Shiny carapaces
in poo beside the path suggested a fox might have feasted on Xmas beetles. Why
do some beetles have those iridescent colours?
Have a look for 2016’s
Insects of South-Eastern Australia by
Roger Farrow. Many insect questions
answered & wonderful, accessible natural history!
After two dull, drizzly & showery days the sun’s presence cheered the spirits.
Round the bases
of some Cootamundra Wattles there’s a litter of leafy branches. The Cockatoos
have been through for the seed-pods. Does being eaten kill the seeds?
I remembered my
fly-veil & was grateful. Camping-gear shops usually sell them.
Neatly mown is
the impression around Mt Rogers’ edge-space. Thanks TAMS!
Good work by the
mowing teams but we still need to be
alert for snakes.
There were ten
walkers between 09.45 and 10.45 on a sunny morning.
Is it their
rubbed wings or a special organ that cicadas use to make their sounds?
Motor cycle of
some sort went up the Gully at 10.45. Arrogance.
Eucalyptus
blakeleyi, Red Gums, are showing some new leaf growth after two worrying lerp
attacks to their leaves. May their resilience prevail!
Why does it
become windy after rain? The vital moisture is quickly evaporated.
I didn’t hear
Koels’ calls whilst up there but they’ve been busy in mid-Flynn for 10 days
now. I suspect it’s they who are eating unharvested Loquats.
Tigers of the
air: Dragonflies were around today & long before the dinosaurs!
Hands need sturdy
gloves if pulling St Johns Wort. Thank you to those who have identified, walked
and weeded SJW. Cutting the flower-heads off is a good option.
Oats, Tall
Fescue, Phalaris & other non-native grasses are taller than many of us.
The pile of soil
& the prickly pear have gone from the renovated house in Schwarz Place.
There’s a new Colorbond fence. Do metal fences deter Blue-tongued lizards?
Has anyone seen
or heard regular Superb Parrot visitors?
Every time they
land Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes shuffle their wings. I had a glimpse of one of
these elegant grey birds, using the shuffle as identification.
Rosellas weren’t
noticeable. Perhaps they were feeding earlier.
Suzi Bond has
published her photographic Field Guide to the 87 butterfly species seen locally.
Try the Botanic Bookshop at the Gardens for copies.
White flowers
just past-their-prime are bottle-brush-like Melaleucas. Shrubs were planted on
Mt R in the seventies. The taller trees around town have really thrived on the
winter rains. Plenty of nectar for insects and birds!
Hill-topping is a
butterfly activity when they’re attracting mates. Mt R. is a good place to
watch for this. Some butterfly species actively defend their territories.
On their wings,
Meadow Argus butterflies have round eye-spots. They’re common & cooperative,
settling with wings open to absorb heat from the sun.
Near & above
low grasses there were small blue butterflies. They settled with their wings
closed making identification tricky. The Lycaenidae family they belong to shows
some names & identification possibilities.
Easy to
distinguish from their bald black heads, Noisy Friarbirds’ calls haven’t been
noticeable around Flynn this sprummer. Perhaps they’ve nested on Mt Rogers and
stayed quiet to avoid Koels looking to lay eggs in their nests.
Eyes surrounded
by an ‘owl face’, Double-barred Finches make meowing calls. They feed on open
grassy ground so perhaps they’ve kept away from the rain-induced rank grasses
in the reserve. They’re not as common as they were.
Deasland place’s
Frogmouths may have been those Angharad spotted on our Monday working-bee. They
were near the twin tanks & a very old nest-box. See the photo at the end of this post.
Yellow-rumped
Thornbills usually feed on the ground. Perhaps it was too windy for them today.
Orchard
Swallowtail are those big black butterflies that are also attracted to our
gardens’ citrus blooms. They are di-morphic with differing shapes and colour
patterns between females & males.
Under cover of
darkness a whole new world would be visible around Mt R.
I wonder if
spot-lighting walks are feasible?
Strong colours on
butterflies may mean they have recently emerged from their pupae & the sun
hasn’t faded their colours.
There were a few
Brown butterflies about also. They, with their varied patterns & wing
markings belong to the Satyrinae family.
Have a look
through the Butterfly book if only to see the diversity of the names. Globally
there are Albatross, Beak, Bird-wing, Crow, Darter, Owl, Peacock, Swallowtail
butterflies to show ornithological connections.
Endangered Golden
Sun Moth seen on Wednesday near Ginninderra Creek’s Axe Grooves at Latham. The
GSM is endangered as its native grasslands have gone.
Green grass,
particularly under trees in summer, signifies Microlaena stipoides or Weeping Grass. There’s plenty of Microlaena
to be seen around Mt Rogers.
Red Wattlebirds
called occasionally. Have they managed to breed this season without being
cuckolded by the Koels?
Every now and
then there were calls from the bush. Presumably they were from small birds’
calls I should know but couldn’t remember for identification!
Arriving silently,
a Kookaburra landed near Schwarz Place looking for an insect snack. Birds need
reliable water but don’t need food offerings from us.
Tiny blue
butterflies reminded me of the numerous species of beige moths that inhabit our
grasslands & grassy areas. Should I carry one of the coat-hanger-based
butterfly nets we made for the children years ago & try identifying them?
Eyes are pale
blue for Magpie Larks or Peewees. I wonder what evolutionary & survival
advantage those pale blue eyes give them?
Striated
Pardalote calls came through “cappuccino, cappuccino” from the canopy.
There are only a
few yellow Paper Daisy plants on Mt R. Painted Lady butterflies are photogenic
when eating from the daisies as a reward for pollinating them.
Going back down
to Flynn the unnatural noises of vehicles & crassness of dumped rubbish
disturbed my reverie. Thank you to our wonderful team of removalists who take
others’ rubbish home to keep Mt R clean.
I did wonder at a
green bag, dropped in error, presumably containing dog poo. Un-bagged poo will
break down in the bush decades sooner than plastic bags.
Flatweed flowers
are obvious on many nature strips. Impress by knowing they are not dandelions.
Each flower head can have 75+ individual flowers then seeds.
The ringing calls
of magpies provided serenades from various vantage points. We’ve had great
pleasure in the magpies’ company, antics, territorial spats for another year.
We’ve tried to identify & name them from their markings.
HNY!
I hope you're able to zoom in on this
to see the Frogmouths' expressions.
MT ROGERS: Brilliant spotting from
Angharad.
The green nest box has been to the SE
of the twin tanks for decades.....long before Kate Grarock began her Indian
Myna nestbox studies.
The roost tree is perhaps 30m from
the long-fallen tree that's been painted. There's no guarantee that they will
roost there in future.
Angharad, Ted and I were walking back to the
Wickens car-park after a hot 1.5hours working-bee against St Johns Wort.
Angharad looked towards the nestbox and saw the Frogmouths straight away. Ted
had said he'd not seen them since they fledged in spite of looking. We assume
these are the ones from the large eucalypt above the white house and near the
steps up from Deasland Place.
Rosemary 17.12.16.
Convenor: Mt Rogers Landcare Group.
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