Random elements of rural life!

When we acquired the property there were a number of Red-hot Poker plants in position. Interestingly they seem to be of two different types. One lot bloom in mid-Summer while the others bloom in what would be early Summer - if it was the Northern Hemisphere. The images below show (on the left) some blooms we picked and (on the right) some blooms we didn't pick before the first real frost hit three days later.
On the subject of frost we were visited by the fur coat wearer below on a cool morning. It certainly justifies the specific scientific name of Wallabia bicolor. Judging by the size of the abdomen this one is carrying a joey.







I haven't put up any photographs of local birds for some time, so thought I would start to remedy this with some images of the most common ones. Herewith:

• an Australian Magpie (probably a juvenile to judge by the mottled plumage) wandering across the lawn;
  
• a Laughing Kookaburra, which had been dealing with something in the area Frances dug over the previous day;
  
• a pair of Australian Wood Ducks, showing the contrasting appearance between the plumage of the male and female birds; and.
• the returning frogmouths (remember http://franmart.blogspot.com/2009/01/tadpolemouth-update.html?)
  

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