A few unexpected farm visitors.

In this last week or two we have had a few visits from some of the local wildlife.

First of all, it is snake season here on the Granite belt, and our reptilian inhabitants are more active this year than they have been for years.
We have Red-Bellied Black Snakes, ( Pseudechis porphyriacus) and Eastern Browns.  (Pseudonaja textilis)
I don't mind them, as long as they know their place.....which is out among the vines, or in the surrounding bush, but when they come close to the house I feel just a little nervous.
Can you blame me?



 

The snake's tail is in the foreground. The black irrigation hose is in the background.(just to save confusion)

This fellow was a large, and long, Red-Bellied Black, and I saw it out of the corner of my eye, as I was sitting at the table having coffee.
By the time I found my camera it had crawled away into the garden, and all I captured was its tail as it slithered across the black mat.
The encounter made me feel a little nervous.
Had any snakes crawled into the house? 
A quick check under all beds thankfully was negative. Much relief from me.




A few days later another Red-Bellied Black was sliding along our front verandah.
This time my camera was handy, and I went outside to photograph it.
I was not being brave.....it was a small snake, and most Red-Bellied Blacks are timid, and avoid humans when we are near them.

It saw me and reversed direction, heading away as fast as possible.

 So it turned around and went back the way it had come, finally crawling between the end of the boards and the wall.
We probably have a family of Red-Bellies living under our verandah floorboards.!!

Squeezing between the end of the boards, and a wall.

Two days ago my husband found a small bat  in the winery.
We think it flew in during the night, and could not find its way out again.
He wrapped it in an old shirt, and let it sleep the day away in a large bucket.
Not sure of its classification, but we think that it is a Queensland Blossom Bat.(Syconycteris australis)....a miniature blossom bat.

At dusk it became active.  You can see that it is very tiny.

At dusk it became active, crawling out from its safe place in the shirt, and stretching its wings.
Finally it flew off into the twilight.
It was very cute.....but we knew not to handle it.


And today we were surprised by 4 elegant black swans (Cygnus atratus) on our bottom dam.
They probably won't stay long, but they are so elegant.
Aren't they beautiful?

The water is so calm you can see their reflections.

Two of our 4 black swans + some ducks.

Over the last few weeks our bottom dam has become a home to a few types of water birds.
The 4 Black Swans are still there (even though there are only two in the above photo) plus some ducks.....you can see them behind the swans.

All our wildlife visits have been a bonus.........even the snakes!

(I wrote this blog a few weeks ago. 
Since writing it there have been developments in our visiting wildlife populations.
Yesterday the swans left...after three weeks with us. Yes, we were sorry to see them go, but as it is getting decidedly chilly here, maybe they flew off to warmer climes?  And an added bonus from the cooler weather is that the snakes will be hibernating, and I should not see any more around the house. That's a relief!)