More December photos

I am now thinking these are pale vanilla lilies. Like the fringe lilies, they are blooming everywhere but you almost don't see them as you walk - they are so small and delicate.

This is new to me - the book says it is Slender Speedwell.

Plenty of birds around at the moment, most of which are high in the canopy. A flock of magpies are constantly flying around like black and white swooping flags, warbling and singing.
This is a crimson rosella, waiting for its friends to come back.

Still not sure what this is, although it could be a variety of loosestrife. It's only growing in the bottom of the gully where it's been very wet over winter.

Early December flowers

Another fringe lily, just because they are my favourites.

Blue pincushions - after a slow start they are all coming out on the north side.

Bluebell - not so many this year but this was a large one.

Vanilla lily - in my reference book these are purple but all the ones I have seen are white.

Often when a tree falls, it tried to keep growing, sending out lots of small spurts. This one has finally given up.

November - a mix of flora and fauna

 Found a few of these on the plastic drum by the wood pile. Maybe they like blue?

 Chocolate lily. I've found a few vanilla lilies and fringe lilies each spring but I think these are the first of this kind.

 Common lace flowers - there weren't many last year but they seem to have come back a bit this spring.

There are hundreds of milk maids everywhere this year. Here a spider is resting on one!

And finally the wallaby, who seems to think it's always breakfast somewhere around the house!

Mid-Spring wild flowers (and roo)

Milkmaids are popping up everywhere on the northern side (more direct sunlight).

A roo stops to watch the watchers!

Fringe lilies have long been a favourite of mine, and now these smaller Twining Fringe Lilies are growing in different places - always interesting when I find something new.

The steady rain over the past 3 years or so has led to the violets spreading into beds everywhere. These are Ivy-leafed Violets.

Spring (September) 2013

 The thing I like about moss and lichen is what you see up close - instead of a green mass, it's all these tiny little plants.

Harder to see here but all the same ...

White caladenia - the first of the orchids out.

Creeping Bossiaea - always bright, and everywhere at the moment.

One of the first butterflies of the season. According to Museum Victoria's search page, it could be a Common Crow or Oleander Butterfly.

Winter mini-landscapes

I have to say I love the macro setting on my camera. You can probably tell! Since it's winter in the bush right now, there are mainly lichens and mosses growing, some fungi and some heaths.

June fungi

 Having had a fair amount of rain and then sunny days that have warmed pockets around and through the canopy means I'm starting to see mushrooms, toadstools and all sorts of fungi popping up. A few explosive ones (which as kids we used to call puffballs, but these are a bloody brown inside) and hundreds of tiny ones like dots in the leaf litter.

 The occasional bigger bright orange specimens.

And this one determined to rise above everything else!

A very quiet summer

I haven't posted anything much here for a while because there has been nothing new or different to report. The summer has been average, some rain but not much, we've had lots of butterflies but few low-growing flowers, and plenty of bracken, as always.

Birds have been more active, as have the roos and wombat, but really, all has been pretty quiet. I'm just grateful we haven't had a lot of bushfire risk. We've been clearing around the house and tidying up, as you do in summer, and now autumn is settling in. So only three photos to offer today, and one is of my favourite rocks!

A Little Wildlife

 I was collecting weeds and paper to add to the worm farm toilet (for a bit of variety) and this popped out of the bucket, looking most annoyed.

I assume this is some kind of trapdoor spider (not a funnelweb here in Victoria) but I wasn't about to poke around and find out!