As I've mentioned before, the LW is very fond of his baths - here he is unconcerned by my watching his post-wash feather-re-aligning routine. (In a dark, previously unexplored corner of the blog settings I discovered how to take slideshows off autoplay - much better)
The 'vigorous cold front' that moved across the state last weekend did bring some showers - didn't amount to much in terms of millilitres but it's a start - even if most of it did come down sideways, with wind gusts around 100kmh on Saturday. Haven't explored the entire 20 acres, but in the garden just this (and a lot of branches to pick up) I was told off by LW - well, in-between him feeding on protea flowers. Haven't seen the rest of the family since last report. Not entirely sure what the Silvereyes (or Scrub Wrens or Fantails) are doing in the buddlejah - no flowers or seeds at the moment - unless the leaves are producing something that attracts insects - but that's just guessing. Finally, went to visit the spider and her egg-sac. The latter seems to have changed shape - and the spider stopped guarding it for a moment to rush out onto web and perform some errand, before resuming her usual post underneath it. Size-wise she's about half as big as she appears in top picture.
Two rain moths plonked themselves on the verandah floor last night. They might flap around and carry on before they land, but once down they become moth statues I have previously found that they deserve their name, so I was quite heartened. Today there were a dozen drops of rain - hmm. Two rain moths do not a cloudburst make. At least there are some showers on the forecast horizon now. Meanwhile at the large banksia marginata I was sure something had changed in the spider egg sac. With the benefit of magnification I saw that it was not spiderlings as I'd hoped, but it definitely seems darker to me. What do you think? Of course the local honey eaters - who are relying heavily on these trees at the moment, were keeping an eye on me - the New Holland didn't even bother to leave the tree - just alternated between sounding an alarm call and feasting on banksia nectar. and LW, who was alternating between feeding himself and harassing the New Holland.
Walking eastwards outside the garden fence in the late afternoon I saw this bright light that seemed almost like fire... So of course I went bush for a closer look...
Quite a noisy return that began with a stoush with New Hollands in the sheoak, in which the latter prevailed, but when the New Hollands moved on the LW family moved back in. . Three birds here, but I did see four, and the reappearance of neighbouring LW (who was chased away) LW 'hawking' - perched high on gum tree then swooping down to grab an insect before returning to eat it on branch. Whenever the family got together there was a lot of tail-wagging happening - not a behaviour I've seen before and I have no idea what it might mean.
It's sunlight reflected from earth that reveals the moon in daytime (I just read) and is called earthshine, which I like. Took this pic and, on close inspection, saw the winged black shape top right - what do you think? Oh and April Fool me - day after I speculated that the wattlebirds had gone, I heard a Red Wattlebird - (let's say it just returned)
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December 2020
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