Showing posts with label Reptiles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reptiles. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 October 2014

19th October 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report
One day we had 6.5mm in a short shower, this was the total rain fall for the last two weeks. With the humidity dipping down to 34% and lots of sunshine and temperatures reaching 32ºc which is unheard of for this time of year, the rain did little to settle the dust.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-
These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 5th- 11th October and 12th- 18th October The first week had 104 species recorded and the second week 110.

Morning and Evening Guided Walks:-
Morning bird walks produced between 54 and 66 species which was very good for 2½hrs. Highlights were two male Superb Fruit-Dove in a tree beside Bushy Creek, male Common Koel, male and female Double-eyed Fig-Parrot feeding in Cluster Fig and nesting nearby.


Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - female at nest


A Noisy Pitta was seen most mornings and two Great Bowerbird were attending a very well constructed bower. 
 

Great Bowerbird Bower

White-throated Honeyeater were building a nest and mating plus a Lemon-bellied Flycatcher was sitting on its tiny nest, the smallest of any bird in Australia. This one is about 10m off the ground.


Lemon-bellied Flycatcher - on nest

(The full morning walk species lists can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. Click on Explore Data then Hotspots and type in Kingfisher Park – you will then see the Lodge in the drop down menu. Click this on and a map will appear with two markers, click these and you can have access to all our records. It sounds long winded, but it is really easy. Alternatively you can click this link which will take you directly to Hotspots http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspots).

One highlight on a night walk was the eclipse of the moon, we watched it as we went spotlighting and ended up in Geraghty Park to have great views of the event as we listened to two Australian Owlet-nightjar calling to each other. 

Eclipse Of The Moon


Other good sightings were a very brief glimpse of a Lesser Sooty Owl as it flew over and away from us, Giant White Tree Rat, Green Ringtail Possum, Water Rat and three Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko on one night.

Other Birding Highlights:-
One Female Black-necked Stork in a lagoon behind Geraghty Park as well as two Latham's Snipe along the edge, both species not seen for many months. One Australian Pelican flew over the Lodge on the 17th October, probably heading for one of the lagoons along McDougall Road. A Grey Goshawk was seen to fly into a tree, adjacent to the Lodge orchard, carrying an Eastern Water Dragon and luckily the camera was at hand to whiz off a couple of shots before it moved off clutching its meal.


Grey Goshawk with Eastern Water Dragon


Pacific Baza have been around but not regularly and a pair of Brown Goshawk were circling over the Lodge one morning. Red-necked Crake was seen briefly late one afternoon as it was getting dark at the Crake Pool, it was also heard on several occasions. Pigeons and doves have been around to take advantage of fruiting trees and vines; those seen were Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Superb Fruit-Dove, Torresian Imperial Pigeon and Topknot Pigeon plus the regular Emerald Dove, Bar-shouldered Dove and Peaceful Dove. Lesser Sooty Owl was seen about 4.00am perched in a tree near our bunkhouse and heard on numerous other occasions. Barking Owl have been vocal with one roosting high up in a eucalypt tree near the bunkhouse one afternoon. A pair of Papuan Frogmouth have made a nest in a fern on a tree branch at a nearby private property, they laid on the 10th October and usually take about 40 days to incubate.


Papuan Frogmouth - female on nest


Dollarbird returned on 16th October along with Brush Cuckoo. Also on this day the Cicadabird started calling. Lovely Fairy-Wren were seen by our neighbours Carol and Andrew Iles (our local bird guides) in their garden, they also saw a Red-necked Crake run under their veranda. Spotted Catbird have been coming to the feeder to gather fruit and head off with it so they maybe feeding young. 13 species of honeyeater were seen and Black-chinned heard. The Eastern Whipbird mentioned in the last blog is still hanging around the area calling whilst it visits all the adjoining rainforest habitats as well as the Lodge grounds. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been visiting the fruiting trees in and around the Lodge, mainly Blue Quandong. Groups of Spangled Drongo have been passing through the area on their southern migration with up to 50+ seen at a time. Black-faced Monarch are around in increasing numbers and calling and a single female Leaden Flycatcher was heard and seen, the first for seven weeks. A few Pale-Yellow Robin have been seen feeding fledged young whilst others are still sitting on nests. A Bassian Thrush was still around the grounds in the first week but was not sighted in the second.

Further Afield:-
Mt. Lewis is still producing all the 12 “Wet Tropic” endemics but not all at once! One Blue-faced Parrot-Finch was seen near Abattoir Swamp but no reports of them up on Mt. Lewis yet. Maryfarms between Mt. Molloy and Mt. Carbine has displaying Australian Bustard, still at least eight Australian Pratincole and Carol Iles saw an injured Oriental Plover with the pratincole. Photo courtesy of Carol Iles.


Oriental Plover- broken wing

Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo were seen around the Mowbray National Park in Julatten on several occasions. Abattoir Swamp has been good for honeyeaters and White-browed Crake. Up to 12 Spotted Whistling-Duck have been reported at Keatings Lagoon near Cooktown, 2 hours north from the Lodge.

Reptiles and Mammals:-
The Water Rat seen in Bushy Creek whilst on a night walk was the most exciting mammal over the two weeks followed by the elusive Green Ringtail Possum seen once. Three Giant White-tail Rat were seen one night; they have not been seen much lately so must have woken up. Platypus have been very cooperative appearing in the morning and late afternoon with up to two. Boyd's Forest Dragon and Major Skink have also been appearing with the warmer weather. Several snakes have also woken up with sightings of Australian Scrub Python, Slaty Grey and Green Tree Snake – one in our downstairs toilet was a surprise. Just having a look around in the first photo before it retreated back inside. It eventually left by the window with a bit of encouragement and headed for the rainforest.


Green Tree Snake

Green Tree Snake
 

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles our roving bird guides for helping with the bird lists and area sightings. If you need any guiding in our local area contact us and we can put you in touch with them, contact through our secure bookings and enquiries web page. 

 

Sunday, 13 July 2014

13th July 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report
The first week was dry apart from 5mm of rain which fell over two days, the second week was dry and sunny. Temperatures ranged from a cold low of 9ºC up to 22ºC, very pleasant and great birding weather.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-
These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 29th June - 5th July and 6th - 12th July

The first week has 95 sightings and the second week 104.


Birding Highlights:-
McDougall Road lagoons produced a few waterbirds; Wandering Whistling-Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal, Hardhead, Australasian Grebe, Little Black and Little-Pied Cormorant plus Intermediate and Great Egret plus Royal Spoonbill. Waterbirds flying over included White-necked and White-faced Heron along with Australian Pelican. One of the best sightings for the week was a Great-billed Heron along Bushy Creek at the Platypus viewing area seen mid-morning whilst a group was on a morning walk. There are some Great-billed Heron nesting along Rifle Creek which is where Bushy Creek flows into. We usually get a few sightings from this time of year through to October/November. Two immature Black-shouldered Kite were in the area and must have nested nearby. A Wedge-tailed Eagle was seen both weeks and must have been drawn in by the large number of road kills we are experiencing at the moment. Our two regular White-bellied Sea-Eagles have been getting excited and are calling a lot and flying around as well as being seen perched together in a dead tree. A Red-necked Crake was heard once but again not seen unlike a Buff-banded Rail which was seen near the Mt. Kooyong Nursing Home. 
 
Buff-banded Rail

The only sighting of Topknot Pigeon was made by our neighbouring bird guide Carol Iles when she saw ten flying over Mt. Kooyong Road and the Lodge. There has been a shortage of this species so far this year. Fan-tailed Cuckoo was around for the first week calling but not heard or seen during the second week. Nightbirds seen have been two Barn Owl who have at least two young in a nest, two Barking Owl who were being chased off by a Spangled Drongo one evening and three Papuan Frogmouth plus a Lesser Sooty Owl called about one o'clock but has not been seen. Little Kingfisher was another highlight over the two weeks when it made at least two visits to the Crake Pool on the edge of the orchard. Since we have managed to get into the orchard to mow the grass, now that it has dried out, a Noisy Pitta has said thank you very much! It has been out everyday hopping around the orchard foraging for everyone to see and photograph. One morning we stood in the orchard and watched the pitta foraging with a Grey-headed Robin on the ground whilst a Spotted Catbird and adult female Victoria's Riflebird were foraging on the fruit of a Spondias. How good was that? 

Spotted Catbird

Fourteen species of honeyeater were seen with three Black-chinned Honeyeater (Golden-backed form) seen on the 8th during a morning walk being the highlight. Macleay's Honeyeater have not been coming to the feeder so often since a South American Sapote tree in our orchard has started to flower and attract them. 
 
Macleay's Honeyeater

Large-billed Scrubwren have been involved in a few feeding party's in the rainforest which have also included Little (Rufous) Shrike-thrush, Grey Whistler, Rufous Fantail and Spectacled Monarch. 
 
Large-billed Scrubwren

At least two Bower's Shrike-thrush were foraging high in the rainforest on the edge of the orchard one morning. This one is a female, note bi-colour bill as mentioned in our blog of a few weeks ago. Not a particularly good image but the bird would not come down, however it does show the bill.

 

Bower's Shrike-thrush

Their  are still a few Spangled Drongo around, one who we think always comes back to our feeder each year, hard to be sure as they all look the same!

Spangled Drongo

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher are still around Geraghty Park adjacent to the Lodge with at least four seen and heard. A surprise whilst on a morning walk was to see two Chestnut-breasted Mannikin perched on the rail around the Geraghty Park oval with five Rainbow Bee-eater.

Further Afield:-

Blue-faced Parrot-finch have been seen irregularly near Abattoir Swamp with only one or two birds. Black-throated Finch have been further north along the Kondaparinga Road towards Hurricane Station. Mt. Lewis has been running hot and cold but is still turning up most of the Wet Tropic endemics including Tooth-billed Bowerbird, female Golden Bowerbird, Fernwren, Atherton Scrubwren, Mountain Thornbill, Bridled Honeyeater, Chowchilla, Bower's Shrike-thrush, Victoria;s Riflebird and Grey-headed Robin. Lower down the mountain Pied Monarch and Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo were seen. A Green-eyed Frog Litoria serrata was also seen by one of our guests, this is one species we don't get on the Lodge grounds.


Reptiles and Mammals:-
Fawn-footed Melomy's, Yellow-footed Antichinus and Bush Rat have been around the Lodge and at the feeder near reception along with two Northern Brown Bandicoot. Two Agile Wallaby were in the orchard one night in place of the Red-legged Pdemelon which had retreated to the rainforest. A Giant White-tailed Rat was seen on a night walk climbing up and down some vines beside Bushy Creek. A few more Northern Brown Bandicoot are being seen with at least four whilst we were on a nightwalk. A Striped Possum was feeding in the orchard along with a second one on the edge of the orchard chewing into a dead tree. The second photo (a male!) shows the elongated 4th finger they use to extract wood boring grubs out of dead wood after they have chewed a hole with their lower incisors; the only other animal species is known to find food like this is the Aye-aye from Madagascar.
 
Striped Possum
 
Striped Possum - showing elongated 4th finger

Frogs have retreated with the dry cooler weather with only Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Desert (Red/Naked) Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog and Cane Toad. Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko have been found on our nightwalks in several places and our neighbours Carol and Andrew Iles had a large Carpet Python at their place which was one of the few snakes we have seen in a while.

 Insects:-
 This Australian House Centipede Allothereua maculata was found on the rainforest floor and although they are supposed to be common this is the first we have seen in the Lodge grounds. They have 15 pairs of legs and run extremely quickly, this one was put into a container to get a photo before being released.

Australian House Centipede

Thanks to our guests for reporting sightings and to Carol and Andrew Iles our roving bird guides.

For Sale:-
Canon EOS 7D body + EF 100-400mm Lens. All in excellent condition with original boxes, Instruction manual. Great bird photography outfit - have upgraded. Only $1600.00 plus P & P. Email interest

Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge Business and Property For Sale
Click here for more sale details




Sunday, 18 May 2014

18th May 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report
Mixed weather over the last two weeks, we have have some fantastic sunny days with temperatures only getting up to 24ºC. The first week was dry, but the second week some rain fell with 18mm on six rainy days, just enough to be annoying.

Birding Highlights:-
A pair of Cotton Pygmy-goose have been coming and going from one of the lagoons along McDougall Road, not a common species in our area. Bar-shouldered Dove have been displaying and calling, always nice to see this attractive dove even though it is very common.

Bar-shouldered Dove


A small flock of 8 Topknot Pigeon flew over the Lodge whilst we were on a morning walk; this is the first sighting for 13 weeks. A lone female Papuan Frogmouth showed up in the orchard for a day which was something for the Pale-yellow Robin to harass for most of the day, presumably the same bird was seen perching in front of the accommodation units on 17th May. This bird was not one of the family of three which are still in the area and seen roosting away from the Lodge. A Great Cormorant turned up along McDougall Road, another uncommon bird in the area. A Black-breasted Buzzard was along Euluma Creek Road near the Julatten School and a Square-tailed Kite was seen to fly over the Lodge. White-bellied Sea-Eagle have been displaying and calling a lot and maybe going to nest nearby. Great to see a Spotted Harrier over a cane paddock whilst we were on a morning walk late in the second week as this is an uncommon visitor. A single Purple Swamphen was along McDougall Road, another uncommon visitor. Red-necked Crake have been seen both weeks, on one occasion an adult was seen with an immature, good to know at least one of the three chicks is surviving. A pair of Scaly-breasted Lorikeet appeared at the feeder one afternoon much to our surprise as we have only seen them here once in nine years. 

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been taking advantage of a couple of fruiting fig trees, up to four have been regularly seen. On the same morning walk when the Spotted Harrier was seen a single male Australian King-Parrot flew across the Lodge grounds calling, this was a first sighting for the year at the Lodge. Barking Owl are still around and calling close to the reception area, one was seen perched in a Queensland Blue Gum near the entrance to the Lodge. Lesser Sooty Owl was seen in the Lodge grounds by Klaus Uhlenhut from Kirrama WildlifeTours and his guests late in the second week. Barn Owl, who are probably thinking of nesting by now, have been calling and seen. Azure Kingfisher have been along Bushy Creek and both Laughing and Blue-winged Kookaburra have been regularly seen. Noisy Pitta are around the Lodge grounds, but more often heard rather than seen; there was one sighting of two birds. Two Spotted Catbird have started to come to the feeder in the mornings to eat banana, better than eating baby birds! The same 12 species of honeyeater have been seen over the two weeks, these included Bridled and Scarlet Honeyeater who are not regulars. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been lured back by the same fig trees that the Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been in and have been joined by a couple of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike. Of course there have also been 100's of Australasian Figbird fighting over the figs as well.

Australasian Figbird - male

A single male Golden Whistler was seen on the 6th May, this was the first for two years as none came down off the mountains last year to visit the Lodge. Grey and Rufous Whistler have also been seen and are very vocal. A Yellow Oriole has been seen and heard over the past two weeks, they are not resident and presumably come up from the coast where they are very common. A Pied Currawong flew over the Lodge one morning and was seen by Carol Iles, bird guide. Rufous and Grey Fantail numbers continue to increase as southern migrants arrive. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been calling and seen regularly, especially the boatbill. At least two female Victoria's Riflebird have been foraging in the Lodge grounds and coming to the bird baths in the afternoon. Silvereye have been around in small to large groups (50+), very busy birds as they move through the forest. 

Silvereye

Immature Metallic Starling are still around, which is very late for them, our birds have usually gone north by now.

Further Afield:-
A flock of 8 Topknot Pigeon were seen flying over Euluma Creek Road, Julatten at the beginning of May. Also along Euluma Creek Road was Eastern Yellow Robin (uncommon) and a Buff-banded Rail which appear to be becoming scarce in our area. A Sacred Kingfisher was seen in Mount Molloy (uncommon) and Maryfarms north of Mount Molloy had some Black-faced Woodswallow and White-winged Triller. Mt. Lewis continues to be good for birds with Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo heard on the lower slopes along with one Blue-faced Parrot-Finch. Higher up the mountain a male Golden Bowerbird was seen in company with a brown immature/female bird. One of our herpetologist friends in Julatten, Grant, sent us this photo of a Large-tailed Nightjar perching in a tree along his driveway at the end of April. This record is interesting as there are very few records around here in April and this species is not often seen perching in trees. We have never seen one  in a tree and local ornithologist Lloyd Nielsen said he had only seen it once although he had seen them on fence posts. They are normally ground dwellers.

Large-tailed Nightjar
Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles our local bird guiding neighbours for contributing to the bird lists. Please email Carol if you need any local guiding.

Reptiles and Mammals:-
Fawn-footed Melomys have been visiting our neighbours, Carol and Andrew, whilst a Yellow-footed Antichinus was visiting us in our office. Red-legged Pademelon have established themselves in the Lodge grounds and can usually be seen early morning or at night foraging in the orchard area. One of our guests, Adrian, put out a camera overnight at the feeder to see what came in. Most action occurred in the early hours of the morning when Bush Rat and White-tailed Rat showed at the feeder. Northern Brown Bandicoot have started to re-appear and a juvenile Striped Possum was seen on a night walk. Several Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko have been seen around the rainforest and only one snake seen when our neighbours disturbed a Small-eyed Snake. 
 

Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko

Boyd's Forest Dragon returned to the reception area after being away for about 10 days and got straight into the banana on the feeder. Frogs have been a bit scarce with the drier weather but we have seen Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog as well as these Desert (Red) Tree Frog who were trying to get into a hole in the amenities wall. This species is also known as Naked Frog for obvious reasons!

Desert Tree Frog

Also seen was this Roth's (Laughing) Tree Frog, which was found in the reception area covered in fluff and cleaned off before being released outside.

 
Roth's Tree Frog

Bats:-
Two of our guests Paul and David spent a few hours during the night chasing bats on Mt. Lewis, these are the ones they identified.

Eastern Long-eared Bat Nyctophilus bifax
Eastern Forest Bat Vespadelus pumilus
Little Bent-winged Bat Miniopterus australis
Eastern Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus megaphyllus
Eastern Blossom Bat Syconicteris australis
Flute-nosed Bat Murina florium

 Go Gunners! Sat up and watched Arsenal win the FA Cup - about time.


Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge Business and Property For Sale
Click here for more sale details


Sunday, 2 March 2014

2nd March 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report
Not quite as much rain over the last two weeks as the previous two weeks but still a healthy 249.5mm (10 inches). This was enough to flood the road from Mt. Molloy for a few days.


 Bushy Creek - about 600mm over the main road

The wet weather softened up the ground and a few trees fell down including this one along the path from the orchard to Bushy Creek, which took down three other trees. Quite a mess and a lot of clearing required to open the path again.


Path from Orchard to Bushy Creek

The overcast and rainy weather kept the temperatures down highs around 28ºC and down to 22ºC. The second week saw most of the rain clear away and sunny days re-appear to help dry out the soggy grounds.

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-
The first week was quite wet and restricted birding with only 86 species heard and seen but the second week was much better with 102 seen and heard.The complete lists can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 16th - 22nd February and 23rdFebruary - 1st March

Birding Highlights:-
The pair of Pacific Baza nesting on the edge of the Lodge grounds have successfully fledged two youngsters who have been around begging for food but have now left the Lodge after being harassed by a gang of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. The family of Pale-vented Bush-hen previously reported still have five surviving juveniles who are growing rapidly, this image shows one about 22 days old.


Pale-vented Bush-hen - 22 days old

This image shows one of the adults.
 

Pale-vented Bush-hen - Adult

Waterbirds have been few and far between with all the rain providing plenty of alternative habitats, there was one White-faced Heron seen flying over the Lodge which was a first sighting for this year. Late in the second week a few more waterbirds showed up including two Black Bittern, Great, Intermediate and Little Egret, Spotless Crake, White-browed Crake, plus a single Comb-crested Jacana. All these sightings were along McDougall Road in and around the wetlands. Black-shouldered Kite also nested along McDougall Road. Other raptors around were White-bellied Sea-Eagle (2), Whistling and Black Kite, plus Brown Falcon. Red-tailed Black Cockatoo continue to fly over the Lodge every few days as do Double-eyed Fig-Parrot. Cuckoo's are calling well with Pheasant Coucal, Eastern Koel (male & female), Channel-billed Cuckoo, both Little and Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo plus Brush Cuckoo. Barn Owl are around and calling as was a Lesser Sooty Owl on one occasion. The adult Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher are still flying around and perching for photos. The juveniles are becoming more obvious and are coming down to lower levels from high in the canopy. Three juveniles were seen in the same area together but it was not known if they were all from the same nest. Other juveniles seen have mainly been on their own apart from two perched on the clothes line! This Juvenile Forest Kingfisher took advantage of an old chair in Geraghty Park for where it pounced onto the ground for worms. 

 
Forest Kingfisher - juvenile


Dollarbird are still around with adults and juveniles seen. Noisy Pitta have been difficult to see as they are keeping to the rainforest and quite often high in the trees. A pair of Great Bowerbird were in a neighbours garden one morning polishing off some palm tree fruits. Thirteen species of honeyeater over the two weeks with Scarlet Honeyeater returning after being away for at least two months. Black Butcherbird have two well grown brown juveniles hunting around the grounds, Australasian Figbird are feeding young as are Leaden Flycatcher. A female Victoria's Riflebird has been coming to our neighbours feeder and was seen in the Lodge grounds on the edge of the orchard. Red-browed Finch are constantly building nests for  most of the year but we have never seen one like this, a hanging one. Normally they are supported by tree branches and quite well hidden in the foliage.


Red-browed Finch Nest

Further Afield:-
An estimated 300 Black Kite were circling over the Mulligan Highway north of Mareeba on the 26th February, which is very unusual to have such a high number at this time of year. A Spotted Harrier was along Wetherby Road, Julatten as was a Black Bittern and a Horsfield's Bushlark. Mt. Lewis is still performing with most of the endemic species seen apart from Golden Bowerbird and Lesser Sooty Owl. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch are still up on the mountain but two were lower down at the end of McDougall Road late in the second week. The road has been closed on several occasions by falling trees but the local Mareeba Shire Council have been quick in responding to our reports and have cleared the road, thanks to them. Carol Iles our out and about bird guide reported a Grey Shrike-thrush at Abattoir Swamp, which is not common. They are regularly at nearby Wessel Road but don't come across to the swamp very often. Lloyd Nielsen reported a Shining Flycatcher on a nest along Bushy Creek between Julatten and Mt. Molloy which is one of a very few recorded in this area. A Torresian Crow was flying eastward towards the coast, over the Great Diving Range in Julatten late one afternoon, unusual as not many have been seen this year.
 
Reptiles and Mammals:-
24 reptiles and mammals were seen over the past two weeks. A yellow-footed Antichinus was hiding under one of our chair covers along the veranda one morning, luckily nobody sat on it! Red-legged Pademelon have been out the front of our units as well as in the orchard area rainforest. Striped Possum have been seen a few times but no sign of any Green Ringtail Possum. Platypus was seen, when Bushy Creek was in flood, swimming along the rock wall by the viewing area. Seven species of frog were seen and Roth's (Laughing) Tree Frog heard. An Australian Scrub Python was on our neighbours veranda one night and this Brown Tree Snake decided to curl up in the peg basket in the camp laundry. It was removed and put outside where it climbed a tree which was much more like its natural habitat! 
 
Brown Tree Snake


Insects:-
A few moths have been around including this unusual one which we have never seen here before.

Moth sp.




Butterflies have also been around, this Blue-Triangle found something of interest on the yard broom.

 Blue Triangle Butterfly


Fungi:-  
The wet weather has also triggered off lots of different species of fungi like this one growing at the foot of a Queensland Blue Gum (Forest Red Gum) Eucalyptus tereticornis.


Fungi sp.
Could be Panellus ligulatus ?

We will be having a break from the blog until the end of March, we might be posting a few snippets so keep looking!