Author: Glenice Taylor

Tawny Frogmouths

There was a pair of them that suddenly appeared one morning right outside our dining room window, and for many weeks they spent their days trying so very hard to look like a part of our Casuarina. It wasn’t possible to capture them in the same photo, unfortunately. To our annoyance (and theirs) they were continually harassed by an unruly gang of recalcitrant Currawongs. They were smart enough and fierce enough to hold their own, so the Currawongs weren’t able to attack them. But in the end I think they grew weary of defending themselves, and losing those precious daylight sleeping hours, so they departed.

Echidna

This very welcome visitor was first seen crossing the road outside our place a few years ago, and many neighbours came out to watch it and make sure it got to the other side safely. It then chose to wander down our driveway, then ventured inside the gate into our fernery to settle down under one of our tree ferns. After exploring its surrounds for a while it dug itself a hole under a pot-plant frame and snuggled down for the night. It stayed a few days then disappeared. After one of our neighbours contacted CALMS, she was told it was ‘well known’ that there was a family of echidnas in our suburb, and we needn’t worry about their safety. We’ve seen another in our back yard recently – it too, graced us with its presence for a short while then wandered off. No apologies for showing all of these photos. They are gorgeous.

Casuarina breakup

This also deserves its own special mention. We had already arranged for this very large Casuarina to be brought down. However, it had other ideas and, somewhat impatiently, decided to cut itself down. Over three consecutive days, it dropped its largest three branches in rotation – like children falling from a merry-go-round. Fortunately they missed all the important plants, the fences and the house itself. It made the tree surgeons’ work much easier, though!

Gymea Lily

This has a special story of its own. I planted it about 30 years ago, and was told it would take about 10 years to produce a flower. I’m very patient, but thought the day would never come. Finally, in 2014, a spike appeared and grew very tall before starting to produce its beautiful large red flower. I watched it grow, in awe, and I photographed its progress. Eventually, when the flower was near its full size, I took a lovely photo of it set against a clear bright blue sky. The next morning – oh, no! – the flower had disappeared! It seems a possum had demolished it in one meal during the night. Appropriately, by the morning the skies had turned a nasty dark, forbidding grey. There were a few remnants on the ground, which the metal brolgas seemed to be inspecting curiously. These three photos depict the whole sorry story.

Front garden

Stumpy the wombat is so-called because he is resting on the stump of a Eucalyptus tree that had to be felled. He does look so comfortable there, nestled in the Grevillea ‘Little thicket’ hedge! The hedge out the front had to be altered because one of the bushes died. The Callistemon was still healthy, so rather than leaving it as it was (as a half-hedge), I turned it into a round bush. There were three other Callistemons behind the hedge, so once that was removed, they have started to bush out to restore our privacy (not yet photographed) Also, the round flat part closer to the house and next to the driveway was re-designed, and new plantings of small bushes and ground covers are growing well there. The special stepping stone pathway (with native plants and animal designs, but not easily seen in the photos) was extended into that area too.