superb fairy-wren – bushboys world

January. A month of hardly any rain, only 6mm over 2 days at my place, whereas the average is around 120mm and it rains most days. It was also freakingly hot. Days in succession of over 38C to a top of 42C here. There were some magic moments, a bit of travelling and the return of the butterflies. I spent a lot of my time watering my garden and plants in shade house. The dam became low so I was thinking of water rations to the plants. I became the bad parent having to decide which plants would get water and those who I hoped would survive.

Among all of this I did manage to get out and about and take quite a number of photos. Looking through the folders, I decided that I would have to do special posts that encompassed some of my days out and about, as I have a lot of things I want to show you this month. It has taken me a long time to decide on what I want to put into this post.

Yep……it’s another huge lot of photos. So once again, get a cup of tea or coffee (I have a coffee while writing this) perhaps a snack (I have already eaten my biscuits). For those reading in the evening, a glass of wine will help sustain while scrolling through this mammoth month. I shall try to keep the captions short.

Ready. All sitting comfy. Lets go

I best start off with a bit of morning and sunrise through the trees. I don’t get to see the full splendor of sunrise living in the bush or in a forest for those non-Australians

I liked this morning photo as it has a sliver of our Moon. Can you see it?

This is what our Moon looked like up close

Seeing a full moon in the morning was fabulous. A great start to the day.

While visiting my daughter in Toowoomba, we spent time walking about the streets looking at street art (a post of those wonderful art works to come) and strolling though the many gardens and parks.
I was glad to see that Yarn Bombing was still happening and Council was leaving them in place.

I just had to get a photo of this carrot that was on top of the vege display at the local Farmers Market

The distant hills have sentinel like Grass Trees over looking the valley. Grass Trees grow at around 25mm (1 inch) a year. Some of these are probably 2+ meters tall so ancient wonders on the other side of the valley from my besties place.

Now for the flowers.
The many colours and shapes of (I think) a Gazania

Despite the heat, a red Frangipanni buds and flowers appeared.

The photo doesn’t capture the wonderful red colour.

The flower of a Eucalypt, not sure which one, with a bee. There was lots of bees around in January too.

Just a wonderful flower.

Bougainvilleas flowered well in the heat and dry.

I have many photos of Native Frangipannis but have never seen a seed pod before

The Dahlias in my daughters garden

I saw a flower and while I was looking, some kids came along and said “Look brain flowers”. Yep Brain Flowers or Cockscomb or a Celosia flower.

Also came in red.

More bees and flowers

This one was getting stuck into the pollen at my besties

A Wattle Line-blue Butterfly enjoying a Brain flower. Did you spot the butterfly earlier?

An Orange Ochre stopped to enjoy the afternoon sun

A Cabbage White Butterfly flitted about the garden

and stopped to have a snack

The Dragonflies are all flying around the garden and over the dam. These two stopped for some “relaxation” on a branch on the ground.

Should I have told my visitors that Dragonflies are having sex on their car aerial?

A golden moment with a smiling Dragonfly

The Lesser Wanderers came to feed on the flowers that popped up in the grass.

Wings open to get a bit of sun before take-off.

The Meadow Argus Butterfly seemed to stop anywhere. You can see how dry it has been. The grasses are dead.

With wings open it helps to know what butterfly I have photographed

On the flowers, the Meadow Argus looks lovely.

Another photo of the flowers and butterfly

A Native Australian Bee, a Carpenter Bee flying among the Ponytail Palm flowers with some beetles and ants. Carpenter Bees quite often make their nest in Grass Trees.

Among the dried grasses, the Dandelions still had time to flower (see This is December 2018) and set seed

The branches of a Bunya Pine – Art Direction, my daughter, Photo, me

High in the trees at my besties, late one afternoon, a flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos came to roost for the night. Not the best photo as the light was failing and the birds kept moving.

The raucous sounds of the Sulpher-crested Cockatoos sounded all over the park as we strolled about.
As the weather was hot and dry, the bird bath had to be topped up regularly. The Lewins Honeyeater made enough noise to let us know that there wasn’t much water in the bird bath.
Once the bird bath was filled, the Noisy Miners queued up to get a drink and a bath.

The Silvereyes stopped by to get into the water while a Striated Thornbill waited his turn.

I was spied by an Eastern Rosella who dropped by for a drink

Getting a drink helped show the lovely back feathers pattern.

The Superb Fairy Wrens make a lovely couple.

“Hey babe, check this fancy bit of flying”
“Get out of the way, you’re in my shot”

Do you mind, I’m trying to take a bath here

The King Parrot having a look at what I am doing in my office

Just strolling through the park. Move along, there’s nothing to see here!

The Tortoises sunning on a rock while another is swimming over.

What a face

It has been so hot that I have left nearly all of the windows and doors open. That seemed to be an invitation for a Lesser Long-eared Micro-bat to take up residence in my pantry.

This is one of the reasons I keep some doors closed at night. Brush-tailed Possums like to range about the garden at night. Given half a chance they will wander inside creating chaos.

The Koalas have been active as it’s mating season. I have heard their loud calls at my place. At my besties place we can see this male who has taken up residence occasionally in the trees. Usually asleep, around 18 hours a day, the big feller was not very happy at me walking around taking photos even if he was about 10 meters above me.

Well it’s almost time to say goodbye. A wave from one of the many Geckos who live behind the pictures on the walls.

The sun is setting. Aren’t the colours just wonderful?

The oranges made for a spectacular sunset

I was quite pleased to get a photo of our Moon with the coloured rings. It is a hand held photo. Most time I would use a tripod but didn’t have one handy.