Birds and flowers around Carwoola

Sorry about the very generic title: perhaps I should get my site sponsored by a supermarket chain? This is going to be a set of more or less random images and notes about things happening around the area.

The frogmouths have got their first (at least) chick.  I got a glimpse of it the day after hatching, which  think was 1 October.  This morning a probable body part of the considerably larger chick was visible under the breast of the male.  Hopefully they'll have two chicks and I will get a squizz of the second chick any time from now.

The Pied Currawongs above them have also hatched chicks which means that the - in short, rotten - birds are swooping the daylights out of me when I cross the lawn.  I had thought last year this was a response to my throwing sticks and rocks at them when they harassed the small dog, so this year I have been very passive with the revolting things.  Nah, just means they regard me as a soft target.  Back to the big chuck!

Said lawn has for some reason become very attractive to psittacoids.  Most days recently we have had 3 - 4 Crimson Rosellas grazing there, up to 4 Galahs and this morning (8 October) 2 Eastern rosellas.  Here is a picture of the last species: not a great snap but they are pretty birds!

As far as I can work out they are scoffing up the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) seeds.  This is good work as long as they dont pass it out in a viable, and pre-fertilisered condition!

Over the last couple of years I have spent a small amount of time constructing and erecting some hollow log nest boxes for Striated pardalotes.  These have been totally rejected, but I have found the birds choosing to nest in an open ended box section in one of our sheds.  Hopefully they will have finished their business before the weather gets too hot or there will be fried pardalote!


I set off to take some plant photos and got as far as the cattle grid where the small dog got curious about something.  Sure enough there was a reptile without legs disappearing from view.  The first of the season at the house.  Hopefully the repellers will keep them from the areas we (and the small dog) usually frequent.  I will confess to being a bit surprised - but not unhappy - that she seemed to be a bit afraid of the beast.  As we walked over the grid on the way back a more normal reaction to 'game' was evident.  I suspect the pause on the way out was just letting the memory wind back to "long, thin, slither = snake -> KILL"!

That was avoided however and I snapped a few plants.  The Pultenaea procumbens - a legume - was a season first so fits in the page for that category.   Lining our garden is Acacia pravissima and as that has finally fired up I have included an image on the Acacia page.  The next specimen is included here since it doesn't fit well with the narrative of my page about Waxlip orchids.  However despite its colour that is what it is: a white form of Glossodia major!
As far as I can determine it is simply a different 'form of the 'normal' species.

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