Before The Fires:
Birds
- Birding at my parents bush block
- Photographing Treecreepers At The Property
- Treecreeper at the property
- Scarlet Robin With Nesting Material
- Photogenic Laughing Kookaburra at The Property
After The Fires
Just before Christmas, 2015, the property was hit by bushfire. Since then, I’ve been documenting the recovery and how the environment is responding.
December, 2015
The Bush Block Got Burned: Part 1
This post shows what the property looked like the week following the fire. It was quite confronting. The cars we had all learned to drive in were burned. The shed and gazebo where we sat on many winter nights were flattened. There were some animal carcasses. There was no life, no greenery. Until we got to one of the neighbours, whose fields were still green.
During this visit, I tried to take more creative photos to show the destruction. We did see an echidna and kangaroo, which was reassuring.
More Photos From The Bush Block
A week after the previous visit. I was surprised to still find skinks.
Ants from my parents bush block
We found a healthy ant nest near the dam – so naturally I took a lot of photos. This was the main nest we saw.
January, 2016
Signs of life at the Bush block
This was taken a couple of weeks later. Ants were starting to return and I saw a decent amount of birdlife. I didn’t see as many birds for quite some time.
February, 2016
I may have done the same title twice! Things were starting to get exciting. We saw trees starting to get regrowth in places, especially around the dam. Insects were starting to return. We also got a new fence thanks to Blaze Aid which did so much for morale.
Lots Of Regrowth At The Bush Block
We were getting more and more regrowth. It was growing about a foot out from the trees in some places and in others, growing independent of any trees.
Lots Of Regrowth At The Bush Block #2
This visit, I showed the regrowth in a winder context. You can see the green up to the top of some trees and we were starting to be able to tell which trees had definitely died.
May, 2016
Autumn Regrowth at the Property
I didn’t have the change to return here for a couple of months. The absence meant that there was a significant contrast between visits. My parents had cleaned up the wreckage from the shed. There was a lot of groundcover returning and a couple of specimens of fungi.
June, 2016
Groundcover is Returning At The Property
After 6 long months we were finally starting to see groundcover returning. Grass and sundew were popping up in their previous haunts. There was alsoan increase in bird activity; especially the first sighting of a wedgie!
May was unseasonably warm. As the cooler weather hit, we noticed a lot more fungi around. We’ve been making an effort to document this, although I’m struggling with ID’ing.
Post Cleanup Pictures Of The Property
We finally got someone in to help with the cleanup. It was a bit of a shock seeing it compared to what it was like before. The tractor knocked over some of the fungi. It forced us to look harder to find interesting specimens and we found some new types.
July 2016
Finding Decent Bugs – And Fungi! – At The Bush Block
August 2016
Last Winter Visit To The Property
2017
October 2017
Returning To The Property: 20 Months On
2018
March, 2018
May, 2018
June, 2018
Returning To The Property: June 2
Fungi On Tree: Late June At The Property
Animal Scat At The Property: June 24
More Fungi From The Bush Block: June 24
Fungi And Ladybirds At The Property: June 30
December, 2018
Trip To The Property: December, 2018
2019
February
Visiting The Bush Block: February 2019
May
Plant Life At The Property: May 2019
Juvenile Brown-headed Honeyeaters At The Property
2020
March
Visiting The Property: March 2020
March 9: Fungi At The Bush Block Part 1
March 9: Fungi At The Bush Block Part 2
May
Visiting The Property: May 2020
Fungi At The Property: May 2020 Part 1
Fungi At The Property: May 2020 Part 2
June
Visiting The Property: June 2020