The natives are getting ready for spring

As well as the bulbs coming up in the garden some of the native plants growing on the rest of the block are flowering.  Two of the earliest are

Acacia gunnii
 Melichris urceolatus
 The most widespread heath on the block is Leucopogon fletcheri, but that is still in bud.
 Likewise none of the Fabaceae (ie the beans) appeared to be flowering yet.  This doesn't surprise me for the "egg and bacon" genera such as Dillwynia or Pultenaea.  However there is usually a fair crop of the purple - mauve plants such as Hovea and, specially Hardenbergia.  Perhaps the dry Autumn has caused them to slow up?  By late August they have begun to appear.

Moving on to the descendants of the dinosaurs, I have seen a Pied Currawong carrying nesting material, but the Tawny Frogmouths don't seem to have started building their nest yet (at least not in either of the spots they have used in previous years).  Update: they are at it again!

Other descendants of dinosaurs tend to be grouped as reptiles.  A few of the smaller skinks have been seen around and are certainly taunting the small dog from their hiding places.  It is I think still a bit cool for snakes to appear but I noticed that our repellers are, after 4 years, looking a bit faded and their buzz is very weak.
So replacements seemed to be in order.   Checking on the internet it appeared that the price has dropped by about 50% since our last purchase to about $50 a unit.  (There are a range of even cheaper ones, but they appear to have a very limited life and I prefer not to buy use and chuck stuff where possible.)

So I have acquired six new units.  They started buzzing as soon as they were connected  which made the process rather like working in a clock shop at mid-day!
 Let us hope they work as well and as long as the previous ones.
I have left the old ones in place, as they might still be adding a bit of strength to the message of 'go away', but have put three new ones close to them (red dots below).  I have also expanded the coverage (yellow dots) to include a bank to the West of the house and the garden bed on the Eastern end of the house.

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