A moth my first post for some time.

Back home after having a most enjoyable holiday touring around England and Scotland visiting castles, ruins,cathedrals, museums and taking in the scenery. Intended doing a blog on the trip but found the ipad not particularly friendly and usually out of time as we crammed so much into each day.

Since getting back organising and editing photos has been taking up most of my spare time and not taking many photos. We are experiencing the coldest winter for some years and the wildlife is on the scarce side as they are taking shelter from the bitter winds.

Today I found a moth clinging to the flyscreen door and it was one not seen before so a photo was required.

Identified as belonging to the ARCTIINAE family Nyctemera secundiana a species which is often seen flying in daylight. Found in NSW and Qld. and the larvae are known to feed on one of our most prolific and difficult weeds, Fireweed although unfortunately not enough caterpillars to make any impact.

A big hand

We have not seen a lot of frogs this season which is probably not too surprising considering was one of our driest summers for some time. But today after light rain last night, I rescued from the pool a frog that is not one we see all that frequently, the Broad-palmed Frog Litoria latopalmata, although that seems somewhat of a misnomer as its species name means side-handed.

They have a range extending from mid Queensland south into NSW to about Sydney and their habitat is quite varied from open country through to various forest types.
It is a distinctive frog with strong colouring and markings making it unlikely to be mistaken for other species.

 

Not for eating

A burst of rain has brought forth the fungi and a couple made an early morning appearance standing out like and ice cream on a stick against a dark background of vegetation.

However this is not for eating as it is a poisonous species Chorophyllum molybdites and quite common throught the northern half of Australia.

The call went out

A busy time not allowing much action with the camera and there has been little in the way of new exciting subjects. However that is not much of an excuse as even the everyday subjects are worth new angles.
But today a promising photo opportunity was announced as I was going to let the chooks out for their afternoon foraging. On my way to their yard my attention was drawn by lots of birds giving warning calls and looking up to where they were coming from found a Brown Goshawk perched on a branch and quite unconcerned at all the ruckus around it. Went to get the camera thinking that it would probably be gone when I got back but found it had stayed put and was unfazed by my presence.

 

My previous posting of a Brown Goshawk was a fuzzy long distance shot and I am still not certain of the identification thinking it may have been a Collared Sparrowhawk as the tail although roundish has a slight fork which is one of the means of identifying between the two. This one has a definite rounded tail and the broad barring on the breast is indicative of a young bird.

Golden feed stop

Our Grevillea "Honey Gem" is in full flower and is proving to be a regular feeding stop for many of our birds, particularly the honeyeaters. Throughout the day they flit in and out spending just enough time to top up their energy. The wrens like the one below are early arrivals to supplement their insect diet with a sip of nectar and maybe pick up and insect or two that are also after the nectar.

The honeyeaters of various species are often feeding together but the arrival of one of the larger birds will cause a sudden departure of the smaller cousins.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Brown-headed Honeyeater

Lewin Honeyeater

Striated Thornbill

White-cheeked Honyeater