Monday, December 30, 2013

End of the Year

Queensland's weather is hot! This makes the winter delightful but sometimes the summer becomes a bit excessive! Yesterday was one of those days - 38 degrees (100 degrees F.) under my verandah and 33 degrees (91 degrees F.) in the family room before I turned on the air conditioner. Added to that we have had no decent rain for five months. I have watched thunderstorms build around me - (and taken lots of cloud photos!) and then move somewhere else before they started dropping rain.

Nevertheless, I would rather it remained dry and the clouds moved elsewhere than have the troubles that have happened close-by in the last couple of days. Two days ago a thunderstorm had been hanging around the south of Fraser Island. There was one very big lightning strike on the Island and then without any warning the lightning struck right in the middle of a group of holiday makers on Inskip Point. One man was killed instantly and his son was tossed up and thrown down a few meters away. Here is a link to the news article and a video from the site. Then last night something similar happened on the Sunshine Coast but this time the lightning struck a caravan and two men were lucky enough to only need taking to hospital.
(I frequently post about going out to Inskip Point to see shorebirds - but NOT between Christmas and New Year! I don't know how many campers are there this year but it was reported a couple of years ago the numbers were going to be limited to 3,000! That must hardly leave room to walk! AND I have heard that there is always a BIG party for New Year's eve! I don't think any birds would stay around with that kind of noise!)
The bush around here is also very dry. I don't know how the fruit-eating birds are managing. This male Koel came down and tried to make a meal of cherry tomatoes that had self-seeded in a weedy patch of garden.

I have a number of these hibiscus shrubs in the garden. They are the old fashioned kind that grow if you just poke a cutting into the ground! They are also the only things that are flowering at present. These little White-throated Honeyeaters (Melithreptus albogulans) were on the flowers the other afternoon. These birds are only 13-15cms (5-6 ins.) and some of the cutest that come into my garden.

For more scenery from around the world visit Our World Tuesday

and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday.


27 comments:

  1. these are beautiful shots! love your birds - so exotic to me. :) so sorry about the extreme heat and worse about the lightning strikes! i wish you'd get some rain!

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  2. I wish I could send you some of our weather, Mick, and relieve some of your heat and fire hazard!! Your photos are superb as always and I do love your birds, too!! Have a great week, try to stay cool and have a very Happy New Year!!!

    Sylvia

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  3. 5 months without rain and 100 degrees? You can have some of our rain and grey skies no problem Mick. You must be watering the garden with all those lovely colourful flowers and fruit to keep the birds happy in those perpetual blue skies (apart from the odd cloud now and again).

    Anyway have a great 2014, keep up the birding and stay cool!

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  4. We are having one storm after another here with many homes flooded and power lines down. Everything seems to be extreme at the moment. Great photos to brighten up the day though.

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  5. Your hibiscus are gorgeous! Summer looks good to my eyes. :))

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  6. Absolutely beautiful sky shots ~ how do you get such beautiful flowers with no rain ~ lovely bird photo ~ Happy New Year to you ~ carol, xxx

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  7. Your hibiscus are beautiful. And I love the birds and yummy cherry tomatoes. I have not seen the birds going after my tomatoes.

    Wishing you all the best in 2014, Happy New Year to you and your family!

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  8. Nice to see all the beautiful color, but I would not be liking 100 degrees! Happy New Year!

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  9. gorgeous clouds and close ups too!

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  10. Great cloud photos!
    Lightening is about the only weather that I am afraid of. I think it is because of the suddeness of it. Other kinds of weather usually gives a warning.
    Love your birds and flower photos, too.
    Happy New Year!
    Lea

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  11. Wonderful cloud shots! Enjoy the new year.

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  12. Right about now..."hot" sounds awfully good. But then again, if it was hot here, I'd probably be wishing it would cool down. Your hibiscus are beautiful!!! And those birds--------love the striped crown AND the red eye.

    Happy New Year to you Mick.

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  13. Happy New Year hope you get some rain soon.

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  14. Oh magnificent clouds! I hope they brought some rain with them. It's minus 15 here tonight, with a snowstorm on the way. Gorgeous birds shots, and the flowers are beautiful!

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  15. Amazing images from nature. Lovely flowers and birds.

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  16. Hi Mick I amsorry to hear about the death of the man and his son now being an orphan. One never knows quite what nature will throw at us. Your images are lovely despite you not having rain for so long and the birds are still looking good. May I wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

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  17. Great pictures. I can see why you would not go out to the point with that many campers around.

    There have been a high number of Koel records in Melbourne this year - but they have escaped me!

    Thanks for the comments and visits during the past year.

    Hope you have a good New Year.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne!

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  18. What colour, fantastic images, the sky shots are simply gorgeous.

    Happy 2014

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  19. Beautiful birds...I peeked at the post below as well. Happy New Year~

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  20. A lovely post!
    Happy New Year to you!

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  21. lovely bird and a lovely flower. A great combination. :)

    Happy New Year.

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  22. Beautiful bird photos and luscious flowers! As we are slated for blizzard with a foot of snow on the coming days, it is a treat to see your vibrant, colorful world - despite your extreme heat. I hope the temperature cools off soon!

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  23. Happy New Year Mick and happy summer. I hope for no more horrible lightening strikes. How sad. It is also sad to me (in a different way) that Inskeep Point has all that many campers and wild partiers over the Holidays...seems like they could find a better place than that serene and quiet spot. Poor birds. (If I were you, I'd be saying 'not in my backyard guys'.) Wishing you rain and birds and a wonderful 2014.

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  24. Beautiful birds and gorgeous hibiscus flowers. Happy birding 2014!

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  25. Birds look so innocent..waiting for someone....! Have a nice day!

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  26. The cloud photos are beautiful! The white-throated honeyeaters on the hibiscus flowers are truly stunning. Happy New Year.

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