Today has been filled with the unexpected joys of nature. My camera clicked constantly to capture its amazing beauty. Over the past week, there have also been occasions when I have marvelled at its awesomeness, right on my doorstep.
The colour in this quiet corner of my garden appeared overnight.
As I snapped this kookaburra sitting on our fence, he turned to face me, revealing his catch.
A goshawk visited our pool fence as we sat resting inside. Thankfully he was in no hurry to rush off, while I dashed for my camera.
A new family of ducks, grazed the slope opposite our home.
Unusual mushrooms on my morning walk.
The very loud sound of cascading water in the usually sleepy creek I walk beside, drew me to its bank. I shouldn't have been surprised by the volume of water, as it hasn't stopped raining for a week.
This morning I drove to my cousins home to help with some gardening. Her garden backs onto a field of unmown grass. I don't normally have my camera with me when I visit, but today I must have had a premonition of what I was to discover and grabbed it with the car keys.
It wasn't difficult to spy these mushrooms, the size of dinner plates, emerging from the long grass.
Work done, the decision was made to take our coffee to the local lagoon. Just so many unexpected, delightful moments ensued.
A black swan and her only, very young, gosling.
Unusually brown ducks resting.
The path around the lagoon is well over a kilometre.
Great excitement when several, of my favourite tiny bird, [Superior Blue Wren] flitted onto the grass, and occasionally sat still long enough for me to capture their image.
A country girl at heart, these lovely beasts lifted my spirits even more.
A quiet moment in the gum tree for these corellas. They are an incredibly rowdy bird.
The loop completed, I was very happy to discover that the ducks and swan were still wanting to pose for me.
Unlocking all the doors on my arrival home, I was surprised to see so many golf balls on the 6th green. A closer look and the realisation that these were just more mushrooms.
Of course my camera and I had to take a closer look and even more were found.
Over the past week, we have had 4 inches / 100 mms of rain. This was on top of a very wet February.
The ground is very damp and the humidity is high again, perfect conditions for mushrooms to emerge.
I hope, that you too have found joy in the beauty of nature, on my doorstep.
I would love to read your comment.
Such beautiful flowers and birds. It would be hard to ever take for granted.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary. We don't have to wait for spring. It is with us all the time, but of course, I would love to experience a year of 4 seasons. IWe are approaching the 'autumn' months so I was surprised to see the gosling.
Deletewhat an amazing array! The brown ducks appear to be hybrids--- mixture of the white Pekin domestic with one of the wild guys. They can be quite striking. Loved the black swan and her offspring. And the mushrooms. and.. and... and...
ReplyDeleteThanks Bill. I have spent quite a lot of time googling 'brown ducks' and haven't managed to come up with a match. One possibilty was a British domestic duck, but as it was early in my search, I discounted it and now can't find the match again.
DeleteLoved all your unexpected finds! The baby gosling was cute, and I chuckled about all the white mushrooms on the golf course!
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. There is such a huge variety of mushrooms at present and the damp humid weather continues, with a possible cyclone hovering.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed all those images. Nature at its very best especially the Goshawk right outside your home - very exciting
ReplyDeleteLovely shots. I like those birds in the tree!
ReplyDeleteI am finally getting a little bit caught up on blog reading after my computer being down.
ReplyDeleteI was especially glad to see the kookaburra photo. I've probably told you before, but we used to sing "Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree ..." at 4-H meetings on occasion. I don't know why a Kansas 4-H club sang that song! I also enjoyed the parrots and the gosling.
I wish we had enough moisture to grow mushrooms. We are extremely dry.
Beautiful photos, as usual!
Thanks Kim
Delete. You were lucky to see the kookuburra. A second later he was gone.
The song is a great one to sing in rounds.
I think of you every heavy shower of rain we have. Since the beginning of February, we have had 16 inches / 400mm.
Wow - a bumper crop of nature sightings. I'm wondering whether any of the mushrooms are good to eat? There seem to be so many. Trust me to focus on the gastronomic possibilities in amongst all of those beautiful images!
ReplyDeleteAustralians don't tend to go picking mushrooms. We are more recently getting a bigger variety in shops.
DeleteIt's much bigger on the Continent than it is here in the UK. I used to find lots of common or garden field mushrooms in the pastures around the village, but they now seem not to appear. Probably another consequence of modern farming practices. I went off collecting them anyway after discovering some extra protein in my mushrooms on toast one day.
ReplyDelete