Visits after the rain

Massive rain of late has been a boon for amphibians.

Local swampland has been alive with the calls of many species, though one species is visiting in mass. The Emerald Spotted Tree-frog.

Attracted to insects drawn by the light from windows we have had as many as five at a time on one window, curiously studying me I photographed them.

I thought I would include this shot, as the way the legs are positioned make the creature look more alien than it already does, when I noticed something strange.

The frog has two mosquitoes on it and they seem to be feeding.

The shots are a little rough, though show the little mozzies seemingly feeding on an amphibian. Perhaps someone may say it happens all the time, though it was news to me.

Mozzies are an unwelcome visitor to many, it seems.

Here is another.

Looking cute and alert, this years baby Red Bellied Black Snake was checking if the rains had finished.

Driven from the spot where it lived in our yard by rising water, it found shelter in the shed.

It proceeded to the garden where I watched it catch some small skinks for lunch.

Many animals have had to relocate with the rains.

Meetings, both welcome and unwelcome, with we humans are at a high.

In Australia, as in any other place we are graced by the natural world, its a matter of learning how to coexist and share our space.

No, the Red Belly cant come inside.

The shed will have to do.

Paint it Black

The skies have been otherworldly with the dust storms across NSW of late.
Although red during the day, as afternoon turned to dusk, I was able to capture this image below.



Bereft of colour, the view was a monochromatic display with the sun hanging pale in the sky.
Living far south of Sydney, the amount of dust we received was limited though enough to bring twilight many hours before the sun actually set.

The storms have not stopped the spread of the Black Swans as the weather warms.



While some remain in larger lake systems over winter, they spread to the many smaller systems during spring into summer, their numbers swelling into the thousands as they cross the sky in vast formations.

The warming weather has also seen the return of the Red Bellied Black Snake.
The photo below showing a sight all too common .
These males were in a sparring match that got carried a little to close to the traffic.



Care is required around this time as many reptiles are coming to grief in such a manner.
I was forced to dispatch the snake on the lower right, as its back was broken and was living still.
While repellent or a source of fear to some, their part in Australia's ecosystem makes them worth avoiding if possible. They eat the much more dangerous, and aggressive, Eastern Brown Snake.