Author: fifteenacres

Rainclouds through Sunshine

I’ve always been drawn to images which show a hillside, or a tree, in full sunlight with dark, threatening clouds in the background. There is something in the combination of bright green and thunderous grey that appeals to my sense of colour.  The vivid contrast of sunshine and darkness  is also a metaphor for life, … Continue reading Rainclouds through Sunshine

An Assortment of Cormorants

We have cormorants drop in to fish in the dam every now and again.   Mostly, they come on their own, but sometimes they bring a friend or two.  In the months leading up to Christmas, I was much more drawn to the herons, ducks, and more exotic species of bird, paying little attention to the … Continue reading An Assortment of Cormorants

White-Eared Honeyeater

Yesterday, you caught a glimpse of the White-Eared Honeyeater in My Morning Walk and I promised you more photos today.  Here they are! We’ve been catching glimpses of this species ever since we moved in, but they are fast, and tend to spend their time in denser trees. This makes them hard to photograph. On … Continue reading White-Eared Honeyeater

Daily Prompt: Journey – My Morning Walk

I’ve discovered the WordPress blog ‘The Daily Post’ which offers challenges to bloggers.  Today’s challenge is to photograph or write about a journey. I won’t do this every day, but today I was inspired to get out and capture the journey I take every day around our property, including the things I look for each … Continue reading Daily Prompt: Journey – My Morning Walk

October Wildflowers: Part 2

I’m discovering that identifying wildflowers is very time-consuming. Our two field guides cover wildflowers from all over Australia, with multiple variations on most species. Looking at the small illustrations or photographs in the field guides, often nothing looks exactly the same as the wildflowers I have found.  However, by looking at locations they are found, … Continue reading October Wildflowers: Part 2

Spotted Pardalote

Our cats were running up and down the back yard today, in the cat enclosure, making enthusiastic noises about something fluttering just under the netting.  It turned out to be this beautiful Spotted Pardalote, which had found its way into the cat enclosure through the holes in the lattice fence.   Don’t worry, no damage was … Continue reading Spotted Pardalote

Crackle Crackle…. Plop!

Crackle crackle… plop!  Crackle crackle…. plop!   This is the sound I heard around me this morning on my walk.  It is a still day, and I have heard the same sound on other still days.  Having investigated the noise about a month ago, I recognise it immediately  and smile to myself.  This is the sound … Continue reading Crackle Crackle…. Plop!

October Wildflowers – Part 1

Colourful flowers, including some  Native Orchids caught my uneducated eye in October, as I began to investigate the bushland a bit more closely. Wax-lip Orchid (Orcidaceae Glossodia Major) The beautiful colour and form of the Wax-lip Orchid made them highly visible against the greens, yellows and whites of almost everything surrounding them. Dillwynia Many different … Continue reading October Wildflowers – Part 1

September Wildflowers – A Beginning

Helen commented on A Family of Four, reflecting on the way kangaroos were affecting the number of wild flowers in South Australia.  This has inspired me to go back and keep a month by month record of the native flowers I have photographed since we moved in.  This will build into an index of flowers … Continue reading September Wildflowers – A Beginning

Family of Four

At the risk of overloading you with photographs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos, here is an update. Three female kangaroos have been coming past the house to graze a couple of times each week.  As noted in my previous post Three Morning Visitors, it appears to be a mature female with two female offspring from her … Continue reading Family of Four

Step by Step Firewood

It seems only a week or so ago that I was complaining about the heat.  Now the weather has turned and we have days that are quite wintery.  One huge difference between living here and living in our former home is heating.  In the past, I have always had gas heating.  Getting warm was simply … Continue reading Step by Step Firewood

Our Greenhouse Vegetables

Our greenhouse vegetables are growing beautifully.  We’ve already harvested and eaten the radishes, which were delicious.  The lettuce, carrots and beetroot are developing well, and it won’t be long before we begin to harvest these too.  Lettuce and root vegetables are pretty straight forward – plant the seeds, water, and wait. However, the cucumber plant … Continue reading Our Greenhouse Vegetables

Breeding Australasian Grebes?

In my last post about the Australasian Grebes, I left you trying to spot two white fluffy bottoms hidden among the reeds.  This time, I managed to get better photos – as it turns out, inadvertently.  I was actually trying to photograph the small birds in the eucalypts and acacias surrounding the dam.  As soon … Continue reading Breeding Australasian Grebes?

One Magpie v. More than Twenty Ducks

This is a sight I have often seen, but never before with camera in hand!  Finally, I have captured it to share with you. A pair of magpies lives in a tree near the house, spending much of the day on the lawn leading down to the dam.  One of these magpies is particularly territorial, … Continue reading One Magpie v. More than Twenty Ducks

Return of the Australian Wood Duck!

After what seems like a long absence, we are beginning to see Australian Wood Duck again.  The family of thirteen has not returned as a group – maybe because the ducklings are making their own way in the world. Or perhaps  (horrendous thought) because of duck season.  Maybe some of the ducks have found new … Continue reading Return of the Australian Wood Duck!

Australasian Grebe

One morning, a fast-moving ripple on the dam attracted my attention.  Getting out the binoculars, I could see a small water bird madly swimming back and forth, as though its life depended on racing from one spot to another.  Every now and again it would dive beneath the surface, then swim madly off in another … Continue reading Australasian Grebe

Three Morning Visitors

Kangaroos make their presence known in various ways, even when you can’t physically see them – often with damage to plants in the garden.  This usually happens overnight, in the dark, when you don’t even get the pleasure of watching these beautiful creatures. So it was both surprising and pleasant to see three female Eastern … Continue reading Three Morning Visitors

Playing around with Cockatoos

While I much prefer to photograph birds in their natural habitat, providing a little bit of bird seed does offer a fantastic chance to get some close-up shots of the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos.  I wanted to convey the playful nature of Cockatoos, but also show their beauty.  To other birds, in this case a couple … Continue reading Playing around with Cockatoos

Immature Golden Whistler? Identify this bird if you can!

On a calm day last week, many small birds were calling from the treetops, and I could identify where they were sitting from the rustling noises they made when they moved. I took many photos of one small bird which was hopping around the trunk of a tree at the point where the bark peeled … Continue reading Immature Golden Whistler? Identify this bird if you can!

The Colour of Long-Billed Corella

Every single day we have a large flock of Long-Billed Corella fly South over our land  shortly after Sunrise, and return Northward just before Sunset.  We don’t know where they come from, or where they go to each day. It is one of nature’s mysteries.  Rarely do they land here.  If they do, it is … Continue reading The Colour of Long-Billed Corella

Eastern Froglet

We’ve had more encounters with frogs this week than we have in the entire time we’ve lived here. They must be beginning to emerge after the hot Summer weather.  Each time we have a small rain shower, the number of frogs ‘singing’ seems to increase! We found this little fellow in a patch of long … Continue reading Eastern Froglet

A Tiny Native Orchid

We have been trying to identify some of the small birds which hide in the undergrowth and treetops.   Among the methods we use is to sit in the bush listening for their calls.  Yesterday, while doing this, Richard spotted our first Autumn Native Orchid.   So far I have not been able to identify it precisely, … Continue reading A Tiny Native Orchid

Silhouette – Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo

On the still evening I photographed the White=Browed Scrubwren, I also saw the Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos for myself.  Mostly they were in among the leaves, high in the treetops and hidden from the camera.  As I neared the end of my walk, and the sun had almost set, this solitary bird presented me with a … Continue reading Silhouette – Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo