"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....