This is January 2023

Welcome to a new year.

Again another quiet be at home mostly month. The weather started to turn warm to hot signalling that Summer is here. The hot days were just that so time was spent inside in the middle of the day.
Towards the end of the month, the rains came with hot days and afternoon storms, some of which were doozies. Thunder, house shaking a couple of times when the storm was directly over head, not much lightning and torrential rain. So much so that the gutters couldn’t hold the water and there were curtains of water around the house!

OK It’s time to have a look at what I found in January. There were a couple of exciting moments as you’ll see so away we go.

This is your scrolling song which is perfect for the rain I have had so far this month.

The frogs have been loving the rain as well. This Australian Green Tree Frog could have been living in the downpipe and was washed out with the force of the water. Their croaking has been so loud as it echos in the downpipes. They love the rain and that’s when they do their best croaking.

A regular on the verandah, a Garden Skink, who investigates every morning to see if a snack arrived over night

One of the annoying Brush-tailed Possums who clomp around the roof, thump onto the verandah and are generally noisy during the night. I think this female has a young one ready to be born judging by her big belly. When the young are bigger, they ride around on Mums back.

I spotted this unusual shaped insect scurrying across the verandah. Looking at the photo, I saw that it had a spider for lunch. You can see the fangs of the spider under the insect. It was moving quite quickly dragging lunch somewhere safe to consume.

Some of you have seen this Katydid before on a Macro Monday post. The Katydid flew onto my desk one night, no I didn’t jump, why would you ask! It was quite happy for a few snaps until I tried to get too close. The Katydid has already been in battle with a Huntsman Spider or one of the Velvet Geckos that live inside my home.

I chose two views from the kitchen window, the first is a young female who has just arrived as a garden visitor

And the other is the big young male who has staked my garden out as part of his territory

This is the first of the excitement photos. My old mate who lived down the road, gave me a whole lot of plants from his garden before he went into care. This is the first time this lily had flowered. Isn’t it fabulous.

All of the Hibiscus plants are flowering, the pinks and reds and this one is a favourite. It is in a neglected part of the garden (which is the next garden project area) but still has hung on for a very long time. The pink in the centre wrapped in a mass of messy orange petals.

The Ornamental Ginger plants are flowering through the garden giving off a wonderful scent at night that mingles with the Murraya and Frangipanni flowers perfumes.

The big black Orchard Swallowtail Butterflies have been in the garden for a while but in January several arrive and were flitting around the garden. The lone male had company. When I took this photo, there were five butterflies on the Pentas bush.

Thornbills are a regular around the bush and garden. A Buff-rumped Thornbill watched me closely as I walked around the garden.

For a while it seemed like there was a lack of small birds in the garden again. The Currawongs had gone for Summer but suddenly there were lots of small birds hopping around the garden again. A family, a male and five or six females or juvenile Red-Backed Fairy Wrens came looking for grass seeds.

Scarlet Honeyeaters are around most of the time. They are quite small and a flash of a red jewel zooming through the garden is a wonderful sight.

Yellow-faced Honeyeaters have established the garden as their territory but are always bullied by the bigger Friarbirds or Blue-faced Honeyeaters.

Just thought I’d drop in to see if you are still with us.
A Rainbow Lorikeet examines the verandah in case something important may be happening.

The next bit of excitement was that a pair of Brown Goshawks came for a week or so to see what happens at my place. This is a reason for a lack of small birds around the garden I think.
This photo is heavily edited as the Brown Goshawk was in shadow so I had to lighten and correct.

I always knew where they were in the garden because the pair chatted, probably letting each other know where I was in the garden. I thought they may have nested nearby but I haven’t seen them for over a week now.

Another reason the Goshawks may have moved on is the resident Square-tailed Kites may have encouraged them to move on. The Kites have been patrolling the area a lot more so maybe they have young in the nest.

As the Square-tailed Kites effortlessly soar and glide over head, the Noisy Friarbirds who also have lots of nests around at the moment, try to scare the Kites away with lots of squawking and dive bombing the kites if the get too close to the tree tops.
This Noisy Friarbird decided it was time to get out of there real fast. One of the perils of pissing off a Kite

Another Yellow-faced Honeyeater just looking cute and inquisitive

The Spangled Drongos look rather majestic as they check the garden for a snack

Not happy about a photo being taken at bath time. I get “that look” from a Scarlet Honeyeater.

I must tell you that no bird was killed from the incident with the sun room window. It must have been a shock for the poor bird. I didn’t hear anything so I may not have been at home or elsewhere in the garden or shed. There wasn’t a hurt, injured or dead bird in the garden which surprised me

When the storms arrived they were good ones. This storm also was very windy bringing tree down some across the roads to get to the highway as well as across the highway.
I had to go to town and I could just squeeze past the downed trees. On the way home, the bloke next door was finishing cutting the trees off the road. I was thinking I would have to do it when I got home and the day was hot and muggy.

After the storm has passed from over head, the sunset gave the storm clouds a lovely tinting

That’s a quick look through my January. Did you like the song? As always, did you have a favourite photo? Join in The Changing Seasons too

About The Changing Seasons

The Changing Seasons is a monthly project where bloggers around the world share their thoughts and feelings about the month just gone. We all approach this slightly differently, though generally with an emphasis on the photos we’ve taken during the month.

For many of us, looking back over these photos provides the structure and narrative of our post, so each month is different. Some focus on documenting the changes in a particular project — such as a garden, an art or craft project, or a photographic diary of a familiar landscape.

But in the end, it is your changing season, and you should approach it however works for you.

There are no fixed rules around post length or photo number — just a request that you respect your readers’ time and engagement.

Tags and ping-backs

Tag your photos with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

Create a ping-back to Ju-Lyn at Touring My Backyard or on this post, so that we can update it with links to all of yours.

Pick a Word October 2022

Lost in Translation’s Thursday’s Special: Pick a Word – October 2022

Paula’s words are always great to match my photos to. That’s why I love this photo challenge so much.

DRAMATIC

FICTIONAL

MIGRATING

SERENE

CARTOONED

Grey skies

Life in Colour November: Black/Grey

This one is right above my house

On the way home when every thing changed with a yellow hue

Storms at sea can look dramatic

The Moon shining through the clouds one morning

Always take the weather with you

The Friendly Friday Challenge: Weather

I was trying to think of what to post but my head kept singing this song…..so what should I do but just send a bit of weather in song for you to enjoy from an Australian/New Zealand band

Here at the moment there has been a bit of wild weather and huge thunder storms.

Here is a storm at my place in 2015 from my YouTube Channel

In the wild

The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #150: Let’s Get Wild

Not sure where to go with this prompt so let’s get wild, The names are in the tags

Those who know me will know whats coming next

Are you ready?

It’s just the next block or two

This is November 2018

My last post Time #6 was post number 1,000. I was hoping this one would be number 1,000 but it has taken a lot of time getting it together.

November was where Spring really came to life. Rain in the previous months led to life appearing, flowers brightened, the little native flowers, some only 10mm in diameter sprung up in the paddocks and in the bush. Birds who come to my place over Spring and Summer appeared, in some instances with their chicks.

This is another long post as I couldn’t cut back and also have had a couple of double ups. I have a some things left out as they deserve their own post.

So I recommend getting your drink of choice, perhaps a snack and if you are lucky, someone to bring refills. 😀

I have tried to arrange the photos in some sort of grouping. OK off we go………

Some days saw the storm clouds appear bring some destruction but also welcoming rain
shed_old_dairy_storm_clouds_named_lawrence_nov 2018

The water plants on the dams are pleased that the water levels are up
water_plants_dam_named_home_nov 2018

The Bromiliads in the garden are sending their flower spikes up.
bromiliad_cigs_flower_named_home_nov 2018

or just colouring while the flower appears in the watery centre
bromiliad_flower_named_home_nov 2018

One of my favourite flowers, the Cats Whiskers flowered after the rain.
cats whiskers_flower_named_home_nov 2018

Day lilies flowered some with multiple buds
day lily_orange_flower_named_home_nov 2018

The Dietes, which are all through the garden, showed the borders with their white and purple flowers. If you look on the left side of the flower, you can see a little native bee.
dietes_flower_named_home_nov 2018

The pink Pentas were planted two years ago and this year the flowers were prolific.
pentas_pink_flower_named_home_nov 2018

I thought these were the last of the Pandoreas but when I walked past today, more have appeared
pandorea_flower_named_home_nov 2018

I have a miniature Native Frangipanni in a pot at the front of the house. The warm breeze send a delightful scent into the house. The flowers start as white flowers and gradually turn yellow
native frangipanni_flower_named_home_nov 2018
Also in the garden is quite a big Native Frangipanni. It is constantly flowering through November. You can see the various stages of flowering from the white and yellow buds, white flowers and then the yellow flowers on their way out.flower_native_frangipanni_pot_garden_named_home_nov 2018

The Gardenias are looking good this year
flower_gardinea_garden_named_home_nov 2018

Had to show the buds too
gardenia_flower_named_home_nov 2018

This Pentas is great for attracting insects
pentas_red_flower_named_home_nov 2018

The original red Hibiscus that my Mother bought from her garden when the gardens were first planted many years ago. This was one of my Mums favourites
hibiscus_red_flower_named_home_nov 2018

This is the bush still in the part of the place where gardens and the old house once were
hibiscus_red_bush_flower_named_home_nov 2018

Another Hibiscus that had a good flowering too.
hibiscus_pink_flower_named_home_nov 2018

The Grevilleas took a while to flower compared to other gardens around the area.
grevillea_robin gordon_flower_named_home_nov 2018

This Grevillea flower hangs downwards
grevillea_redthing_flower_named_home_nov 2018

The second year for the Ivanhoe Grevillea and the first flower
grevillea_ivanhoe_flower_named_home_nov 2018

Two Grevilleas in the front garden that always have birds squabbling over the flowers
grevillea_honey gem_yamba sunset_flower_named_home_nov 2018

I love the pastel colours of this Grevillea
flower_grevillea_pink_garden_named_home_nov 2018

The Bottlebrush flowers add splashes of red throughout the garden
bottelbrush_minature_flower_named_home_nov 2018
The Balsam flowers appear in many places in the garden. The just pop upbalsam_flower_named_home_nov 2018

A Bottlebrush just starting to flowerflower_bottlebrush_new_garden_named_home_nov 2018

One of my favourite small trees is Jacksonia. They add touches of yellow through the bush
flowers_native_jacksonia_dogwood_named_home_nov 2018

Another small tree in an old part of the garden. The last few years it has taken to flower for months
tree_flowers_yellow_garden_named_home_nov 2018

A large tree in the garden, a Silky Oak, which is also one of the biggest Grevilleas
silky oak_flower_named_home_nov 2018

The Eucalypts are flowering following a prolonged dry spell. Some are flowering now and I haven’t seen them flower at this time of year before
flowers_native_eucalypt_tallowwood_named_home_nov 2018

A ground cover flower that I thought had gone but has reappeared. I had an orange version as well. I wonder if that one will come back?
flower_violet_garden_named_home_nov 2018

The Duranta flowers are another flower with soft pastel  colours
forget_flower_named_home_nov 2018

I planted this native in a rockery. The Red-necked Wallabies love it. The constant trimming looks like a benefit as it is covered with flowers this November
flowers_native_rock_garden_named_home_nov 2018

The flowers appear on soft stalks and the spots seem to darken too
leopard_flower_named_home_nov 2018

The Hippeastrums looked wonderful this November. The wheelbarrow gardens looked a treat. There is a post about them earlier this month
hippeastrum_orange_flower_named_home_nov 2018

The red Hippeastrums seemed very red this year
hippeastrum_flower_named_home_nov 2018

A tiny native flower about 10mm in diameter
flower_native_yellow_small_named_home_nov 2018

You can see how small this native flower is by the grass and size of the leaves
flower_native_yellow_small_guinea_named_home_nov 2018

I love clover flowers
flower_clover_named_caniaba_garden_nov 2018

A Calathea I have in a pot flowered this year with tiny flowers with delicate colour
flower_calathea_pot_named_home_nov 2018

This Native flower is called a Smooth Parrot Pea
smooth parrot pea_flower_named_home_nov 2018

Even the patch of Spider Plants flowered
spider plant_flower_garden_named_home_nov 2018

With the flowers growing well the flower sellers at the market were selling bunches and most market days, sold out before the end.
sunflowers_lismore_farmers_market_named_nov 2018

Saw this car and just had to get a photo. It is a ute as well as a tad rusty
car_rust_el camino_named_lismore_nov 2018

The clouds one day were quite spectacular
clouds_stripes_richmond range_named_nov 2018

What a tiny Grasshopper on the Brunsfelsia flower
brunsfelsia_grasshopper_named_home_nov 2018

The Caper White Butterflies are migrating. This one is the first to arrive at my place
caper white_butterfly_pentas_garden_named_home_nov 2018

The Stingfless native Bees are loving collecting pollen from the orange Hippeastrum
stingless native bee_flying_day lily_flower_orange_garden_named_home_nov 2018

stingless native bees_flying_day lily_flower_orange_garden_named_home_nov 2018

A Crab Spider showed me his scary end when I disturbed its rest. Not a very big spider either
crab_spider_ghost_leaf_garden_named_home_nov 2018

Meet Gus, my axolotl. He is always happy looking
axolotyl_gus_tank_named_home_nov 2018

A Noisy Friarbird snacking on a Honey Gem Grevillea
noisy friarbird_honey gem_grevillea_named_home_nov 2018

Noisy Friarbirds always have something to say
noisy friarbird_tree_named_home_nov 2018

A female Figbird contemplates her next meal
figbird_female_tree_named_caniaba_nov 2018

Always singing around the house and in the forest, a Grey_shrike Thrush was looking through the window
grey shrike thrush_close_garden_named_home_nov 2018

Aren’t the Masked Lapwings strange looking. They are also called Plovers
masked lapwing_named_brooms head_nov 2018

but their eggs are quite pretty. They lay their eggs anywhere. These were on a walkway to the beach.
eggs_masked lapwing_named_brooms head_nov 2018
Peaceful Doves are always around the housepeaceful dove_tree_named_home_nov 2018
Royal Spoonbills were another of my quests to photographroyal spoonbill_tree_named_lawrence_nov 2018

The ferry cable is as good as anywhere to hang out to dry
cormorant_drying_ferry_cable_named_lawrence_nov 2018
On a visit to a small degraded wetland I was amazed to see the amount of birds there. The flock of Hardhead Ducks was rather largehardhead ducks_wetland_named_casino_nov 2018

On another wetland, where the Royal Spoonbills were, some Pink-eared Ducks also were paddling around
pink eared duck_named_lawrence_nov 2018

Eurasian Coots paddled about looking for food
eurasian coots_wetland_named_casino_nov 2018

I was surprised to see a Crested Tern so far from the coast. A Purple Swamp Hen strode around the edge of the water
crested tern_flying_purple swamp hen_wetland_named_casino_nov 2018

Aren’t Australasian Grebe chicks  cute
australasian grebe_chick_wetland_named_casino_nov 2018

A pacific Black Duck was closely followed by a young one
pacific black duck_duckling_wetland_named_casino_nov 2018

When you go calling on your girlfriend always take flowers
superb fairy wren_male_flower_named_lookout_mallanganee_nov 2018

The Superb Fairy Wrens hopped around us at the lookout
superb fairy wrens_named_lookout_mallanganee_nov 2018

Well the sun is going down so it’s time for me to go. Thanks for hanging around with me. I hope you enjoyed my November
sunset_named_caniaba_nov 2018