Three days of winter sunshine was an enjoyable break from the rain and the bees took full advantage of it. Wattle pollen was on the menu for many - although they're spoiled for choice with nearly everything in bloom.
2 Comments
So LW is on one of his lookout branches when there's a LW alarm call - It's coming from the sheoak nearby, and he responds -
Spring is in the air and this blue wren is losing his eclipse (non-breeding) plumage and his blue bib is beginning to emerge. (I took this pic through the verandah slats). Maybe it's an itchy process, because he then hopped into the birdbath for a quick dip (it was very quick, a matter of seconds, but I've witnessed a pair of wrens mating and that was even quicker!) The post-bath feather-aligning, flea-crunching (no doubt) and general preening that followed took quite a while longer. See it by clicking...
Mid-August and the wattles are gearing up for their September splendour, although the Cootamundra Wattles that I inherited are already past their flowering prime they are still quite spectacular with grey foliage contrasting with abundance of yellow. 204mm of rain have fallen on the block so far this winter - hopefully there's plenty more to come as we move into spring. As a slight downside, this month's birdbath pics is likely to be a slim volume - have only managed one photo session there so far due to rain/moisture in the air.
The flowers on the woolly bush are tiny - but the LW is adept at getting its beak into hard to reach places.
Was taking some pics of female LW at Banksia - then she flew over to pink gum where male (on lower branch) was keeping an eye on the opposition - (and me it seems!) then he hopped up to be on the same branch as her - and they had a few minutes of togetherness before he flew off on another mission.
|
Archives
December 2020
|