willie wagtail – bushboys world

This is December 2018

Published on January 2, 2019January 16, 2019 by bushboy41 Comments

First of all, thanks to everyone who has been part of my life this year. I have enjoyed sharing my part of this world with you. Your comments and feedback has been quite overwhelming at times. I take photos because I enjoy the results I achieve. I have a basic Canon PowerShot SX60HS which takes great macros, amazing telephotos and does everything I could ask, except focus where I want sometimes. Even then the capture can be a photo that goes into my Arty Ones folder. Some of those are posted in a recent photo challenge – Abstract.

On to December. This month was taken up in part with Becky’s great square format photo challenge #timesquare The featured image is one of the photos from Beckys challenge. Sometime last year I made a suggestion for the challenge which I cannot remember.

I have tried to cut down the number of photos but again it may be a bit of long read, so a drink, perhaps a snack may be in order. All settled back and ready. Join me in looking at This is December 2018
Sunrise is always a good place to start

The wind blew the grass seed heads

One morning, the tiny Line-blue Butterflies were all over the grass area while we were having breakfast. They loved the clover flowers.

A Blue-banded Bee made a morning ritual of visiting the Chinese Lantern flowers. I never was ready to get that photo.

A delicate flowering plant we were told was called Herb Robert. A lovely flower and bud.

A Mistletoe Bird was a visitor for a few days

After the demise of the terracotta bird bath, a tempory replacement was found. A Rainbow Lorikeet looks unsure.

Since the hatching of the Brown Honeyeaters, they have stayed around the garden. This is one of their favourite sitting places in the morning.

Luckily one of the Grevilleas is flowering for them.

I love it when you can see our Moon during the day.

Many people call Dandelions weeds. The flowers add a great splash of colour in the garden.

The Bees love the flowers too. Look at how much pollen has been gathered into the bees pollen sacs.

I think it is wonderful.

A Pumpkin display at the markets. So many varieties to choose from.

This van belongs to one of the market stall holders at The Channon markets. I would love this van.

Now Summer is here and it is hot and dry, the birds have to share the bird bath.

Coming in for a landing

“I made it safely….so what are you looking at?”

The Brown Honeyeaters. An adult and one of the young ones. Always look up to your elders.

This is my bird bath the Magpie Lark (or better known as Pee Wee) is telling everyone.

A spot of grub hunting has paid off.

The Cape Chestnut Tree at The Channon Market was in full bloom.

Now for a couple of native flowers I found at my daughters place. I looked in my books to try and identify so I could tell you their names, but wasn’t successful. I will have to ask an ecologist who said I could send him photos and he would try to tell me their names. Isn’t this one pretty?

Like the above flower, most native flowers are quite small. The one above was about 10 to 15mm from petal tip to petal tip. This little flower is about 5mms

Another tiny flower with an amazing structure

Such a delicate ball of even smaller flowers. Each ball is around 10-15mm in diameter.

The Stingless Native Bees just love the native flowers. The flower seems huge compared to the bee
The start of Summer. The Frangipanni flowers around the garden are stating to emerge.

I love the soft pink and yellow of this Frangipanni flower which has a heavenly fragrance.

The pinks and yellows of this one are much more stronger.

The Pink Frangipanni is stunning.

This Poinciana tree I see on the way home was the best I have seen.

The tiny flowers of one of the Tea Trees I have in my garden is waiting for the bees.
This year, my Agapanthus flowers were the best flowering ever. All through the garden was spots of white and blue
One of the blues.

The tree Begonia decided to have another flowering this December.

I have a number of Datura Erecta plants around the garden. The berries looked lovely one morning. I think they may be poisonous as nothing seem to eat them.

If anyone would, it would be a Fig Bird, seen here keeping an eye on me as I walked about.

The King Parrots are starting to want some food as a couple of people who fed them in the street have since moved on. I give them a small amount of wild bird mix occasionally. Actually I hadn’t been home for a couple of days and this bloke came to the verandah and whistled to get my attention

A migratory visitor to my place are Leaden Flycatchers, This female was scouting the verandah for a snack. Yes a photo taken while I was inside at my desk.

One afternoon as I drove through the front gates, a Forest Kingfisher swooped in front of me and sat in the tree, almost like a welcome home.
The Australian Air force is saying goodbye to the fleet of Orions. One of the planes is going to an Air Museum at Evans Head. It flew into Lismore. This was taken from my besties backyard.

The old swimming pool, which is now a frog pond of sorts, is host to so many water insects and frogs. One of the frog species in the pool is the Perons Tree Frog. I think this may be one just emerging from tadpole to frog.

I am unsure who these beastly looking gang are. Hopefully are dragonflies.

Christmas is always a wonderful time in December. I wasn’t in a Christmas mood this year. My bestie had some decorations at her place. An op-shop angel and some lights looked great.

An Australian Lilli Pilli tree in the corner with some little lights mad the room look bright.

The Full Moon, just before Christmas Day was big and bright.

One of the photo challenges was Abstract – see the opening words – I didn’t include this Moon photo as I thought it was rather special and needed to be in my monthly wrap-up post.

I didn’t have my tripod so just had to have a go hand held. At least one turned out OK lol

Summer arrives and the plants start to thrive so along come the Grasshoppers to have a snack. This one likes Basil….or used to.

Another little Grasshopper from my daughters place. Her garden hasn’t been attacked yet.

The Ponytail Palm has so many flowers, the bees don’t know where to begin. I walked outside and the buzzing was quite loud I looked up and the flower spikes were full of bees.

The Blue-banded bee I couldn’t get in the Chinese Lantern Flower didn’t escape my attention as it buzzed about the Basil flowers.

The Hover Fly loved the garden too

The Palm Trees, the water and the ripples

Late afternoon looking from my besties verandah across the paddocks

The December sun is almost set.

Goodbye December and 2018.

Thanks for being a part of my world. I hope to see you again in 2019.

More Birds for Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge

Published on June 29, 2018July 26, 2018 by bushboy19 Comments

I have lots of birds for Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge of Birds

Here are my Black and White Birds

Magpie Geese resting up after a long migratory flight
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Wonderful Willie Wagtail as he hops about the grass looking for a snack
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A White-winged Chough surveys where to walk to next
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A raucous Magpie Lark, or better known as Pee Wees, shouts at a tree
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Meet Chip, the Magpie who used to knock on the door to get a small snack, at my besties
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This Pied Butcher Bird would always come when I was in the bush cutting firewood hoping that I would disturb a grub or two.
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A Pied Cormorant catching a bit of afternoon sun
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A Pied Currawong looking for a free feed at the picnic table
pied currawong91_named_home_oct 2017

This is May 2018

Published on May 31, 2018June 28, 2018 by bushboy32 Comments

Another wrap up of whats been happening in bushboys world in May. This month has been so dry. Many of the usual birds that are around here in May are absent. The most exciting thing is that I have two new birds that have dropped in on their migration to warmer places.

Some of the photos are from my besties place where it has been raining almost every day. There isn’t a huge amount of photos but I still recommend grabbing a drink suitable for the time of day you are scrolling through This is May 2018.

I think I’ll start with a couple of flowers. I can’t wait for some of the plants which flower in the cooler months to flower.

I love the purple colour

The last hibiscus flower

Just a mud puddle with a bit of the sun and sky

This is the shell of a Frasers Banded Snail. One of the advantages of following scientists on Twitter is that if I can’t ID anything, there is always someone to ask. Bronwen Scott gave me the name of the snail. Bronwen is at Snailseyeview

Another view of the Frasers Banded Snail shell

When the cooler weather arrives, quite often so do some of the marsupial mice from out of the forest looking for somewhere warm to nest. I have a live trap where I can trap, ID and release back into the forest.
This is a view into the trap with a House Mouse, not an Antechinus as I first thought, who has been enjoying a bit of peanut butter. ID help from Dr Dave and Dale Nimmo

Here is the little bloke ready to hop off and find another place to spend Winter other than my pantry

Another new discovery at my besties was this Eastern Stoney Creek Frog. The ID on the frog was also from a Twitter. The wonderful Jodi Rowley

Here’s a bit of orange fungi growing on the side of a tree glowing in the afternoon sun

This fungi was so soft and really did feel like velvet. Also an added bit of Lichen as well as some Moss. Yes it was a wet habitat.

Here is the usual warning for those who have an aversion to spiders. Try to have a peek as the Golden Orb Weaver is a rather beautiful spider.

Lets break in gently with a tiny but lovely web glowing in the morning suns golden glow. Not an Orb Weavers web as this spider is tiny

Here she is, a Golden Orb Weaver looking lovely against the blue Autumn sky.

The markings underneath are so wonderful. She is not quite 75mm long.

This is why she is a Golden Orb Weaver. She is attending to her larder dangling on the golden threads of her rather messy web

A rainy day in Ballina. A Willie Wagtail found a place to try and stay dry during a downpour

Only a few bits of green grass when this photo was taken of a Willie Wagtail hunting for a snack.

The Eastern Spinebills have arrived. A few will hang around over winter as long as the Grevilleas have flowers.

A small flock of Silvereyes have taken up residence as well

Not sure who this Silvereye is yelling at while at he bird bath

On a drive I spotted a group of Ibis resting and preening. Among the group were a couple of Spoonbills having a rest.

It was disturbing to see 4WD wheel tracks on a section of South Ballina Beach which is a no go zone as the birds rest and nest on that part of the beach.
A Sooty Oystercatcher and a Little Tern in the wheel tracks, with some Crested Terns in the background

A Little Tern resting on the beach
Sometimes you have to wait for your turn in the bird bath. A White-throated Treecreeper hangs about waiting for a Lewins Honeyeater to finish his bath.
Ahhh……that’s better. I love how the White-throated Treecreepers sit in the bird bath, the totally opposite to all the other birds.

The Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are on their migration too. Some of the flock will stay here over winter. They are the bullies of the bird bath and chase the other birds away.

The Northern Yellow Robins are always around the forest . This bloke and his family are hanging around my garden

My bestie has sold her place. Here is one of the last photos of Bobbin, the Northern Yellow Robin who lives at her place on the garden chair where he loves to survey the garden for something to eat. Bobbin is such a cutie isn’t he?

An Emerald Dove found a good drinking spot in the garden. A stem of a Bangalow Palm filled with rain water.

Here is the first of the new birds at my place. This is a Striated Pardalote

The other new bird is a tiny Varied Sittella. A small flock dropped in one day for a drink, rest and a bite to eat before continuing on their way north. Another little cute bird.
The butterflies are becoming scarce as the weather gets colder. I have been lucky enough to get some photos of the inside wings as well as the usually more colourful outer wings. This butterfly is a Yellow or Common Albatross showing the inside wings
The outer wings are a lovely yellow with a brown edging.
A Zebra Blue or Plumbago Blue Butterfly. You can see the blue on the inside.
The outer wings have a lovely marbling and striking pattern.

The inside wings of the Common Jezabel are rather dull compared to the outer wings.

Here is a Common Jezabel sitting high upon a flower stalk on a sunny day.

I hope you have enjoyed a scroll through my May.

Spring – more wonders discovered

Published on October 29, 2014 by bushboy3 Comments

Oh yeah, it is Spring. So much is happening, the weather is great for wandering around the north coast and there are so many things to see and do. One drive about took us to Clarrie Hall Dam at the Crams Farm end of the storage. Tweed Council have done a great job making it a great place to visit. Just the view as you drive in is spectacular.

The water is covered in water lilies and water birds are everywhere. The Cape Waterlilies make a stunning sight as they stand tall.

The Yellow Waterlilies are dotted here and there around the dam.

It is so crowded that the leaves curl making it hard for the lilies to push their way skyward.

Unfortunately, under the water’s surface is a good amount of Cabomba, an introduced plant from America, usually a fish tank escapee. At the moment it is flowering which makes a good resting spot for dragonflies.

This flower was partly submerged and made great patterns on the water.

In the trees, as well on the water, were many birds enjoying the late afternoon spring weather. The Brown pigeons were always wary of the bloke with the camera.

The Darters took off when someone ventured into the water

While the Eurasian Coots just paddled around looking for something to eat before it was dark.

The Purple Swamp Hens were always walking about, flicking their tails and squarking in general.

High in one tree the young Willie Wagtails were practising being big birds, flapping wings and generally making a racket.

The adults were telling them to be quiet, I think.

Just sitting and looking at the water was very relaxing but it was time to head home.

When we got home, there was Badger, who had found a shady spot to lay down on the warm spring day.

Going down to the creek there were birds staying cool among the trees and shrubs. The Emerald Dove kept moving around the tree, all the while watching where I was going.