Aren't weekends wonderful? And don't they go much too fast! On the pretext of searching for barberry, I spent a number of hours just 'walking and looking' and reckon I'll be an expert in the art by the time retirement rolls round. Yesterday's wander took me down near the swamp to see if the native clematis,
Clematis paniculata, that flowered last year was still there. It sure is and the buds are just starting to open...
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| Native clematis buds beginning to open |
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| Coils of native clematis vine winding around the trees by the swamp |
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Native clematis in full flower on Back Road - it can look like water
cascading down the bush canopy in places |
I think these are the male flowers of stinkwood
(Coprosma foetidissima); the wind will blow the pollen from the anthers onto the female stigmas (according to the book!) - I'll go out during the week to get some photos of the female flowers. Coprosmas are dioecious which means that male and female flowers are on separate plants.
Today's excursion started off right by the deck. I washed the exterior of the house yesterday which hosed most of the cobwebs away. A large orb web spider had captured a moth and was in the process of wrapping the body in silk. Fascinating to watch and being easy to access I grabbed my camera and loupe with these results...
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| Wrapped-up moth on left with orb web spider, Eriophora pustulosa, at right |
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| Close-up of orb web spider's underside |
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Close-up of the silk-making abdomen with the spider's legs wrapping
up the moth |
I checked out the native ants' nest again by lifting the branch over one of the entrances. This time I was ready with the camera to take a few snaps before they disappeared down their holes.
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| One of the winged varieties |
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Not sure if this was a guard but he was one of the few to come out of the
nest and look around. The ants are about 8-10mm, not sure if they bite |
I took more photos of other spiders but they've all gone in the recycle bin; they move too fast for the dull light conditions under the canopy. I did manage to snap this native cockroach though...
So, it's now 9.30pm on a Sunday evening and I have a long list of jobs that I didn't get done at the weekend. I wonder why!!!!
