Sometimes a bigger bird will also like to have a drink like this Little Friarbird.

The hanging pot is the best place to get a drink. The female Scarlet Honeyeaters are regular visitors.

The male Scarlet Honeyeaters seem to get on when there’s a drink involved.

This young one waited until everyone else had gone before venturing in for a drink.

Another place to get a drink is an old wheelbarrow which collects water from the car port roof when it rains. Some of the birds love it as it is in shade in the afternoon. You may have seen previous photos of the Spangled Drongos and Friarbirds over there. This time the Lewins Honyeater and the White-throated Honeyeater had a bit of a squabble about who should drink and bathe in the wheelbarrow bird bath.

In early December the lovely Satin Flycatchers drop in for a few days.

The Square-tailed Kites are often harassed by the nearby nesting Friarbirds when they take off from their nest to go and get food for the young ones. I haven’t been able to see the young ones yet but both parents have been busting getting food and coming back to the nest. This Friarbird got very up close and personal.

But eventually the Kite wheeled around and headed off on its mission.

Soon it was circling around getting higher and higher showing its wonderful wing feathers.

Meanwhile, back at my besties bird bath the normally sleek looking Red-browed Finch was looking rather ruffled.

The sounds of Summer in Australia are the Cicadas. There are Cicada shells on most tree trunks or posts and like this one, under the leaf of a Frangipanni.

The Dragonflies are constantly zipping about the garden. This dragonfly seemed to really like the stick and sat there for quite a while.

Everyday there is the buzz of the Blue-banded Bees as the source out the meager flower offerings in the garden.

A new visitor to the garden at the end of November was the Common Albatross Butterfly. There was only 1 or 2, nowhere as many as the Caper Whites.

I have fallen in love with photographing the Caper White Butterflies as they feed on the Pentas. Knowing they will soon be gone, I have been getting some nice photographs while I can.

In this close-up, you can almost see the scales on the wings.

I saw a Painted lady on the road as I walked down the drive to the house and suddenly she flew up and disappeared. It took a while to find where she had taken refuge in the rough bark of the Red Ironbark.

Even butterflies have to do it. These little Lineblue Butterflies even flew about the garden locked together.

Perhaps because it has been so dry, the Agapanthus bloomed so well this year. Spots of blues and whites are dotting the garden.

The Frangipannis are just starting to bloom so this year I am going to take notice of the colours I have planted in the garden.

The shed down the back has these frosted glass casement window I bought when I first moved onto the bush block. They were used in the first shed/house I built and now are in another shed that is underway. As I walked about the garden, it seemed as though someone was watching me. I saw this “face” in the window.

Remember the last blog. I said I was going to try and get a photo of the verandah skinks face. Well he sat long enough in the morning sunshine for me to get a photo. Always try to deliver lol.

June had something new as well as old

Published on July 5, 2016 by bushboy3 Comments

The rain finally came in June. The big dam, which leaks, almost filled which is lovely to see even though it only lasts a few weeks before it’s a puddle again. The frogs certainly liked the water and there were a number of different types of frogs calling.

The frogs were also on this little dam which is more of a wetland than a functioning dam. The animals drink from here as well as some birds. Dragonflies were flitting about on both dams.

As usual, we do our drives around the north coast and one day, as we were heading west out of Casino we came across this Long-necked Tortoise in the middle of the road with cars and trucks speeding by. A quick rescue mission unfolded and it was taken to the dam up a side road not far from where we picked it up.

At my besties one of the old farm sheds, this one was a piggery, we have created a studio space for art exhibitions and rent the Lady Shed for workshops by all manner of people. We love rearranging and decorating the Lady Shed with all sorts of things found or created

I love this owl!!!

Quite often when pillows or things are moved there are skinks that scurry away. This day it was a bit cold and some of the skinks were a bit too cold to move too fast.

Spiders are also disturbed as we do a bit of a cleaning and moving stuff around when there is someone else going to use the Lady Shed Studio. I have lost my spider ID book so I can’t tell you what is this one.

There is a lovely cane light shade in the Lady Shed Studio. We always check to ensure that no one has decided that the light shade would make quite a nice house. Most times a spider or two is moved on or a mud daubers nest is removed. This time a little micro bat with only a face a mother could love had taken up residence. Luckily it had gone the next day before the workshop has started. I think it may be a Lesser Long-eared Bat.

In the insulation, just under the corrugated iron, lives a Carpet Snake. It is a lovely warm place for a snake to spend winter. This Carpet Snake has been living in the Lady Shed Studio for ages and sometimes can cause a bit of angst among the workshop participants.

One afternoon I was driving home from work when I spied a Black-necked Stork patrolling after the rains had replenished a wetland. When he saw me he just casually walked away.

On the drive west of Casino in a place called Piora, we came across a little watercourse that had a couple of Spoonbills, some ducks and a Heron. The Spoonbill was the only one who didn’t move off when the car stopped.

As it has been very dry at my place with only occasional showers and 2 days of good rainfalls. The normally abundance of birds has deserted the garden and surrounding bush. The Lewins Honeyeater has stayed waiting for the blossoms to appear. The rain bought out the Honey Gem flowers.

The Satin Bowerbirds have also stayed around as they steal snacks from the chook yard. They also have a been stealing all manner of blue things from the surrounding properties.

The number of Satin Bowerbirds usually increases when it gets a bit cold in the Gibraltar Ranges. This day when I took these photos the trees were full of the mad chattering of Satin Bowerbirds.

I did a bit of a bush walk one day. Just near the dam in the first photo there has been a bower for a number of years. The blue objects were strewn in all directions from the bower up to 2 metres away.

So many blue objects. I have no idea whose place they get the blue bottle tops from as I don’t have any and my recycling is always in a sealed wool bale sack. I do think the strips of blue are from a disintegrating tarp in my building materials area.

The bird bath is always kept with water in it for the birds. Actually I have three places where the birds can get a drink and a wash. This one is one of the favourites. You can always hear the constant call of Eastern Yellow Robins in the bush and they come to the garden for an insect snack or head to the bird bath.

The little Striated Thornbills are regular bird bath regulars. They only stay for a quick wash and drink before they are off.

One day I heard a call I didn’t recognise at the bird bath. At first I didn’t see anyone but then a head popped up whilst the bird was clinging to the edge of the bird bath with its tail in the water. Just then, another bird flew in a sat on the edge. The big feet gave it away. This was the first time I had seen the White-throated Treecreepers in the bird bath.

At my besties there are always Eastern Whipbirds calling and foraging in the garden. This one was muttering to itself while it turned over leaves and small rocks hoping for a bite to eat.

Of course there a the little Eastern Yellow Robins in her garden as well. They are such a cute little bird don’t you think?

Birds, Bugs and Flowers

Published on January 12, 2016January 12, 2016 by bushboy3 Comments

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.

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