Birds and the Bees

Not hard to miss but had not really noticed them until last week - an emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) living in a paddock almost under the Crookwell wind farm and a large flock of Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) feasting on a field of barley on Middle Arm Road. The reddish brown glossy ibis were much more attractive than those revolting black and white Australian White Ibis that are almost a noxious species in Sydney. They have taken over the Botanic Gardens to the point that it is hard to have a lunch there without being accosted and threatened. I saw one snatch a biscuit from a baby's hand - not nice.

As the weather warms up we are seeing more and more bees and butterflies. The bees look native rather than from any local hives but I am no expert ... yet. Longer term we do plan to have several hives so that we can harvest honey and claim to have over half a million livestock!! We have a few good sites away from stock and thoroughfares and just have to look at what native flowers are available for the bees. We have gums and wattles but not certain there are enough to support the bees.

There are 382 species of butterflies in Australia and we have identified 38 at Daramalan, not a bad total given the majority prefer the northern tropics. The most striking are the Australian Painted Lady (Vanessa kershawi) and the Meadow Argus (Junovia villida calybe) but we also get the Grass Blues and Browns too.

While out and about checking out the Tarlo River banks and overall condition (very good around us and really the typical chain of ponds) we came across the pictured plant. A White Everlasting Daisy (Xerochrysum bracteatum) that is native to New South Wales and normally found in open woodland and sandy soils. Not rare by any means but a welcome surprise at Daramalan. I think that more are cultivated than grow in the wild. We have yet to do a proper flora survey as there is plenty of farm work to be done. Maybe over the course of 2010 we will carry out some paddock plant surveys at various points around the property. Now that we have a Garmin eTrex GPS device we can start paddock mapping in earnest. Just need to work out how to get the data off the handheld device and onto a PC. Help!!

Ciao!