The word prompt from the Lens-Artists: Blending in or Standing out
Blending in
or Standing out
Tag: stingless native bees
Today in the Garden
The word prompt for the photo challenge from Leanne Cole: Flowers
The Brunsfelsia are flowering and this little grasshopper is enjoying the sun
I could go on and on with Grevillea flowers but here is just a couple. A new planting from a few years ago has a lovely pink flower.
A standard Grevillea, Robin Gordon, is one the birds love.
The Hippeastrums are in flower and are a delight of colour scattered about the garden.
One of the old wheelbarrow Hippeastrum gardens
The Stingless Native Bees love gathering the pollen from the Hippeastrums 
In a pot at the front verandah, a Native Frangipanni’s scent drifts into the house. The flowers start as white and as the get older become yellow.
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Pink #10
My tenth photo for Becky’s square photo challenge: In the Pink
The Stingless Native Bees love the pink Crocus in my garden
If you want to join in here are a few ideas from Becky.
The theme for squares this month is ‘In the Pink‘ and the one rule as always is that your main photograph must be square. After that the world is your oyster, or should I say flamingo?! To help you get started here are some ideas you might want to consider;
- ‘In the Pink’ – means perfect condition or in good health, so that could be human or not!
- ‘Tickled Pink‘ – means delighted, so I’m thinking happy, fun and of course delighted. That could be you or the subject of your photograph.
- Pink – you can of course simply share anything that is coloured pink
- There is an extra challenge for those of you up for it – can you manage to combine two of these, or maybe even all three?
Squares is a daily challenge, so your photographs can be from the archives or brand new. Don’t forget though to keep your photo square, and to pingback with #InthePink.
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Everyday Moments
The word prompt from Amy at the Lens-Artist Photo Challenge: Everyday Moments
My everyday moments often involve just things that happen around my place. This is something that happens everyday here. The last photos are the main point of the everyday moment. The first ones are to set the scene.
The succulent spear has started to grow taller with an orange tinge.
Once the flower develops, the buds open up and the flowers turn orange.
This is the everyday moment at my place. The tiny Stingless Native Bees (Tetragonula carbonaria) come to collect the orange pollen in their pollen pouches. These bees are 4mm in size.
You can just see the pollen on their legs. Such a out of focus photo sorry and today is quite windy so they aren’t about at the moment to get a better photo for you.
Another Stingless Native Bee has gotten the message and flies in to join the others from the hive.
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Small
The word prompt from Debbie at Twenty-four: Small
It is good to see that people are taking up Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge while she is on vacation. Thank you all.
A tiny Soft-shelled Snail
Whats smaller than ants
A lovely Line-blue Butterfly, about 15mm in size
Hidden in the folds of a flower, a small Crab Spider waits for something smaller to drop by for a snack
Stingless Native Bees having a feast on a Crocus flower
I love finding small fungi on my place
A flower which is a big 10mm in diameter
Baby birds are cute especially in a small nest
The smallest Honeyeater, a Scarlet Honeyeater
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As busy as a…..
This is December
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
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This is September: the other bits
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.
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This is August
I do seem to have a lot of favourite photos from August. I have done quite a hard cull. I hope you are able to get through all of this blog. It was a busier than usual month. The rain hasn’t come and the place is dry now. It is a pity the dam I use for around the garden leaked as it was full in Autumn and that would normally have seen me through Winter until the Spring storms arrive. Being so dry the number of birds are reduced but I have maintained the water points around the garden for the birds and animals. I almost feel like a bad parent, selecting the plants to water and hoping the others will hang in there until I start the pump and give the garden a good soaking.
Enough of the sob story and let’s get started with the things I found in August.
I just love the colour of this leaf.
Late one afternoon while I was searching for a new log to cut firewood, I went down to the water hole. This water hole has never dried even in some of the severe droughts in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Camera settings 1/320 F6.5 ISO 800
Driving about the property, mainly gathering firewood and pulling lantana out, I often come across a family of White-winged Choughs as they patrol the bush, walking about looking under leaves and bark for insects. It was good to see that this family group has grown from five to seven.
The wily Currawong was sitting in the Bottlebrush waiting for an unsuspecting small Honeyeater to drop in for a meal.
At the small paddock dam, in reality a wetland now, the Peaceful Dove was walking down the slope heading for a drink.
In one of the water points I have placed a stick so if a bird falls into the old drum, they have something to grab onto and get out. The Yellow-faced Honeyeaters like sitting on the stick after having a drink or plopping in the water for a bath.
The main sounds that were echoing through the bush in August were the calls of the Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. They loved feasting on the Bottlebrushes.
The Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike was surveying the scene at Modenville.
One morning the Bowerbird was eating the grass for breakfast. It had quite a number of beak-fulls before it flew off.
The Bowerbird looked stunning in the afternoon light.
I love having King Parrots around. Their whistle resounds through the bush.
A Restless Flycatcher dropped in for an afternoon.
The Superb Fairy Wrens were bustling about the garden at Modenville hardly sitting long enough for a photo.
The little Variegated Fairy Wren was very busy with his flock of females as they explored the garden at Binna Burra.
I wondered what had happened to my beautiful blooms on my Cyclamen and then I saw the culprit. It is almost like the caterpillar has a straw in its mouth.
I found this tiny “house” that an insect has constructed on the bark of a block of firewood I had cut. I have bought it home and hope to see what come out of this beautifully constructed nest.
I found this beetle marching with purpose along a log.
The Common Jezebals have been flying about the bush and garden for a few weeks. When they fly they have an intense stroboscopic pattern flashing of black and white. When the wings are flat you can see the predominately white side of the wings.
I love it when there is an unexpected spider on a flower or seed head as well as small grasshoppers and ants. The seed head is about the size of a 20 cent piece.
This is the rest of the spike
There is a lot of native flowers popping up this August. It was unseasonably very warm. A lovely circle of yellow flowers about the size of a 10 cent piece.
I called this flower a Buttercup but it’s probably not. The leaves are similar to Oxalis.
Look how hairy the leaves are and the flower has a lovely reddish brown centre.
The Egg and Bacon plant is growing on the top of the dam wall. The flowers are beautiful and yes the leaves are spiky. A great place for small birds to escape into.
I call this vine a Native Wisteria. It is also called False Sarsaparilla and a few other names. It looks lovely when the vine entwines with a wattle threading purple among the wattle flowers.
Scattered throughout the bush these little star shaped flowers are easy to miss as they are about ten millimeters across.
The Bottlebrush flower is photo-bombed by a Stingless Native Bee.
This Grevillea flower is called Lemon Daze.
Isn’t the inside of this flower interesting?
Love the colour of these flowers.
Pansys. Who doesn’t love smiling Pansy faces. The colours are spectacular.
The camera can’t catch the deep purple of these Pansys
One August afternoon the sunset was spectacular.
I love the effect of the hills and trees on the horizon.
One of my Canon Powershot camera setting is called “Creative”. It takes a number of photos with different setting. This one made the sun look explosive.
Looks like the sun has set so goodbye and thanks for stopping by.
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Here is December so far
December has been quite warm to hot and I wish it would rain. The birds are coming into the garden for the watering places I have set out for them. The garden is getting drier but most of the plants are hanging on.
The Red-necked Wallabies are hanging around the house. Some have taken to the cool under the house or in the shade offered by the house and sheds.This bloke just hopped into the garden and lay down for a rest.
The Pink Lilli Pilli had a fantastic flowering this year, and the insects and birds made the most of what was on offer. The bees were buzzing around and sampling the Lilli Pillis wares.
I never get tired of watching Blue-banded Bees scrunch into the Blue Ginger flowers so their blue bums are on show.
When the Crocus flower, the Stingless Native Bees come flying in the early morning when the flowers first open for the day. How much more pollen can a bee fit into its pollen sac?
First off, I must apologise for the poor photo of this Planthopper. It was in the kitchen late one night and I have never seen one at my place before. It wouldn’t sit still enough to get a good photo. The black with stunning orange spots and those eyes!!!!
On a hot day the Australian Painted Lady came onto the verandah. The colours are far more prominent than the other Australian Painted Lady butterflies I have found.
The hanging pot bird bath, the subject of so many bird photos, also hosts insects as well as birds looking for a drink.
Yes it is hot. The little White-throated Honeyeater does look he needs a drink doesn’t he?
“Well George, do you come here often?”
On a hot day, everyone has to share. The Scarlet Honeyeater and White-throated Honeyeater both enjoyed a drink.
The female Scarlet Honeyeater thought it was a good time for a bath. A quick dunk in and out.
Meanwhile at the other bird bath, the King Parrot enjoyed the bird bath to himself.
At my besties bird bath, the birds who arrive in the afternoon for a quick bath and drink are different to the ones at my place, although the Eastern Yellow Robins are at my place too.
A very fluffy Eastern Yellow Robin after a number of dives into the water.
A view from the back shows the yellow feathers aren’t just on the chest of the Eastern Yellow Robin.
The Eastern Whipbirds always look at their legs and feet when they get out of the water!!! Remember this blog
The Red-browed Finches come to the bird bath in a large flock. Some have better eyebrows than others lol
The Superb Fairy Wrens arrive at the same time as the Finches. They are such delightful birds.
The males are so different to the females. I like the Jenny’s eye make-up.
It’s the same with the Scarlet Honeyeaters. The females are so different.
I think this one may be a juvenile male just starting to get his scarlet colours.
Soon he will be as striking as this Scarlet Honeyeater male.
Meanwhile, from high atop the gum tree, a Peaceful Dove watched what was going on in and around the chook yard.
My poor Flame Tree gave it its best shot this year. The dry resulted in sparse flowers but the Little Friarbird still enjoyed what was on offer.
The Satin Flycatcher likes to visit as you saw in my last blog. Here is his lady who was peeping out from the bushes.
For the first time a gang of Grey-crowned Babblers came into the garden and had a quick snack in the fig tree. They are normally in the forest away from the house and in the semi-open country under the power lines. It was lovely to see them forage around the garden with their constant chatter..
The last full moon, my bestie and I were lucky to be home to see the Moon Flower bloom. In the afternoon she said that the bud looked like it was ready to open so late that night we went into the garden to see this amazing flower.
We used torch light to get the photos.
The Moon Flower is so alien looking when you look deep inside the bloom.
Thanks for stopping by and looking at what I have found this December. I love taking photos and sharing.
See you next year
Brian x
