Spring in southern New South Wales and northern Victoria is a magnificent time of year. Full of promise and rebirth, the air is awash with aromas of flowers bursting from their buds. When the winter weather is finally banished and spring takes over, the sun shines and Mother Nature shows us all her glory, walking outside on a sunny day, you can hear a buzz in the air as the bees are busy making pollen, flitting from flower to flower, working their magic.
Living in a rural area of the Riverina, we are lucky to be able to live on a property of five acres. Gardening is a wonderful part of our life and the magpies will follow us around waiting for us to dig a worm and without hesitation they will swoop and quickly fly away with their prize. The Eastern Rosella’s are very noisy as they call to their mates. They are so busy during this time of year and their bright colours add to the spectacle.
We can smell the pungent aroma of the Photinia hedge across the road, the white flowers stunning against the red and green foliage. Photinia are my nemesis with hay fever, I can’t wait for the flowers to die. The bright yellow of the canola fields are eye catching and worth photographing. The sweet smell of the flowers attract the bees. The lemon scented geranium attract the butterflies in droves.
Kookaburras are regular visitors to our garden and regularly we can hear them laughing at us, from up in the Eucalyptus trees.
During spring, the smaller birds, fairy wrens, starlings will build their nests in our rose garden, and the native bushes at the back of the house. The Crested Pidgeon has nested in a Melaleuca tree outside our bedroom window and produced two cute little offspring that we watched as they grew and finally learnt to fly.
Willy wagtails have often built nests under our pergola, next to the house. We watch them as they busily gather twigs and grass to build their nest and then wait while Mum and Dad take turns in nesting the eggs and finally we can see two or three small wriggling little creatures, without any feathers in the nest. At this stage the frantic search for insects for food heats up and one parent will sit on the nest while the other sources a meal. Because the birds are insect eaters, the young grow quickly and within a couple of weeks they are sitting on the edge of the nest, practicing the strength of the wings. We usually miss the first flight, but once we were lucky enough to witness that small maiden flight from the nest to the closest ledge to rest on, before the next leg of the journey.
far'n'wide travel 