GOOD INTENTIONS...

I was full of good intentions regarding blogging last year but looking back I'm startled to see it's been six months or so since posting. I've been more into instagram of late so that's my excuse. This year I'll try to post more here...

  After the exteme heat and lack of rain during our summer here on the Sunshine Coast, we are now in the midst of ongoing rain. Not complaining. But these colourful rainbow lorikeets do cheer one up on a gloomy day, with a cheeky look as he attacked the callistemon that grown in the median strip.

For comparison is a scaly breasted lorikeet. We don't see as many of them here so it's lovely when we do.

RAINBOW, DRAGONS AND FROGS AT COOROY...

I visited Noosa Botanic Gardens again for the first time in 6 months since retiring. I was absolutely thrilled to spot a bird I'd never seen before and managed to get a few snaps of it.  Mind you, birds I haven't seen before would number in the millions and a few fairly clear snaps from the 40 or so I took is probably nothing to brag about but I couldn't wait to get home and find out what bird it was.  Meet one of the Rainbow Pittas...

"Are you lookin' at me?" it seems to be saying...

 I used a bit of patience and then stalked it around a dry creek bed as it hopped around, carefully avoiding crunching on leaves and twigs, so as not to startle it.  Low light in the forest area meant I got lots of blurred shots and perfect shots of where it had been a split second before. It was very interested in fallen quandongs but normally feeds on insects. Maybe there was some hiding in the fruit.

 This shot shows the chestnut stripes on its head nicely and what looks like a bit of weed clinging there as well.

"Are you still here?"

I took the hint and moved on to the pond... 

... where it was apparently dragonfly time.  I'd never thought about what dragonflies (or damselflies) ate and hadn't even noticed that this one was chowing down on something when I took the shot. The bug it's eating is more colourful than it is.

 This one (no more than 4cm long) is a male dragonfly I gather after watching the large numbers of them mating. Of course they could be damselflies. After reading up on them, I am confused as these look like damselflies with the closed wings.

The males all had the bright blue bottoms and they grab the females by the back of the head to start the process. 

It's up to her to curl her tail around to find the penis. A very complicated mating dance and I've since read somewhere that the females will often pretend to be dead to avoid having to mate.  I'm sure we can human females can relate to that! 

I only found two tiny, wee frogs at the pond and this be them. They sat very still and were not frightened off by my lens shoved in their faces.

Hopefully, I won't leave it so long to return.

FANCY DRESS IN THE GARDENS...

Now I've retired, I no longer work in Cooroy and I must say I will miss the place, especially the Noosa Botanic Gardens. Today, after a farewell lunch, I took my daughter there. The first thing we saw was this very colourful tree snake masquerading as a garden sprinkler in the Scaevola. It was getting a tad irritated by the attention I think as it began swaying and gyrating. Dance competition perhaps?  We left it alone and returned later but it had moved on.

Down to the pond but in the searing heat I only managed one focused shot of one of the two frogs we spotted. 

We saw a couple of turtles and the place is full of white and purple water lilies and lots of dragon flies. Appreciated this red one which kindly stopped near the lily so I could get the money shot before zooming off.

Love the colour of these 2 beehive ginger flowers which were hiding in the undergrowth.

I daresay I'll be back soon...

COOROY COLLAGES...

In July last year when I first visited the Noosa Botanic Gardens in Cooroy, I was fascinated by quite big fruits growing on several large shrubs/trees called Elephant Apples.  Today I returned and guess what? The fruits look much the same, slightly more yellow is all, despite the signage saying they flower in summer. When one was cut open it was layers of fibrous flaps enclosing what looked like banana flowers.  There were quite a few lying on the ground and let me say if one hit an elephant on the head, it would get a headache I think. They are pretty hefty "fruit". Read more about the apple  here. It appears I missed the flowering and so will have to keep returning to catch them. Tragic because you know how much I hate the Gardens... not!

Today I was also treated to a climbing frangipani. I've seen native frangipani but this one is a hardy looking vine which I'd not heard of before (not difficult as I'm fairly ignorant about lots of plants) which was climbing up a palm tree. The flowers were subtlety perfumed.

I love cassia and this Rainbow Shower example is also new to me. What a delight! From under the very shady branches the flowers look more yellow but you can see from outside more pink/red and in the close up, lots of different tones. An absolute stunner.

Honestly, the people who live near these Gardens are very, very lucky. I wish it was on my doorstep, not a 30 min drive away.  

POND LIFE...

 Another visit to the Noosa Botanic Gardens revealed a world I hadn't really noticed before. These dear little frogs were hiding out on the reeds in a pond at the Gardens.  I was thrilled because I hadn't seen so many since I was a child. 

I was standing looking at the pond and noticed the little bumps on the reeds. Some were things like reed flowers, some grasshoppers and cicada shells. But the frogs were a delight. 

What a face... 

I particularly loved the white waterlilies, although some purple ones poked their heads up.

Always something getting around in the pond.  Some prettier than others.  

This not-very-clear shot, is one of the turtles who live in the pond.  He thought I had bread.  I don't have a photo of the black snake that passed very close to my feet as I was trying to get a close up of the frogs. Ugh. He slithered into the pond without reacting to my shriek.

This very tiny, blue damselfly falls into the pretty category. Such a vibrant blue. Very hard to see let alone focus on so I can only apologise for the daggy background; had to take what I could get.  Lots of lovely green lily leaves he could have landed in front of, but didn't. 

I found a large dragonfly cunningly camouflaged against some dead flowers on a nearby shrub...

To top it all off, the glorious scent of jasmine and caper white butterflies fluttering around.  Perfect... except for the snake.

“Life is like a pond, and every decision and act we commit, good or bad, is a pebble flung into it. The ripples spread in widening circles.” 

― Francine Rivers, An Echo in the Darkness

ANIMAL CRACKERS XIX - CUTE AS PUPPIES...

It's been four years since I put up an Animal Crackers post and I've only just found out that this little sweetie qualifies, having taken the photo a month ago.  Meet the Pink River Rose or Dog Rose bauera rubioides. This specimen is growing in the Noosa Botanic Gardens by the pond there.  Perhaps I'll find some more qualifiers there if I look hard enough.

LIFE BOTANIC...

Another walk around the Noosa Botanic Gardens at Cooroy on Lake MacDonald yielded 2 waterbirds I hadn't seen there before.  These magpie geese were resting up in the favourite resting spot of the regular pelicans and ducks.

The usual suspects sans ducks and 4 guests.

They rest with their eyes open it seems, or perhaps they are just ultra aware of me blundering around in the undergrowth looking for the perfect shot.

Far off on the furthest side of the lake I spotted this bird and when I zoomed in realised I'd not seen one before. Turns out to the a Jabiru or Black-necked Stork.  With no way to get over there I had to be content with this slightly unfocussed shot.  Nevertheless, I was happy.

Strolling around the gardens, I spotted this handsome, orange dragonfly cunningly camouflaged against some rusty looking dying flowers.

This damselfly was much harder to spot and it was even harder to get a decent shot because of his size. Too much 'traffic' in the background to focus properly but, again, happy to see him and his brilliant colours.

Speaking of brilliant colours, the Iris growing near one of the ponds are spectacular at the moment and you can see how blue they look in the close up below. There are clumps of mauve, white and cream coloured ones in other parts of the Gardens.

Also in this floral collection is a white waterlily found amongst all the purple and pink lilies, a pretty pink lily of some sort and flowers of the large Brazilian potato tree. 

This Australasian Darter or snake bird was sunning itself above the lake and showing his plumage off to advantage.

I just love taking photos of pelicans with their beak buried between their wings as they rest. Again, keeping an eye on me.

There are several examples of grass tree in the Gardens in varying states of growth. On the left with this fairly small tree taken from above, I almost feel as if the photo is in 3D; perhaps I've finally working out the focus? and on the right the flowers of a more mature tree with visitors. None seen that had the thick trunks we are used to seeing in the bush.

SPRING FEATHERS AND FLOWERS...

I enjoyed another lovely walk through the Noosa Botanic Gardens after work yesterday and was pleased to see a lot more in the way of flowers now that Spring is upon us. My pelican friends were keeping an eye on things too...

This sweetie posed nicely before continuing his ablutions with some other birds sharing the pipe.

Bougainvillea must be about to flower everywhere although I must confess I've not noticed it in such abundance anywhere else recently. The rusty pink of this example was truly beautiful.

I didn't notice until afterwards that there was a little grebe in the foreground of this picture (you have to look hard) of a purple swamphen foraging on the edge of the pool.  Purple waterlilies and the tiny water snowflake lily are showing off.

This gymea lily was only a little over my head thanks to my being on the amphitheatre and it growing up from the bed below so was able to get much closer than one can normally. 

 I heard the eastern whipbird a long time before I saw it of course due to their distinctive call.  This was the best photo I could get in the gloom of evening the previous time I went to the Gardens. They are nervous and flit around quickly so I'm very happy with the snap. I didn't hear any at all yesterday but there were lots of kids running around the spot.

As I walked to the car I passed under a sausage tree and noticed flowers on the ground. Having never seen the flowers before I was thrilled. Most were on the ground with only a few on the tree.  Lots more to come though judging by the number of buds.

A WALK IN THE SUNSHINE...

We had quite a bit of rain last night but today the sky was blue and cloudless. I decided I'd take a walk in the Maroochy Botanic Gardens to see what I could see. It's a great spot for a picnic with many seating areas. The 82 hectare site is broken down into different areas like wetlands, sculpture gardens, moss garden with marked walks. Lots of flowers and greenery of course there. Lots of people too. Note to self, next time go much earlier and during the week if you want peace and quiet.

 Away from the screaming kids, shrieking girls and loud cricketers & golfers (next door to the gardens) I did manage a couple of snaps of birds.  In the gloom of the rainforest area they haven't turned out as well as I'd like. The first is a turtle dove of some sort which looks very different to the ones I see around home [edit Oct 2020: Older and wiser me knows it's a bar-shouldered dove and a white-browed scrub wren]. Top right is a tiny wee little bird which was leaping around in the undergrowth and generally being uncooperative (no idea what it is).  A small yellow wren or similar flitted around tantalisingly close sometimes but managed to avoid my lens. At least the  wicker whipbird sculpture sat still for me. 

Of course, there are lots and lots of sculptures scattered throughout. There's also a python which can give you a fright the first time you set eyes on it. You'll have to go see them all for yourself.

 On the left is Phaius tancarvilleae a large swamp orchid which is almost ready to flower. They are quite beautiful and well worth the trek out there to see them (in my opinion anyway). Top right is the Rusty Kurrajong and a pretty little ground cover which is probably a weed.  :) 

I think the top white flower is a geraldton wax but I could be wrong. Same shape but different colour. The bees didn't care. On the right is hardenbergia which is out everywhere in the bush at the moment.  Below are violets, on the right is the native violet which doesn't have a fragrance and I thought the one on the left was some exotic, endangered plant but apparently I was looking at the wrong label.  That's one thing I was disappointed in;  lots of plants not labelled.