This is March 2018

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
wanderer butterfly_binna burra_march 2018

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.
blue triangle_named_road_binna burra_march 2018

There were a lot of Easten Common Brown Butterflies around this year.
eastern brown crow butterfly_named_binna burra_march 2018

A long range photo of a lovely bug with orange feelers. Some close ups are coming next.
beetle_named_binna birra_march 2018

When you are a small insect you really have to hang on if there is a breeze about.
insect_named_binna burra_march 2018

I look fearsome but I’m not.
insect_close_named_binna burra_march 2018

A small Fly with red eyes came to sit with us while we had a drink on the deck. Spiders next
fly_named_binna burra_march 2018

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.
spider_web_named_binna burra_march 2018

Some spiders hang up side down on their web.
spider_web_upsidedown_named_binna burra_march 2018

First prize in the messiest web. I love the droplets on the web from the morning mist.
spiders web_messy_named_binna burra_march 2018

As part of my obsession, I have been playing with my photo editor. Do you like this one?
spiders web_blackandwhite_named_binna burra_march 2018

A bit of respite now. A Lemon Migrant Butterfly on Lantana
lemon migrant_named_road_binna burra_march 2018

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.
praying mantis_bee_named_blue knob_march 2018

This poor little bloke couldn’t get his wings folded
beetle_named_binna burra_march 2018

Photographing some grass seeds I was photo-bombed by a Dragonfly
dragonfly_photobomb_flowers rd_march 2018

I don’t think it was this lovely red Dragonfly. I love the shadow
dragonfly red_named_binna burra-march 2018

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?
teddy bear bee_named_binna burra_march 2018

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?
pj_horse_gate_named_binna burra_march 2018

The grass seed photo I talked about earlier.
grass seeds_named_flowers rd_march 2018

An Australian Native flower that grows at my place. This one was on the side of the road.
pea flower_named_jackadgery_march 2018

My besties Roses are lovely this year. The camera couldn’t capture the wonderful red colour though
red rose_named_binna burra_march 2018

A great year for Bromiliad flowering too.
bromiliad flower_named_binna burra_march 2018

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.
ink weed_ named_binna burra_march 2018

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.
blue ginger flowers_named_binna burra_march 2018

I love Cats Whiskers flowers. They are just opening in March.
cats whiskers_flower_named_binna burra_march 2018

Aren’t the colours of the garden striking?
binna burra garden_named_march 2018

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?
dancing lady hibiscus_named_binna burra-march 2018

A tiny Eco-system in a tree trunk on the side of the road.
tree life_named_road_binna burra_march 2018

The fence post was covered on one side with these fungi.
fungi_named_road_binna burra_march 2018

A lone fungus on the side of the hill.
fungi_named_flowers rd_march 2018

I love this shot from under the Poinciana tree at the small fungi high up.
fungus_tree_named_binna burra_march 2018

The Common Garden Skink, I call a Copper Headed Skink, doing its best not to look at the camera before it scurried away.
copper garden skink_named_binna burra_march 2018

Apart from flowers, fungi, birds, the Poinciana also has a non-venomous Green Tree Snake who lives in the hollows. These Pythons are harmless
green tree snake_named_binna burra_march 2018

Beautiful little snake. Aren’t the colours and markings lovely?
green tree snake_close_named_binna burra_march 2018

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
kites nest_named_home_march 2018
The Black Kites are everywhere near the Lismore Waste Centerblack kite_named_lismore_march 2018
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.wedged tailed eagles_caniaba_named_march 2018

The Little Wattlebird enjoyed singing and searching for food in the Poinciana tree
little wattlebird_named_binna burra_march 2018

He saw me with my camera while up side down looking for grubs.
little wattlebird_looking_named_binna burra_march 2018

The tiny Buff-rumped Thornbill defied gravity looking for a snack in the Poinciana tree  too
buff rumped thornbill_named_binna burra_march 2018

A Golden Whistler was in fine voice in the Poinciana tree.
golden whistler_named_binna burra_march 2018

Another singer in the garden is the Varied Triller
varied triller_named_binna burra_march 2018

A flock of Silvereyes called in to have a feed
silvereye_named_road_binna burra_march 2018

A Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike strained to see if it was food or just the wind blowing leaves about
black faced cuckoo shrike_named_binna burra_march 2018

On a recent walk, I spied a young Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike harassing its parent for food
black faced cuckoo shrike_juvenile_named_jackadgery_march 2018

“Where is everyone?” the Pied Cormorant seemed to say as it looked around before diving for fish once more in the Brunswick River.
cormorant_named_brunswick river_march 2018

Meanwhile on the beach at Brunswick Heads, a Welcome Swallow found a convenient stick to perch
welcome swallow_named_brunswick heads_march 2018

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.
lewins honeyeater_pollen head_named_binna burra_march 2018

I love Wonga Pigeons. This pair were sitting in the garden preening and looking about.
wonga pigeons_named_binna burra_march 2018

The Grey Fantail looked like he was walking on stilts.
grey fantail_stilts_named_flowers rd_march 2018

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.
catbirds_feeding young_named_binna burra_march 2018

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.
northern yellow robin_table_named_binna burra_march 2018

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
yellow sky_trees_named_binna burra_march 2018

The Full Moon earlier in March looked great with the clouds drifting by.
moon_clouds_named_march 2018

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?

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter V

Another Fun Foto Challenge: The letter V. Needs to start with V and be at least 6 letters. Lots of V’s can be found at Cees

I have a couple of V birds in my folders.

A Varied Triller
varied triller_binna burra_named_mar 2014

and some lovely little Variegated Fairy Wrens
variegated fairy wren_male_female_named_binna burra_sept 2017variegated fairy wren_named_binna burra_august 2017

The birds of June

It may be Winter, but here, it is the time when birds drop in on their way north to build their strength for the next part of their journey, or stay for the winter in the warm days on the North Coast. The nights can get cold but the days are usually in the low 20’s C with the warmth of sunshine and the number of plants that flower in late Autumn and Winter makes it a good place to stop off. This is not a complete record of birds as there have been birds who I haven’t managed to get in my lens plus there has been some who have just been to fast for me to photograph. Yes I have quite a number of photos of empty branches!!!

This first gallery of photos are the birds from my place.

The White-throated Honeyeaters arrive in the morning and in the afternoon with their chirp chirp chirp as they set about diving into the birdbath or pool to have their bath.
white throated honeyeater_named_home_june 2017

The Yellow-faced Honeyeaters arrive from down south, some stay while others in the flock fly further north.
yellow faced honeyeater_named_home_june 2017

The Blue-faced Honeyeaters come and go all year depending on what food is available. The Honey Gem Grevillea has finally started to flower after a long dry hot Summer. Look at the pollen dust on his head.
blue faced honeyeater_named_home_june 2017

The little Eastern Spinebills are here with the distinctive clicking of their wings as they zip around the garden and their calls echoing in the gullies.
eastern spinebill_named_home_june 2017

You can judge their size by comparing with the Blue-faced Honeyeater and Grevillea flower above. They really stretch to reach the blossoms at times.
eastern spinebill_named_home_june 2017 (2)

Their plumage is quite pretty don’t you think?
eastern spinebill_honey gem_named_home_june 2017

I don’t include many photos of the female Golden Whistler but this one is so cute. They are around the place all year round with their repetitive call which can sound like a squeaky wheel, at times up to twenty single notes.
eastern yellow robin_named_home_june2017
They also like to land on the side of trees and have a look around.eastern yellow robin_named_home_june 2017

As do the White-throated Treecreepers who just hop up and down the trees looking for insects under the bark. They have a similar call to the Yellow Robins but not as persistent.
white throated treecreeper_named_home_june 2017

They also like to defy gravity as the give the trees a very thorough checking over.
white treecreeper_hanging_named_home_june 2017
The tiny Red-backed Fairy Wrens like to explore the lower parts of the forest eating grass seeds and insects foraging among the grass stalks. The Jenny Wren has good camouflage.  wren_named_home_june 2017

The Silvereyes are migrants who stop for a few weeks to gather their strength for their next leg of their journey north.
silvereye01_named_home_june 2017

They are another of the tiny birds around here.
silvereye02_pink bloodwood nuts_named_home_june 2017

The Red-browed Firetails are another constant visitor to the bush as they move about in small flocks looking for grass seeds. This is a young one as the red brow isn’t as prominent as the adults.
red browed finch01_named_home_june 2017

The tiny Striated Thornbills are always around the garden and in the gullies around the house.
striated thornbill01_named_home 2017

They love the birdbath.
striated thornbill02_named_home_june 2017

Someone who I haven’t seen for quite a while has turned up this month and has been around the garden early in the morning and in the gullies during the day. The Spotted Pardalote digs a tunnel in the side of the gully to make it’s nest. They are so pretty aren’t they?
spotted pardelote02_named_home_june 2017

I think this one saw me as I snuck along the verandah for a better photo.
spotted pardelote01_named_home_june 2017

They can be quite vocal too.
spotted pardalote_named_home_june 2017

The sounds of Kookaburras signal the start and end of every day. There are about three families that live in the bush around the house and sometimes the cacophony of up to five or six Kookaburras can be quite deafening.
kookaburras02_named_home_june 2017

After I took this photo I noticed that there was another two sitting nearby in separate trees. All of a sudden they all flew off into the forest disappearing among the trees.
kookaburras01_named_home_june 2017

This next gallery are from my besties place.

The Lewins Honeyeater is the boss of my besties garden. They swoop on most other birds that dares to come into the garden. The Lewins at my place aren’t as bossy.
lewins honeyeater_named_binna burra_june 2017

Can you spot the Varied Triller?
varied triller_named_binna burra_june 2017

The Grey Fantails are always doing their acrobatic flying around the place catching insects on the wing. A very serious looking bird.
grey fantail_named_binna burra_june 2017

The Golden Whistler is always around the garden and nearby rainforest singing its lovely song.
golden whistler_named_binna burra_june 2017

My besties place is surrounded by rainforest so she has more doves and pigeons than I do at my place. The White-headed Pigeon has a deep sounding whoomp whoomp call. They also fly about in large flocks.
white headed pigeon_named_binna burra_june 2017

The Brown Pigeon didn’t want its photo taken.
brown pigeon_named_binna burra_june 2017

There is always up to ten bar-shouldered Doves foraging on the ground in the garden looking for pecans that have fallen from the tree.
bar shouldered dove_named_binna burra_june 2017

The Whipbirds also enjoy foraging among the leaves for pecans.
whipbird_pecan_named_binna burra_june 2017

While high in the trees the Figbirds look for seeds as well as pecans. This female Figbird found the seeds of an Umbrella Tree.
fig bird_female_named_binna burra_june 2017

The male Figbird was more interested in pecans.
figbird_male_named_home_june 2017

The Green Catbird is also interested in pecans. Not long after this photo was taken, so was the pecan.
catbird_pecan_named_binna burra_june 2017

Another recipient of the fallen pecans is the large Brush Turkey. His strong beak breaks open the pecans and often leaves small pieces behind for the other birds to eat. This one we call Brendan who has taken over the garden and has a mound nest almost one meter tall in the front garden. One day I’ll try to get a photo of Brendan and his mound.
brush turkey_named_binna burra_june 2017

The most exciting discovery was finding a Regent Bowerbird just on the edge of the garden late one afternoon. I only managed to get a couple of bad photos but had to share in my excitement.
regent bowerbird_named_binna burra_june 2017

We went to Byron Bay one day to shop as we haven’t been for ages and Winter is a good time as the number of tourists is halved at least. The Golden Pendas are in flower and the Rainbow Lorikeets were having a great time screeching at each other.
rainbow lorikeet_named_home_june 2017

And of course there are always chooks foraging around both our gardens.
chook_named_home_june 2017

That is a snapshot of some of the birds around here in June. My June photo round-up probably won’t have any birds this year. Hopefully I’ll get to that by next week.