Category: birds

Australia · birds · Mount Warning · photography · seasons · sugar cane · sunset · Tweed Valley · winter

Across the Valley

Joanne6 Comments

There was mist in the valley again this morning. Now the weather is warming up I will probably see fewer misty mornings, so I can’t resist taking photos of the effects of cooler weather while they last.

We had an arborist here today, cutting back some trees and trimming the high branches off others. The area he worked on is right down the back of our property along the back boundary. So later this afternoon, after he left, my camera and I took a walk down there to see what we could see now.

Besides a magnificent, uninterrupted view across the valley, there was a sugar cane fire way off in the distance, which I hadn’t noticed from the house. Just slightly to the left of the lower centre of the photo above there are previously burned blackened cane fields, which will turn green again in no time at all. To the right of the black fields are plenty of green cane fields still awaiting harvest.

By the time I arrived back at the house the sun was setting. The sky had just a hint of orange and looked very pretty.

So today is officially the last day of winter in Australia. The temperature reached 26 degrees Celsius, so it was definitely not a cool day! We could still have a few cooler days, but from now on the warmer days will become more frequent than cooler days. It’s a beautiful time of year now, but I’m really not looking forward to the humidity of summer at all! I complain about the heat every year though, and each year I try to find things to enjoy during the summer months. This year will be no exception.

Oh, and I had one of my regular visitors drop by around sunset as well. 🙂

Australia · birds · in my garden · Mount Warning · movies · native Australian birds · sunset · Tweed Valley · winter

A Day in the Garden

Joanne6 Comments

The valley looked a tad hazy today. I’m not sure why, but it just wasn’t as clear as usual.

Husband and I spent the day in the garden, weeding and mulching garden beds mostly. When we stopped for lunch, we ate on the front veranda and a Noisy Miner also stopped for lunch in the grevillea tree.

After lunch I checked on the bottle brush tree and a few young blooms are appearing. There are also stems that haven’t opened yet, but it’s looking pretty good considering it is still winter.

We have had this orchid in the garden for a few years now. I think my husband rescued it from a throw-out pile somewhere, and even though we don’t give it any special attention it always seems to be in flower.

This is also a flowering orchid – so husband tells me! We brought home heaps of potted orchids from around my inlaw’s garden when we tidied up the house for sale and for want of somewhere to put them, I shoved them on the ground under our large pine cone tree in our front garden. Now this orchid has flowered, yet I hardly even water them! I’m sure orchids must thrive on neglect.

It was just after 6pm when we came back into the house and the sky, just after sunset, looked pretty enough to take a photo.

While husband made dinner, I caught up on a bit more uni work, then we watched the James Bond movie Dr No. I have just finished reading the book for one of my uni units and seeing as I quite enjoyed the book, I thought I’d like to see the movie too. It was so different to the book though! It was well worth watching to see a rather gorgeous Sean Connery as Bond though. 🙂

Australia · birds · Mount Warning · photography · sugar cane · Tweed Valley · winter

Sunrise

Joanne6 Comments

Against the odd, I woke up just in time to see the sunrise this morning.

And what a treat to also see transparent layers of mist laying across the fields of sugarcane as well!

When we moved into our new home twenty-six years ago, a friend described our view over the valley as the perfect setting for Lord of the Rings. I still haven’t read the book, but I have just started reading The Hobbit. So far I have only read three chapters, so I will be looking out for any descriptive passages that aptly describe our view of the valley. I’ll let you know if I find any.

I finally finished the assignment I have been working on this week and submitted it late this morning. After lunch, I spent the afternoon at the computer catching up on other study. Next week, I have a week off for mid-semester break, but I have two more assignments due in two week’s time, so I will be working on those during the break.

Two week’s ago I shared some photos and detailed information about kookaburras. I had been researching for an assignment and chose the kookaburras as I feel an affinity with them, especially my two old regulars, Larry and Shilo. My results came back today – 98/100 – so I’m pretty pleased about that. 🙂

That’s all for today. It’s been another long day at the computer and I’m heading off to bed. xx

Australia · birds · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · Tweed Valley · winter

Visitors to the garden

Joanne8 Comments

Today the weather was fine and sunny as far as I could tell. I spent most of the day indoors, at my desk, working on a uni assignment again. There were a few different birds in the garden when I went outside for a break, so I will let the photos do the talking today as I need to rest my tired eyes and mind. xx

Australasian Figbird (Female)

 

Topknot Pigeon

 

Noisy Miner

 

A Friendly Kookaburra
Australia · birds · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · photography · sugar cane · Tweed Valley · winter

Around the garden

Joanne4 Comments

The hazy valley today, rather than being caused by nearby bush fires or dust-storms, was the result of a few good ole sugar cane fires. They seemed to be burning in all directions and filled the valley with smoke.

The thick tuft of smoke toward the top-right in the photo above is near the sugar mill. Which reminds me, I must take a drive down there and take a few close-ups one day.

Usually when I take photos of kookaburras sitting on this branch, the green cane fields form a backdrop for the photo. Today, it was just smoke. The kookaburra didn’t seem to mind though.

Earlier today I had a visit from Larry and Shilo, my two regular kookaburras who have been visiting for years. This is Shilo, hinting that it’s time for breakfast, I imagine, because she didn’t leave until after I had fed her and Larry.

We had other visitors for breakfast this morning too. Six sulphur-crested cockatoos landed in the palm trees near to the house and watched as I fed Larry and Shilo. They must have decided that minced meat wasn’t to their liking though, and soon flew down to the pecan tree. I didn’t realise there were any nuts left on the branches, but those observant cockatoos knew they were there.

I’m pretty excited about this rose bush. I transplanted it during the colder part of winter – although it is still pretty cool even now – and it has several buds on the bush. This is the second bud to open and I love the velvet texture of the petals. I felt I could be taking a chance transplanting three rose bushes that had lived in the same position for about ten years, but now I’m so glad I did. All three look much healthier than they ever have before, and being closer to the house now I can admire them more often.

One of the most photogenic flowers in my garden each year is the grevillea. The whole tree is covered in buds and blooms, and the native honey eating birds are loving it!

I’m working on a uni assignment again, so I don’t know how much time I’ll have for blogging and taking photos this week. At the very least, I’ll take one each day of Mount Warning. 🙂