November has been one windy, stormy month.  You name it, we’ve had it – thunderstorms, a bush fire and a massive dust storm.  We’ve barely seen our beautiful Brindabella mountains (hills for everybody outside of Australia).

Here is my photo essay of November.  The first photo is of the smoke that cloaked the surrounding hills as a result of a large bush fire to the southwest of where I live.  The fire was actually much closer than I realised.  Smoke rising from areas actively burning can be seen to the far right.  The second photo shows rain approaching.  The last photo is of the massive dust storm that moved across the state dumping precious topsoil from the parched west off the coast.

fire
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
rain
Rain on the way.
dust storm
The dust rolls in.

We’ve been very busy with vet appointments (another story), so when I can’t go to the birds, sometimes birds come to me.  Mr and Mrs Eastern Koel come each November, announcing their arrival with an incredible din; he with his “kooo-el” and she with her “keek keek keek keek.”  Mrs Koel took great delight in pinching green cherries off our tree.  This year we also had a special visitor, the Sacred Kingfisher.

The garden also galloped along.  We rushed to get veggie seedlings in the ground.  It was bloomin’ marvelous with far too many flowers to include in this post.  I am going to indulge in a few photos of my favourite mollusc azalea, among others.

Okra waiting to be planted out.
Kangaroo Apple?
The Kangaroo Paw survives the winter.
Mollusc Azalea

Nothing says November like my flowering Bottlebrush.  The digger
was a mysterious visitor for a couple of days and framed the bottlebrush nicely.

Bottlebrush.jpg

The early November fires heightened the intensity of colours.
Even dull brown gleamed in the smoky haze.

Finally, when the rains came, I escaped to the lake for cool tones.

This is my contribution to The Changing Seasons monthly photo challenge hosted by Su Leslie from Zimmerbitch.  Click on the link to join in the fun.

Kind Regards
Tracy

Note to Readers:
Dear Readers, I will soon be getting back to some writing.  I have one serious and one not-so-serious piece in mind.  Plus photos of some macropods.  Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

37 thoughts on “The Changing Seasons – November”

  1. Nothing like dust storms and fires to heighten the beauty of a sunset, Tracy. The rain was wonderful. It rained almost all day here on Wednesday and we had 28 mm, which was so welcome. Your mollusc azalea is quite unusual.

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    1. I’m not sure what our rain tally is, Jane. But we have had some decent rain too. Thank goodness. The grass (and grass seed) has taken off. I think we are going to have an extended hayfever season.

      I love that mollusc azalea. It is doing so much better since we fenced it off from the dogs. It gets fried every summer but seems to recover provided it gets a little drink.

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  2. Really beautiful, Tracy. Spring seems a hundred years away right now as the days get shorter and colder. Lucky for me, I find the “bleak” colors of winter to be beautiful. I would love to see the kingfisher. ❤

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    1. Thanks Martha. We’ve had some lovely cool, rainy days recently. It won’t last though. Summer is going to be a hot one. I’m always happy to see the back of it. I say that about winter too. 🙂 I hope you have good snowfalls this year. You’ll need that water next spring and summer.

      You would have loved the kingfisher, Martha. It was a bright spot in what was a pretty crappy month overall.

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  3. Nature has certainly thrown the works at us this month. Now they are saying a tornadoes is on it’s way, but on the bright side the rain has been welcome. Your garden looks very colourful and I spotted Kangaroo Paws making an appearance

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    1. Too far away, Margaret. But come to think of it, I think that kingfisher arrived around the time of the fires. Apart from him, all the other birds were those we would expect to see this time of year. We always have a plenty of water for the birds, so we get our regulars.

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  7. Beautiful images Tracy, it is lovely to see the seedlings, flowers and birds where you are while over here our days are cooling down. The sacred kingfisher capture is especially lovely and I am glad the rains have come. I hope all is well with Ama and please give her a big pat from us. Much love to you all from all of us here 🤗💖🐕 xxx

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