mostly.nature

Here are a couple of flies for your viewing pleasure. The fly in the first shots, is, I believe, one of the Tachinids. These are parasitic flies that lay their eggs on other insect hosts. The fly in the

Doctors, dentists, and hospitals have all been getting in the way of my posting time lately. However, today, I have taken a few photos to share. While old bottles would be considered rather boring to most

While waiting for someone at the hospital I had a choice to either sitting in a cramped waiting room or driving down to the shore where I could enjoy the sea view and the birds. I chose the latter. I only

The Grey fantail, Rhipidura albiscapa, is very active little birds that is contantly on the move doing all sorts of acrobatics in persuit of insects. They are also very inquisitive birds. If you make squeaky

The local name for these birds is the Turbo Chook. Watch the video to find out why. The proper name is the Tasmanian Native Hen, Gallinula mortierii. They are part of the Rallidae family. Click on images

While bidding farewell to some family members at the airport, I took the opportunity to get a couple of shots of the aircraft. It is Saab 340 twin-turboprop from Sweden. They were produced between 1983

The Laughing Kookaburra is among the largest of the Kingfisher family. Their natural distribution is the eastern parts of mainland Australia. However, they have been introduced to Tasmania, parts of Western

Warning: The notes and photos on this blog are simply my personal observations. I am not a mycologist. This is not a guide to edible or inedible fungi. While at the river yesterday I came across several

I spent a little bit of time down by river late this afternoon. From my car window I was able to get a few shots of some of the local bird life. These are Superb Fairywrens, Malurus cyaneus. Despite the

There are some very pretty spiders out there and this isn't one of them. In fact it's a rather plain looking brown hairy spider. I found it trying to make it's way into my house via the back door. I guess

Fraus is genus of moths that are endemic to Australia. They belong to the Hepialidae family which are usually known as Ghost moths or Swift Moths. Fraus are among the smaller moths in the family. There

I was tidying up my collection of potted plants when I noticed what I thought were loose pebbles next to one of the smaller pots. When I went to flick them away I noticed their fleshy texture. Having a

This is the second of two shells I found at a local antique shop. (The other is in my previous post) It is Melo amphora, which has several common names including, the Bailer Shell, the Melon Shell and

I found a couple of nice shells in a local antique shop. The one shown below is one of the many Spiny Oyster shells of the Spondylidae family. I have not yet identified it to species although it may be

Last week we were given a load of Prickly Pear cuttings from three different species of Opuntia. When we got home I emptied the bags of cuttings under the car port where they could dry out. Cacti cuttings

This cactus is the Old Man of the Mountain, Oreocereus trollii, and this one really is an old man. It's previous owner says it was at least over 35 years old. These are very slow growing and this one is

I noticed this wasp roaming about my cacti exploring all the nooks and crannies. The wasp is the Cream-spotted Ichneumon, Echthromorpha intricatoria. These are good to have in the garden as they are

I bought this Schlumbergera a couple of months ago and it has now flowered so I thought I'd post some shots of the blooms. According to Wikipedia, this genus of cacti is native to the coastal mountains

I just acquired this large old clump of Sempervivum today. The plant needs a bit of tidying up but I took the opportunity to photograph the flowers that were on it. I'm not sure what species or cultivar

This particular beast usually dwells in an underground burrow. They are known as Mole Crickets, (Gryllotalpa sp. ). I only see these Mole crickets if I accidentally dig one up while gardening, or else,