The Wallaby Gully Babbler

2012-02-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

The reptile season continues although rather cool for this time of year. I dug up this Bandy-Bandy when planting a tree, played with him for a while to get him all worked up into this strike pose. I thought Mr Bandy-Bandy was non-venomous but when I checked the book...not so. Why did I not check the book first??

2011-10-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

It's the start of snake season and Ali did not want me any closer to this Red-bellied Black, I told her it was OK, I wasn't going to hurt him...

2011-07-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

The range above us has one of the last populations of Brush-tail Rock Wallabies left in NSW. This old fellow has suffered a split ear at some stage in life. We have a favourite bit of the steep sandstone escarpment to sit and watch them before our descent back home.

2011-06-03T00:53:00.000-07:00

The big "La Nina" event has finally gone from the country. We missed it at Wallaby Gully, having well below average rainfall since January this year. So, last week when La Nina left we had 130mm in three days which filled the dam for the first time in four years and our creek is still flowing!

2011-04-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

A gum tree bud in a shell fossil on a lichen covered rock .... fills with water after an autumn shower.

2011-04-02T16:27:00.000-07:00

The Acacia Moth caterpillar is eating some of my wattles in the nursery. It's relatively small at about 30mm long and I am willing to sacrifice a wattle or two to watch this very ornate caterpillar grow. This is the rear end of the moth opening his "false eye" after I tickled his bum with a stick!

False eyes mislead predators.

2011-03-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

One of our neighbours recently found this Emperor Gum Moth and I have been able to get some good photos even though it was dead.

This is one of the largest moths in Australia with a wingspan up to 150mm. It has a very short life span as an adult and does not feed at all after the caterpillar stage, so I suppose this is an adult that ran out of food!

2011-02-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

Close-up of a big Blue Flower Wasp on a cool morning before he wakes and becomes scarily active.

I have taken the wing patterns and created a greeting card. One of a range of cards available at...

http://www.maxelliott.blogspot.com/

2011-02-02T20:34:00.000-08:00

Have been trying for years to get a decent photo of a Scarlet Honeyeater. It's only on the very hot days like today (40 celsius) that thirst overcomes fear and they will come close enough for a photo. Look closely and you will see the long, pointy tongue designed for searching for nectar in native flowers. I waited for 2 hours for this shot which was hard to do laid back in my banana lounge drinking cider.

2011-01-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

Sex at Wallaby Gully can be fatal. The Brown Antechinus (Marsupial Mouse) are nesting in the studio and madly searching for food. All males die at eleven months after a few frenetic days of mating which can last up to six hours at a time. This weakens their immune system and leads to internal infections. The females are less stressed and can live for another season.

2011-01-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

The frogs are back after good spring and summer rains. This warty little Ornate Burrowing Frog appeared when I was digging a hole to plant a plum tree. They live in chambers underground coming out to forage at night.

2010-09-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time between babbles.......work gets in the way. Now is the time for ground orchids to rear their heads. This one is called "Brown Beaks" and is one of many orchids that are dormant underground for most of their lives, appearing for a couple of weeks in spring.

2010-07-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

Although one of the most common birds at the gully, the Eastern Rosella is hard to photograph being nervous and flighty. They nest in a vertical tree hollow every year not far from the house.

This is one of the most colourful Australian parrots yet they still seem to blend in with the forest.

2010-06-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

Climbed the mountain behind our property this morning and was fortunate enough to spot this Sooty Owl peeping out of a rock overhang. This is the 106th bird species on our list for Wallaby Gully. This large owl is listed as threatened in NSW. Destruction of habitat is one of the critical concerns particularly hollow bearing trees. The call during the breeding season can be alarming - a high pitched scream like someone being strangled.

Alison Green has had this design in her t-shirt range for a number of years.

Click here and visit her website to view the design in full.

2010-05-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Regent Honeyeater is a critically endangered species and has been sighted only twice here in the 15 years we have been at Wallaby Gully. They feed in eucalypt open forest and woodlands in inland Victoria and NSW and their range is still diminishing. In 1997 their global population was estimated at a total of 1500 birds.

Alison Green, a Wallaby Gully artist, has just created this new design to add to her range of hand-printed T-shirts. The image illustrated here appears on the front of the shirt. Visit the Alison Green Designs website to view this and other designs in her range.

2010-04-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

An old coal miner once told me that Banksia's are at their best on Anzac Day......well, here's proof!

2010-04-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Two hundred and sixty million years ago Wallaby Gully was a bit different. The sea was much closer and there were big peat swamps that eventually turned into big coal mines.

This shell is embedded in the cliff face high above the gully. We can't put down a bore for water as it is saltier than sea water.

2010-04-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

A pair of Double-barred Finches. A common bird around the garden most of the year, they are currently eating aphids on a native ground cover. Living in a well vegetated area with lots of birds equals less insect problems. A local landowner about 2 km from here is having big problems with insect attack on new plantings due to little vegetation and a lack of small birds.

2010-03-18T22:45:00.000-07:00

The Teddy Bears are having a picnic in the garden. A native Teddy Bear Bee about to have a snack on a solanum plant. These bees are a little larger than a normal bee and are covered in brown fur. They are solitary and make a small hive just for themselves and raise a couple of young each.

2010-03-15T22:50:00.000-07:00

A plump Wonga Pigeon walks past the house one afternoon. I have always thought they would make a tasty meal for the local people before we arrived on the scene. They were also shot for food during the depression but have regained their numbers with protection since then.

2010-03-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

On the mountain above : a Wedge-tailed Eagles nest. I check it every breeding season for activity but it seems to be abandoned. It has two levels and must be a great weight on the branch. The main upper nest is over two metres long, a work of art over many years.

2010-02-26T00:43:00.000-08:00

It's easy to get a close up photo of Echidna spines. This one curled up into a ball when I walked close by and I was able to touch the spines.

2010-02-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

Butterflies and moths are busy breeding at the gully while the warmth continues. This caterpillar (Theretra oldenlandiae) will turn into a large brown and white streamlined, fast flying Hawk Moth. Right now he is busy eating constantly on a native grape vine.

2010-02-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

A Bluetail Damselfly part way through eating a smaller damselfly. The warm, wet weather is perfect for lots of insect activity.

2010-01-26T19:30:00.000-08:00

It's Australia Day and what better way to spend my time than getting a few close-up pics of a Green Tree Snake hunting frogs in the garden. They are very relaxed around people and I was able to get the lens really close. Of course, it is non-venomous. I would not try this with a brown snake.

2010-01-23T18:32:00.000-08:00

The grey kangaroos are fairly tame now especially when it's a 43 degree day. They stay and drink while we swim. This young one has wet it's front legs as an effective means of cooling off.

We manage our house on days like this. Having a mud brick home we can open up at night to cool off and close up around 9am. With ceiling fans it stays relatively cool all day and we avoid the cost of air-conditioning.

2010-01-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

The tallest Spotted Gum at Wallaby Gully. At around 35m in height this is one of few old growth trees in the area. The top has blown out many years ago leaving an excellent hollow for someone to live in. The spotted gum forests around Cessnock are now largely protected after 200 years of plundering. If we look after them they will be old growth just like this in 50 to 100 years.

2010-01-09T17:06:00.001-08:00

.....what lives in this hole in our lawn....?

2010-01-09T16:58:00.000-08:00

.........a Wolf Spider emerges when I make some movement near the entrance. They mainly hunt at night but also take prey that happens to walk past the burrow during the day.

2010-01-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

Yellow Bloodwood new growth colour wheel.

Forest art inspired by Andy Goldsworthy......Google him......

2010-01-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

The remains of cyclone "Laurence" has been a blessing. This low pressure system began in north-west WA and has made it all the way down to NSW dumping quite a good series of falls at Wallaby Gully. That means the tanks are filling and there are no bushfires! The increased humidity and rain has brought these Dwarf Green Tree Frogs out of hiding in the gardens around the house.

2009-12-28T22:54:00.000-08:00

A crystal clear rainforest stream........the best place for Christmas lunch on a hot day, and as a special treat a Giant Spiny Crayfish walked past our table near the stream. One of the largest freshwater mountain crays, this one was about 180mm. They occupy specific microclimates and are very prone to changes in their habitat. Mountain crayfish on the east coast are still being identified, will we find all species before climate change affects their lifecycle?

2009-12-23T17:10:00.000-08:00

A very special Christmas eve visit from a couple of Variegated Fairy-wrens. Compared to the more common Superb Fairy-wren the males have a more silvery azure crown plus the addition of a bright reddish-chestnut back. They spent some time drenching themselves in the birdbath on a 35 degree day.

2009-12-19T20:20:00.000-08:00

House windows are a problem when you live in the bush. One recent afternoon a young Brown Cuckoo-Dove hit the window at high speed and died instantly. It was being chased by a Goshawk. It may have been taken from the nest by the hawk and somehow escaped it's grip but came off second best against our window. The adult (pictured here) called constantly for it's young for two days following. These doves are quite large with a very long tail and are quite common in the wetter forests of the east coast.

2009-12-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

The Brown Treecreepers raised a family this year at Wallaby Gully. They are a full time resident and another endangered species due to habitat loss throughout Australia's woodlands. They spend most of their time in a vertical world scouring the trunks of the ironbarks for insects. Ants make up to 80% of their diet.

2009-11-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

It's been three years since I erected a few hollow logs in the trees around the house. Tree hollows are few and far between in immature forests and are neccesary for many types of animals and birds. This hollow has been home to goannas, antechinus and a few days ago a brush-tail possum tried to move in but he didn't quite fit!

2009-11-24T11:08:00.000-08:00

Another endangered species found at the gully....the Speckled Warbler, is well camouflaged as it scours the ground to feed on seeds and insects. The nest is unusual - a dome at ground level with an entrance hole that they can just walk into. This one is drying after a dip in the birdbath on a hot day.

2009-11-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

It was 43C yesterday though cooler today at 39. The spotted gums are starting to shed their bark in the heat. Many hours are spent moving the bark and leaves away from the house as it falls (to reduce the fire risk). We think it's worth the effort to be able to live in a spotted gum forest and watch the miriad of different colours appear on the trunks. No longer a eucalypt they are in a class of their own. The genus is now "Corymbia".

2009-11-13T01:27:00.000-08:00

During my afternoon walk up to the top corner of our property, I spotted some movement in a flowering Mistletoe. A pair of Little Lorikeets......a smaller cousin of the raucous Rainbow Lorikeet, these birds are very quiet and are usually in pairs and not large flocks. They have just been listed as vulnerable in NSW due to the clearing of hollow habitat trees and according to the Scientific Committee are at a high risk of extinction in the medium to long term.

2009-11-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

This young Lace Monitor surprised us today by climbing up the wall onto the window sill. He picked up the scent (using his forked tongue) of the thrushes window attacks and spent a few minutes searching excitingly for his quarry. The thrush of course was watching from a respectful distance and is still in one piece. The story of the nesting thrushes appears three posts below....

2009-11-07T23:18:00.000-08:00

Hiding behind a curtain inside the house with a tele lens allowed me to get this close up of a Common Bronzewing Pigeon.

At close quarters you can see the iridescent, metallic wing feathers. They are normally difficult to approach, but this one approached us to feed on seeds near the house.

Despite being a bulky bird, they are surprisingly fast fliers.

2009-10-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Two of the three young Superb Blue Wrens posing outside their nesting site. They nested very close to the ground picking a small prickly wattle for cover. These birds are disappearing from suburban gardens due to cats, dogs and disturbance. Why can't we gain the same comfort and companionship having these living just outside the door as we do with domestic pets?

2009-10-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

A female Grey Shrike-thrush sits on her new nest not far from our dining room table. She is building on top of an old finch nest from last year. Meanwhile........

2009-10-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

....the male attacks the window glass trying to scare his reflective rival, whilst constantly singing a rich medley of mellow musical notes. The latin name ...Colluricincla harmonica says it all!!

2009-10-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

The donkey’s are up...
Three quarters of the Australian orchids (660) species grow as terrestrials (ground orchids) .
This one is flowering now at the gully and is aptly named the Donkey Orchid.
All orchids that we know of have symbioses with fungi. Each orchid uses its own special fungus.

2009-10-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

Eastern Rosellas were the previous owners of this hollow in a spotted gum near the house, but over the years the hollow has healed and is now only millimetres wide at the entrance.

Just big enough for a colony of native bees to move in.

At 5mm long they are tiny compared to the european bee.

2009-09-24T01:12:00.001-07:00

The theory is that after a big hailstorm a few years ago our dam filled with leaf matter and became a big food source for the small yabby colony in the neighbouring creek. They have since taken over the dam and multiplied . It is always muddy and has no frogs. Their scientific name is Cherax destructor due to their ability to damage dam walls, so we are trying to thin them out using a trap and allow more biodiversity such as frogs and other pond life to return. This big fellow is the biggest we have found - around 15cm.

2009-09-14T00:15:00.000-07:00

Spring has brought with it the dry air left over from the cold fronts dumping their moisture further south. September is the driest month of the year at Wallaby Gully until the northern influence brings more humidity down to our latitude in late October. The honeyeaters (like this Yellow-Tufted ) are breeding and hanging out at the birdbath during the warmth of the day.

2009-08-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

William Sharp has arrived... an Eastern Spinebill. Many honeyeaters have arrived to feast on the nectar laden shrubs around the house. It's an excellent flowering in the native garden after good winter rain.

2009-07-23T00:44:00.001-07:00

The “grubbers” are back...
The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos arrived today to perform some of their woodworking skills on our big grey gum down at the dam.Beetle larvae - juicy, high protein grubs - slowly make their way through the sapwood but some come to a sticky end as food for the hard working cockatoos. When working, the strong beak makes a wrenching sound as large chunks are torn from the trunk.

2009-07-23T00:33:00.000-07:00

The grey gum trunk after a cockatoo's meal...the scar is about half a metre long.

2009-07-09T23:47:00.001-07:00

Rockpool potholes are common in sandstone country... a crystal clear rainforest creek in the mountains near Wallaby Gully. A short walk downstream revealed grinding grooves in the rock used by the locals before white settlement.

2009-06-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

Look closely at a water droplet........you can see a wide angle view of the world upside down.

2009-06-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

LIVING ON THE EDGE
A two tonne boulder sits on the arch overlooking the gully. This is the edge of the great Sydney sandstone basin which stretches from Wollongong to Newcastle. Below (where we live) lay older Permian rocks containing the coal measures.
This formation is part of the escarpment containing galleries and caves formed by millions of years of erosion. The arch probably started as an overhang, then a cave with the roof finally falling in forming an arch.
Its fun to walk out to the boulder but how much more weight can it take?

Dead Wattles

2009-06-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

DEAD WATTLES ARE GOOD WATTLES! Being a sprouter of native plants I am still upset by attitudes toward Wattles. Many consider them short-lived, scrubby, sinus blocking things that create a mess in the bush - almost as bad as prickly shrubs - but they are undervalued and misunderstood.
The wattles around our dam came up 14 years ago and most are now dead. Half of them are still upright and are being used constantly by birds coming down to the dam. They are the best observation platform for birds before they come down to drink, and are also excellent for viewing birds due to their dead leaflessness.
They improve the soil by fixing nitrogen in special nodules on their roots.
So please resist the urge to clean up all dead wattles and that goes for fallen timber as well…unless it is a fire risk close to buildings. Just let it fall and do its own thing. Insects need dead timber for their life cycle and birds need insects for theirs.