i looked across the grass and there was this stranger in a golden overcoat.
this wattle must have flowered quickly.

these marigolds flower all the time but are now looking ‘summery’
the white convolvulus is a native that has been flowering most of winter
grevillea robustus ‘ new shoots

what signs of spring are showing at your place?

pepe said:

these marigolds flower all the time but are now looking ‘summery’
the white convolvulus is a native that has been flowering most of winter
grevillea robustus ‘ new shoots

what signs of spring are showing at your place?

Well the magpies have been half-heartedly attacking me on my bike, the peewits have been dabbling in the mud – for nests I guess…the bottlebrush and cadagi have buds…a good showing coming up here methinks…the local swimming pool is looking attractive…

Oh yeah, how could I forget? My once-a-year brunsfelsia is in bloom…not a good covering as in previous years but the scent is divine…my other brunsfelsia, that blooms every time I remember to water it, is also in bloom but the scent is not as alluring as the once-a-year…

:)

Well the magpies have been half-heartedly attacking me on my bike, the peewits have been dabbling in the mud – for nests I guess…the bottlebrush and cadagi have buds…a good showing coming up here methinks…the local swimming pool is looking attractive…
————————

….. the valley is alive with the sound of lawnmowers ….. and the air is thick with the smell of bonfires…..

We’ve had good winter rain and our backyard is greening up in response to the warmer days…

The ice is melting? lol

Theres blossoms on the fruits :D

pepe said:

i looked across the grass and there was this stranger in a golden overcoat.
this wattle must have flowered quickly.

theres a couple of wattles in flower here, one down the back Don’t know how it got down there.

Mangoes are forming. Mock Orange is blooming. Birds are rooting.

Might as well add my own.

Plum is budding. Almonds have moved on from flowers to leaves. Blinkin’ jacaranda still hasn’t dropped its leaves.

pain master said:

Mangoes are forming. Mock Orange is blooming. Birds are rooting.

thanks for that intimate insight into ‘spring in the far north’.

Tailor are goin off the bite.
Hands are not blue from pre dawn fishing.
Beer is brewing more quickly with minimum heating.
Esky ice is softer after coming back from fishing.
Calendar girl has changed.

Longy said:

Tailor are goin off the bite.
Hands are not blue from pre dawn fishing.
Beer is brewing more quickly with minimum heating.
Esky ice is softer after coming back from fishing.
Calendar girl has changed.

i can’t work out how to managed to infiltrate the gardening forum
- and btw – you forget to mention the price to gas is dropping LOL.

I noticed the plum tree blossoms have burst open this morning.

all this rain in our gardens means lotsa worms
the cold wet is spose to destroy the rodents – but it hasn’t.

so what about – the earwig plague – the ants – and the locust ?

i’m monitoring my mite population here and i believe they might be becoming manageable due to 5 years without spray and therefore predator buildup. i’ll plant a few early pumpkin and see id they are attacked.

pepe said:

all this rain in our gardens means lotsa worms
the cold wet is spose to destroy the rodents – but it hasn’t.

so what about – the earwig plague – the ants – and the locust ?

i’m monitoring my mite population here and i believe they might be becoming manageable due to 5 years without spray and therefore predator buildup. i’ll plant a few early pumpkin and see id they are attacked.

i’ve just reread my posts and apologise for the incorrect 2 letter words – need a coffee bbl.

More signs of spring

pepe said:

Longy said:

Tailor are goin off the bite.
Hands are not blue from pre dawn fishing.
Beer is brewing more quickly with minimum heating.
Esky ice is softer after coming back from fishing.
Calendar girl has changed.

i can’t work out how to managed to infiltrate the gardening forum
- and btw – you forget to mention the price to gas is dropping LOL.

Price of gas? What gas?

Two young noisy miners in the yard this am.
First day out of the nest but still close to it. Still not very good at getting around the tree.
One little fella fell down while i was watering, so i had to put him back up. Twice.
Just located them again this arvo in the same tree. Lookin good and 4 less cats to do any damage.

Pecan nut tree is bursting with buds, but just hasn’t quite opened yet. MAybe tomorrow.
Tropical apple is flowering and leafing up big time.
Magnolia is in flower. (Most impressive aren’t they.)

Today must have been nearly 30 degrees i reckon. Warm northerly all day.
I think my face is a bit sunburnt.

Turned off my hot water system electric backup.
Will remove the roof mounted whirly gig plugs if the heat keeps up.

I’m glad Spring is here. The warming earth will keep my old mate warm.
Didn’t like the thought of him in the cold ground.
We planted some crimson petunias on him today, under the bare frangipanni.

Longy said:

I’m glad Spring is here. The warming earth will keep my old mate warm.
Didn’t like the thought of him in the cold ground.
We planted some crimson petunias on him today, under the bare frangipanni.

:)

Longy said:

Two young noisy miners in the yard this am.
First day out of the nest but still close to it. Still not very good at getting around the tree.
One little fella fell down while i was watering, so i had to put him back up. Twice.
Just located them again this arvo in the same tree. Lookin good and 4 less cats to do any damage.

You’re such a softie. Never fooled me for a minute.

Kapok are flowering.

Magnolia is in flower. (Most impressive aren’t they.)
————————-
Mine are too. One has finished and the other is well in flower. Luv ‘em.

I’m glad Spring is here. The warming earth will keep my old mate warm.
Didn’t like the thought of him in the cold ground.
We planted some crimson petunias on him today, under the bare frangipanni.
———————————————-

He must have been a special friend. I miss him with you.

Longy said:

Two young noisy miners in the yard this am.
First day out of the nest but still close to it. Still not very good at getting around the tree.
One little fella fell down while i was watering, so i had to put him back up. Twice.
Just located them again this arvo in the same tree. Lookin good and 4 less cats to do any damage.

4 less cats! Well done….

Longy said:

I’m glad Spring is here. The warming earth will keep my old mate warm.
Didn’t like the thought of him in the cold ground.
We planted some crimson petunias on him today, under the bare frangipanni.

Bulbs go extremely well under a frangi…all that leaf mould keeps them fed with very little effort…autumn crocus springs to mind, plus a couple of other smallish (but bigger than autumn crocus) that I don’t know the names of…

pepe said:

pain master said:

Mangoes are forming. Mock Orange is blooming. Birds are rooting.

thanks for that intimate insight into ‘spring in the far north’.

spade = spade

Dinetta said:

More signs of spring

Channel Bill Cuckoos are cool, they remind me of Jesus when they’re flying o’erhead.

pomolo said:

Longy said:

Two young noisy miners in the yard this am.
First day out of the nest but still close to it. Still not very good at getting around the tree.
One little fella fell down while i was watering, so i had to put him back up. Twice.
Just located them again this arvo in the same tree. Lookin good and 4 less cats to do any damage.

You’re such a softie. Never fooled me for a minute.

Yeah reckon.
Those little miner pups are great cat bait though.
All that cheep cheep rubbish.

Longy said:

pepe said:

Longy said:

Tailor are goin off the bite.
Hands are not blue from pre dawn fishing.
Beer is brewing more quickly with minimum heating.
Esky ice is softer after coming back from fishing.
Calendar girl has changed.

i can’t work out how to managed to infiltrate the gardening forum
- and btw – you forget to mention the price to gas is dropping LOL.

Price of gas? What gas?

petrol – dropping fast – $1.04 in parts of adelaide today.

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

More signs of spring

Channel Bill Cuckoos are cool, they remind me of Jesus when they’re flying o’erhead.

why?

pepe said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

More signs of spring

Channel Bill Cuckoos are cool, they remind me of Jesus when they’re flying o’erhead.

why?

apparently they are shaped like a cross when they fly.

pepe said:

$1.30 out here, not sure with or without $0.04 per litre shopping docket discount…

pepe said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

More signs of spring

Channel Bill Cuckoos are cool, they remind me of Jesus when they’re flying o’erhead.

why?

According to that article, they look like a crucifix when they’re wings are spread whilst flying…

pepe said:

petrol – dropping fast – $1.04 in parts of adelaide today.

Sheesh

$1.30 out here, not sure if with or without shopper docket discount…

It’s really primed for spring

pepe said:

Longy said:

pepe said:

i can’t work out how to managed to infiltrate the gardening forum
- and btw – you forget to mention the price to gas is dropping LOL.

Price of gas? What gas?

petrol – dropping fast – $1.04 in parts of adelaide today.

Oh OK. Hadn’t noticed.
I use home brew bio diesel :-)

pepe said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

More signs of spring

Channel Bill Cuckoos are cool, they remind me of Jesus when they’re flying o’erhead.

why?

Cause they are slow and easy to shoot with a nail gun???

Longy said:

pepe said:

Longy said:

Price of gas? What gas?

petrol – dropping fast – $1.04 in parts of adelaide today.

Oh OK. Hadn’t noticed.
I use home brew bio diesel :-)

Fair dinkum?

signs of spring?

verrry noice!

Dinetta said:

It’s really primed for spring

:)

I’m good friend of the ranger in charge of buying back Yanga station and when I saw him a couple of weeks back he told me that they were releasing 50 gigs into the park. The road through the Hay/Balranald area is now totally devoid of cattle. It is an amazing sight for one who is used to ducking and weaving around mobs of cattle.

This is my country.

roughbarked said:

I’m good friend of the ranger in charge of buying back Yanga station and when I saw him a couple of weeks back he told me that they were releasing 50 gigs into the park. The road through the Hay/Balranald area is now totally devoid of cattle. It is an amazing sight for one who is used to ducking and weaving around mobs of cattle.

This is my country.

Thought of you, but you said the Riverina was a huge area with a wide range of climates…all the brains we’ve got working for us, there’s gotta be sensible solutions, even brilliant ones…

For the last few years water has dried to a trickle in the Lachlan river in fact last year no water came downriver past Codobolin.

Lake Cargelligo

Just a few months back, the papers were full of pictures of dead fish and a dry lake. The town is doomed was the cry.

I was there last Sunday.. it is wet again.

roughbarked said:

For the last few years water has dried to a trickle in the Lachlan river in fact last year no water came downriver past Codobolin.

Lake Cargelligo

Just a few months back, the papers were full of pictures of dead fish and a dry lake. The town is doomed was the cry.

I was there last Sunday.. it is wet again.

Beautiful :)

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

For the last few years water has dried to a trickle in the Lachlan river in fact last year no water came downriver past Codobolin.

Lake Cargelligo

Just a few months back, the papers were full of pictures of dead fish and a dry lake. The town is doomed was the cry.

I was there last Sunday.. it is wet again.

Beautiful :)

Yep, a sight for sore eyes…how deep is it, RoughBarked?

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

For the last few years water has dried to a trickle in the Lachlan river in fact last year no water came downriver past Codobolin.

Lake Cargelligo

Just a few months back, the papers were full of pictures of dead fish and a dry lake. The town is doomed was the cry.

I was there last Sunday.. it is wet again.

Beautiful :)

Yep, a sight for sore eyes…how deep is it, RoughBarked?

Lake Cargelligo is 173 metres above sea level and covers an area of 1.500 hectares. storing 36,000 megalitres with a depth of 4.5 metres.
By the looks of the photos at the edge of the island we travelled to.. (Did you click on the photo?..) Then it is basically full.

roughbarked said:

Lake Cargelligo is 173 metres above sea level and covers an area of 1.500 hectares. storing 36,000 megalitres with a depth of 4.5 metres.
By the looks of the photos at the edge of the island we travelled to.. (Did you click on the photo?..) Then it is basically full.

I clicked on the photo just now…love the ducks in flight shot…it looks like some trees started to grow during the drought…their height is testament to just how long the drought went for…but they’ll probably drown now?

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Lake Cargelligo is 173 metres above sea level and covers an area of 1.500 hectares. storing 36,000 megalitres with a depth of 4.5 metres.
By the looks of the photos at the edge of the island we travelled to.. (Did you click on the photo?..) Then it is basically full.

I clicked on the photo just now…love the ducks in flight shot…it looks like some trees started to grow during the drought…their height is testament to just how long the drought went for…but they’ll probably drown now?

Being red gums probably not, they can tolerate quite a lot of water especially when young.. As over summer unless we do get plenty of rain the lake levels will drop

roughbarked said:

I’m good friend of the ranger in charge of buying back Yanga station and when I saw him a couple of weeks back he told me that they were releasing 50 gigs into the park. The road through the Hay/Balranald area is now totally devoid of cattle. It is an amazing sight for one who is used to ducking and weaving around mobs of cattle.

This is my country.

gigs?

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

I’m good friend of the ranger in charge of buying back Yanga station and when I saw him a couple of weeks back he told me that they were releasing 50 gigs into the park. The road through the Hay/Balranald area is now totally devoid of cattle. It is an amazing sight for one who is used to ducking and weaving around mobs of cattle.

This is my country.

gigs?

ah! gigalitres, as in water!

bluegreen said:

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

I’m good friend of the ranger in charge of buying back Yanga station and when I saw him a couple of weeks back he told me that they were releasing 50 gigs into the park. The road through the Hay/Balranald area is now totally devoid of cattle. It is an amazing sight for one who is used to ducking and weaving around mobs of cattle.

This is my country.

gigs?

ah! gigalitres, as in water!

Took me a minute, too :)

bon008 said:

bluegreen said:

bluegreen said:

gigs?

ah! gigalitres, as in water!

Took me a minute, too :)

I was thinking, they wouldn’t release 50 pigs!

roughbarked said:

Being red gums probably not, they can tolerate quite a lot of water especially when young.. As over summer unless we do get plenty of rain the lake levels will drop

I didn’t know that about red gums…

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

I’m good friend of the ranger in charge of buying back Yanga station and when I saw him a couple of weeks back he told me that they were releasing 50 gigs into the park. The road through the Hay/Balranald area is now totally devoid of cattle. It is an amazing sight for one who is used to ducking and weaving around mobs of cattle.

This is my country.

gigs?

gigalitres

roughbarked said:

For the last few years water has dried to a trickle in the Lachlan river in fact last year no water came downriver past Codobolin.

Lake Cargelligo

Just a few months back, the papers were full of pictures of dead fish and a dry lake. The town is doomed was the cry.

I was there last Sunday.. it is wet again.

That’s a nice shot RB.

roughbarked said:

For the last few years water has dried to a trickle in the Lachlan river in fact last year no water came downriver past Codobolin.

Lake Cargelligo

Just a few months back, the papers were full of pictures of dead fish and a dry lake. The town is doomed was the cry.

I was there last Sunday.. it is wet again.

Nice water too I should have added.

these sensational wallflowers don’t last long but they smell as good as they look

purple bearded irises are out and about as well.

pepe said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

More signs of spring

Channel Bill Cuckoos are cool, they remind me of Jesus when they’re flying o’erhead.

why?

I have a Mexican friend I sometimes go bird-spotting with and often it seems, this guy is with me when I see the Cuckoos… so I often exclaim “Jesus! Look at that Bird!”

Longy said:

pepe said:

pain master said:

Channel Bill Cuckoos are cool, they remind me of Jesus when they’re flying o’erhead.

why?

Cause they are slow and easy to shoot with a nail gun???

You’re going straight to hell for that one Longy….

Dinetta said:

verrry noice!

I concur, what dinetta said.

pain master said:

pepe said:

pain master said:

Channel Bill Cuckoos are cool, they remind me of Jesus when they’re flying o’erhead.

why?

I have a Mexican friend I sometimes go bird-spotting with and often it seems, this guy is with me when I see the Cuckoos… so I often exclaim “Jesus! Look at that Bird!”

hee, hee :)

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Being red gums probably not, they can tolerate quite a lot of water especially when young.. As over summer unless we do get plenty of rain the lake levels will drop

I didn’t know that about red gums…

Most Auusie Gum trees, you can prescribe an annual rainfall amount in order to keep them happy, a hypothetical example would be Swamp Gums or Mountain Ash would require at least 800 – 1000mms per annum. Whereas most text books will say that Red Gums require “periodic flooding” in order to live.

They will live for some time in and out of water, but start to struggle if the water is altered by mankind and either damned or removed completely.

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Being red gums probably not, they can tolerate quite a lot of water especially when young.. As over summer unless we do get plenty of rain the lake levels will drop

I didn’t know that about red gums…

Most Auusie Gum trees, you can prescribe an annual rainfall amount in order to keep them happy, a hypothetical example would be Swamp Gums or Mountain Ash would require at least 800 – 1000mms per annum. Whereas most text books will say that Red Gums require “periodic flooding” in order to live.

They will live for some time in and out of water, but start to struggle if the water is altered by mankind and either damned or removed completely.

that’s why the Red Gums along the Murray are in such trouble

pepe said:

these sensational wallflowers don’t last long but they smell as good as they look

Have you been helping them along or have they done this all by themselves? Lovely display…

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

I didn’t know that about red gums…

Most Auusie Gum trees, you can prescribe an annual rainfall amount in order to keep them happy, a hypothetical example would be Swamp Gums or Mountain Ash would require at least 800 – 1000mms per annum. Whereas most text books will say that Red Gums require “periodic flooding” in order to live.

They will live for some time in and out of water, but start to struggle if the water is altered by mankind and either damned or removed completely.

that’s why the Red Gums along the Murray are in such trouble

^ yes. They are in trouble because the flows are unnatural. Either not there at all or salty, stagnant.

a lady nearby stabbed her husband yesterday.

saw a Ibis with nesting material.

THe ibis were busy eating locusts around here

Dinetta said:

Longy said:

pepe said:

petrol – dropping fast – $1.04 in parts of adelaide today.

Oh OK. Hadn’t noticed.
I use home brew bio diesel :-)

Fair dinkum?

Yeah.

Longy said:

Dinetta said:

Longy said:

Oh OK. Hadn’t noticed.
I use home brew bio diesel :-)

Fair dinkum?

Yeah.

‘ello.

roughbarked said:

THe ibis were busy eating locusts around here

Go the ibis! Although if you saw the mess they’ve made of the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens…phewwww…cost Tom Wyatt his job, too…

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

Most Auusie Gum trees, you can prescribe an annual rainfall amount in order to keep them happy, a hypothetical example would be Swamp Gums or Mountain Ash would require at least 800 – 1000mms per annum. Whereas most text books will say that Red Gums require “periodic flooding” in order to live.

They will live for some time in and out of water, but start to struggle if the water is altered by mankind and either damned or removed completely.

that’s why the Red Gums along the Murray are in such trouble

^ yes. They are in trouble because the flows are unnatural. Either not there at all or salty, stagnant.

Sounds like the salty, stagnant water would do more damage than the drought? Or much of a muchness?

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

THe ibis were busy eating locusts around here

Go the ibis! Although if you saw the mess they’ve made of the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens…phewwww…cost Tom Wyatt his job, too…

Really. that’s a bit of a bugger.

pomolo said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

THe ibis were busy eating locusts around here

Go the ibis! Although if you saw the mess they’ve made of the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens…phewwww…cost Tom Wyatt his job, too…

Really. that’s a bit of a bugger.

Yes, he was relocating their nests (trying to move them on) and they said “bad boy Tom, you’re upsetting the birdies” and bang he was gone…now parts of the garden stink and the ground is covered in ibis shite and the tree tops are full of ibis nests…before that, about 26 years ago, it was the peacocks…they were rowdy but they weren’t so dirty…

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

that’s why the Red Gums along the Murray are in such trouble

^ yes. They are in trouble because the flows are unnatural. Either not there at all or salty, stagnant.

Sounds like the salty, stagnant water would do more damage than the drought? Or much of a muchness?

seed can at least lie in wait. trees a thousand years old my suffer from sulphuric acid rather than H2O

pain master said:

a lady nearby stabbed her husband yesterday.

:(

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

Sounds like the salty, stagnant water would do more damage than the drought? Or much of a muchness?

seed can at least lie in wait. trees a thousand years old my suffer from sulphuric acid rather than H2O

Geez, no wonder the “locals” on the Murray are upset….where does the sulphuric acid come from???

bubba louie said:

pain master said:

a lady nearby stabbed her husband yesterday.

:(

MrD always reckons that family squabbles get worse as the summer goes along…we think that the northern hemisphere has most of its battles during the summer…cool off in winter (harder to feed the troops?)

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

Sounds like the salty, stagnant water would do more damage than the drought? Or much of a muchness?

seed can at least lie in wait. trees a thousand years old my suffer from sulphuric acid rather than H2O

Geez, no wonder the “locals” on the Murray are upset….where does the sulphuric acid come from???

Well it is a complex issue. Firstly the water becomes too saline from being diverted for agricultural use, which relies upon knocking down trees to grow crops which in turn allows salts to come to the surface.. The same or similar story occurs when the water stops flowing at a rate required to keep the system clean. The sulphuric acid doesn’t come from outside, it is the result of a lack of oxygenation and a raising of PH which releases salts of iron etc from the soils.. Which over time without any flushing from a water flow will result in an acid pool instead of a billlabong. There is also the effect of acid rain.. similar story.

It has happened before so we know that it is due to a lack of water flows. This is why we are dumping water that irrigators want and city builders want.. back into the environment where it is desperately required.

http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/lsps07.sci.life.oate.acidlake/

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/billabong-of-death-could-hold-the-secrets-of-mankinds-ancestors-20100319-qmam.html

Dinetta said:

pepe said:

these sensational wallflowers don’t last long but they smell as good as they look

Have you been helping them along or have they done this all by themselves? Lovely display…

ms pepe prunes hard and then spreads a few fertiliser pellets. they were growing here when we bought the place. they have probably grown here for 10+ years.

pain master said:

a lady nearby stabbed her husband yesterday.

probably she was gob smacked by seeing that jesus bird in the sky.

pomolo said:

Longy said:

Dinetta said:

Fair dinkum?

Yeah.

‘ello.

we are afraid to ask – but – is this the same stuff the missus brews for ya?

pepe said:

pain master said:

a lady nearby stabbed her husband yesterday.

probably she was gob smacked by seeing that jesus bird in the sky.

Or he didn’t take out the bin.

pepe said:

pomolo said:

Longy said:

Yeah.

‘ello.

we are afraid to ask – but – is this the same stuff the missus brews for ya?

LOL. No. It’s legit recycled cooking oils.

Longy said:

pepe said:

pomolo said:

‘ello.

we are afraid to ask – but – is this the same stuff the missus brews for ya?

LOL. No. It’s legit recycled cooking oils.

‘ello.

pomolo said:

Longy said:

pepe said:

we are afraid to ask – but – is this the same stuff the missus brews for ya?

LOL. No. It’s legit recycled cooking oils.

‘ello.

G’day Pom.

To recycle ccoking oils you’d at least be wanting to be running a roadside fast food shop.. to be able to make the fuel to drive to town to do your shopping

roughbarked said:

To recycle ccoking oils you’d at least be wanting to be running a roadside fast food shop.. to be able to make the fuel to drive to town to do your shopping

My mate makes it in 1000 litre lots.
Smells like a fish n chip shop but the ute goes great on the stuff.
It’s not a simple case of just taking old oil and putting it in the tank.
It has to be treated, cleaned, purified first.
Costs about 50c a litre to make.

Longy said:

roughbarked said:

To recycle ccoking oils you’d at least be wanting to be running a roadside fast food shop.. to be able to make the fuel to drive to town to do your shopping

My mate makes it in 1000 litre lots.
Smells like a fish n chip shop but the ute goes great on the stuff.
It’s not a simple case of just taking old oil and putting it in the tank.
It has to be treated, cleaned, purified first.
Costs about 50c a litre to make.

He sources the oil from the fast food joints around the place.
Restaurants, servos, whatever. Amazing how much they discard.

Yep so he has several sources and they are glad to be rid of it..

but this would hardly fill the tanks of more than five people in five thousand fast food eaters

bubba louie said:

pain master said:

a lady nearby stabbed her husband yesterday.

:(

we’ve heard that he is okay, he is hospital… but I don’t know if he’s gonna have tea on the table when he does get home…

Dinetta said:

bubba louie said:

pain master said:

a lady nearby stabbed her husband yesterday.

:(

MrD always reckons that family squabbles get worse as the summer goes along…we think that the northern hemisphere has most of its battles during the summer…cool off in winter (harder to feed the troops?)

many years ago, there was a French law that said if you murdered someone on a day when the hot winds blew up from Africa, the charge would be lessened to manslaughter and often the charges would be dropped altogether.

Happy Potter said:

pepe said:

pain master said:

a lady nearby stabbed her husband yesterday.

probably she was gob smacked by seeing that jesus bird in the sky.

Or he didn’t take out the bin.

grrr, bin-etiquette. And no bin-etiquette is not a frenchman from Morroco. Almost every bin day here, there is a clown around the corner who when I am riding my pushie home from work (late afternoon) he is often out in his front yard, near his shed, even cleaning one of his cars, and yet his two stinking bins (green one and yella one) will still be out on the roadside, sometimes tipped over. Apparently it is not his job to take his bins in, yet he would have driven past them to get up his driveway, and he would have espied them as he closed his shed rollerdoor. But no, his bins may stay out at the kerbside for 2 days or even more.

Might hand his Missus a pair of scissors….

my neighbours have six kids and they leave the bins out all week.. I wonder where they keep their rubbsh until bin day?

roughbarked said:

my neighbours have six kids and they leave the bins out all week.. I wonder where they keep their rubbsh until bin day?

do kids still get pocketmoney? How about a tupence for bringing the bins in? grrrrr….

pain master said:

bubba louie said:

pain master said:

a lady nearby stabbed her husband yesterday.

:(

we’ve heard that he is okay, he is hospital… but I don’t know if he’s gonna have tea on the table when he does get home…

On the news, they were saying that one of the Chiliean miners underground in that cave-in, might be better off to stay there because his wife has met his mistress…I gather neither knew about the other? And he is the Medic…

roughbarked said:

my neighbours have six kids and they leave the bins out all week.. I wonder where they keep their rubbsh until bin day?

What’s the issue with not bringing the bins in? I used to do it without thinking, it meant the bin got washed before the next load of rubbish went in…

What I did object to, was at UNE I was the one in our flattette who had to take the bins up for collection, these were the GI bins, pre-wheelie bin era, and the collection point was atop a steep rise…I said “how come you asian guys don’t contribute, the australian ones in the flats around us do?” and I was told “In our culture, women are second class citizens, you know?” Lovely blokes, take a bullet for their women, but nup not take the bins out as it was culturally “degrading” for a man…so I kept taking the bins out as it was not laziness that was stopping them…and I HATE dirty bins with a passion…

pain master said:

roughbarked said:

my neighbours have six kids and they leave the bins out all week.. I wonder where they keep their rubbsh until bin day?

do kids still get pocketmoney? How about a tupence for bringing the bins in? grrrrr….

Mine do, it’s called an “allowance” and they have specific things they have to buy with it, save us dipping into our pockets all the time…deal is they have to help when asked…

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

bubba louie said:

:(

we’ve heard that he is okay, he is hospital… but I don’t know if he’s gonna have tea on the table when he does get home…

On the news, they were saying that one of the Chiliean miners underground in that cave-in, might be better off to stay there because his wife has met his mistress…I gather neither knew about the other? And he is the Medic…

from 600ft under one day to 6ft under the next…. swings and roundabouts.

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

we’ve heard that he is okay, he is hospital… but I don’t know if he’s gonna have tea on the table when he does get home…

On the news, they were saying that one of the Chiliean miners underground in that cave-in, might be better off to stay there because his wife has met his mistress…I gather neither knew about the other? And he is the Medic…

from 600ft under one day to 6ft under the next…. swings and roundabouts.

Great kattitude there! ROTFL!

roughbarked said:

Yep so he has several sources and they are glad to be rid of it..

but this would hardly fill the tanks of more than five people in five thousand fast food eaters

Well last time we checked he had 7000 litres ready for use and a few thousand to wash.

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

my neighbours have six kids and they leave the bins out all week.. I wonder where they keep their rubbsh until bin day?

What’s the issue with not bringing the bins in? I used to do it without thinking, it meant the bin got washed before the next load of rubbish went in…

What I did object to, was at UNE I was the one in our flattette who had to take the bins up for collection, these were the GI bins, pre-wheelie bin era, and the collection point was atop a steep rise…I said “how come you asian guys don’t contribute, the australian ones in the flats around us do?” and I was told “In our culture, women are second class citizens, you know?” Lovely blokes, take a bullet for their women, but nup not take the bins out as it was culturally “degrading” for a man…so I kept taking the bins out as it was not laziness that was stopping them…and I HATE dirty bins with a passion…

Far out , I would have thrown the bin at them and reminded them they are in Ashtraya.

Happy Potter said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

my neighbours have six kids and they leave the bins out all week.. I wonder where they keep their rubbsh until bin day?

What’s the issue with not bringing the bins in? I used to do it without thinking, it meant the bin got washed before the next load of rubbish went in…

What I did object to, was at UNE I was the one in our flattette who had to take the bins up for collection, these were the GI bins, pre-wheelie bin era, and the collection point was atop a steep rise…I said “how come you asian guys don’t contribute, the australian ones in the flats around us do?” and I was told “In our culture, women are second class citizens, you know?” Lovely blokes, take a bullet for their women, but nup not take the bins out as it was culturally “degrading” for a man…so I kept taking the bins out as it was not laziness that was stopping them…and I HATE dirty bins with a passion…

Far out , I would have thrown the bin at them and reminded them they are in Ashtraya.

They were sincere…exquisitely polite…but if it’s culturally entrenched that’s the way it goes…living in Ashtraya or no…

Longy said:

Longy said:

roughbarked said:

To recycle ccoking oils you’d at least be wanting to be running a roadside fast food shop.. to be able to make the fuel to drive to town to do your shopping

My mate makes it in 1000 litre lots.
Smells like a fish n chip shop but the ute goes great on the stuff.
It’s not a simple case of just taking old oil and putting it in the tank.
It has to be treated, cleaned, purified first.
Costs about 50c a litre to make.

He sources the oil from the fast food joints around the place.
Restaurants, servos, whatever. Amazing how much they discard.

seen one on Landline last year or the year before, Wouldn’t mind seeing one first hand but.

Have you calculated how long 7,000 litres would last you?

roughbarked said:

Have you calculated how long 7,000 litres would last you?

G’day RB. No, i just get 400 litres 3 or 4 times a year.
If i travel out west i may use a bit but the rest is just pokin around home.
I know he supplies a bloke with dual V8 inboard boat though and that would drink the stuff.

Longy said:

roughbarked said:

Have you calculated how long 7,000 litres would last you?

G’day RB. No, i just get 400 litres 3 or 4 times a year.
If i travel out west i may use a bit but the rest is just pokin around home.
I know he supplies a bloke with dual V8 inboard boat though and that would drink the stuff.

this is for a diesel vehicle eh?

pain master said:

Longy said:

roughbarked said:

Have you calculated how long 7,000 litres would last you?

G’day RB. No, i just get 400 litres 3 or 4 times a year.
If i travel out west i may use a bit but the rest is just pokin around home.
I know he supplies a bloke with dual V8 inboard boat though and that would drink the stuff.

this is for a diesel vehicle eh?

Yeah mate. He has 2 diesel vehicles. He supplies a few mates.
I actually get increased fuel economy too.

Longy said:

pain master said:

Longy said:

G’day RB. No, i just get 400 litres 3 or 4 times a year.
If i travel out west i may use a bit but the rest is just pokin around home.
I know he supplies a bloke with dual V8 inboard boat though and that would drink the stuff.

this is for a diesel vehicle eh?

Yeah mate. He has 2 diesel vehicles. He supplies a few mates.
I actually get increased fuel economy too.

Cool, so to answer roughy’s question in a roundabout way…. I would get 94,500kms from your mate’s supply if I were to use it in my 4wd. That’s 6 and a half times around Australia. Nice one.

pain master said:

Longy said:

pain master said:

this is for a diesel vehicle eh?

Yeah mate. He has 2 diesel vehicles. He supplies a few mates.
I actually get increased fuel economy too.

Cool, so to answer roughy’s question in a roundabout way…. I would get 94,500kms from your mate’s supply if I were to use it in my 4wd. That’s 6 and a half times around Australia. Nice one.

Very good. Actually, ol mate did the round australia trip recently with a van on the back. He’s a bit of a grey nomad you see. Thing was, he could only carry enough fuel to get him to WA. Then he had to buy it. He was most annoyed.

Signs of Spring.
Yappin gardeners get sidetracked and hijack unsuspecting thread.

Longy said:

Signs of Spring.
Yappin gardeners get sidetracked and hijack unsuspecting thread.

only in springtime?

pain master said:

Longy said:

Signs of Spring.
Yappin gardeners get sidetracked and hijack unsuspecting thread.

only in springtime?

No. It’s in any season, but ir is a sign of Spring at the moment.

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

bubba louie said:

:(

MrD always reckons that family squabbles get worse as the summer goes along…we think that the northern hemisphere has most of its battles during the summer…cool off in winter (harder to feed the troops?)

many years ago, there was a French law that said if you murdered someone on a day when the hot winds blew up from Africa, the charge would be lessened to manslaughter and often the charges would be dropped altogether.

If you planned it right you could get rid of anyone you wanted gone.

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

pepe said:

probably she was gob smacked by seeing that jesus bird in the sky.

Or he didn’t take out the bin.

grrr, bin-etiquette. And no bin-etiquette is not a frenchman from Morroco. Almost every bin day here, there is a clown around the corner who when I am riding my pushie home from work (late afternoon) he is often out in his front yard, near his shed, even cleaning one of his cars, and yet his two stinking bins (green one and yella one) will still be out on the roadside, sometimes tipped over. Apparently it is not his job to take his bins in, yet he would have driven past them to get up his driveway, and he would have espied them as he closed his shed rollerdoor. But no, his bins may stay out at the kerbside for 2 days or even more.

Might hand his Missus a pair of scissors….

You wouldn’t like it round here then PM. Because the roadside is so far from the house in many cases, people don’t bother bringing them in at all. They just drop the rubbish in them as they go out in the car or such. Many are houses up on a hill too so it’s a long slog to get them up and down to the road. Even more so when the residents are elderly. I believe they are trying to work out a way around the problem.

pomolo said:

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

Or he didn’t take out the bin.

grrr, bin-etiquette. And no bin-etiquette is not a frenchman from Morroco. Almost every bin day here, there is a clown around the corner who when I am riding my pushie home from work (late afternoon) he is often out in his front yard, near his shed, even cleaning one of his cars, and yet his two stinking bins (green one and yella one) will still be out on the roadside, sometimes tipped over. Apparently it is not his job to take his bins in, yet he would have driven past them to get up his driveway, and he would have espied them as he closed his shed rollerdoor. But no, his bins may stay out at the kerbside for 2 days or even more.

Might hand his Missus a pair of scissors….

You wouldn’t like it round here then PM. Because the roadside is so far from the house in many cases, people don’t bother bringing them in at all. They just drop the rubbish in them as they go out in the car or such. Many are houses up on a hill too so it’s a long slog to get them up and down to the road. Even more so when the residents are elderly. I believe they are trying to work out a way around the problem.

you can buy a hitch which goes on your towball and you can use your car to drag the bin up the hill

its the same here with people leaving bins out, because of the distance issue. And the lazy buggers leave their cars out on the other side of the fence, because they are too lazy to open the gates up wide enough to get their cars inside the block. They then walk to the front door, after only opening the gate wide enough for their fat arses to get through.

Longy said:

roughbarked said:

Yep so he has several sources and they are glad to be rid of it..

but this would hardly fill the tanks of more than five people in five thousand fast food eaters

Well last time we checked he had 7000 litres ready for use and a few thousand to wash.

When I did my stint in a F&C shop it was hard to get someone to take the used oil away at all. Now I understand that they are getting paid for the used oil and have to knock back collectors. Everyone wants it now.

pomolo said:

Longy said:

roughbarked said:

Yep so he has several sources and they are glad to be rid of it..

but this would hardly fill the tanks of more than five people in five thousand fast food eaters

Well last time we checked he had 7000 litres ready for use and a few thousand to wash.

When I did my stint in a F&C shop it was hard to get someone to take the used oil away at all. Now I understand that they are getting paid for the used oil and have to knock back collectors. Everyone wants it now.

What sort of volumes did you use Pom?
50 litres a week would be my guess.

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

bubba louie said:

:(

we’ve heard that he is okay, he is hospital… but I don’t know if he’s gonna have tea on the table when he does get home…

On the news, they were saying that one of the Chiliean miners underground in that cave-in, might be better off to stay there because his wife has met his mistress…I gather neither knew about the other? And he is the Medic…

oops!

Longy said:

Signs of Spring.
Yappin gardeners get sidetracked and hijack unsuspecting thread.

nah, that happens any time of the year ;)

pomolo said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

MrD always reckons that family squabbles get worse as the summer goes along…we think that the northern hemisphere has most of its battles during the summer…cool off in winter (harder to feed the troops?)

many years ago, there was a French law that said if you murdered someone on a day when the hot winds blew up from Africa, the charge would be lessened to manslaughter and often the charges would be dropped altogether.

If you planned it right you could get rid of anyone you wanted gone.

There is an urban myth that it is OK to kill a Scotsman if you live on the Isle of Man

pain master said:

pomolo said:

pain master said:

grrr, bin-etiquette. And no bin-etiquette is not a frenchman from Morroco. Almost every bin day here, there is a clown around the corner who when I am riding my pushie home from work (late afternoon) he is often out in his front yard, near his shed, even cleaning one of his cars, and yet his two stinking bins (green one and yella one) will still be out on the roadside, sometimes tipped over. Apparently it is not his job to take his bins in, yet he would have driven past them to get up his driveway, and he would have espied them as he closed his shed rollerdoor. But no, his bins may stay out at the kerbside for 2 days or even more.

Might hand his Missus a pair of scissors….

You wouldn’t like it round here then PM. Because the roadside is so far from the house in many cases, people don’t bother bringing them in at all. They just drop the rubbish in them as they go out in the car or such. Many are houses up on a hill too so it’s a long slog to get them up and down to the road. Even more so when the residents are elderly. I believe they are trying to work out a way around the problem.

you can buy a hitch which goes on your towball and you can use your car to drag the bin up the hill

its the same here with people leaving bins out, because of the distance issue. And the lazy buggers leave their cars out on the other side of the fence, because they are too lazy to open the gates up wide enough to get their cars inside the block. They then walk to the front door, after only opening the gate wide enough for their fat arses to get through.

By gum you get stressed over little stuff don’t you?

Longy said:

pomolo said:

Longy said:

Well last time we checked he had 7000 litres ready for use and a few thousand to wash.

When I did my stint in a F&C shop it was hard to get someone to take the used oil away at all. Now I understand that they are getting paid for the used oil and have to knock back collectors. Everyone wants it now.

What sort of volumes did you use Pom?
50 litres a week would be my guess.

Yeah. Wasn’t much, granted but now everyone wants all they can get.

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

pepe said:

probably she was gob smacked by seeing that jesus bird in the sky.

Or he didn’t take out the bin.

grrr, bin-etiquette. And no bin-etiquette is not a frenchman from Morroco. Almost every bin day here, there is a clown around the corner who when I am riding my pushie home from work (late afternoon) he is often out in his front yard, near his shed, even cleaning one of his cars, and yet his two stinking bins (green one and yella one) will still be out on the roadside, sometimes tipped over. Apparently it is not his job to take his bins in, yet he would have driven past them to get up his driveway, and he would have espied them as he closed his shed rollerdoor. But no, his bins may stay out at the kerbside for 2 days or even more.

Might hand his Missus a pair of scissors….

The Brisbane City Council is planning to start fining people who leave their bins out too long.

pomolo said:

pain master said:

pomolo said:

You wouldn’t like it round here then PM. Because the roadside is so far from the house in many cases, people don’t bother bringing them in at all. They just drop the rubbish in them as they go out in the car or such. Many are houses up on a hill too so it’s a long slog to get them up and down to the road. Even more so when the residents are elderly. I believe they are trying to work out a way around the problem.

you can buy a hitch which goes on your towball and you can use your car to drag the bin up the hill

its the same here with people leaving bins out, because of the distance issue. And the lazy buggers leave their cars out on the other side of the fence, because they are too lazy to open the gates up wide enough to get their cars inside the block. They then walk to the front door, after only opening the gate wide enough for their fat arses to get through.

By gum you get stressed over little stuff don’t you?

I ain’t biting Mrs Pomolo.

bubba louie said:

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

Or he didn’t take out the bin.

grrr, bin-etiquette. And no bin-etiquette is not a frenchman from Morroco. Almost every bin day here, there is a clown around the corner who when I am riding my pushie home from work (late afternoon) he is often out in his front yard, near his shed, even cleaning one of his cars, and yet his two stinking bins (green one and yella one) will still be out on the roadside, sometimes tipped over. Apparently it is not his job to take his bins in, yet he would have driven past them to get up his driveway, and he would have espied them as he closed his shed rollerdoor. But no, his bins may stay out at the kerbside for 2 days or even more.

Might hand his Missus a pair of scissors….

The Brisbane City Council is planning to start fining people who leave their bins out too long.

Let Capt’n Bligh know and she’ll make it statewide! Go you Big Red Fire Engine!

the Golden Canes are flowering.
the Double Barred Finches are building more nests
the Mullberry is flowering and there are some early fruit
the Lettuce is going to flowering

pain master said:

the Lettuce is going to flowering

Whoops…

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

the Lettuce is going to flowering

Whoops…

intentional

humidity is getting higher
sun is setting later
sunflowers are up
crabs are on the march

pain master said:

humidity is getting higher
sun is setting later
sunflowers are up
crabs are on the march

still raining – windy as can be – puddles all over.

my mustard is up in my summer tomato patch

but geez i’m a long way behind in the strawberry patch.

That pheasant-type bird has been mooching around a kind of mass planting in our yard…should I check to see what’s going on or maybe it was just looking for bugs???

Dinetta said:

That pheasant-type bird has been mooching around a kind of mass planting in our yard…should I check to see what’s going on or maybe it was just looking for bugs???

They do spend a lot of time on the ground.

bubba louie said:

Dinetta said:

That pheasant-type bird has been mooching around a kind of mass planting in our yard…should I check to see what’s going on or maybe it was just looking for bugs???

They do spend a lot of time on the ground.

That would explain it then…I was getting eggsited, thinking they might have a nest hereabouts…

Dinetta said:

bubba louie said:

Dinetta said:

That pheasant-type bird has been mooching around a kind of mass planting in our yard…should I check to see what’s going on or maybe it was just looking for bugs???

They do spend a lot of time on the ground.

That would explain it then…I was getting eggsited, thinking they might have a nest hereabouts…

they’ll nest in the canefields. typically.

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

bubba louie said:

They do spend a lot of time on the ground.

That would explain it then…I was getting eggsited, thinking they might have a nest hereabouts…

they’ll nest in the canefields. typically.

What the…? What canefields??

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

That would explain it then…I was getting eggsited, thinking they might have a nest hereabouts…

they’ll nest in the canefields. typically.

What the…? What canefields??

Sugarcanefields… all over North Qld… or at least where I live! but if you ain’t got them which I’m pretty sure you don’t, then they will nest in tall grasses.

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

they’ll nest in the canefields. typically.

What the…? What canefields??

Sugarcanefields… all over North Qld… or at least where I live! but if you ain’t got them which I’m pretty sure you don’t, then they will nest in tall grasses.

Tall grasses it is…sadly the highway from Rockhampton to Westwood and a bit beyond, is solid rat’s tail grass…but I digress…mostly native pastures down the back paddock…foxes are a concern…

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

they’ll nest in the canefields. typically.

What the…? What canefields??

Sugarcanefields… all over North Qld… or at least where I live! but if you ain’t got them which I’m pretty sure you don’t, then they will nest in tall grasses.

Pheasant Coucals breed typically Aug through to March and will form a nest from trampled grasses, especially sugar cane, but Pandanus or reeds or guinea grass will do. And they are the only non-parasitic Aussie cuckoo.

pain master said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

What the…? What canefields??

Sugarcanefields… all over North Qld… or at least where I live! but if you ain’t got them which I’m pretty sure you don’t, then they will nest in tall grasses.

Pheasant Coucals breed typically Aug through to March and will form a nest from trampled grasses, especially sugar cane, but Pandanus or reeds or guinea grass will do. And they are the only non-parasitic Aussie cuckoo.

Thanks for that information, and what do you mean by “non-parasitic”?

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

pain master said:

Sugarcanefields… all over North Qld… or at least where I live! but if you ain’t got them which I’m pretty sure you don’t, then they will nest in tall grasses.

Pheasant Coucals breed typically Aug through to March and will form a nest from trampled grasses, especially sugar cane, but Pandanus or reeds or guinea grass will do. And they are the only non-parasitic Aussie cuckoo.

Thanks for that information, and what do you mean by “non-parasitic”?

All the other cuckoos will never build their own nest, they will steal a different birds nest, kick out all the eggs and lay theirs. The host bird will then raise the new eggs and then raise the young.

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Pheasant Coucals breed typically Aug through to March and will form a nest from trampled grasses, especially sugar cane, but Pandanus or reeds or guinea grass will do. And they are the only non-parasitic Aussie cuckoo.

Thanks for that information, and what do you mean by “non-parasitic”?

All the other cuckoos will never build their own nest, they will steal a different birds nest, kick out all the eggs and lay theirs. The host bird will then raise the new eggs and then raise the young.

I remember reading about a native cuckoo after one of your posts…are you saying the Pheasant Coucal is really a cuckoo??? (BBL)

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

Thanks for that information, and what do you mean by “non-parasitic”?

All the other cuckoos will never build their own nest, they will steal a different birds nest, kick out all the eggs and lay theirs. The host bird will then raise the new eggs and then raise the young.

I remember reading about a native cuckoo after one of your posts…are you saying the Pheasant Coucal is really a cuckoo??? (BBL)

It is. Just not a parasitic one. Lays its own eggs in its own nest.

The other Big Cuckoos in Australia are the Channel Billed Cuckoo (the Jesus Bird) and the Common Koel which is often called the Storm Bird. One of those has just shown up in Mangolia. They spent the winter in India and SE Asia, and PNG.

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

Thanks for that information, and what do you mean by “non-parasitic”?

All the other cuckoos will never build their own nest, they will steal a different birds nest, kick out all the eggs and lay theirs. The host bird will then raise the new eggs and then raise the young.

I remember reading about a native cuckoo after one of your posts…are you saying the Pheasant Coucal is really a cuckoo??? (BBL)

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

All the other cuckoos will never build their own nest, they will steal a different birds nest, kick out all the eggs and lay theirs. The host bird will then raise the new eggs and then raise the young.

I remember reading about a native cuckoo after one of your posts…are you saying the Pheasant Coucal is really a cuckoo??? (BBL)

It is. Just not a parasitic one. Lays its own eggs in its own nest.

The other Big Cuckoos in Australia are the Channel Billed Cuckoo (the Jesus Bird) and the Common Koel which is often called the Storm Bird. One of those has just shown up in Mangolia. They spent the winter in India and SE Asia, and PNG.

What, all three breeds? We get the Storm Bird here, everybody gets excited when he calls…The Channel Billed Cuckoo was the one I read up on…

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

All the other cuckoos will never build their own nest, they will steal a different birds nest, kick out all the eggs and lay theirs. The host bird will then raise the new eggs and then raise the young.

I remember reading about a native cuckoo after one of your posts…are you saying the Pheasant Coucal is really a cuckoo??? (BBL)

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Well a Channel Billed Cuckoo will evict the eggs from a Magpie nest and let Mrs Maggie raise the CBC’s young.

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

All the other cuckoos will never build their own nest, they will steal a different birds nest, kick out all the eggs and lay theirs. The host bird will then raise the new eggs and then raise the young.

I remember reading about a native cuckoo after one of your posts…are you saying the Pheasant Coucal is really a cuckoo??? (BBL)

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Nice clear shot, Lucky…is this the one you uploaded a video of to YouTube previously?

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

I remember reading about a native cuckoo after one of your posts…are you saying the Pheasant Coucal is really a cuckoo??? (BBL)

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Well a Channel Billed Cuckoo will evict the eggs from a Magpie nest and let Mrs Maggie raise the CBC’s young.

Tsk… not good:(

Dinetta said:

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

I remember reading about a native cuckoo after one of your posts…are you saying the Pheasant Coucal is really a cuckoo??? (BBL)

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Nice clear shot, Lucky…is this the one you uploaded a video of to YouTube previously?

Yes, same mum:) Same nest too……

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

I remember reading about a native cuckoo after one of your posts…are you saying the Pheasant Coucal is really a cuckoo??? (BBL)

It is. Just not a parasitic one. Lays its own eggs in its own nest.

The other Big Cuckoos in Australia are the Channel Billed Cuckoo (the Jesus Bird) and the Common Koel which is often called the Storm Bird. One of those has just shown up in Mangolia. They spent the winter in India and SE Asia, and PNG.

What, all three breeds? We get the Storm Bird here, everybody gets excited when he calls…The Channel Billed Cuckoo was the one I read up on…

Nah, the Pheasant Coucal tends to hang out here in Qld over winter. The CBC and the Koel certainly head o’erseas though. The Spangled Drongo will sometimes head that way too…. sometimes.

Have you got the Storm bird yet? He has only just arrived in Townsville since the 1st of Sep.

Lucky1 said:

Yes, same mum:) Same nest too……

Fair dinkum? She’s re-using the nest? The willie wagtails will reuse a perfectly good nest for some years but I didn’t know a magpie would…I think we have one in the blue gum, it “escorts” me down the driveway for a bit when I’m on my bike…willie wagtails in the bogan but no peewit (pied mudlark):(

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

It is. Just not a parasitic one. Lays its own eggs in its own nest.

The other Big Cuckoos in Australia are the Channel Billed Cuckoo (the Jesus Bird) and the Common Koel which is often called the Storm Bird. One of those has just shown up in Mangolia. They spent the winter in India and SE Asia, and PNG.

What, all three breeds? We get the Storm Bird here, everybody gets excited when he calls…The Channel Billed Cuckoo was the one I read up on…

Nah, the Pheasant Coucal tends to hang out here in Qld over winter. The CBC and the Koel certainly head o’erseas though. The Spangled Drongo will sometimes head that way too…. sometimes.

Have you got the Storm bird yet? He has only just arrived in Townsville since the 1st of Sep.

I don’t know about the Storm bird…will have to ask Mr D if he’s heard it…

Lucky1 said:

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Well a Channel Billed Cuckoo will evict the eggs from a Magpie nest and let Mrs Maggie raise the CBC’s young.

Tsk… not good:(

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!

Dinetta said:

Lucky1 said:

Yes, same mum:) Same nest too……

Fair dinkum? She’s re-using the nest? The willie wagtails will reuse a perfectly good nest for some years but I didn’t know a magpie would…I think we have one in the blue gum, it “escorts” me down the driveway for a bit when I’m on my bike…willie wagtails in the bogan but no peewit (pied mudlark):(

Oh we are stoked and she comes to the same whistle too:D :D

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

What, all three breeds? We get the Storm Bird here, everybody gets excited when he calls…The Channel Billed Cuckoo was the one I read up on…

Nah, the Pheasant Coucal tends to hang out here in Qld over winter. The CBC and the Koel certainly head o’erseas though. The Spangled Drongo will sometimes head that way too…. sometimes.

Have you got the Storm bird yet? He has only just arrived in Townsville since the 1st of Sep.

I don’t know about the Storm bird…will have to ask Mr D if he’s heard it…

very very distinctive sound…. “peeeee-urk!”

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!
—————————————
I bet it is funny..lol

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

I don’t know about the Storm bird…will have to ask Mr D if he’s heard it…

very very distinctive sound…. “peeeee-urk!”

Oh I know the sound, just don’t have the means to pick it up just now…

Lucky1 said:

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!
—————————————
I bet it is funny..lol

GF saw a Magpie lark/Peewee/Piping Shrike/Murray Magpie Mum feed a baby Common Koel last March in one of our trees and the baby was twice the size of Mum. Gee the bird squarked and squarked and squarked.

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

Lucky1 said:

Yes, same mum:) Same nest too……

Fair dinkum? She’s re-using the nest? The willie wagtails will reuse a perfectly good nest for some years but I didn’t know a magpie would…I think we have one in the blue gum, it “escorts” me down the driveway for a bit when I’m on my bike…willie wagtails in the bogan but no peewit (pied mudlark):(

Oh we are stoked and she comes to the same whistle too:D :D

What a sweetie!

Dinetta said:

pain master said:

Dinetta said:

I don’t know about the Storm bird…will have to ask Mr D if he’s heard it…

very very distinctive sound…. “peeeee-urk!”

Oh I know the sound, just don’t have the means to pick it up just now…

yeah they’re prolly asleep… :P

Lucky1 said:

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!
—————————————
I bet it is funny..lol

GF saw a Magpie lark/Peewee/Piping Shrike/Murray Magpie Mum feed a baby Common Koel last March in one of our trees and the baby was twice the size of Mum. Gee the bird squarked and squarked and squarked.

Baby Koel:

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!
—————————————
I bet it is funny..lol

GF saw a Magpie lark/Peewee/Piping Shrike/Murray Magpie Mum feed a baby Common Koel last March in one of our trees and the baby was twice the size of Mum. Gee the bird squarked and squarked and squarked.

I guess its no different to a chook raising ducklings…..

Dinetta said:

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

Fair dinkum? She’s re-using the nest? The willie wagtails will reuse a perfectly good nest for some years but I didn’t know a magpie would…I think we have one in the blue gum, it “escorts” me down the driveway for a bit when I’m on my bike…willie wagtails in the bogan but no peewit (pied mudlark):(

Oh we are stoked and she comes to the same whistle too:D :D

What a sweetie!

Yeah…we love it when she sings for us to come out…she’s at the back door:)

and a Channel Bill…

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!
—————————————
I bet it is funny..lol

GF saw a Magpie lark/Peewee/Piping Shrike/Murray Magpie Mum feed a baby Common Koel last March in one of our trees and the baby was twice the size of Mum. Gee the bird squarked and squarked and squarked.

Baby Koel:

Love the markings

Lucky1 said:

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!
—————————————
I bet it is funny..lol

GF saw a Magpie lark/Peewee/Piping Shrike/Murray Magpie Mum feed a baby Common Koel last March in one of our trees and the baby was twice the size of Mum. Gee the bird squarked and squarked and squarked.

I guess its no different to a chook raising ducklings…..

although the duck won’t toss out the chook eggs to make room. And the Cuckoos will lay an egg which mimics the hosts eggs, so that they don’t suspect anything.

I mean a Koel can lay eggs in a Peewee nest or a Figbird or a Friarbird, and mimic each of the different species of eggs.

Lucky1 said:

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!
—————————————
I bet it is funny..lol

GF saw a Magpie lark/Peewee/Piping Shrike/Murray Magpie Mum feed a baby Common Koel last March in one of our trees and the baby was twice the size of Mum. Gee the bird squarked and squarked and squarked.

Baby Koel:

Love the markings

They all turn black if its a bloke.

Lucky1 said:

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!
—————————————
I bet it is funny..lol

GF saw a Magpie lark/Peewee/Piping Shrike/Murray Magpie Mum feed a baby Common Koel last March in one of our trees and the baby was twice the size of Mum. Gee the bird squarked and squarked and squarked.

I guess its no different to a chook raising ducklings…..

The Channel Billed Cuckoo can exhaust the magpie parents…

pain master said:

although the duck won’t toss out the chook eggs to make room. And the Cuckoos will lay an egg which mimics the hosts eggs, so that they don’t suspect anything.

I mean a Koel can lay eggs in a Peewee nest or a Figbird or a Friarbird, and mimic each of the different species of eggs.

that’s interesting…

pain master said:

I mean a Koel can lay eggs in a Peewee nest or a Figbird or a Friarbird, and mimic each of the different species of eggs.

you mean they can change the look of their eggs? or do they all happen to look similar?

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

Its a rare event, because the Maggies can get quite protective, but it is really funny watching a Magpie feed a baby Channel Bill, especially when the chick is bigger than Mum!
—————————————
I bet it is funny..lol

GF saw a Magpie lark/Peewee/Piping Shrike/Murray Magpie Mum feed a baby Common Koel last March in one of our trees and the baby was twice the size of Mum. Gee the bird squarked and squarked and squarked.

They’re always noisy blighters.

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

I mean a Koel can lay eggs in a Peewee nest or a Figbird or a Friarbird, and mimic each of the different species of eggs.

you mean they can change the look of their eggs? or do they all happen to look similar?

They change the look of the eggs…

Dinetta said:

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

I mean a Koel can lay eggs in a Peewee nest or a Figbird or a Friarbird, and mimic each of the different species of eggs.

you mean they can change the look of their eggs? or do they all happen to look similar?

They change the look of the eggs…

clever! I wonder how they do that?

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

I mean a Koel can lay eggs in a Peewee nest or a Figbird or a Friarbird, and mimic each of the different species of eggs.

you mean they can change the look of their eggs? or do they all happen to look similar?

all three eggs are similar with brown spotting in the lower half, but all three are a slightly different shade of shell. Like the difference between a white chook egg and the blue(ish) duck egg. But the cuckoo can lay an egg which best suits the host in which she lays.

Lucky1 said:

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Have you got a photo of “hubby”? Hard to tell from the front, but I would have guessed that Mrs Magpie is a male!

bon008 said:

Lucky1 said:

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Have you got a photo of “hubby”? Hard to tell from the front, but I would have guessed that Mrs Magpie is a male!

No she’s the female..male is a bit more muscle and is more white thank gray on her back.

Lucky1 said:

bon008 said:

Lucky1 said:

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Have you got a photo of “hubby”? Hard to tell from the front, but I would have guessed that Mrs Magpie is a male!

No she’s the female..male is a bit more muscle and is more white thank gray on her back.

Oh cool :) Nice black front she has! When my dad used to feed them magpies (about 3 or 4 generations, I think.. lost count after a while) the head male was always the bravest one – females were always really shy) – I wonder why!

bon008 said:

Lucky1 said:

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Have you got a photo of “hubby”? Hard to tell from the front, but I would have guessed that Mrs Magpie is a male!

bon, there is a touch of grey mottling on the nape, always indicative of a female.

pain master said:

bon008 said:

Lucky1 said:

This is Mrs. Maggie….she shops for her kids in my vegie patch and also sings for her supper from my kitchen…plus her breakfast, lunch and snacks.

She will drop a tasty worm she has bought from the garden, for some of my cooking…… she has good taste…lol

Took this photo today, she walks around our feet, second year she has used our place for a non stop feeding ground. Her hubby is a big shy and stands a bit back when he feeds.

Have you got a photo of “hubby”? Hard to tell from the front, but I would have guessed that Mrs Magpie is a male!

bon, there is a touch of grey mottling on the nape, always indicative of a female.

I always found the colour difference on the back (e.g. sharp black/sharp white = male, mixed & grey = female) to be a lot more distinctive than the difference in the front – if I’m not mistaken, older and younger males can also have a touch of grey in the front?

Then again I don’t see many magpies since I moved out from dad’s place :(

bon008 said:

pain master said:

bon008 said:

Have you got a photo of “hubby”? Hard to tell from the front, but I would have guessed that Mrs Magpie is a male!

bon, there is a touch of grey mottling on the nape, always indicative of a female.

I always found the colour difference on the back (e.g. sharp black/sharp white = male, mixed & grey = female) to be a lot more distinctive than the difference in the front – if I’m not mistaken, older and younger males can also have a touch of grey in the front?

Then again I don’t see many magpies since I moved out from dad’s place :(

like I said, “nape” just on the left shoulder of this bird is some grey mottling. Enough for me to call it a egg-laying sheila. And Lucky’s testimony is pretty solid too.

the Brush Turkey’s wattle is really yellow

the Magpies are trying to dive-bomb

…you know it’s spring when you leave the dishes overnight and realize it’s a good thing the plug is never left in overnight…as you organize the dishes ready to wash, you also grab a few frogs and throw them out into the pot plants…the little burrowing frogs are up :) :) :)

Dinetta said:

…you know it’s spring when you leave the dishes overnight and realize it’s a good thing the plug is never left in overnight…as you organize the dishes ready to wash, you also grab a few frogs and throw them out into the pot plants…the little burrowing frogs are up :) :) :)

LOL!
My sis in Bris has had this happen and, well she isn’t a gardener let alone a nature lover, and rang me once to tell me I would be so proud of her for placing the frog out in the garden rather than throwing it out the window!! LOL

She got insect screens soon after..

Happy Potter said:

Dinetta said:

…you know it’s spring when you leave the dishes overnight and realize it’s a good thing the plug is never left in overnight…as you organize the dishes ready to wash, you also grab a few frogs and throw them out into the pot plants…the little burrowing frogs are up :) :) :)

LOL!
My sis in Bris has had this happen and, well she isn’t a gardener let alone a nature lover, and rang me once to tell me I would be so proud of her for placing the frog out in the garden rather than throwing it out the window!! LOL

She got insect screens soon after..

My heart pounded for a second there, I thought you were going to say your sister resisted the urge to place salt on the frog…horrible I know but people still do it… hooray for her putting the frog into the garden!(:

MrD insists on the screen doors being shut at night for this reason, but the really determined ones sneak under the cracks … I’m surprised they’re in the sink ATM because it is so wet outside…might have been chasing moths?

Happy Potter said:

Dinetta said:

…you know it’s spring when you leave the dishes overnight and realize it’s a good thing the plug is never left in overnight…as you organize the dishes ready to wash, you also grab a few frogs and throw them out into the pot plants…the little burrowing frogs are up :) :) :)

LOL!
My sis in Bris has had this happen and, well she isn’t a gardener let alone a nature lover, and rang me once to tell me I would be so proud of her for placing the frog out in the garden rather than throwing it out the window!! LOL

She got insect screens soon after..

A friend of my Mum didn’t realise a frog had got inside her kettle until the tea tasted funny. :(

bubba louie said:

Happy Potter said:

Dinetta said:

…you know it’s spring when you leave the dishes overnight and realize it’s a good thing the plug is never left in overnight…as you organize the dishes ready to wash, you also grab a few frogs and throw them out into the pot plants…the little burrowing frogs are up :) :) :)

LOL!
My sis in Bris has had this happen and, well she isn’t a gardener let alone a nature lover, and rang me once to tell me I would be so proud of her for placing the frog out in the garden rather than throwing it out the window!! LOL

She got insect screens soon after..

A friend of my Mum didn’t realise a frog had got inside her kettle until the tea tasted funny. :(

ewww….

bubba louie said:

Happy Potter said:

Dinetta said:

…you know it’s spring when you leave the dishes overnight and realize it’s a good thing the plug is never left in overnight…as you organize the dishes ready to wash, you also grab a few frogs and throw them out into the pot plants…the little burrowing frogs are up :) :) :)

LOL!
My sis in Bris has had this happen and, well she isn’t a gardener let alone a nature lover, and rang me once to tell me I would be so proud of her for placing the frog out in the garden rather than throwing it out the window!! LOL

She got insect screens soon after..

A friend of my Mum didn’t realise a frog had got inside her kettle until the tea tasted funny. :(

found a cockroach in our kettle once :(

bluegreen said:

bubba louie said:

A friend of my Mum didn’t realise a frog had got inside her kettle until the tea tasted funny. :(

found a cockroach in our kettle once :(

This probably explains why I tip out the kettle water every morning… one of the kids asked me why and I said “I don’t know”… I think also when I was a tea drinker I liked fresh water in the kettle of a morning…so I was killing two birds with one stone…

We were getting frogs stuck in the toaster but we threw that out and MrD bought a more frog-resistant one…

There is a lot to be said for those little mesh things in the electric kettle spouts these days…

bluegreen said:

bubba louie said:

Happy Potter said:

LOL!
My sis in Bris has had this happen and, well she isn’t a gardener let alone a nature lover, and rang me once to tell me I would be so proud of her for placing the frog out in the garden rather than throwing it out the window!! LOL

She got insect screens soon after..

A friend of my Mum didn’t realise a frog had got inside her kettle until the tea tasted funny. :(

found a cockroach in our kettle once :(

Cockroaches are just a fact of life up here. They love the climate. :(

The frogs have emerged from the old disused clothes dryer…they’re a bit down in number but that’s what happens over winter…I’ve been watching for them and last night was the first night since before winter that they’ve shown themselves en masse…

Morning, here’s some spring pics :)

Ferns.

Rhodys starting to flower.

And I was visited by some black cockatoos :) hard to photograph as I was facing into the sun, they look silhouetted against the bright sky.

Celery and carrots and some of the vege bed.

and lastly, using ‘babies tears’ as a living mulch on a potted fern.

Happy Potter said:

and lastly, using ‘babies tears’ as a living mulch on a potted fern.

Cute! I can feel the freshness from the pictures…all the way up here lol

Great shots of the vegetable garden…all very healthy looking…

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

and lastly, using ‘babies tears’ as a living mulch on a potted fern.

Cute! I can feel the freshness from the pictures…all the way up here lol

Great shots of the vegetable garden…all very healthy looking…

Thanks D, they taste wonderful too. There’s no going back now! I’ve realised something from the failures I’ve had too, that as the beds and the veges are so close together competition for nutrients is fierce, so intead of worm wee + seasol once every few weeks, weekly does it better.

I thought the babies tears may have choked the dormant fern, but it’s growing well with many more curled frond’s lurking below the green :)

Happy Potter said:

Morning, here’s some spring pics :)

looking good. going to look bloomin’ marvelous come open day :)

Happy Potter said:

And I was visited by some black cockatoos :) hard to photograph as I was facing into the sun, they look silhouetted against the bright sky.

cool! bet they would look just as black if you were facing the other way?

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

And I was visited by some black cockatoos :) hard to photograph as I was facing into the sun, they look silhouetted against the bright sky.

cool! bet they would look just as black if you were facing the other way?

lol!, well yes :)

Happy Potter said:

Morning, here’s some spring pics :)

Ferns.

Rhodys starting to flower.

Pretty:)

bubba louie said:

Happy Potter said:

Dinetta said:

…you know it’s spring when you leave the dishes overnight and realize it’s a good thing the plug is never left in overnight…as you organize the dishes ready to wash, you also grab a few frogs and throw them out into the pot plants…the little burrowing frogs are up :) :) :)

LOL!
My sis in Bris has had this happen and, well she isn’t a gardener let alone a nature lover, and rang me once to tell me I would be so proud of her for placing the frog out in the garden rather than throwing it out the window!! LOL

She got insect screens soon after..

A friend of my Mum didn’t realise a frog had got inside her kettle until the tea tasted funny. :(

gecko here. We now buy kettles with a mesh strainer to stop the critters from getting in.

bubba louie said:

bluegreen said:

bubba louie said:

A friend of my Mum didn’t realise a frog had got inside her kettle until the tea tasted funny. :(

found a cockroach in our kettle once :(

Cockroaches are just a fact of life up here. They love the climate. :(

and the insides of a kettle.

Happy Potter said:

Morning, here’s some spring pics :)

Ferns.

Rhodys starting to flower.

The Rhodys look good Potter!

Thanks PM :) The darker pink one just opening is called ‘little gem’ and it can grow to 2.5 mt high. When they get too tall for the patio I will be planting them out in the front garden under the eves.

Happy Potter said:

And I was visited by some black cockatoos :) hard to photograph as I was facing into the sun, they look silhouetted against the bright sky.

I played around with your photo a bit Potter, just to bring out the colour in the cheeks of your cockies….

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

And I was visited by some black cockatoos :) hard to photograph as I was facing into the sun, they look silhouetted against the bright sky.

cool! bet they would look just as black if you were facing the other way?

BG is right. All Black birds are notoriously hard to photograph. My tip is… all digi-cameras have in-built light sensors, its their way of working out how long to expose a shot and how much aperture to open. But some cameras allow the operator to set up their camera to determine where the light reading is obtained. It can kinda look like this on your camera or …. If in between those two brackets, if the circle is full, then it will take a light reading over the whole image, so in the case of a black bird, it will tend to be dominated by the sky and this is where the reading is obtained. But if you can set it in those brackets so that there is only a central dot, then the camera will take the light reading from the very object you are focusing on, in this case, a black bird. It will wash out the sky, so that will be white-as, but the bird will have some definition.

The technical term is metering and the one you are after is spot weighted…

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

And I was visited by some black cockatoos :) hard to photograph as I was facing into the sun, they look silhouetted against the bright sky.

I played around with your photo a bit Potter, just to bring out the colour in the cheeks of your cockies….

hehe cute.
Underneath they had long white tail feathers.

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

And I was visited by some black cockatoos :) hard to photograph as I was facing into the sun, they look silhouetted against the bright sky.

I played around with your photo a bit Potter, just to bring out the colour in the cheeks of your cockies….

well done PM !!!

Thee said:

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

And I was visited by some black cockatoos :) hard to photograph as I was facing into the sun, they look silhouetted against the bright sky.

I played around with your photo a bit Potter, just to bring out the colour in the cheeks of your cockies….

well done PM !!!

Indeed!

Happy Potter said:

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

And I was visited by some black cockatoos :) hard to photograph as I was facing into the sun, they look silhouetted against the bright sky.

I played around with your photo a bit Potter, just to bring out the colour in the cheeks of your cockies….

hehe cute.
Underneath they had long white tail feathers.

The ones with the white tail panels will more likely be sheilas, but those tail feathers should be lemony really. The blokes are definitely yellow underneath. the White Tailed Cockatoos are only found in WA. We don’t get either up here, just the Red Tails.

On average though, your Yellow Tailed Blacks are the largest, except for the big Palm Cockatoos up North.

the temperature today is just warm enough to trigger the return migration of caravan towing senior citizens down south of the border once again. 32C out there and the ripe humidity where you do some whipper snippering and change your t-shirt, then clean some weeds from off the driveway and change your t-shirt, you go to look at the temperature gauge and change your t-shirt…

good stuff

pain master said:

the temperature today is just warm enough to trigger the return migration of caravan towing senior citizens down south of the border once again. 32C out there and the ripe humidity where you do some whipper snippering and change your t-shirt, then clean some weeds from off the driveway and change your t-shirt, you go to look at the temperature gauge and change your t-shirt…

good stuff

I’m is shorts today:D

Lucky1 said:

pain master said:

the temperature today is just warm enough to trigger the return migration of caravan towing senior citizens down south of the border once again. 32C out there and the ripe humidity where you do some whipper snippering and change your t-shirt, then clean some weeds from off the driveway and change your t-shirt, you go to look at the temperature gauge and change your t-shirt…

good stuff

I’m is shorts today:D

why is it, I can hear the voice of Ralph Wiggum?

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

pain master said:

the temperature today is just warm enough to trigger the return migration of caravan towing senior citizens down south of the border once again. 32C out there and the ripe humidity where you do some whipper snippering and change your t-shirt, then clean some weeds from off the driveway and change your t-shirt, you go to look at the temperature gauge and change your t-shirt…

good stuff

I’m is shorts today:D

why is it, I can hear the voice of Ralph Wiggum?

Is he cute????LOL

Lucky1 said:

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

I’m is shorts today:D

why is it, I can hear the voice of Ralph Wiggum?

Is he cute????LOL

He’s the son of the Police chief on the Simpsons.

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

pain master said:

why is it, I can hear the voice of Ralph Wiggum?

Is he cute????LOL

He’s the son of the Police chief on the Simpsons.

picks his nose all the time

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

pain master said:

why is it, I can hear the voice of Ralph Wiggum?

Is he cute????LOL

He’s the son of the Police chief on the Simpsons.

Yuck:(

Bugger….lol

The Estate said:

pain master said:

Lucky1 said:

Is he cute????LOL

He’s the son of the Police chief on the Simpsons.

picks his nose all the time

YUCK!!!!

8 different specie of Butterfly in the garden yesterday.
Locusts rooting, Butterflies rooting and so too are the bleeding dragonflies.
Albizia lebbeck is in flower at the Golf Course, messy bloody thing.
lawns require attention weekly.

pain master said:

8 different specie of Butterfly in the garden yesterday.
Locusts rooting, Butterflies rooting and so too are the bleeding dragonflies.
Albizia lebbeck is in flower at the Golf Course, messy bloody thing.
lawns require attention weekly.

“bleeding dragonflies” ? You don’t like dragonflies?? They are absolutely beautiful and my most fave insect!

Orf with ya head!!

Happy Potter said:

pain master said:

8 different specie of Butterfly in the garden yesterday.
Locusts rooting, Butterflies rooting and so too are the bleeding dragonflies.
Albizia lebbeck is in flower at the Golf Course, messy bloody thing.
lawns require attention weekly.

“bleeding dragonflies” ? You don’t like dragonflies?? They are absolutely beautiful and my most fave insect!

Orf with ya head!!

You guys should know I like me dragonflies by now…. sheesh!

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

pain master said:

8 different specie of Butterfly in the garden yesterday.
Locusts rooting, Butterflies rooting and so too are the bleeding dragonflies.
Albizia lebbeck is in flower at the Golf Course, messy bloody thing.
lawns require attention weekly.

“bleeding dragonflies” ? You don’t like dragonflies?? They are absolutely beautiful and my most fave insect!

Orf with ya head!!

You guys should know I like me dragonflies by now…. sheesh!

Yeah I know, just ribbing you..
I think it’s the female dragonfly that says to the male, I’m going to eat you now, starting with your head! (?)

Thanks for the pic :)!!

Happy Potter said:

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

“bleeding dragonflies” ? You don’t like dragonflies?? They are absolutely beautiful and my most fave insect!

Orf with ya head!!

You guys should know I like me dragonflies by now…. sheesh!

Yeah I know, just ribbing you..
I think it’s the female dragonfly that says to the male, I’m going to eat you now, starting with your head! (?)

Thanks for the pic :)!!

that’s Praying (or is it Preying?) Mantises.

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

pain master said:

You guys should know I like me dragonflies by now…. sheesh!

Yeah I know, just ribbing you..
I think it’s the female dragonfly that says to the male, I’m going to eat you now, starting with your head! (?)

Thanks for the pic :)!!

that’s Praying (or is it Preying?) Mantises.

Oh yes, I think I was wrong. But at least we got a dragonfly pic lol!

Happy Potter said:

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

Yeah I know, just ribbing you..
I think it’s the female dragonfly that says to the male, I’m going to eat you now, starting with your head! (?)

Thanks for the pic :)!!

that’s Praying (or is it Preying?) Mantises.

Oh yes, I think I was wrong. But at least we got a dragonfly pic lol!

we can have Praying Manti too…

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

bluegreen said:

that’s Praying (or is it Preying?) Mantises.

Oh yes, I think I was wrong. But at least we got a dragonfly pic lol!

we can have Praying Manti too…

yours is brown, mines are greenies

Thee said:

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

Oh yes, I think I was wrong. But at least we got a dragonfly pic lol!

we can have Praying Manti too…

yours is brown, mines are greenies

Don’t call it Brownsville for nought.

Thee said:

pain master said:

Happy Potter said:

Oh yes, I think I was wrong. But at least we got a dragonfly pic lol!

we can have Praying Manti too…

yours is brown, mines are greenies

had green ones…. in PNG.

great pics :)

pain master said:

we can have Praying Manti too…

that one looks like a stick insect to me?

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

we can have Praying Manti too…

that one looks like a stick insect to me?

sorry BG. I’ll get a stick insect to you later.

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

we can have Praying Manti too…

that one looks like a stick insect to me?

sorry BG. I’ll get a stick insect to you later.

praying mantis

stick insect

I reckon your picture is a stick insect. Mind you, there are hundreds if not thousands of variations of both and they can look very similar. I wonder if they are closely related?

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

we can have Praying Manti too…

that one looks like a stick insect to me?

sorry BG. I’ll get a stick insect to you later.

I think BG’s right. There are different types of stick insects.

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

that one looks like a stick insect to me?

sorry BG. I’ll get a stick insect to you later.

praying mantis

stick insect

I reckon your picture is a stick insect. Mind you, there are hundreds if not thousands of variations of both and they can look very similar. I wonder if they are closely related?

look at the eyes and the head BG.

bubba louie said:

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

that one looks like a stick insect to me?

sorry BG. I’ll get a stick insect to you later.

I think BG’s right. There are different types of stick insects.

Heads and eyes Bubba.

pain master said:

look at the eyes and the head BG.

I’ll give you that the head and eyes look that of a praying mantis, but in your picture it seems to lack the grasping front legs and thick abdomen I would expect in one.

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

look at the eyes and the head BG.

I’ll give you that the head and eyes look that of a praying mantis, but in your picture it seems to lack the grasping front legs and thick abdomen I would expect in one.

I reckon his grasping front legs are well folded back.

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

look at the eyes and the head BG.

I’ll give you that the head and eyes look that of a praying mantis, but in your picture it seems to lack the grasping front legs and thick abdomen I would expect in one.

I reckon his grasping front legs are well folded back.

In that case, I will have to accept that you know what you were taking a picture of :) after all, you will have had plenty of experience in observing both creatures :)

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

I’ll give you that the head and eyes look that of a praying mantis, but in your picture it seems to lack the grasping front legs and thick abdomen I would expect in one.

I reckon his grasping front legs are well folded back.

In that case, I will have to accept that you know what you were taking a picture of :) after all, you will have had plenty of experience in observing both creatures :)

hang on, I will have to go get GF’s camera….

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

I reckon his grasping front legs are well folded back.

In that case, I will have to accept that you know what you were taking a picture of :) after all, you will have had plenty of experience in observing both creatures :)

hang on, I will have to go get GF’s camera….

watched tele instead… stick insects tomorrow…

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

bluegreen said:

that one looks like a stick insect to me?

sorry BG. I’ll get a stick insect to you later.

praying mantis

stick insect

I reckon your picture is a stick insect. Mind you, there are hundreds if not thousands of variations of both and they can look very similar. I wonder if they are closely related?

Here is GF Stick Insect sitting on our Pineapple bush/shrub/thingo.

pain master said:

Here is GF Stick Insect sitting on our Pineapple bush/shrub/thingo.

good shot :)

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

Here is GF Stick Insect sitting on our Pineapple bush/shrub/thingo.

good shot :)

GF reckons it weren’t hard to get a good shot, she says he was the size of a small dog, and stayed perfectly still.

sign the bludging snake ain’t doing his job…

pain master said:

sign the bludging snake ain’t doing his job…

Had some of those on our roof last week. Mother with tiddler on her back. Made a heckuva racket.

No snakes here, eh but, thankfully.

Yeehah said:

pain master said:

sign the bludging snake ain’t doing his job…

Had some of those on our roof last week. Mother with tiddler on her back. Made a heckuva racket.

No snakes here, eh but, thankfully.

I reckon they make more of a racket making those tiddlers….

pain master said:

Yeehah said:

pain master said:

sign the bludging snake ain’t doing his job…

Had some of those on our roof last week. Mother with tiddler on her back. Made a heckuva racket.

No snakes here, eh but, thankfully.

I reckon they make more of a racket making those tiddlers….

Haven’t experienced being close to that … not sure it’s something i’d say i’d be sorry to have missed.

pain master said:

sign the bludging snake ain’t doing his job…

How cute! How did you get them to pose like that?

pomolo said:

pain master said:

sign the bludging snake ain’t doing his job…

How cute! How did you get them to pose like that?

He’s probably got silvery lines of scar tissue over his hands and forearms? lol!

pomolo said:

pain master said:

sign the bludging snake ain’t doing his job…

How cute! How did you get them to pose like that?

how I found ‘em…

Dinetta said:

pomolo said:

pain master said:

sign the bludging snake ain’t doing his job…

How cute! How did you get them to pose like that?

He’s probably got silvery lines of scar tissue over his hands and forearms? lol!

not at all, I have handled a few wild possums in my time, and they seem to trust me. By handled I mean petted and tickled, I have never actually manhandled one into another locale.

pain master said:

pomolo said:

pain master said:

sign the bludging snake ain’t doing his job…

How cute! How did you get them to pose like that?

how I found ‘em…

That makes it doubly cute then.

pomolo said:

pain master said:

pomolo said:

How cute! How did you get them to pose like that?

how I found ‘em…

That makes it doubly cute then.

Awww they are cutes :)

“It’s called Springtime Winter Wonderlands’