The Dry is well and truly upon us and the country is dry and crispy; there is a definite crunch when you step through the grass. The colours of the countryside have changed, too. No more green, unless there is a water source close by and most of the country is a dead brown colour.
Around the property, the creeks stopped flowing and the smaller creeks dried up. There are still some pools along the main creek bed but some look more inviting than others, I must say. The pools at the old coach crossing went green before they dried completely and the billabong is shallower by the day.
There is a very real danger of fire and smoke is a constant presence during the Dry season. But all that choking smoke does make for some amazing sunsets and even a beautiful full-moon rise!
ABOVE: The full moon rises, coloured by the smoke of a nearby bushfire.
The water lilies flowered spectacularly until stinky feral pigs devoured them! Up until then, they looked looked really pretty reflected in the quiet waters of the billabong…
Afterwards, not so great…
ABOVE: What’s left of the waterlilies after fat feral pigs got their snouts into them! Damning evidence provided by piggy-prints in the soft mud beside the billabong…
ABOVE: Probably the home of a Mouse Spider, a relative of the Funnel Web…
ABOVE: Oh yeah, we tried catching yabbies in the billabong. Not successfully, as we only collected some fresh water crabs.
Snakes Around the Place
Classified as ‘mildly venomous’, this Macleay’s Water Snake was hanging out near the river crossing, so I grabbed some photos before it slunk off into a shady pipe under the concrete.
Golden Tree Snake
Noticing something in a tree, I went in for a closer look and found this pretty little Golden Tree Snake. They are not venomous, but I kept my distance and used the zoom lens to get photos, as they can release a foul smell if disturbed.
ABOVE: Kapok trees flower prolifically during the dry.
ABOVE: This little bundle of feathers is a Golden-headed Cisticola, a tiny warbler that happily lives in the long stems of the gamba grass.
ABOVE: The little Chestnut-breasted Mannikin is another of the tiny finches on the property. Often seen in vast swirling flocks, they suddenly dive down and disappear into the long-grass for cover.
ABOVE: No points for guessing this is a Red-winged Parrot – the male in breeding colours is very spectacular.
ABOVE: The female Red-winged Parrot still has pretty impressive colours.
ABOVE: A couple of Drongoes – literally! Appropriately dressed for Halloween, I named these two ‘Morticia’ and ‘Gomez’, from “The Addams Family”.
ABOVE: Rainbow Bee Eaters are everywhere, chasing insects, especially in the morning and evening light.
ABOVE: A pair of Forest Kingfishers.
ABOVE: Forest Kingfisher.
ABOVE: Cooler mornings of the Dry (well, it is winter elsewhere) often bring thick fog to the property. This Dry was pretty cold, with over night temperatures down to 11 degrees Celsius, which for the tropics, is FREEZING!!!
Late in the DRY, an early ‘build-up’ storm rolls over the farm at sundown. Picking up and reflecting the amazing colours of the setting sun, the clouds looked awesome but rather apocalyptic!
