Winters on the north coast of NSW are usually beautiful blue sky days and we have already had quite a few of them already.

Black swans arrive. Purple swamp hens are mating. Plumed whistling ducks fly in each morning and fly out at night. Red-necked wallaby mother and joey play. Echidnas are found and the beautiful five finger orchids are in bloom.

Black She-oak (allocasuarina littoralis)

As the autumn moves into winter, along the roadsides and scattered throughout the bush, splashes of rusty brown appear. The casuarinas are flowering. At times an individual appears so completely brown you could mistake the trees for having died but the vibrant colour reveals it far from dead.