Cirrus clouds (made of ice crystals) against the blue and some beautiful early autumn days - even as the days get noticeably shorter. Enjoying the sunshine was this Eastern Bearded Dragon - The Jewel Bug that inadvertently climbed aboard was living dangerously and likely to become a takeaway snack. Fortunately the lizard was preoccupied with assessing what sort of threat, if any, my camera and I posed. Still not much in flower - the bees will settle for a sip of Hebe nectar - - while, among the native plants, Grevillea Barklyana is a generous, long flowering source of the sweet stuff. -Other long-time bloomers include this Melaleuca sparsa - Abelia and the first of the Grevilleas to show their colours for autumn - this one is 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' - a rosmarinifolia x alpina hybrid.
Little as yet to support the honeyeaters, but it won't be too much longer. The Yellow-tails have found something they like though and are always a welcome sight as they do a late afternoon flyover.
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Nearly 40ml of rain in two days was the best medicine for flora (and people) on the block. Still very few flowers and an absence of birds, especially honeyeaters. Waiting it out here - a Superb Fairy Wren family, Magpies with five juveniles, Crimson Rosellas enjoying the seeds, a small number of New Holland Honeyeaters, two Forest Ravens and some Striated Thornbills. The ubiquitous Common Bronzewing Pigeons are growing in number and forming pairs. Have also heard the White-browed Babblers and Grey Shrike-thrush, also Galahs and Kookaburras around occasionally. In the absence of birds and flowers to photograph my lens has turned to the smallest residents. Invertebrates - insects, spiders etc - seem to thrive in the heat. Ants, wasps, bugs and crickets are abundant during the day while at night the moths, beetles and spiders emerge. Have been getting some expert help from the generous folk of iNaturalist to identify some of the vast array - and the closer I look the more astonishing some of this life in miniature is. Here's a Jewel Bug just emerged from moulting - Two types of Spider Wasps - they dig a hole, place the spider they've paralysed into it and then lay their egg. The hapless arachnid then becomes a living larder for the larva to feed from. I also spotted some Click Beetles doing what comes naturally - and a tiny ant taking a grass seed to the nest. When it comes to ants, though, there are few more impressive than the Bull Ants. Here's a 'Black-scaped' variety watching me closely. Close enough for me. More mini-beasts crawling and flying into blog soon.
Many of the bushfire affected areas got a drenching last week with flash flooding in central NSW, but there are still fires burning and more dangerous weather conditions on the way. With at least 24 people killed and 2,000 homes destroyed, 12.35 million acres of land burned and the associated loss of wildlife, habitat and livestock, it has been a fire season that defies precedent and it's not over yet. Here on the block people, plants and animals alike have enjoyed 20mm of rain - although an empty birdbath seems to have induced some thirst-inspired rage - the identity of the cranky creature remains a mystery, but a kangaroo is suspected. Keeping with the marsupial theme, this small and very cute Ringtail Possum dropped her chocolate brown baby but they eventually reunited. Very few plants in flower at the moment - the honey bees found the native mint I planted in bloom - - which also attracted this rather striking wasp. For purple power the Native Hibiscus and Snakebush flower for a long time in any weather. While these meat eaters and seed eaters seem to relish sun and hot sand. As recently flagged, diary entries will now appear once or twice a month. See you next time.
I heard a thud and got a brief glimpse of a shape sliding off the edge of the verandah. My first thought was bat, then snake but then the thud-maker reappeared in the form of a very large moth. Then I mistook it for a Rain Moth, a little out of season and very optimistic. Research revealed it as a Giant Wood Moth - Australia's heaviest moth weighing up to 30 grams. The larvae chomp eucalyptus trees and are a pest in plantations. With the female carrying up to 20,000 eggs (wonder who counted 'em?) they certainly have potential. Another heatwave, with temps to 43oC, took its toll on plants and animals alike. Many of the birds, like this Crimson Rosella, suffered from heat stress. And wherever you are in the world you've probably heard about the devastating bushfires in NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Loss of life, property, native animals, livestock, habitat - a series of cruel blows in these extreme climate conditions. Smoke from fires to the east has been hanging around the block and causes some very eerie sunsets.
Lovely mackerel sky yesterday ahead of the heat wave that started today. It's currently 34 and the coolest top temp forecast for next five days. I spent a couple of hours last night watering the plants that are still rather small to withstand the onslaught.
Spring ended with the female Little Wattlebird nesting for a second time. She's in a Buddleja tree across from the verandah. Soon be hearing a cheep or two I should imagine. There have only been a handful of hot days so far but, as I've mentioned before, the block's a fair distance from water, as the Forest Raven flies. This is the third frog I've found here - this time a Growling Grass Frog. It didn't growl at me - that would have been a little disconcerting I should think. Wonder if they eat White-tailed Spiders - not so keen on these as visitors. While I know that they don't cause any type of flesh-eating anything, I'd still prefer not to be bitten by one.
There are five juvenile Magpies in the garden area of the block at the moment - one set of parents has successfully raised three and the other, two. While they are now able to find their own food - - they are still begging to be fed and make quite a chorus of insistent whining. Here a youngster is given a decent-sized worm - not sure if it knows it has it though. Needless to say the parents are very busy.
A few hot days and the reptiles emerged. A young brown snake - quite skinny and less than a metre long - crossed in front of me and into a garden bed. Note to self when next weeding - This Shingleback Lizard was basking on the grass - I broke my 'don't feed the animals' rule and left a strawberry (they are all ruined by millipedes again and I'm about to give up trying to grow them) in the direction it was headed. The smell of it got the lizard's tongue tasting the air and when I returned both the Shingleback and the strawberry were gone. Quite a few kangaroos around already - they're usually not so noticeable until mid-summer when the green feed in the bush has run out. They do like a newly mown paddock to graze in.
October ended on a sobering note here with a grass fire less than 500 metres from the block. It took the local Country Fire Service (CFS) crew a good 5 hours to get it under control and the next day they were still mopping up. While it was quite hot and gusty, just two days later the heat and wind were horrendous and would likely have sent the fire through here. Bush fires - one fly in the paradisial ointment of life on the block. I was thrilled to see this pair of Rainbow Lorikeets - they've been around for a few days munching on the lerps - another bird to add to the visitors book. Another pair - this time Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos - have been back to Old Man Banksia to extract seeds. This Emperor Gum Moth is near the end of its life-cycle and waits it out in the rain. With no mouth parts, it has exhausted the supply of fat it gained in its time as a caterpillar and existed in this form only to breed and start the process all over again.
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December 2020
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