A stormy afternoon is the perfect time for an online art class.
chickadees
Author: Hashi
garden love
I’ve come home to a very happy healthy veggie garden.
Lupinus argenteus
One of my goals this spring is to positively identify the different lupines growing around here. Not sure if Lupinus argenteus is one of them.
home
Very tired. Very happy.
last day
Today we took the kids to the Museum of Brisbane (we all loved the PlayMoves installations), then to SparkLab at the Queensland Museum, then for a swim at South Bank. It was a long, fun day, and we’re all tired.
This has been an absolutely wonderful vacation. I fly home tomorrow ✈️.
Freshwater Creek
I’m going to miss this place.
Irediparra gallinacea
This morning, Cass took me to one of her favourite nearby birding spots, where I was delighted by the Comb-crested Jacanas, Irediparra gallinacea. Look at those feet, evolved for walking on water plants!
By late morning I was at Samford Conservation Park, meeting up with artist and environmental educator Bethan Burton. She’s a treasure! Our few hours together weren’t nearly enough. We observed an interesting butterfly whose forewings seemed to be transparent; she later texted me an ID: Cressida cressida, the Clearwing Swallowtail or Big Greasy — funny name! Gorgeous butterfly! Lovely woman!
Bruguiera gymnorhiza
Another day, another wetland, this time in the company of my rad SIL, Cass. The Maroochydore Wetlands Sanctuary at Bli Bli is, according to one of their interpretive signs, “home to 180 species of birds, 30 species of crabs, five species of mangroves, and untold species of reptiles, amphibians, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, plants and fungi.” And millions of mosquitoes. I even wore Aerogard, an exercise in futility.
I was particularly taken with the Orange Mangrove, Bruguiera gymnorhiza. It has the largest leaves of all the mangroves in the Sanctuary, bright red-orange flowers, and an interesting method of reproduction. We found a propagule that had dropped onto the boardwalk, and helpfully shot it into the mud below. According to Wikipedia, the propagules are eaten by many indigenous groups in northern Australia and southeastern Papua New Guinea, and there is also evidence of them being eaten in India, Bangladesh, and other parts of Southeast Asia.
Eustrephus latifolius
I’ve been wanting to stop at Boondall Wetlands for the longest time, and today I finally did. The reserve supports various plant communities including eucalyptus and melaleuca woodlands, remnant rainforests, ironbark forests, casuarina forests, grasslands, tidal mudflats, mangroves, swamplands, hypersaline flats and salt marshes.
It’s a great birdwatching site—apparently over 190 species of birds use the various habitats throughout the year—but I visited in the middle of a hot day so didn’t see much bird action. Definitely worth a return visit at other times and seasons.
mystery ducks
I saw these ducks down by the lake today, and I’m not sure what they are. Yellow beak, black head, no white neck ring. Perhaps a hybrid of a mallard and something else? Or are they mallards in ‘eclipse plumage’?
hashiworks 