Nature Notes ~ The Halcyon Days of Summer

Our terrible heat waves seem to be abating, nights are a
delight of cool breezes wafting twixt open door and window
lulling us into peaceful and refreshing sleep.

Even this water lily I have managed to coax into its first
flowering after 3 years of suspended animation in a bucket
of water in the shade house to at least keep it alive
through the tail end of our massive drought.



Days full of blue skies and friendly temperatures to be enjoyed
while they last and my slowly dribbling hose keeping my rose
garden a joy to behold and a delight for the senses.

On a more sobering note, the Willy-Wagtails bred sparingly this
season. Our normal contingent of owls was conspicuous by its
absence. Early in summer one Mopoke called, decided this was
not a good place to be, and left. Surprisingly, with the dry seasons
we have had, there have been no plagues of field mice or indeed
any evidence of them. Hardly a wonder that the owls moved to
greener pastures.



In 'normal' seasons, when the Naked Ladies, Amarillis Belladonna,
grace us by their presence, the first autumn rain follows in two
weeks. No such luck this year though.... it is just uniformly dry.



To see how others are faring, click on the Logo.

Thanks to Michelle at Ramblibg Woods, we can enjoy seasonal variations
from all around the world.

Nature Notes ~ Gecko and Bunny

This delightful little fellow was in the laundry trough, guess
who made a beeline for the camera...
















he had the cutest markings and little adhesive feet. We have two
varieties of these, the other is smaller and paler and has little suction
caps. Both are seldom seen as they are night feeders and delight in
chomping the mosquitos on the screens. I have only ever had the
pleasure of seeing one of each in the 17 years we have been here on
the farm.

My daughter reports that they are often seen at her place a

little further down hill. Our prevalent geckos are quite snake like

and are easily mistaken for snake hatchlings. They are about 4"-6"

long, dark grey with two pronouncesd yellow lateral stipes. At first

sight they appear to be legless. Closer inspection however reveals

their very short little legs which they propell themselves forward

in a snake like wriggle.

The grandchildren found this tiny flea ridden bunny and brought

him home and were full of excitement about taking him back with

them to Sydney as a pet. He was such a lovely colour too.

Unfortunately, not only was he full of fleas but also succumbed to

the calisi virus the next day. They had wondered why he could be

so easily picked up!

This summer the owls have not returned and I miss hearing their

call of Mopoke in the night.

To balance out, we have scores of swallows again. They are fun to

watch against the darkening sky in the evening or grazing the dams

for rising mosquiteos.

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The Nature Notes Logo will take you to our host site of Rambling Woods

where many interesting observations are to be gleaned. Thank you

Michelle for hosting this informative meme.

Mopoke

Last night, 1.30am, our regular summer visitor, the Mopoke (so he
calls himself) otherwise known as the Boobook owl or Ninox
novaeseelandiae, saw fit to grace our farm again with his much loved
presence. He is rather early this year as it in not quite mid-winter
yet. Once, a couple of years after the big bushfires, when my Mt.Lofy
garden was starting to regenerate, one of his cousins brought four
little owlets to show me. There they were at dusk sitting on the rose
arch neatly in a row..Although my heart stood still, I went for my
camera and managed one fuzzy shot before total darkness.