Three's a crowd

Marting season is well under way for the Yellow-faced Whip Snakes but it can get rather hectic with females being chased under and over their rocky habitat. Today there was a bit of competition as a couple of males were trying to tie the knot with a female, but three's a crowd and she untangled and made her escape.

Head or tail

Noticed an odd shape on the leaves of one of our Silky Oaks Grevillea robusta and on a closer look discovered a very interesting caterpillar with attractive colouring and markings.

Not certain but I think it is the caterpillar of one of the hawk moth species, Coequosa australasiae.

Time to bag the bananas

We have been flat out getting our garden ready for an open day next month and I have hardly had the camera in my hand, so slack on the blog. However today just happened to see a couple of King Parrots fly in and start feeding on wattle trees seed pods so grabbed the camera. By the time I got back they had moved to what was obviously promising a much larger feast.

With a bit of encouragement they moved back to feeding on the wattle and I decided now was a good time to bag the bananas.

One known, one UFO

Two arrivals last night after I had finished posting, however I had to try and identify, so today is the day for popping them up. One is identified and the other is still a UFO.

The identified flyer is of the Geometrinae family cyneoterpna wilsoni with the underwing markings making it a standout identity.
However I am as yet stumped on the UFO even though you would think the distinctive colouring and markings would make the ID a sitter, so I will be pleased if anyone can put a name to this character.

Superb scarlet

Warm spring weather and the Scarlet Honeyeaters are starting to arrive in numbers as we move into the peak flowering period for many of their favourite food plants. At present they are focused on the grevilleas as it is a little early for the bottlebrush flowering. I watched males and females dart from one grevillea to the next but found it difficult to get a  good shot despite some 20 odd photos. Parts of plant in the way, head turned the wrong way, shadows, movements etc but did get one that was reasonable as a male landed on a "Superb" Grevillea (hybrid).