Inspirational Quote of the week
Tag: Australia
Quart Pot Creek, Stanthorpe – a relaxing afternoon.
Featured Image : Quart Pot Creek, Stanthorpe.
Well we have been back in Stanthorpe for a week now and back at work thinning apples for 4 days.
Thinning must be one of the most boring jobs on planet earth but we don’t mind it. We get into a really good routine where we work 6 days a week with Sundays off which is today..hooray 🤩🤩 We also manage to have a little power nap under the apple trees after lunch which is always rewarding, so peaceful just listening to the birds and the wind through the trees.
We will be doing this now till the end of January, then we will be picking the apples which is much more fun but longer hours.
Eurasian Coot
We realised today that after shopping, cleaning etc we had a few hours spare to go and visit Quart Pot creek in town. It’s only down the road from the van park we are in so nice and very close.
We have been there many times before but the light down there this afternoon was just spectacular for photos. We were quite surprised to see some green grass and the creek itself looked ok considering they are in a severe drought here. They did get a downpour a few weeks ago so that was great news.
Sadly there has also been a few bushfires close to the town and on our way to work which is just horrible to see this beautiful place so scorched. We have been coming back now for 5 years so even though we have a house on wheels, this is like coming home for us. We love the town and surrounds and the people are very friendly here.
Wood Ducks
More Pacific Black Ducks
Hardheads (male on top)
Press Play to view Steph’s Snippets
We will try our best to visit the creek on our Sundays off as it’s teeming with birdlife at the moment, it’s probably one of the few places around with a good water supply so we are just praying for some rain. Please enjoy the pics and I took a small video of the creek.
Bye for now, Steph and Anthony.
Inspirational Quote of the week
Redwood Park – Featuring the Regent Bowerbird
Featured Image : Regent Bowerbird.
Well…Surprise..Surprise, still no polish on the van. The Showgrounds here at Toowoomba are very open and it’s blowing a gale. This morning we woke to the dreaded Drizzle plus it’s so much cooler here than on the coast. We were deciding what we were going to do for the day and Voila……the sun started peeking out just a little bit 🤩🤩
So we had to make an executive decision,,, off to Redwood Park we went.
It’s about a 20 minute drive back down the range so we didn’t want to waste our time if it was going to be raining.
We have never seen the park so dry, and were very worried about the wildlife there, as the little creek that we thought was maybe spring fed had also dried up, and has been for quite some time.
We didn’t hear much birdlife either, but as we came past the picnic area we saw a couple of flowering trees….and lots of bird activity around them.
Thank god the little birdies have got something to eat.
The first bird Anthony spotted was the Regent Bowerbird, we just couldn’t believe our luck, and feeding on the nectar of this beautiful flowering type of Coral Tree. Lucky Lucky us 😃😃
We got some great photos and video…..to see the colours on this bird is incredible, it must be one of the most stunning birds in Australia.
There were other birds too, the Lewins Honeyeater was very plentiful and a Spangled Drongo came in to feed on the nectar as well.
You learn something new every day…. and today we learned that bowerbirds and drongo’s feed on nectar. Amazing hey!!
We met some nice local ladies walking their dogs so we got chatting.
They told us there was a small trickle of water still coming out of the mountain further up, so off we went.
We weren’t expecting it to be so steep, it took around 30 minutes of climbing and we found a great spot for the wildlife to get some water and a few little pools for the birds to bathe so that made us really happy.
We saw quite a few of the usual birds around here (Double-barred Finches, Honeyeaters, Monarchs etc.) but they were very nervous, we tried to sit quietly for a while but they didn’t like us there.
We couldn’t get any photos or video and didn’t want to disturb them too much plus it was getting on a bit and cuppochino o’clock was calling. We saw a few lizards too so we are so glad we ventured out today.
Varied Sittella
White-throated Treecreeper
Press Play to view Stephanie’s Snippets from today
Hopefully tomorrow the wind eases off so we can do the polishing, otherwise we will miss the boat as we are really running out of time.
Stanthorpe is on severe water restrictions so we won’t be able to wash the Van or Truck there for quite sometime, plus we will be busy working and then nothing gets done.
Please enjoy the amazing photos Anthony got today and of course my little video snippets.
Bye for now Steph and Anthony.
Lace Monitor
A Young Water Dragon
Noosa Botanical Gardens : Re-visited
Featured Image : Blue-face Honeyeater in Jacaranda.
Greetings from Pomona!
We have been sitting at the Pomona Showgrounds for almost a week now which is becoming probably our favourite place to hang out when visiting family down this way.
It’s just north of the Sunshine Coast, a bit of a drive when going visiting but it’s a great little town well away from the madness of the coast.
Catching up with everyone has been great and kept us quite busy, so we haven’t had much time to get out and about into nature.
This Graphic Flutterer (above and below) put on quite a show
Today was our last chance so we visited the Noosa Botanical Gardens which is only about 10 minutes drive from here. We visited here back in June when we were heading north but there wasn’t that much birdlife around.
Press Play to view Stephanie’s Video Snippets of the Gardens and wildlife
Adult Eastern Whipbird
Juvenile Whipbird
Whipbirds
Well today it was just teeming with birds 😁😁 We did a morning shift and then after a break and a snooze we went back this afternoon, just fantastic. We saw a few new birds and the big carpet python laying on the banks of a small pond was an added bonus. It looks like he must have eaten a large bird or maybe a bat as you could see something sticking out on his side….maybe the legs of something….
This Blue-faced Honeyeater was very photogenic with the Jacaranda Backdrop
Juvenile and Immature BF Honeyeaters (Below)
Australian Emerald in motion.
So we have had a great time in this area and would love to stay a bit longer but work is calling so we have to keep moving on closer to Stanthorpe.
Tomorrow we will head up the range to Toowoomba Showgrounds for the weekend and catch up with the last of our maintenance jobs. We are praying that the weather is nice to us as we really need to get a coat of polish on the van. A huge job that we have been putting off for a while. We are also hoping to visit Redwood Park again, our favourite birding place while in Toowoomba. So please enjoy the pics and video.
Cheers Steph and Anthony.
