Baby King Skinks...

Baby king skinks were the highlight of a visit to Lesmurdie Falls at the beginning of last month. I had headed back to the see if there was any water cascading over the waterfall. To my delight along the concrete pathway that leads to the 50 foot drop off into the valley beneath I noticed the skinks.

King skinks are beautiful lizards, unfortunately I only got a glimpse of mama, as she had a great den under the concrete path. The two little ones were out sunbathing. They live in large family groups, I did wonder how many might have been hiding beneath the path. The Noongar name for them is yulart. 

The babies scurried into safety pretty swiftly, it was just wonderful seeing them if only briefly. They are not dangerous to humans and hide rather than have an encounter with people. 

Getting back to Lesmurdie Falls which is found in Mundy Regional Park. There's several hiking tracks to explore, I only ambled along the side of Lesmurdie Brook as it wound it's very gently to the edge of the Darling Scarp. The brook wasn't running fast as back at the beginning of May there hadn't been much rain...

 

A Stunning...

A stunning mural I noticed when I was down in Fremantle a couple of weeks ago...

 

This Visit...

This visit to Lake Leschenultia was on May 3rd the weather was still warm, although I did find two spots where mushrooms were beginning to push through the soil. I was surprised as I thought it would have been too warm for mushrooms.

The pretty pink of some milkwort flowers brightened a tiny patch of bush. Once the winter rains begin the bushland will become vibrant with colour. Winter and spring are such beautiful seasons for hiking in the bush.

I did see an egret perched on a branch, they are generally very nervous birds. This one seemed rather brave, even though I wasn't very close I did expect it to fly off. It didn't seem to mind, which is unusual for this particular species.

I caught signs of smoke rising on the horizon which is never a good sign when there's been a lack of rain. Everything was still extremely dry when these photos were taken.

I was amused at seeing a ringneck parrot walking all over one of the BBQs as I neared my car. And I couldn't resist another opportunity to capture the beauty of the red flowering gum...