Patient hunter

We are having extremely hot and dry weather with little rainfall in the past four months and our bird baths are getting well used. Over the past week and a bit we have had a large Diamond Python located on the top of a fallen log that is part of the garden not far from our front door and for most of the day it is just curled up inconspicuously on top of the log.

However there is a bird bath located on the ground just below the log and the python had worked out that this was a likely location to catch its next meal. (I do not believe in intervening in the natural way of things, so life and death is part of everyday)

In the morning and late afternoon the python would position itself poised ready to strike and stay without moving for a number of hours. 

Birds are generally at this bird bath most mornings and afternoons but they had obviously worked out that the python was there as they gave it a wide berth and used our other bird baths.

I did think that it was only a matter of time before one arrived without knowing about the snake, however I was surprised yesterday morning to hear a scuffle and look out to see an unexpected result.

The water had brought a Red-necked Wallaby and her youngster in for a drink and the python had the youngster in its deadly coils.

Death came relatively quickly through suffocation, as you will note a coil around the mouth and the many coils tightening around the chest.

As soon as the struggling ceased the python arranged itself at the head and through the expansion of elasticised ligaments holding the jaws and then dislocation of the jaws it commenced to swallow the wallaby.

 

Throughout, the mother wallaby was nearby not able to do anything and it appeared not all that certain of what was happening and where the youngster had gone.

With the wallaby completely swallowed the python put its jaws back in place and moved off to find a secluded place to spend time digesting the large meal and it will be unlikely to need to hunt for sometime.

 Mother wallaby stayed around for awhile looking around and givimg little calls before moving to feed.

You feel a sense of loss at seeing the death of a cute furry little critter but the python has to exist as well and they are quite beautiful in their own way.

 

Heliotrope, the food not the colour

A warm still night brought out quite a few moths and a small one (about 3cm wingspan. that I caught was quite a standout with bright spots on a white background.

The identification check took a bit of time matching as there are two very similar moths but the pattern of the dots fitted the Heliotrope Moth Utetheisa pulchelloides one of the ARCTIIDAE family. They are widespread through the Indo-Australasian region and the caterpilars feed on plants of the Borage Family. The introduced European Heliotrope is a widespread weed throughout Australia and is poisonous to cattle and sheep so this moth could be a biological control agent then again it might also decimate positive plants on the borage family. Interesting to note that the name Heliotrope was given to plants that turn towards the sun and some of those had blue flowers that gave rise to a Heliotrope Blue colour.

Monitor and company

A warm day and a young lace monitor chose a quiet spot on the deck for a sunbake with a couple of  garden ornament Wombats for company.

White trim

Found a moth resting up for the day on the ceiling of the verandah and when I tracked down the identity I was surprised at the common name "Browntail Gum Moth". 

As the photo shows the most striking feature is the white trim on both pair of wings and the brown tail is well hidden under the folded wings.
It is one of the LYMANTRIIDAE family Urocoma baliolalis with a wide range over eastern Australia where the caterpillars feed on eucalyptus leaves.

Superb Scarlet

Scarlet Honeyeaters are beginning to arrive in numbers as their favourite food shrubs in the garden are coming into spring flowering. Today they were busy in the Grevilleas and this one was feeding on the hybrid Grevillea "Superb".