Summer Snaps of Nature in My Backyard

Now that the Australian summer is over (even though it doesn’t yet feel like it!), I thought I would share a selection of my favourite photos of nature that I took in my backyard over the hot season.

You can see much larger and more detailed images by viewing this post on my blog. 🙂

On our property we have quite a few gum trees, all big and old, and they looked stunning while in flower albeit briefly. Plenty of birds, such as the rainbow lorikeets, visited to drink the nectar of the blossoms, and the brushtail possums loved them as well. We also had visits from flying foxes on dusk. And one night my husband believed he spotted some type of very small glider amongst the flowers in torchlight when he went to lock up the chickens.

I have a small patch of milkweed plants which are enjoyed by the butterflies. The flowers are very bright and colourful.

A seedpod (complete with an aphid!) from the milkweed has opened and the seeds are ready to be blown away by the wind.

A lotus lily in our pond, perhaps one of the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen.

The lily is also appreciated by native stingless bees. Look at all the pollen!

The remaining frangipani flowers at the end of summer.

The pretty blue flowers of scurvy weed, a native herb of Australia. The leaves of this plant are edible and a good source of vitamin C.

Delicate pretty pink petals of the crepe myrtle.

View of a half moon.

One hot morning I was up early and caught the moon setting. It happened so quickly, these photos were taken less than a minute apart. Notice the change of light as the moon gets lower over the trees.

This is a late afternoon view looking off one end of the veranda towards the state forest. Our house is situated on a hill at the top end of the street so you can see over the rooftops.

One evening there was a lovely pink and mauve glow to the sky as the sun set.

There was also a magnificent fiery sunset, the colours were incredible. It started off like this.

And quickly turned into this beautiful red sunset before disappearing altogether in minutes. Turn up the volume to hear a truly Australian sound I hear every evening!

And finally, this photo is of a patch of fishbone fern we have under the house, and it’s been the favourite hangout for our chickens in the heat of summer. They love spending time here and look like little velociraptors as they move through the tall ferns, almost invisible to the eye. You only know they’re there by the funny little noises they make to communicate with one another and by the swaying movement of the ferns as they search for bugs. Can you spot all 3 chickens in the photo?

Thanks for visiting. 🙂