Tag: nature

Long-Billed Corella Flocks

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a single Long-Billed Corella which is often seen with a small flock of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos.  I wrote that the flock of Corella we see fly over us twice each day NEVER stops here.   Almost as soon as I published that post we have been visited by … Continue reading Long-Billed Corella Flocks

Flowering Eucalyptus Trees (and the seed for leaf exchange)

A few days ago I wrote about the sole Corella flying with the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos.  Since then, we’ve had small flocks of Corella landing in our trees.  This is not common.  While the Cockatoos do chew through twigs, sending a bunch of leaves falling to the ground, the Corella are much messier.  They seem … Continue reading Flowering Eucalyptus Trees (and the seed for leaf exchange)

Calling all Australian Native Pea Experts…. Help!

I took this photograph in October, and ever since then I have been trying to identify the species.  I can’t see a flower that looks exactly like this one, with the long elegant lower lobes and the clear red which shows between them.   My best guess, due to the cluster shape and the leaves, … Continue reading Calling all Australian Native Pea Experts…. Help!

Just one of the flock: A confused Corella

We’ve noticed a single Corella flying and eating with a flock of Cockatoos.  Not once, but over an extended time period.  Does it think it is a Cockatoo or has it decided that they have a better lifestyle than the flock of Corellas that flies over the property twice a day?  It doesn’t even seem … Continue reading Just one of the flock: A confused Corella

Bushy Parrot-Pea (Dillwynia ramosissima)

Identifying Australian Native pea flowers is very difficult. I have many photographs of flowers that look slightly different, and I have spent days trying to work out whether they are the same species or different species.  In my search I have discovered that there are many different species of Bush-pea, Bitter-pea, Parrot-pea, Wedge-pea, Flat-pea and … Continue reading Bushy Parrot-Pea (Dillwynia ramosissima)

Australian Wood Ducks

  It has been quite a busy week. In those moments where I just want a break, I have been very thankful for the return of the Australian Wood Ducks which are back after spending the Summer elsewhere.  For some reason, they seem much more relaxed near the house, which is fantastic. It has given … Continue reading Australian Wood Ducks

My Favourite Tree

This tree is central to the view we have when we look out the window from the main rooms in the house.  Each day the light is different, and each day the fork I have photographed looks slightly different in colour.  It never fails to interest me.  I have lost count of the number of … Continue reading My Favourite Tree

Yellow Rush-lily (Tricoryne elatior)

I photographed these Yellow Rush-Lily flowers at the very end of December, and they were still flowering into January.   In these hot Summer months, few flowers are in bloom, so I was ecstatic that they were so plentiful, and also that they took on a different form from many of the wild lily flowers, … Continue reading Yellow Rush-lily (Tricoryne elatior)

Mudlark or Magpie Lark

I’ve grown up calling these birds Mudlarks, and have always had them around my home.  When I was a child, we rescued an almost fledged chick, which managed to tumble from a nest at the top of an electricity pole. There was no hope of getting it back up there, so we kept in inside … Continue reading Mudlark or Magpie Lark

Exotic: Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)

This pretty flower has had my attention for a month or two now. There is a very small patch of them growing along the front fence. In Summer, when hardly any flowers are in bloom, it was a lovely show  for a while.  However, I’ve just identified the plant as an Exotic species, or weed, … Continue reading Exotic: Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)

Black-Faced Cuckoo Shrike

Strolling around with my camera mid-afternoon on a hot January day, I saw this fellow sitting high in a tree: a Black-Faced Cuckoo-Shrike.  These are the times when I wish I had a telephoto lens.  The bird was just sitting there, relaxed and I had the opportunity to take several shots before it moved to … Continue reading Black-Faced Cuckoo Shrike

Pale Grass-lily (Caesia parviflora)

Although the field guides I consulted describe this flower as ‘blue to lilac – rarely greenish-white” I do believe we have the greenish-white Pale Grass-Lily growing here.  Searching for white lilies that grow in the Corangamite region on the VicVeg website, I found images of the Pale Grass-Lily that were white-flowered, like ours.  Perhaps the … Continue reading Pale Grass-lily (Caesia parviflora)

Oops! It’s a boy!

Using adult Eastern Grey Kangaroo sex identification markers, I seized on the joey’s white chest fur to boldly proclaim that it was a female in an earlier post.  As the joey grows and matures, the white fur is turning brown and it is becoming increasingly obvious that I was wrong. He’s all boy! Most mornings … Continue reading Oops! It’s a boy!

Predators:

Occasionally when I am out walking, I come across finds like this: I will never know how each particular bird or animal died (we’ve also found two possums – one ring-tail, the other a brush-tail) but essentially there are five possibilities: The animal died of natural causes A native predator killed it (owl, eagle etc) … Continue reading Predators:

Slender Onion-orchid (Microtis parviflora)

In mid-December, when I bent down to look at a Pale Vanilla-Lily flower, I noticed these Slender Onion Orchid spikes nearby.  Thankfully my friend had alerted me to look for them, or I may have just passed them over. The flowers are so tiny that they don’t immediately catch the eye. Among the information I have … Continue reading Slender Onion-orchid (Microtis parviflora)

Learning to Carol

Two young Magpies have taken to using the bird feeder as a convenient platform while learning how to carol.  At the moment they produce a mix of squeaky or rasping twiddles and trills that are often grating to the ear, but over time they are developing some melodic notes. I know when they mature their … Continue reading Learning to Carol

Milkmaids (Burchardia umbellata)

Also called the Star-of-Bethlehem and known to the Indigenous Koorie population as Popoto, the cheerful Milkmaid blooms were present for most of Spring and into early Summer.  We found them mostly in the bushland at the back of our property, but occasionally one or two would pop-up in other areas. A member of the Liliacea … Continue reading Milkmaids (Burchardia umbellata)

Spotted Jezebel (Delias aganippe)

The four days of intense heat have played havoc with the butterfly population.  We saw many around the perimeter of the house, seeking a cooler spot.  Some of them perished in the process. When I took the first of these two photographs, this Spotted Jezebel butterfly was alive.  Unfortunately, we found it dead the next day. … Continue reading Spotted Jezebel (Delias aganippe)

Twining Glycine (Glycine clandestina)

This week’s addition to the A – Z Plant Species list is a purple pea-like flower.  The pea family of plants native to Australia is very large, and many species look pretty much the same.  Based on our location, the fact that the flower has white patches (not yellow) the longer hairy stem, and the … Continue reading Twining Glycine (Glycine clandestina)

An Injured Red Wattlebird

Today the light was eerie (click here for photos of the sky).  I took the camera out to capture the colour of the sky, and wandered onto the jetty without looking. A fluttering sound caught my attention, and I turned to see what I thought was a fledgling Red Wattlebird running up and down the … Continue reading An Injured Red Wattlebird

Swamp Wallaby Drinking

Last Summer on a stinking hot day I photographed a Swamp Wallaby drinking out of the dam in the afternoon.  Usually, being nocturnal, we  only see them at dusk or dawn. Well, another stinking hot day, and another Swamp Wallaby drinking out of the dam in the daylight.  These photographs were taken at around 3:30 … Continue reading Swamp Wallaby Drinking

Spurwinged Plover or Masked Lapwing

I’ve always know this species as the Spurwinged Plover, but my field guide to birds tells me that they have been renamed as the Masked Lapwing.  The name ‘Spurwing’ refers to the bony ‘spurs’ which the birds have on their shoulder, and which they can use for defence. Appearing approximately eight months ago, the Plovers … Continue reading Spurwinged Plover or Masked Lapwing

Marbled Xenica (Geitoneura Klugii)

For months now, it has puzzled me why so many butterflies hover low to the ground above bark and leaf litter, and in thick grassy areas with no flowers in sight.  I’ve always associated butterflies with flowers.  Thanks to a wonderful book given to me by my sister for Christmas, I can now answer that … Continue reading Marbled Xenica (Geitoneura Klugii)