Wild Energy and Excitement on the Pond....

 What a wonderful surprise this morning when Brian called out from the kitchen that there were ducklings on the pond....and sure enough, there they were, the black ducks with a half a dozen ducklings swimming about busily feeding in among the water lilies. I ran to get my camera at once and took a host of photos because in all the years we have observed the ducks mating on the pond, we have never seen where they nest or if they ever did have ducklings. So here they were busily dashing about in the rocks and swimming amongst the waterlilies.

Here is a puzzle though, Father Duck is a Mallard with his handsome green head and colourful body markings. Has the male black duck changed plumage or is it an entirely different male duck and if he is,where did he come from? He mostly stood guard on the bank but in the end he did come into the water.
I have never seen so much energy as in these ducklings... they were in the water...out the water ...round the fish fountain..back with Mum...scrambling up the rocks ...following each other with amazing speed.... 

 Mum decided this was enough and waddled away and one of the ducklings was left behind getting confused as to which rock to climb on to get out.... she promptly returned and he found a way out...
They were last seen heading west and we assume they probably came from the "wetlands" which are about three hundred meters west, up our road. A long way for tiny little webbed feet to have to go.....

 Our weather pattern is completely changed.
We have had 37 degree days Monday week ago and then a change roared in and we had a savage hailstorm the following Wednesday, the front garden was completely covered with hail as you can see in the photo on the right if you click on it.
I don't know how that has affected the vineyards around here but you wonder about the grapes. I know the fruit growers in the Adelaide hills had very badly damaged young apples, pears and cherries.

After the storm finished I went looking for the Tawny Frogmouths and found them huddled together in the Ashtree protecting their young chick. Did you know that Australia is the only country that has this particular Frogmouth?
The CSIRO have published a fascinating book of studies done on the Frogmouth , some very interesting information about these very special Zen Birds....
Wished I could sit as still and unperturbed in this mad human world as they can....

Feathered Offsprings Fully Fledged

It is truly amazing how quickly the Willy Wagtail chicks grew. I think they were hatched in about ten days and then it was a very busy time for the parent birds to feed four perpetually hungry offsprings...both parents flew in and out all day and every day and I must say we didn't have a mosquito annoying us at all while having our evening drink on the patio.
The chicks started to fill out the nest very quickly and it wasn't long before they were sitting on the vine branches to get more room for exercising their wing muscles....

In the photo on the right they are sitting away from the nest after only a week....they still sit and squeak all day ravenous for food.
Two days after this photo they had flown to the front of the house and were sitting in the Holm oak tree where they are still roosting at night. They have flown down to the fishbowl now and the parents are still giving them food.It will be interesting to see when they have to start foraging for themselves......it is a hot North wind today so all the birdbaths are well patronized

The photo on the left shows a young Blue tongue lizard which I found in our laundry. It was trying to hide itself so I was able to pick it up as it was in a corner and couldn't get away.
It would have crawled under the fly screen door which has a gap down below and doesn't fit flush with the doorstep. They are surprisingly strong and it took me quite a bit of gentle pressure to hold him, it was not amused...I let it go by the Studio wall as its mother lives there and I can hear her scuttling away if I come upon her unexpectedly.

We also had a Koala again that same day but I was not able to photograph him, I think it was a male as he was rather grumpy and growled a lot.
The other thing I am pleased about is that the Hippeastrum bulbs which have been sitting in this pot for about three or more years, have finally starting to show flowers which are spectacular.....I had thought of giving up on them but apparently they like to be crowded in a pot before they will flower and it took them all that time to feel comfortably crowded  ...
So patience does pay, bless my mother for always telling me that when I was young...

Spring and Feathered Offsprings....

 It has been an anxious time waiting for the Tawney Frogmouth chick to appear..... he started sitting on September the 17th which is seven weeks ago and I was starting to despair of ever seeing and offspring, wondering if he was sitting on dud eggs.But at last yesterday I saw  there is a chick sitting in front of his Dad... Mum is on a branch nearby, so all is well.
What a relief ,as you wonder if we are upsetting nature so much now with the vineyards spraying incessantly for downy mildew at present with this strange weather we are having.

 Meanwhile the Willy Wagtails have hatched about four little chicks on the patio vine under cover...we were worried they might expire when we had a sudden burst of very hot weather last week but they survived. Then they also survived the most ferocious thunderstorms we had three nights ago when large hailstones pelted down on the roof, as of course they are well and truly sheltered from those stones with a solid roof over their nest.
The magpies too, have hatched a baby as we can hear it singing out but the nest is too high to make a decent photograph of it.

The other pleasing thing is that the one remaining old chook, which I have been too soft to dispatch for chicken soup and still buying layer pellets for, has suddenly starting to lay eggs....
she is producing one a day...how good is that ...
my patience has been rewarded
now I wonder if I should get her some companions but on the other hand she may be quite happy on her own with nothing to bother her...

 I took a photo of Wombat, one of the quirky pottery animals made by a Yankalilla potter some years ago, as it is looking rather splendid with a fuchsia  I bought at Aldi a while ago.It looked pretty dreadful at the time and felt stupid afterwards for having bought it. It took a long time to right itself as I realized I was drowning it with kindness and it really wanted to be left alone.
Since then it has recovered to the extend where I think I shall have to find a larger pot or even split it up.

The strap cactus is flowering madly as well in front of the Studio.
In fact the whole garden is looking brilliant at present after the good thunderstorm rains we had, nothing like rain to spur plants on....

Spring and the Willy Wagtail nest building

"Spring has sprung and the grass has rizz
I wonder where the birdies is..."
Omar Khayyam said " the Bird is on the wing" but isn't the wing on the bird?...
Our pond has attracted a variety of birds this spring. We had the Black duck pair amusing themselves while the White-faced Heron stood calmly by. Yesterday three black duck flew in and it was a bit like a gang rape, as the female was being mounted by two males and nearly drowning in the process.....a bit of a worry that..

Our resident Willy Wagtail couple have been busy constructing their nest for the past fortnight or so.They both came onto the patio vine and decided where a good branch might be. After testing a few areas first ,they decided that the branch nearly above our Weber would be a good place. I have told them, we live here also and they will have to put up with me cooking out there at times.....they don't mind at all it appears....
Their nest is a marvel of construction. It seems they glue the first layer down and then proceed to bring in suitable materials like fine twigs

 and grasses. Then they hunt out the spiderwebs and use them to strengthen the whole structure.
By this time they look for lining materials and I put out some combed wool fibers which they duly picked up and used.
If you click on the left photo you can see the male smoothing down the outside of the nest.
Now I guess it will be egg laying time and while she sits, he sings her songs all night long....
so sweet....

The photo on the right shows a pair of Wood duck which flew in a couple of weeks ago.
They of course, make their nest in the large Gum tree by the gate, high up and well out of reach of
predators. When the ducklings have hatched and big enough, they have to fall out of the tree onto the ground well below and you wonder how they survive this, bouncing quite lightly perhaps...
Funnily, the White face heron also has a nest in the same huge, Sugar gum but I think they only have about one chick whereas the Wood duck seem to have a dozen or more. They are actually not ducks but Maned Geese....
Meanwhile we have been driven mad with five hundred or more shrieking Corellas....it drives one to thoughts of Murder......

New Nest for the Tawney Frogmouth and more Visitors...

What a wonderful surprise this morning while I was hanging out the washing, to see that the Tawney Frogmouth was sitting on his nest in the tree next to the Lemon scented gumtree.
His previous nest had been in the Ashtree for at least three seasons, but sadly I noticed the branch it had been on, had fallen down on the roof of the little shed. So I had been wondering where his nest this spring might be and there he was....  The nest is pretty roughly made with mostly twigs but it does seem to be reasonably anchored between the smaller branches. It was blowing a gale today so it had a good trial to see if it was safe....

It was not easy to get a clear shot but I hope you can see it better once you click on the photo.
The one on the right here he has seen me  and so by holding his head up he is pretending to be part of the tree....I had asked his permission to take photos... but you never know these days what may get said later on when he may have had some bird telling him of privacy concerns.....
I have noted down the day so as to see how long he actually takes to hatch the eggs, I hope there are two, but that is not always the case.

 The other bird which has suddenly decided this may be a good place to live is the Raven with his blue eyes.....You can't tell them apart either, so is it a him or a she? who knows.... I also want to write a blog on the mating habits of the birds here on our patch, as there is some amazing courting behaviour among the feathered  fraternity....
Anyway, there are now two ravens and they are becoming quite brazen. The noise they make on our tin roof you would think some elephants are up there and this morning they were cawing on the patio as though they owned the place.

On the right is our resident Blue tongue lizard. It  generally hibernates in the wall of the Studio and comes out in Spring when the sun warms it up.Its scientific name is Tiliqua scinoides scinoides. It gives birth to live young so does not lay eggs. Apparently it can have as many as ten little ones, in which case our place should be overrun by them, yet I have only ever seen one half grown Blue tongue since we have lived here. They feed on both flowers, berries and beetles or anything in the insect world slower than they are...
In days gone by we used to have the Bearded Dragons here also, which were such a delight to have sitting in the top of rose bushes sunning themselves. Sadly the neighboring vineyards have killed most of them as they sit on top of posts and the mechanical harvesters they now use to strip the vines also stripped the Dragons and probably finished up giving the wine a certain extra protein flavour....

Koala and other Creatures in our Garden

A little while ago now, the Magpies were very disturbed and were making unusual calls. It was almost as though they were asking questions....so I hurried outside to see what was making them so anxious... and after a little while I saw this Koala in our tree. This is the very first time we have ever seen a Koala in our garden. So I promptly hurried back into the house to get my camera.... he looked most surprised when I started photographing him and he turned around to show me his best side.... such a handsome fellow he thought he was, and so he was....
He came all the way from Willunga where he had been seen on the golf course. This is about two kilometers from our place so he had walked quite a  long way......

In the right hand picture you see a long necked Turtle. It appeared one summer evening when we were sitting on the front verandah cooling off after a hot day. It was walking across the open part of our garden which is full of ox tongue thistles which are very prickly It did not like to be photographed and hid its head under its carapace. They are native to our area and live in the Willunga creek and move around quite a bit.
I don't really want one in the pond as they are rather dirty creatures and pollute a still water pond very quickly... so I was pleased he walked on after he realized he was no longer under investigation....

This afternoon, just now,how exciting to see a  Straw necked Ibis on our pond... click on the photo and see his ginormous feet.... the kitchen window is a great place to see and observe creatures which come in to have a drink, or a bath or both. Our Wattle birds and the little green honey eaters have this amazing capacity to dive off the Holm oak branch into the pond and fly out again, shaking their feathers when they are back in the tree. The other day a Willy Wagtail was watching this performance and he thought he could try this too... he tried, poor darling but didn't quite do it right, but he did sit on a rock and shook its feathers there....it does make you wonder if they learn from each other....

"Down Under" IV Old Lady Moth

Hello there...
Today I thought you might like to see the Old Lady Moth which lives in Southern Australia and New Zealand. It is also called Dasypodia selenophora if you want to look it up in a book. It has beautiful peacock eyes on its wing and the wingspan can be 9cm wide. We usually find it between the window and the fly screen and if you have the window open at night they can keep you awake by whispering all night. Up and down the fly screen they go and all you hear is phffff, phffff.....it can be very scary when you first encounter them on a dark night in a strange room and you are trying to sleep......Equally scary is our Huntsman spider

 or Heterepoda which can be on a wall somewhere but also scare you half to death when it suddenly appears and runs towards you or along furniture....their leg span can be 25-30cm....
This one is only a little one and it had been sitting on the wall the night before and suddenly,in the morning, there it was ,all its eight legs going like fury on the table by my books.... I put a jar over it and then it sat quite calmly, though in an aggressive pose, while I took photos of it. I shove a piece of cardboard under the jar so it can sit on it and I take it out into the garden and let it go onto the rough bark of a gumtree....

This photo on the left, shows you a nest of Paper wasps, Polistes humilis which live under our eaves or in a low shrub. They are not aggressive normally but they don't like to be threatened as they will attack you then and their sting is quite painful.
They make beautiful hexagonal boxes all joined together in which the young wasps are housed.
These wasps are not as big as the European ones and only live on other insects.....
We are sighting a few European wasps now though and they survive well here sadly, because our winters are not as severe as in Europe ....Click on the photos won't you.....to get a good look at what monsters live here, Down Under.....

"Down Under" III.....

Today we are looking at a Vine Moth..... it is also sometimes called a Hawk moth...
I don't know its scientific name sadly....
All I know is that it was sitting in the corner of one of the door frames and was quite happy to be photographed.It lays its eggs on the vineleaves which grow on our patio. Come spring, which here will be next month, September , the little caterpillars start hatching and munching away on the vine leaves....which isn't much fun for us or the vine as they can make quite a mess. You will be starting Autumn in September and have some glorious weather before the cold sets in....

The moth on the right we found in the front garden on the mulch. It is sometimes called a rain moth, because they can appear here before we get rain in the autumn ,or winter if the rains are slow in coming...their scientific name is Trictena atripalpis  so you would be able to Google it.They mostly live in the Southern part of Australia. Their wingspan can be as big as 16cm....but I don't think this one was that large.
It you click on the photo you can see its glorious markings, just beautiful....

On the left is Daddy Frogmouth and his chick...
The Tawney Frogmouth nests in one of our non-native Ashtrees and has used the same nest for three years now. In this case the male sits on the nest to hatch the eggs,  usually only one or two eggs, bit like our male Emu which also looks after all the eggs.....
On this particular day it had been blowing huge winds and I think the little chick was blown out of the nest, which is a very flimsy affair of a few sticks and grass. I came out to find them sitting on the rotary clothes line, Daddy trying to pretend I wasn't there while junior posed for the camera.....he is all fluff and feathers isn't he.....

Goldfish and the wicked White faced Heron, a view from" Downunder " for my two young friends in London

The pond in our garden has waterlilies which make a good home for the Goldfish which live there as well.  They swim about quite happily most of the time and enjoy the sunshine especially. It warms their little bodies and they visit all the nooks and crannies of the slate rocks that line the pond. They do a good job of keeping the sides of the pond clean.....They also unfortunately, eat up the little tadpoles, those little black creatures which grow into frogs after a little while....

But then...when the White Faced Heron arrives, all the fish suddenly swim as fast as they can and hide under the waterlily leaves....
You can see the Heron looking very intently to see if he can't make a breakfast of one of the little Goldfish, but they hide themselves pretty well. The Heron though, is very smart and knows how to stir the water with his leg and scare the fish out into the open water where he can see them and grab one....Remember to click on the photos to get a close look at the pond and its wildlife won't you.....

Strange Fungi and a New Industry at Willunga.....

 We have had the most amazing fungi come up in different parts of the garden over the past few weeks. Sadly I have no ideas of their names.
The one on the left is only one of many clumps which have pushed their way up through the gravel drive which is pretty compacted.I am astounded at the energy this must take to get through the hard crust. I don't think they are edible and I certainly would not attempt to cook and eat them. I remember some friends years ago who found some mushrooms when we lived at Hughes Park and took them home against our advice ,cooked and ate them and nearly died.

The fungi on the right I have never seen before.
It looks like a cauliflower and has popped up under some gum trees and native shrubs. I have never seen these before and wonder where they suddenly came from. There are about three of them at some distance from each other.
The gum leaves next to it gives some idea of its size.
We have not had any of the usual edible mushrooms this year and it makes you wonder if it has something to do with the dry season we have had, till today that is....we have had over an inch and a half since last night....oh blessed rain....if anyone can name these I would welcome comments....

My waggish friend looked over our neighbours paddock north of us yesterday and seeing the new posts, said " I see your neighbour is starting a new industry". Bemused I said "What do you mean a new industry". "Well" he replied, "I see he has started a Didgeridoo plantation".....
I can't wait for spring to see them showing their colours......

About Wild Creatures which visit Tineke and Brian's Garden at Willunga

 I am writing this blog for two special little girls who live in London. Their Grandmamma told me they would love to hear about some of the creatures which visit Tineke and Brian's garden. To see some of the photos she was able to take of them before they went off to hunt for their food or to get back to their families.....
The Echidna ....One late autumn  afternoon, we heard a gentle knocking on the patio door and when we opened it, there was the Echidna....

Did it want to come in and be warm by the fire?
No, it wanted to know where the best ants nests were so it could get a good feed.... so it shuffled off to the nearest ants nest . We did hope it would hang around but we have not seen it again sadly...it probably lives near the Willunga creek.
Does it remind you a little of the English Hedgehog do you think?
On the right is a photo of a little Gheko, it shot into our sitting room as I opened the door to get some wood for the fire. I was very worried that he might hide under the furniture but it didn't do that so I was able to put a glass jar over it and  take photos of it. It is a pretty little thing with lovely markings and in the morning I let it go in the garden where there was mulch and it could hide there and not get eaten by the Magpies.
Little Ghekos live in little family groups and love to eat bugs and things. Don't you love his little feet with those broad little toes which hold him up and he can climb up windows at night and catch moths which are attracted to the light.
Do click on the photos to get a really clear look at them.....they will be chuffed that you want to look at them and admire them...

Winter in the Fleurieu......

 Yesterday, 24th July, was a very wild and woolly day and not looking forward to being inside yet again, we thought it might be good to pack a picnic and go to Parson's Beach look out and have lunch there.
So I duly made salad rolls and a thermos of coffee, packed our cameras, dressed in rain jackets and set off late morning in somewhat of a storm...We drove through misty rain and howling winds along the roads that led through Yankalilla ,past Fannyside on the Torrensvale road which becomes a dirt road before you get to the Range road which leads to the turn off for Parsons Beach.

As it had been my suggestion to go on this little adventure I kept saying I was sure the weather would clear by the time we got to the look out.
Sure enough it did clear long enough for us to enjoy our lunch and see the wild waves, swooping gulls and a little singing honey eater taking shelter in the undergrowth. It was an off shore wind so the waves had these interesting plumes blowing back as they arrived where they break. Remember to click on the photos to get a better view. We came home via the Victor harbour bypass, a more civilized way to travel..

The above photo was taken last week, early in the morning when the sun was rising through some very dark clouds and the light was rather spectacular and reflected off  tree limbs and the Trevi fountain I foolishly agreed to take off someones hand some time ago. Still, the birds like it and it has succulents on it so it needs very little water. The pond is quite full now after these lovely rains we are having at present. The white flowers are some snapdragons which seem to last longer than one season.

More wildlife appeared suddenly last week when these two kangaroos were sitting in the front garden by the pond.They were not all that fussed when I came out with the camera, not to just photograph them but also to tell them I had rather they went back to the vineyard next door where they mainly live as they could do quite a bit of damage in our garden. Besides, they are quite imposing as they sit there looking at you and the male could be aggressive and I don't really want to argue with him....

Across the road from us are vineyards in their winter dormancy, pruned and ready for spring. Willunga village is actually at the base of the hills but the vines block the view of the houses which is rather good.
This afternoon this pair of Black duck arrived to investigate the pond. I am pretty sure it is the same pair which arrives near spring but of course that may be my fond imagining, although they never seem very disturbed by me photographing them through the kitchen window. They obviously do see me there as most birds have excellent eye sight.
This last photo is of our garden at the back.

It looks lovely and green now with the winter rains as in the summer it is brown and yellow.
The roses still have leaves and I will have to start pruning next week in spite of that. I picked Black velvet and St John last week and the roses are still looking well in the vase, just amazing.
The lemon tree in the container is looking much better. We have not been able to grow a lemon tree here as the soil is heavy clay and lemon trees like well drained soil. Luckily our friend gave us a whole bag of lemons which are so useful and make wonderful lemon butter......

Yellow tailed Black Cockatoos and other Birds in Willunga

Over the past week or so, we have seen some very different birds come to our garden.
Yesterday, early in the morning we had a flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos land in the gum trees at the back of the house. They have a modest, rather squeaky voice, unlike their raucous White Sulphur-crested cousins or indeed the even more loud and obnoxious Corellas....
These Black Cockatoos are meant to be on the endangered list but we had about two dozen here for a while. They are inclined to prune quite heavy branches near the top of the eucalyptus trees. So if they stay too long they can do quite a

of damage.
The Ibis on the right has been stalking around the garden for some days now and this morning it decided to investigate the pond.
It has been on its own, yet they mostly seem to be in small flocks and patrol the vine yards nearby.
We often wonder how many bugs and harmful insects they would devour each day and so keep crops and vineyards healthy. It was finding something under the low shrubs by the pond and I hope it was not a frog....

Later in the day the White faced Heron came and stood on one leg in the pond, looking miserable and cold.He, and I think it is the male as he is inclined to attack the spare bedroom window probably thinking it is a rival, has been catching the gold fish which are still there in a goodly number. I wish he would catch them all as then we may have frogs again. The Goldfish eat small froglets and also the spawn so there is no hope of having a lot of frogs in the garden, such a shame....

We have also had an influx of little White Eyes or Thorn bills. They are difficult to photograph too, as they are very quick and don't stay in one place long enough to get a really good shot.
They too, must do an excellent job of keeping little bugs under control. Of course they also love fruit and when we had Mulberries quite some years ago now, you would be picking Mulberries one side of the tree and a flock of the little buggers would be feasting on the berries on the opposite side. They also fit through the bird netting.....
Still, it is nice to have them around.

The other thing that is changing is the fact our neighbours are at last going to plant vines to the north of us...In a way it is sad as we are going to loose our young share farmer now. He was not told they were planting vines this season so he had planted his crop and he includes our three acres as well. Now it wont be worth his while to come down with all his equipment and do our three acres, though he assured us he will find a solution for us. I may have to start thinking Dexter cow and calf ?

I include the bottom photo to show how large the leaves grow after the Blood lily has flowered.
They are spectacular flowers that first appear with the autumn rains and the Honey eaters love them. Then the flowers die and the leaves appear......a haven for frogs.... if only the Goldfish wouldn't eat them....