Signs of Spring
Slender Hovea (Hovea lorata), Bellbowrie |
Though it may be introducing itself to us gently this year, spring has definitely arrived in Brisbane! Temperatures have been slightly cooler than average, but decent rains from some robust storms have allowed the landscape to enter the new season with vigour.
Rainbow Bee-eater, Ormiston |
Purple Swamphen, Southport |
A strange sight confronted me in Purga Nature Reserve earlier this month. In the dry swamp woodland there, I found a terrestrial termite mound playing host to a Termite Powderpuff (Podaxis beringamensis). This peculiar organism is a large fungi that has evolved to live inside termite mounds around northern Australia. For most of its life, the fungi lives inside the mound feeding off termite waste. When it is time for it to reproduce however, it rises up and bursts through the hard mound exterior, releasing spores into the air that will settle near other termite colonies. Thank you to the Facebook group 'SEQ Fungi' for identifying this species and teaching me about it!
Termite Powderpuff, Purga |
One last sign of spring I've noticed is that on warm days, the cicadas have begun singing again. At a little highway stop off on the way to the Gold Coast a few weeks ago, a charming little Black Tree Ticker (Birrima varians) landed on me and posed for a portrait. This species is easy to recognise because it is the only local cicada that commonly sings in flight, so if you see it zig-zagging and 'zitting' through the air, you can now greet it by name. Wild Brisbane is a friendly little place!
Black Tree Ticker, Ashmore |
glad the bird didn't get your eyes! eek! interesting fungi.
ReplyDeleteMe too! It would've been an ironic way to end my birdwatching hobby...
DeleteBeautiful photos! The fungi and the ticker are very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gunilla. I enjoyed studying both those things in the wild myself!
DeleteI’m sorry Christian but I had a little laugh about your encounter with a Grey Butcherbird. As you can imagine, if I were to visit that street I would be rather hoping the birds might attack me for the resultant close up views and pre-alerted by you I would take both camera and appropriate headgear.
ReplyDeleteFascinating information about the powderpuff although it does rather resemble something else!
I can imagine how some people would react to a Black Tree Ticker landing on them but it is of course quite a little beauty.
Thank you for your usual informative and entertaining post.
Haha, that's ok Phil, most people I told about the attack laughed about it!
DeleteI tried to word the reproductive strategy of the fungus carefully so that I didn't emphasize the phallic nature of it. I stayed away from words like 'penetrate' and 'spurt', haha!
Glad you enjoyed the post.
Eek!! To be attacked by a bird would scare me somewhat. But your photos and your commentary was super this week!! Very informative post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your link today at I'd Rather B Birdin'!!
Thank you for hosting it, Anni! Yes, the swooping Butcherbird made me jump and sped up my heart-rate - it's not something I expected to happen! Glad you enjoyed reading though.
DeleteLove the purple swanhen and the beeeater. I did see both of them on my visit last week. :) :)
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you are familiar with these birds! :)
DeleteI'm surprised to see the cicadas out and about already. Great shots of our wildlife here on your blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks Diane. I think the Black Tree Ticker is an 'early-riser' compared to some other cicada species, but yes, he's certainly out and about right now!
DeleteYour spring is just wonderful! That fungi is fascinating! Attacked by a butcher bird! Oh my! I bet you got too close to a nest, or something. Love the cicada and that purple swamphen reminds me of the moorhen on another blog. My favorite is the rainbow beeeater. Such a beautiful bird!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marie, yes the Bee-eater is a stunning bird. I think the European species is even pretty with it's red tones.
DeleteI have no bad feelings about the swooping butcherbird, but it is from a family of birds in Australia (including our own version of a Magpie) that are very territorial and aggressive birds in the spring. They will dive-bomb and harass people even if their nest is a good forty metres away or so. The irony is, they are some of the friendliest, most trusting and lovely of birds at other times of the year!
Nice post. We have hd a few days of spring here, but now hard rain, winter rain, clatters into the windows. I need to put another log on the fire!
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
Ah yes, good old Melbourne! My friend from the UK has just visited there and she looks like she is dressed for the English winter in all of her photos :)
DeleteSpring is a distant memory here as we head into autumn Christian - that's one of the reasons I love your blog so much.
ReplyDeleteThat fungus is amazing. Our Dung Fungus here seems to exist entirely on Cow dung so they're definitely specialists! I love that Ticker too - such beautiful wings. Enjoy the sun!
Yes, I was quite mesmerized by that fungus too! I probably wouldn't have hovered so close by if it had been growing out of dung though :)
DeleteHonoured that you love my blog, Em! Thank you.
That is such an interesting fungus! Nice shot of the swamphen. They were introduced near our Florida home and quickly adapted to the new habitat. Eradication efforts failed and now we just enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteI half expected your sentence to finish off - "now we just enjoy them... with a hint of lemon, served with salad!" :)
DeleteWe have so many invasive animals here in Australia that it always surprises me when our fauna and flora wreaks havoc elsewhere. Apparently our Paperbark Trees are awful for your Everglades also. Sorry about that, and thank you for stopping by to comment!