Monsoonal Deluge

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The roads into Litchfield National park are submerged in places as high as half a metre. While many plants wait until the wet is officially over to flower, the Banksia and Grevillea have just started flowering. With such robust flowers the rain will not wash them off the stems like the delicate Acacia flowers. The Grevillea attract a wide range of insects who take advantage of the rich source of nectar or prey on those who sip.
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Fern-leaved Grevillea Grevillea pteridifolia
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Banksia dentata
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Amata sp.
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Four o clock Moth Dysphania numana
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Four o clock Moth Dysphania numana
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Orange Tiger Danaus genutia
on Alternanthera nodiflora
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Osbeckia Australiana
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Wide-brand Grass-dart Suniana sunias
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Yellow Palm-dart Cephrenes trichopepla
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Back To The Familiar

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It feels really exciting to get walking, back in the local area. Its been awhile and I am excited to see how things have changed and see some old friends. The Spermacoce leptoloba are in bloom and I saw numerous butterflies and moths taking advantage. Both butterflies and moths have incredible motion detectors and flight stamina. Once one lands (you move a muscle) they are airborne. The male Red-backed Fairy-wren is out strutting his stuff again. He just finished raising a brood and now he is carrying around red plant material in his beak to attract another mate. I also ran into a pair of kookaburras which have moved into the area and are annoying lots of their neighbours. Since the fire several months ago and all the wet season rain, the acacia are growing back with a vengeance and making walking in some areas restricted again. The Eucalyptus polycarpa are almost in flower and I am sure the Bar-breasted Honeyeater I saw wants to be that “early bird” we have all heard about. And what looked like a small white butterfly, when viewed close up turned out to look more like a deck of cards, very surprising.
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Acacia bidwillii var. major
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Bar-breasted Honeyeater Ramsayornis fasciatus
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Blue-winged Kookaburra Dacelo leachii
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Orange Ringlet Hypocysta antirius
feeding on Spermacoce leptoloba
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Orange Ringlet Hypocysta antirius
feeding on Spermacoce leptoloba
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Dark Ciliated-blue Anthene seltuttus
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Utethesia sp.
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Red-back Fairy-wren Malurus melanocephalus male
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Life Cycle Dysphania numana

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I have been privileged to witness the progression of the Life Cycle of the Dysphania numana moth. So far I have managed to collect these images of the process.

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Green Ant Creek

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I think they should rename Green Ant Creek to “Ginger Alley” or “Golden Orb Spider Circuit”. The lower gorge rainforest is infested with flowering native gingers and a mesh of orb spider nets. All I can think is the spiders have worked out a system where clear air and downdrafts on a steep incline help their capture counts. The native gingers seem to like the sloping rocky soil and shady mornings as well.
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Cape York Turmeric Curcuma australasica
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Four o’clock Catepillar Dysphania numana
Leaf Stem Immpressionata
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Four o’clock Moth Dysphania numana
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Green Skimmer Orthetrum serapia
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Mertens Water Monitor Varanus mertensi
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Nephila pilipes female and male
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Rainbow Pitta Pitta iris
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Slender GreenMantid Orthoderina dtraminea Sjostedt
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Tent Spider Cyrtophora moluccensis
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Twister Tholymis tillarga
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Yellowfoot Fungus Microporus xanthopus
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Tjaetaba Falls

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Above Green Ant gorge rainforest is a big seep stream that feeds the rainforest and flows eventually to the Finniss River. Along the way the environment changes radically as you climb up towards the tabletop. It is far less steamy and much more sandstone.. Once at the top, except where the seeps flow into the streams, the plateau is rocky with the occasional sandstone bitumen which holds many small rain traps which are just beginning to dry out.
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Tjaetaba Falls
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Bermiella acuta Stal male
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Cotton Harlequin Bug Tectocoris diophthalmus
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Crusader Bug Mictis profana
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Galah Cacatua roseicapilla
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Jewel Spider Austracantha minax
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Lemon Migrant Catopsilia Pomona
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Minyacris nana Sjostedt male
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Mitrasacme nudicaulis
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Oedaleus australis
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Phaneropterinae sp.
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Red-collared Lorikeet Trichoglossus rubritorqus
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Xypechtia sp.
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Papilio

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Sometimes a picture is words enough!
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Northern Citrus Swallowtail Papilio canopus
flying near
Banksia dentata
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Litchfield Reveal 02

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Obviously the more you go to a place the more you see. But I wonder if it is because you slow down and look more carefully or if you now see the complexity and changes with a more familiar perspective. Certain changes in the seasonal ebb and flow provide a context and are understood with a clearer experiential perspective. There is still surprise. But rather than the unexpected “what’s around the corner”, its more of a deeper awareness of how each spot you befriended has something new appear or a subtle relationship between flora and fauna now made visible. Its more than just a new set of questions that need to be answered and the lustre never seems to wear off.
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Acacia nuperrima
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Agile Wallaby Macropus agilis
A Time Of Plenty
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Alternanthera nodiflora
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Australasian Slimwing Lathrecista asiatica festa male
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Clerodendrum floribundum
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Commelina ensifolia
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Eumecistes sp.
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Four O’Clock Moth Dysphania numana
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Crab’s-eye Vine Abrus precatorius
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Grevillea deccurrens
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Hoya australis
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Ice Flower
Commelina ensifolia
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Jewel Spider Austracantha minax
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Melastoma malabathricum
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Niphila ornate
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