Tongue Orchid

Plants, ,

Dendrobium linguiforme

“A remarkably hardy little rock-orchid, common on exposed sandstone cliffs and also in moist mossy gullies” – NPOS p.262

Tom has not been sleeping well the last few weeks, late to bed and early to rise. We went down to the river together for an early walk which gave me the chance to finally take a picture of this tongue orchid. They are meant to be a common plant but I can’t recall seeing another one in the area. This particular one is growing on a sandstone boulder in a gully near a small creek. It really must be a hardy plant to be able to survive clinging to bare rock.

In dry times the furrows in the thick leaves deepen and they turn a purple colour. When the rain comes the leaves puff up and turn green. We’ve had a lot of rain in the last month hence the green colour of the leaves in the photo.

Tongue Orchid growing on sandstone
Tongue Orchid growing on sandstone
Tongue Orchid leaf detail
Tongue Orchid leaf detail

 

 Resources and references

Coral Fungus

Fungus, ,

Coral Fungus

This unusual looking fungus was growing in the back yard on a rotting tree stump in amongst some dense Fishbone fern. It’s another thing in the backyard that I’ve never noticed before, or more likely have seen and just forgotten.

After a bit of searching around on Google images I think it’s a type of coral fungus.

Coral Fungus
Coral Fungus $2 AUD for scale
Coral Fungus close up

 

Eastern Spinebill

Animals, , , ,

Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris

I’m pretty sure this is an Eastern Spinebill, it was sitting in the Macadamia tree in the front yard. I’d not head of this bird before and can’t say I remember ever seeing them around.

The Eastern Spinebill is a small bird, about 13cm – 16cm, it can be recognized by it’s long fine down curved beak. The bird in the photo is a female, males have more distinctive and defined colourings of black, white and tan across their body. They are found on much of the east and southeast coast of Australia and also throughout Tasmania.

Eastern Spinebill
Eastern Spinebill sitting in the Macadamia tree

Now I know what these guys look like they’ll probably be popping up all over the place.

Resources and references

Little Wattle Bird

Animals, , , ,

Anthochaera chrysoptera

You would think the Little Wattle Bird’s name comes from the abundant collection of wattle trees in it’s habitat. But I’m pretty sure it comes from it’s cousin species, the red and yellow Wattle birds. The Red Wattle Bird and Yellow Wattle Bird have prominent coloured wattles on their cheeks. The Little Wattle bird doesn’t have wattles itself, but the name remains.

Little Wattle birds are common in the back yard, they’re often seen eating the nectar from banksia flowers. I’ve not seen them on the bird feeder before, I guess they’re not fans of the native bird seed mix .

Little Wattle Bird
Little Wattle Bird in the Banksia out the back
Little Wattle Bird in the Banksia tree
Little Wattle Bird in the Banksia tree

Resources and references