Willy Wag Tail
If you know these little characters, you will appreciate how much noise and fuss was happening while I took photos. Although I had no evil intentions toward Mr & Mrs Wagtail’s dear offspring, you would imagine the worst from the ruckus they produced.
The farmer we were visiting, recovered a wagtail nest which had been blown down during a storm. The outside is made from grasses and spider web (yes!) and the interior (in this case) was wool, and hair from the cows.
Head to Head
Oh, brave soul!
This horse was enormous. Truly enormous.
Apart from being a spectacular looking beast, this horse had a way of looking at you, to suggest a knowing. It really made me want to take her home.
Smile!
It’s possible he’s poking his tongue out instead, but.. I’m happy either way. Tawny Frog Mouths are cool customers at the best of times, but I happened to catch this fellow having a go at his dinner.
Frog mouths often sit still and wait for dinner to come to them (makes you think they must all be male, eh?). They use their incredible camouflage to good advantage, and just pretend to be a tree branch, and snap dinner as it flies/crawls/scurries past. They also swoop on insects in flight, which can be nasty if the insect was illuminated by a car’s headlights.
Room With a View
I need to go back. I don’t even mind that the bathroom was a tin shed with water pumped straight from the creek.
Although we are fast approaching the resumption of regular activities; music, park days, etc, and have been at school work for a couple of weeks, I find I am still in holiday mode. I really just feel like heading out to the middle of nowhere; reading books; going for bushwalks; consuming inelegant amounts of fine quality chocolates; and spending time with that glorious specimen of manhood, Mr Bluesocks…
Sigh.
I hope it wears off soon.
Dragonflies
A little bit of my Friday afternoon…
I’m sure there were more productive things I could have been doing, but photographing bugs is less destructive than taking to drink. It’s frustrating: there is no doubt about it. But at the same time it is so sufficiently absorbing that there is no room to be thinking of anything else. Sometimes, by Friday afternoon, that’s essential!
Southern Cross
Today, I had to escape. Mr BB is an obliging soul who is always ready to leave the city behind, on the flimsiest of excuses, so…. we went driving.
It is a good thing that my joy is not dependent on the results of playing with my camera. We spent time in the botanical gardens of Australia’s second largest inland city (Toowoomba 
) and I tortured myself trying to capture an image of a male orchard swallowtail in flight. Chasing butterflies, I”m sure, is a manifestation of a disturbed mind. Or it leads to a disturbed mind , or deteriorates further an already disturbed mind! Whatever category it comes under, it is NOT a peaceful pastime!
The flower offerings during Australia’s summer are a little on the slim side, even for Toowoomba, which is renowned for its’ gardens. Still, there were a few beautiful roses. They were in the sun, and I managed to blow them out terribly. Today was the camera equivalent of a bad hair day!
Sunset
It looked more like a bush fire than a sunset.
We were sitting on the eastern verandah, enjoying the (relative) cool of the evening. The children kept asking us to come and look at the sunset. “I know they’re lovely, but I’ve seen many, and I’m talking to Grandma.” was my less than enthusiastic response.
I gave in. Being thrilled over sunsets with your children is part of every parent’s job description. In the end, it wasn’t hard to muster an appropriate amount of interest: it was a spectacular show of colour.
Summer!
The mango tree is a hive of activity. This Rainbow Lorikeet was not especially concerned to be caught feasting.
