Category: native Australian birds

Australia · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · native Australian plants · rain · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

Cute and Curious

Joanne5 Comments

How’s that for a crystal clear day? I shouldn’t have gotten too excited, the rain returned a couple of hours ago, but that’s to be expected at this time of year. Our area is known for hot, humid days during summer, ending in a subtropical storm – or heavy rain shower, at least – later in the afternoon. The day began beautifully though, which was a very nice change from seeing mist and haze in the valley every morning.

This morning I noticed the little Pee Wee bird dancing around the top of the fence, clearly trying to get a look at something down below. I watched for a minute, as I was curious to find out what had caught his attention. After a while, a little head popped out from behind my potted Lilly Pilly plant.

Baby Magpie has taken to foraging in the dirt of my newly-potted plants, so I suppose the Pee Wee was hoping for a share of whatever Baby Mags came up with! 🙂

Australia · clouds · floods · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

Every picture tells a story.

Joanne12 Comments
There was no sign of Mount Warning today, not even a tiny glimpse.

 

One lonely Butcher Bird sat in the shelter of the back veranda for ages, while the rain pelted down for most of the day.

 

Even though I told this kookaburra that there was plenty of room on the veranda to share with the Butcher Bird, he insisted the top of the clothes line suited him just fine!
Australia · floods · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · rain · rivers · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

(Almost) Silent Sunday

Joanne9 Comments
The Magpie family, taking refuge from the rain on my back veranda clothes line.
No sign of the mountain today.
Heavy rain continued overnight. This morning, several cane fields are filled with water. Many local roads are closed where the Tweed River has broken its banks.
More heavy rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. 
Australia · birds · clouds · colours · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · rain · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

Well, I did wish for rain …

Joanne8 Comments

They do say “be careful what you wish for,” don’t they? Whoever “they” are, they could be onto something. After quite a lengthy dry spell, and a couple of days of drizzle, tonight we have torrential rain.

I can hear the TV cutting in and out in another room, as the heavy rainfall messes with transmission. I think I’d better type fast, just in case we lose power.

The rain didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of the usual morning breakfast crew, who all arrived bright and early asking for a morsel of food. The kookaburras looked like they were all having a bad-hair day, while the others, baby Magpie, the Pee Wee, and my little Butcher Bird, Hoppy, with the gammy leg, all appeared wet, but quite composed.

The valley looked quite magnificent this morning, with crisp green fields, and patches of white cloud dotted across the brilliant blueness of Mount Warning. It looked so gorgeous that I thought I’d take a walk down to the back boundary to get a photo of the uninterrupted view.

I even got as far as pulling on my gum boots and going outside. A sprinkle of rain won’t hurt me, I thought. I had only walked a few steps past the edge of the veranda though when a heavy downpour sent me scurrying back to shelter. And would you believe the maximum temperature today reached 20°C? I spent the day wearing jeans and a jumper ~ in December!

The white on blue looked so good today, I just had to zoom in on the mountain, even though I had to take the photo standing close to the house.

Maybe tomorrow the rain will ease up a touch, even if its just long enough to take a broad view photo of the valley for Silent Sunday. 🙂