Looking Closer...

One of the things I've learned since owning this expanse of woodland is to look closely at all kinds of things, whether they be on the ground, in the air, on a tree... whatever. Of course, not being a scientist, I tend to see things that I can only guess at. The bug above would not be an insect since I was taught at school that they have six legs! Is it some kind of millipede?

And these were sitting on the gravel next to the car, getting very cosy with each other. I've seen the stripy caterpillars (larvae) in Melbourne that people say spit at you, but these were about 1.5 cm long and hanging around in this small group.
Any guidance as to what either of these are would be appreciated!

On the other hand, after watching some birds out the front of the house and making close observations through binoculars, I was able to later find my bird book and identify them as white-winged choughs. And I was right - they did behave just like my chooks did in the back yard as they scratched and dug and pecked.
Their curved beaks and red eyes make them easily identified as not crows! Now all I need to do is keep an eye out for their mud nests.

The Effects of Rain

Tall sundews started springing up in October.
The bracken (unfortunately) also started springing up and is now everywhere again, but at least it provides cover for the roos and birds and all the other things that rummage around in the undergrowth.
The wildflowers have gone berserk, especially these bluebells. I've never seen so many, all over the place, before. The blue pincushions up the north end are also numerous. Not so many vanilla lilies and fringe lilies yet, and hardly a riceflower to be seen.
Maybe this will be the summer we see the butterflies back in large numbers again? It's been six years now since that first summer where dozens flew around you with every step. Sigh.

Sap and ... what?

Spring is on the way, I guess, and I have photos to post ... when Blogger decides to stop being on a go-slow. So the gum trees are getting excited, and I keep finding little knobs of red sap on the ground. This is on a tree, though.
And this is ... mould? I think I've posted a similar photo a year or more ago, and someone suggested it was a type of mould or fungus, but this specimen wasn't in a damp area. It was sitting on the side of the track in the grass and leaves. It did look wet, though.

The Joys of Lichen and Moss

It's like a little forest on top of a tree stump...

Yet another year of little rain. On the one hand, I can say that our 20,000 litre tank supply is full after only about 3-4 weeks, yet by looking around the area carefully as I walk, I could see that there wasn't much evidence of persistent soaking rain - usually I see fungi on tree trunks, a lot of moss and lichen, toadstools and fungi everywhere on the ground. This year was very sparse up until about 3 weeks ago (when our tanks started filling). But I hate to think what might be ahead of us this summer.

Conservation at all costs?

This is a tree. A very large gum tree - actually only half of it, because the other half (it was a double-trunker) fell the other way. You may discern that under this tree is a shed. Or what is left of it.
This is one of the trees that we wanted to cut down, but were told we were not allowed. This is an old and historic tree, the council man said. It must be preserved. This was three years ago when, even then, it was obvious the two trunks were gradually moving apart, and the tree falling was inevitable.
This tree is no longer old and historic. It is FLAT on the ground and it is becoming FIREWOOD. Unlike many of our other varied and beautiful gum trees, which are numerous and have birds and animals in them, this tree was clearly doomed, even to those who didn't know much about trees. Now it has gone. Our task is to try and extract our stuff from the shed, bit by bit.
The tree cannot be left for native habitat. There are many other fallen trees doing this job much better. Hopefully now it has gone, it will leave room for new trees.

Fungi at last

We've finally had enough rain for the fungi to start popping out. Always lots of orange ones (above).

But I've never seen these before! I did a quick search of the fungi identification websites (but as I have no idea about their scientific names and families, I didn't get far). However, I did find one illustration of a green fungi called Amanita austroviridis. Is this it? Anyone know?

When Was This Bushfire?

I saw another photo yesterday of the bushfire devastation at Kinglake - the vast expanses of what look like burnt sticks, once a forest. On the weekend, I took these two photos. We don't have many trees like this, but there are a few. Big old gum trees with the insides burned out, that are still growing, one way or another. The bushfire that went through this area (and I'm told it was a bad one) was in 1969!