Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells
Christmas Bells - Blandfordia nobilis
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Thursday, January 01, 2015

Last Year, and New Year - on the cusp.


Firstly, just a few photos of a small party on New Year's Eve, at Vicki and Owen's place and a few photo of a beautiful rose flowering outside my bedroom window.

As usual these are found at a Facebook Album which is accessible to everyone freely.
No need to sign up for anything.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153465684089829.1073742007.809229828&type=1&l=64a7f57127

It behoves me to publish an annual figures for rainfall at my house for 2014.

Monthly totals - January through December, and Total for 2014.
I can confirm that my record is very close to the official Bureau of Meteorology figure for Robertson village, despite notable variations on a month by month basis. They got an annual total for 2014 = 1728.3 mm.
Lousy photo through glass
just to show it is a real Blue Wren


Going Up
Male Superb Blue Wren chasing his own reflection
Adult Crimson Rosella looking for yesterday's
left over Watermelon


A lovely photo of a lovely rose.
Just Joey as it was on New Year's Day.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Great sunset colours this evening Monday 28 July 2014

While working on my computer, this afternoon,
I noticed an eerie pinkish glow in the western sky.
Of course, it was sunset.
But such rich colours, with a distinct purplish tinge.

Looking to the far-south-west.
Main patch of colour around to the right (west).

The tall conical tree is the Sassafras I regularly photograph.
The light changes, the range of visibility changes,
depending on conditions.

Similar angle, slight change in light as sun set changes colour.

Taken from the western side of my house.
Looking through deciduous trees.

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

The mystery of the Acacia longifolia in my yard continues

I have written something about this plant, previously, although it is not apparent from the title.
My Bad!
http://peonyden.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/daffodils-tete-tete-in-flower-early-and.html
This year it is flowering even more early in the season.


Flowers starting to open yesterday 8 July 2014
Flowers of Acacia longifolia
Thing is, this plant occurs below Robertson, on the Sandstone Plateau. But it does not occur naturally up here on the basalt soil. I know I did not plant this plant here. In fact, I was tempted to remove it, but decided to leave it to grow, when I first recognised that it was not a Blackwood Wattle (which is completely normal here). I decided to let it grow, to see what species it is. Now that I know, do I let it grow on?
Flowers of Acacia longifolia.
This is one of the Acacias with flowers on "rods"
not in a ball-like structure.
It is now taller than the adjacent Blackwood self-planted seedling. It will probably grow quickly, and then die off. I hope so. Whereas Blackwoods are huge trees, and they live a long time. Landscape trees.
But I do not want two huge trees growing side by side, directly in front of my house. They will cut off the natural light in the house.

"Leaf " (phyllode) of Acacia longifolia
Note veins and short stem (pulvinus)
and location of the "gland"
close to the stem. (top right)


Pulvinus (stem) of the "phyllode"
(swollen stem which acts as a leaf)
Note the gland on lower edge of phyllode
and the slight change in angle of the edge of the phyllode.
Most of the Wattles with phyllodes have these glands.
The theory is that they are there to attract ants
which in turn would protect the Wattle from insects.
Possibly a remnant (archaic) structure.

Two main veins running more or less parallel,
Several minor veins also apparent.

In this photo, the two dominant veins are clearly evident.


Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Just Joey - one of my favourite roses

This rose "Just Joey" is one of my favourites, yet, it breaks all the rules I like to set for roses I choose to grow.
Soft colour? No.
Sweet perfume? Not particularly fragrant.
Certainly not an "old rose" perfume which is my preference. It is classed as a "Hybrid Tea Rose", after all.

So why do I like it? I find that hard to explain, but I do like it and I have two plants growing beside my front entrance-way,

Just Joey as a tight bud

Just Joey opening

Just Joey fully mature flower
starting to fade slightly.
Less of the bright apricot,
and more pink coming through.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Blue-banded Bee loves Penstemon "Sour Grapes"

Yesterday, a Blue-banded Bee was noisily buzzing around the Penstemon "Sour Grapes" near my front verandah. These Bees are native to Australia, and Asian countries.
The blue colour of the bee is not obvious.
It varies between males and females, apparently.

There is a faint blue colour on the"white bands"
But it is not obvious in these photos.
It is more obvious in this photo courtesy of Peter Chew's
Brisbane Insects and Spiders website

It is well reported that these Bees have an affinity for blue or purple flowers. 
That certainly holds true for this individual Bee.


The other thing of interest to me was that Bee's flight.

It is described as a "dart-and-hover flight pattern",




This Bee would land on the floral tube of the Penstemon,
and then climb inside the flower.
Then it would back out, and quickly fly to another flower.

This Bee is a noisy flier
and the tone changes as it varies its flight pattern.
It is reported to be a non-aggressive Bee.

Friday, November 01, 2013

Photos of garden plants, a Granny's Cloak Moth, and Lulu.

Click on my name to open this Facebook Album, and make photos visible to everybody.


Friday, June 14, 2013

Ring-tailed Possum in Robertson Nature Reserve

Unfortunately I have no photos to accompany this story.

I live just 400 metres from the Robertson Nature Reserve. I know I have Brush-tailed Possums in my yard (and occasionally on my roof), but I have never seen in my yard any signs of the nests (drays) which Ring-tailed Possums build. I do recall seeing one dead (electrocuted) on a power line across the road from my house, shortly after I moved here, about 10 years ago. The drays which Ring-tailed Possums build are a common sight in the Melaleuca thickets along the Belmore Falls Road, but that is very different habitat, although only 5 kilometres away.

Tonight as I drove past the Nature Reserve, to go to a REPS meeting I saw (and had to stop to avoid) a fat Ring-tailed Possum on the road. It was quite likely a pregnant female. She was walking slowly, with body held close to the ground. She stopped, turned around and crawled back into the low growth on the Nature Reserve side of the road (whence she had come).

Later on in the evening, as I returned home I saw a healthy Fox run very quickly across the road, from private property. It leapt over the low foliage around the road verge and disappeared into the Nature Reserve. This was less than 100 metres from where I had earlier seen the little Ring-tailed Possum.

Given the relative agility of these two animals, and with the Fox's strong ability to scent out prey, I just hope that the Possum was well and truly up in the trees.

I am recording this as a "sighting record". I saw the animal from my car, but at very short range (less than 5 metres). The Possum was clearly illuminated by my car lights.

Monday, April 15, 2013

White-headed Pigeons back in Robbo

I wrote about the White-headed Pigeons (Columba leucomela (the first I had seen this season) on 19 March, when a flock of them suddenly turned up to feast on the fruit of some Privet bushes. Seeing a flock of these birds in Robertson is unusual.

This morning I saw a pair on the powerline outside my house.

White-headed pigeons
as seen from my back deck.
They are lovely birds, but although i have seen them here before, I am never sure what brings them here, as they are fruit eaters, rather than "seed" eaters. In other words, they do not walk around like Wonga Pigeons picking up dry seeds on the ground. But I have no mature, fruiting Lilly Pilllies at my property, so I am not sure what the attraction is for them.

But, heck, they are such beautiful birds, I am not complaining.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Gentle sunset (when the wind had dropped)

Two nights ago, I caught this gentle sunset from the back deck.
Just lovely, especially after the tough weather we had had for most of the week before.

14 August 2012 at 5:31pm.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Lena's final resting place.

I spoke with Zoe several days ago and said I needed to bury Lena (which I was not looking forward to). She straight away suggested I select a spot where Lena liked to "hang out".

Good Idea.
That was pretty easy.
Lena's final resting place catches the morning sun
and is cool and shady in summer

Just out the front of my house, and to the side, there is a mixed planting of Camellias, Azaleas and a Japanese Maple. Underneath the Maple is a little open patch, where Lena used lie in summer, in the afternoon shade, or to catch the morning sun, in winter.

small statue
marking Lena's final resting place

I buried Lena there, and then added a small statue of a kneeling figure, which Zoe had given me several years ago.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Winter flowers - Snowdrops or Galanthus

I have loved these flowers for many years, long before I ever owned any.
I bought some before I moved to Robertson.
I held them in pots for a couple of years, while I lived in a tin shed, and before my house was built.
Eventually I planted them out.
And then I forgot where they were.

They managed to flower last year, and yet again, I was surprised to "discover them" (all over again).
Sounds like "Gardening with Asbergers" doesn't it?
Galanthus elwesii
But after the passing of the Winter Solstice, I was thrilled to notice these lovely flowers blooming, nearly overgrown, in my garden.
A clump of Snowdrops (Galanthus)
These differ from "Snowflakes"
which are similarly green and white,
winter flowering bulbs.
Hardy, pretty  little things.
They have to be hardy to survive and flower in what passes for a garden in my wilderness.

GALANTHUS 

Galanthus elwesii
"The true snowdrops are perhaps the best of all early flowering bulbs, appearing through the bleakest period of the year and heralding the imminent arrival of a new season. Most are easy but we never have enough of the cultivars and prices may appear steep but they are expensive for us to purchase and acclimatise." Source: Hill View Rare Plants

Galanthus elwesii
Much larger flowered and vigorous species than G. nivalis with greyish leaves that are hooded at the tips. Generally the flower has green markings at both the base and the tip of the inner segment



Friday, March 16, 2012

Hail Storm this evening

Mid afternoon, the sky darkened over the Kangaroo Valley and then I lost all sight of the Valley and there was just a wall of water coming towards Robertson.

It looked more impressive than it turned out to be.
About 5 minutes worth of rain - then it cleared.

Threatening clouds coming up from Kangaroo Valley

A wall of water (rain) coming up the Valley
Visibility range about 2.5 Km
(down from 60 Km in the morning).

However, the real treat came later into the evening.
A really noisy episode of heavy rain and hail.
A bit of thunder, but not much.
Apologies for the blurred imagery.
Ever tried to focus on hail, in the dark?
Even at 1/500 sec exposure, it still blurred.

This is what the storm looked like, 
on the Bureau's Radar imagery.
Robertson is smack bang underneath
the top red marker. 
Click to enlarge the image, and check the locality.

Bureau of Meteorology Radar chart tonight.
I might have to go and check Carrington Falls again, tomorrow.

UPDATE:
I recorded 64 mm of rain to 9:00am the next morning.
Pretty impressive for a series of storms which kept lashing us, leaving, then another one would arrive.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Nymphes myrmeleonoides - a large yellow "Lacewing" at my door.

On a wet night, last weekend, a strange visitor came to my door.
I knew roughly what it was, but it took a bit more effort than one might have expected, to get the details right, for such a distinctive insect.
Nymphes myrmeleonoides - a large yellow "Lacewing"
I went to my usual source: Brisbane Insects and Spiders and went looking for "Lacewings".
I found my insect after just a few searches of various families within the Lacewing tribe, in the family Nymphidae.

The Chew family lists it as "Blue eyes Lacewing". The slightly informal (and ungrammatical) name struck me as likely to be irregular - more a "nick name" than a proper name. They also refer to it as the Common Lacewing. So I thought I would check further.

I checked under the scientific name given by the Chew website - "Nymphes myrmeleonides".

Dr Google likes to search for a familiar name (the one with the most cross-links), and when I entered "Nymphes myrmeleonides", I got a message asking if I wished to search for Nymphes myrmeleonoides. 
I declined the good Dr Google's suggestion and went with the name I had already found. Bad mistake, which has taken many hours to sort out.

Many people, it seems have followed what is a wrong name.

I found lots of cross-links back to "Blue eyes" but I was not finding any scientific linked sources. That worried me. Where were the authoritative CSIRO and Museum links?

Eventually I found the following note on a Chat Line:
  • Nymphes myrmeleonoides (Neuroptera: Nymphidae)---needs an extra "o" in there. Unfortunately, this name was accidentally misspelled in New's 1981 revision of the Australian species of this insect group, so this misspelling has gained some prominence in recent years.
Armed with that information I went to the Atlas of Living Australia and thence to the CSIRO Australian Faunal Directory. 
I found this note:
  • Nymphes myrmeleonides Leach, 1814 [subsequent misspelling]: Riek, E.F. 1970. Neuroptera (Lacewings). pp. 472-494 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Carlton : Melbourne University Press 1029 pp. [492]; New, T.R. 1982. A revision of the Australian Nymphidae (Inssecta: Neuroptera). Australian Journal of Zoology 29: 707-750 [711]
  • Even that notice has its own spelling error (Inssecta). It should be Insecta.
My mother, who worked in CSIRO, as a typist (that's what they were called back in pre-computer days) knew Edgar Riek personally, and she would be embarrassed on his behalf to see this error reported.

If you look at the previous descriptions for this species you find:
  • Gallard, L. 1935. Notes on the life history of the large yellow lacewing, Nymphes myrmeleonides. Australian Naturalist 9: 118-119 (life history)
  • New, T.R. 1982. The larva of Nymphes Leach (Neuroptera: Nymphidae). Neurology International2: 79-84 (larva)
  • New, T.R. 1996. Neuroptera. 1-104, 184 (App. III), 199-216 (Index) in Wells, A. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia Vol. 28. Neuroptera, Strepsiptera, Mecoptera, Siphonaptera. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia 230 pp. [as Nymphes myrmeleonides [lapsus] of several authors]
Oh Dear! That's how the nice people in the Scientific community deal with spelling errors - they put [lapsus] a nice Latin word (in brackets) to disguise the fact that someone got the name wrong, and lots of people followed along behind.
(So it wasn't just my Mum's pal, Edgar - he was following a long line of Entomologists, since 1935.)

*****

SO - LET US BE CLEAR - THE CORRECT NAME Nymphes myrmeleonoides ENDS IN "OIDES" - MEANING "RESEMBLING" OR "LIKE" AN "ANTLION" (Myrme for Ant, and Leo for Lion).

Nymphes myrmeleonoides - a large yellow "Lacewing"
Anyway, once I had ascertained the correct spelling, the links just tumbled out of the sky.
  1. Donald Hobern has it (many times) in his own site, plus on Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) (image of larvae)
  2. This is the formal entry in the Australian Faunal Directory - the "CSIRO official naming" site.
  3. And here it is in the Atlas of Living Australia. Go to the Gallery page for lots more images.
Nymphes myrmeleonoides - a large yellow "Lacewing"
This is an interesting page "Lacewing Development" which has excellent photos of the adult, eggs and larvae, courtesy of Keith Power in Toowoomba. That page also explains something about why this species is not classed within the "Antlions". The larvae of these insects live in leaf litter, so presumably they cannot form those cute little cones as traps for ants, as those traps only function in dry, loose, flowing sand. That is contrary to the statement at the end of this Wikipedia entry. (note that entry is under the wrongly spelled name). 
Another difference is highlighted on the Chew Family page on the family Nymphidae says: "Comparing with other lacewings families, species in this family have moniliform antennae".  

Moniliform - "The round segments make the antenna look like a string of beads. That certainly fits with my insect's fine long bead-like antennae - e.g. Beetles". 

Head and feet view - click to enlarge.
One can just see the "beetle-like" beaded antennae.
Head and feet of Nymphes myrmeleonoides
Finally another note: The "Split-footed Lacewings", Nymphidae, are a family of winged insects of the order Neuroptera. Split-footed lacewings stand somewhat apart from other living Myrmeleontoidea. The antlions (Myrmeleontidae) and the owlflies (Ascalaphidae) are more closely related to them, but the bulk of the Nymphidae's relatives includes extinct groups known only from fossils. Source: Wikipedia - Nymphidae

As a matter of interest, you can see the "split foot" on my specimen (lower right side of the last image - above).

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Peonies of Mid Spring

I have been very remiss in showing Peonies this year, but I will now show a few which have patiently flowered in my yard this spring.

These four are Herbaceous Peonies (the first three are in the old-fashioned grouping - the Lactifloras. The last one is a Hybrid Herbaceous Peony, one of the many crosses the Americans have made between the Lactiflora groupings, and the more brightly coloured species plants. In this case, a "Paeonia officionalis "Rubra Plena" parent.

Sarah Bernhardt -  a reliable old Tart. And the plant's not bad either.

Bowl of Beauty - I love this flower. I forgive her lack of perfume
Lady Alexandra Duff - exquisitely delicate colour combination

Red Charm - the most famous American hybrid - a stunner.
Some people ask me are Peonies hard to grow?
Well, let me say that I never "feed" these plants, and I have not had to water them this season. Only when the  plants were younger (and in bursts of hot, windy weather) would I ever water them, by running a hose on the ground above where the plants grow. Not necessary this year.

Down below the house, there are several lines of Peonies growing amongst the weeds - literally. But they are still flowering.

I am not proud of this, but I am simply reporting the facts.

So, I guess the answer is - No! Peonies are not hard to grow, if you give them full sun, good soil, and rain.

I cannot grow "exhibition quality plants" because the weeds beat me. But I am delighted with the flowers which simply appear outside my front door, every year.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

A Painted Button-quail visits my garden

This bird must have been reading my Blog, over the last two days.
I was on the phone, talking with my brother, Brendan, when I saw a bird moving on the ground just outside my window. 

This is all I could see.
A small, "quail-like" bird moving around on the ground.
If you spot the eye first, you can then just make out the bird's shape.

At first I assumed it was a female Bowerbird. Then I looked more closely, and realise it was a "Quail" (see clarifying comment below).
Sensibly, Brendan told me to hang up the phone, grab my camera and then ring him back (in order).
Good plan.
Once I had taken the first shot, and expanded it on my camera 
I realised what I had photographed. 
This is the "cropped" version of the same image.
Painted Button-quail in my garden
The last species of "Quail" I was expecting in my own garden, between my Camellias, and under the Dogwood tree, was a Painted Button-quail (even though I had previously found a dead one down on Tourist Road, Kangaloon). But that's sandstone scrub habitat. Normal habitat for the species (Robertson is not!)

I had first thought Brown Quail, but realised it was too strongly marked for that. 
What about a Stubble Quail? They have fairly strong markings.  

Hang on - there a definite tinge of orange around the "shoulders" of this bird.
Orange tonings on neck and wings become apparent, as the bird walks around.
 Its a Female Painted Button-quail.
(as has been discussed recently, they are NOT true Quails).
As she moves into the sunlight, the ID is confirmed.
Painted Button-quails are well known for forming "platelets" - little round clearings on the ground.
The Flickr image (linked here) comments that: "Button-quail search for insects by standing on one leg and scratching away the leaf litter while rotating their body in a circle. This leaves a distinctive circular cleared area in the leaf litter." 

That's exactly what this bird was doing in my yard this morning. 
 It was walking around in a circle, scratching away the dead grass.
That leaves the cleared circular area
making it easy for it to
find insects.

Painted Button-quail formed this "platelet" in my garden
POST SCRIPT:
Today (Thursday) - my little friend was back, scratching away, busily, doing "circles" and clearing more of these "platelets". DJW 22 Sept 2011

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Whipbirds feeling the Love

It was a Springtime afternoon as far as a pair of Eastern Whipbirds were concerned.

They chased each other round and round under a couple of low shrubs outside my front verandah.

They even ran along a Park Bench made out of an old Railway Sleeper.
Then remarkably this guy actually appeared in the open, long enough for me to take a couple of snaps.

They're not great shots, but given how rare this encounter was, I will accept the opportunity gratefully.
Whipbird was calling actively, and chasing another Whipbird

Whipbirds are notoriously secretive, and have an ability to judge how to sit on the far side of any bush.
Front-on view of the white cheek patches of the Whipbird
I hear these birds every day, and recently they have been calling loudly and frequently, but this afternoon's performance was notable.
I only heard the male calling. There was no female answering call. (Listen to both calls: click on the sound file sign at top of the COG Gallery page here

So, was this a mating ritual or a display of territorail behaviour to chase off another male bird? I really do not know. There were two birds present, but only one calling, and only one was prepared to allow itself to be photographed.
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