Poke it With a Stick

Gonzo

2012-03-05T09:03:00.000+10:00

Today I am showing you just one of the many types of weevils found here in Australia.

Some weevil species are a serious pest that threaten trees, vegetable and grain crops.

This particular weevil reminds me of one of the muppet characters called 'Gonzo'

Cheerio for now,

Sandi x

Zebra Blue

2012-02-26T16:34:00.001+10:00

Today I have found for you a most gorgeous little butterfly - the Zebra Blue. The underside of the wings have exquisitely marked patterns. The top side of the wings are shiny blue-grey.

They are rarely found not far from this shrub (above) - the Plumbago, as its' green caterpillars love to feed on the buds and flowers. This blue plumbago is hanging over our side fence near my veggie garden. It is such a delight to spy a little Zebra Blue flitting around the pretty flowers.
Do you have Zebra's in your garden?

Cheerio,
Sandi x

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-22T06:47:00.000+10:00

Sandi x

I Spy a Spider

2012-02-09T12:45:00.000+10:00

Who is looking at who?
Today I have found for you a Bronze Jumping Spider.
A small spider with excellent eyesight. (notice it's large front pair of eyes). They can turn their head separate from their body to look at objects.
Jumping spiders do not make webs to catch their prey. Instead they hunt by jumping on small insects.
Fascinating to watch.

Cheerio for now,
Sandi x

What's that on the gate

2012-02-06T15:59:00.000+10:00

Sitting out on the verandah with a cool drink yesterday, I noticed that the garden gate didn't look quite right.

On closer inspection, there was a small green tree snake, taking a short cut across the gate .
These shy little snakes are non-venomous, and hunt for frogs and skinks.
Just after I took the photo, it skedaddled off into the hedge......

Cheerio for now,
Sandi x

Grey Huntsman

2012-01-29T14:17:00.000+10:00

.....or poke it with a tape measure in this case.

A common visitor in these parts is the Grey Huntsman spider.

They can grow as big as a hand span.

Huntsman spiders are fast,

and hunt quite easily upside down on ceilings or walls.
They only seem to hang around for a few days, then they disappear.

Quite an impressive spider!

Sandi x

Blending In

2012-01-28T16:12:00.000+10:00

A couple of little spiders for you to look at today.

The first one is a flower spider. What unusual markings it has.

These guys usually sit inside a flower to ambush their prey.

The second one is a crab spider.

It would be very hard to spot sitting on a plant stem or the trunk of a tree.

I have a few more spiders to show you, but I will keep them for another day.
Cheerio,
Sandi x

A Rather Large Lacewing

2012-01-27T11:25:00.000+10:00

I found this lovely lacewing (Nymphes myrmeleonides) recently. It had been attracted by the house lights.

These particular ones are sometimes mistaken for dragonflies.

You can see how they get their name 'lacewing' from their gauzy, net-like wings which are very richly patterned with veins.

I am constanly amazed by the variety of wildlife found in my garden, and hope you enjoy discovering them with me.

Cheerio,
Sandi x

A little Crabby

2011-11-24T15:35:00.000+10:00

Walking along Currimundi beach one morning, we came across this little fellow.

Look at those amazing eyes!

It is a stalk-eyed ghost crab.

Look out Cricket.....it will grab your nose!

Cheers,
Sandi x

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T07:00:00.004+10:00

Cheers,
Sandi x

A little Longicorn

2011-08-27T18:06:00.000+10:00

What a cute little face, can you guess what it is?

.......A longicorn beetle.

Cute little fella isn't he?

I love the camouflage colouring on this beetle.

......and the long antennae.

Dropping by

2011-07-15T11:47:00.000+10:00

Frequent visitors to our garden are the colourful and raucous rainbow lorikeets.

Quite a large group arrived to tuck in to some sunflower seeds.

A bit of squabbling over getting a spot on the feeder.

Coral tree flowers are a favourite source of nectar for the rainbow lorikeets too.
We have several of these large trees in our yard adding a splash of red amongst the (almost) bare winter branches.
Hope you enjoyed today's post,
Sandi x

The Evening Brown

2011-07-12T14:07:00.000+10:00

The 'Evening Brown' butterfly is cunningly disguised as a leaf.
Resting during the day on the ground with it's wings folded makes it difficult to detect......until you walk nearby. The startled butterfly will often land not too far from where it was sitting.......making a great game of hide and seek.

You can catch a glimpse of the beautiful outer wing colours above.

My book says,

'The Evening Brown does not visit flowers, but sucks juice from fermenting fruit'.

Mmm......I wonder if some of that juice is alcholic? Perhaps it is having fruit cocktails in the evening....

Cheers,
Sandi x

A Beautiful Beetle

2011-07-11T15:12:00.001+10:00

How gorgeous is this little jewel of a beetle?

Shining in the sun like an irridescent christmas decoration.

I could not find the name of this one.

It was tricky taking a photo as it was a very busy beetle not wanting to stay still.

You can see that the beetle is quite tiny compared to the size of my fingers.

I am very lucky to have such treasures living in my backyard.

Until next time,

keep your eyes out, you may just find your own tiny treasure,

Sandi x

Purple Swamphens

2011-06-27T13:07:00.000+10:00

Regular visitors to our garden are the Purple Swamphens.

They particularly love to stop off on their way through our yard to have a dip in the birdbath.

In sunlight, their plumage shines with an intense blue sheen.

......doing a little dance

Another one joins in for a dip.
I just love watching the antics of these colourful birds.

Sandi x

Wattle Pigs

2011-06-23T10:34:00.000+10:00

One of my favourite little bugs are the 'Wattle Pigs'. It is a type of weevil (Leptopius).

As it's name suggest these guys feed on our native wattle tree leaves.

A kid friendly bug that doesn't bite and is fairly slow moving.

Wattle pigs have a bumpy hard shell covering their wings.

........and are well camouflaged to blend in with their surroundings.

Keep your eyes peeled, you never know what you may find in your garden.......

Happy bug hunting,

Sandi x

A Curious Caterpillar

2011-06-22T16:22:00.001+10:00

Look at all those long hairs covering this little caterpillar.

It was quite a sight walking along.
** now identifed as the caterpillar of the Lichen Moth Cyana meyricki courtesy of Don Herbison-Evans from the Coffs Harbour Butterfly House.

Sometime later.........
Aha! That's what all those long hairs are for -
to weave a protective shelter whilst it is pupating.
So neatly built.
What a clever little thing!

Sandi x

**Edited 24th June to add this photo
Photographer Dr David Britton, Australian Museum

This is what the little hairy caterpillar turns into!

Beautiful!

It's not easy being green

2011-06-21T08:54:00.000+10:00

Having a cuppa on the verandah, I noticed a frog (trying to be inconspicuous) hiding amongst the agapanthus leaves.(photo taken in april) This little beauty is a 'Graceful Treefrog'.

It is amazing how they cling to the leaves with their padded toes.

I love the way they sit with their legs all neatly folded in.

Can you see Mr Roo in the background? He is quite used to me running off to get the camera to photograph the wildlife for the blog.......

Cheerio for now,
Sandi x

It arrived with the wood

2011-06-20T16:33:00.000+10:00

A big centipede came with our load of winter wood.
Luckily we were wearing gloves at the time. These guys can give you a nasty bite. In the photo above, the head end is on the left.

Here it is heading for the safety of the wood stack. Hope we don't see it again!

We have had some brilliant winter weather these last few days.
Lovely sunny days and cool, cool nights - just perfect for sitting by the fire in the evenings (with wine glass in hand).
Cheers,
Sandi x

Disappearing photos

2011-04-01T08:58:00.000+10:00

Don't know what seems to be happening with the photos. The post looks ok when it is put up, but next day, half the photos are missing???!!! It's very frustrating. Hope this problems sorts itself out soon.
Cheerio for now,
Sandi x

Buzzy Beez

2011-03-25T13:32:00.000+10:00

A frequent visitor to our gardens are the native 'blue banded' bees. They are slightly bigger and fatter than a honeybee. These bees are attracted to blue flowers. The flower featured here is a hedgehog sage.

This one (above) is sipping nectar from a mauve plectranthus flower.

Blue banded bees are capable of buzz-pollination, which is a method they use to vibrate the pollen from flowers. Industry is trialling them as pollinators for tomatoes in greenhouses.

It's nice to see these bees bumbling about in the garden.

Sandi x

Lovely Ladybirds

2011-03-24T14:00:00.000+10:00

Some ladybird beetles for you today.

The first one is a 'tortoise shell', or 'netty' ladybird.

Isn't it's shell glossy - just like is has been polished.

The '28 spotted Potato Ladybird Beetle'. Sometimes an agricultural pest - as it eats potato (and other solanum species) plant leaves. I usually leave them if I see them on my potato plants. They can chew the leaves - I'll have the potaotes!

A 'Fungus-eating Ladybird beetle'.

And lastly, this unidentified one.....lovely!
You might just see one in your garden.....

Cheerio,
Sandi x

Jezabel

2011-03-23T16:55:00.000+10:00

Look what I found yesterday - a 'common jezabel' (Delias nigrina).

It was happy enough to sit on my hand and be photographed.

As the name suggests, they are quite a common butterfly and are regular visitors to our garden.

Their caterpillars feed on mistletoes.

Cheeky!

(Poking it's tongue out!)

Cheers,

Sandi x

Spotlighting

2011-03-23T08:53:00.000+10:00

Last night I did a little spotlighting. As you do......
I could hear this guy nearby the house. They have a loud distinctive call - 'wark, wark, wark'.
It is a 'Great Barred Frog'.
Look at all those wonderful stripes!

Here's one I photographed previously in the daytime. These frogs are quite large.
They like to hide in the leaf mulch and are found along streams in rainforest or tall open forest.

Over in the pond garden was a 'Striped Marsh frog', laying a batch of eggs, before the temperature starts to cool down for autumn.
Quite a common frog here. They make a 'pop' or 'tok' sound. Sometimes there is an orchestra of marsh frogs in the pond.

Do you have frogs in your garden?

Cheers,
Sandi x

Got Lllegs

2011-03-22T17:25:00.000+10:00

Mmm...what can it be?

An unusual button perhaps?

It's got legs!! and lots of them!

A millipede of course!

Don't poke this one too much with a stick - it emits a pungent smell! Phew!

Cheerio for now,

Sandi x

Dragonflies

2011-03-22T16:27:00.000+10:00

I don't know the name of these dragonflies. They have brilliant markings.

This one looks like it is riding the flower (mexican sage). Giddyup!!

Cheers,
Sandi x

Bug on a Stick

2011-03-22T15:28:00.000+10:00

Hi - di - ho .....and away we go,
hang on to your sticks, bug spotters, here is the very first post.

This is a longicorn beetle.
They are sometimes found on windows at night, attracted by the light. Their larvae eat rotten wood - nature's little recyclers.

These beetles have very very long antennae........

and a cute little face!

Cheers,
Sandi x