The now partly collapsed sheet of bark was used by a pair of dusky woodswallows to partly raise their youngsters. So, folks, put away the saws, axes, rakes & secateurs, sit back & relax & watch the birds enjoy the habitat.
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Once more into the posting photos breech, dear friends.
I couldn't agree more with your comments Woko ..... I cringe when I see people "tidying up" and chopping and clipping everything in creation.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
So do I, as you all know. Here is a photo of a Currawong eating grass seeds. I had no idea they would, he had a hard time clinging on , while he was picking the tiny seeds.
I'm all in favour of grasses!
M-L
The back verandah is so messy at the moment that l got quite a shock to see (what l'm pretty sure is) a King Quail wander over and around everything before heading off down the side verandah to hide in the very dense and old Oakleaf Hydrangea.
Woko l note and agree with your comments but l do think l should be allowed a little leeway in so far as the back verandah is concerned!
And l forgot to add the same applies for the side verandah!!!
Back & side verandahs are exempt, mtck. Beyond those chaos is the go.
And here's another reason for not cleaning up. This golden wattle Acacia pycnantha seedling is somewhat protected from grazing creatures by its fallen parent plant.
That little seedling looks like a glimmer of hope.
M-L
This does make me smile. Just a couple of days ago, Barry was upset that he didn't get the mowing finished, but I said, its nice to leave a nature strip for the birds to fossick in.
Karen
Brisbane southside.
And did the birds fossick, Karen?
A year or so ago I was grumping about the amount of 'mulch' that had accumulated around the edges of our garden, but with the huge amounts of rain we have had last year and this, it has now collapsed to a manageable level (it was mostly bits of trees and shrubs that had needed pruning) and the lizards and other ground dwellers love it, also the wrens fossick in it all the time. I didn't believe Bob that it would render down to this degree but have had to eat my words. Together with the low-growing stuff around the yard it provides good cover for small birds as well as lizards etc (and even the occasional snake on his way through to his destination).
Meave
Generally, Australian plants really like the slow release nutrients provided by decomposing mulch. Eucalyptus leaves, particularly, are very slow to decompose & so provide these slow release nutrients. Insects & other bugs feed & breed in the mulch (helping to decompose it) &, in turn, provide tucker for birds.
Fallen branches provide great spots for birds such as robins & wrens to survey for prey. Fallen branches are also great habitat for borers & larvae which are also good bird tucker.
Goodness me, I just couldn't stand the boring sterility of a non-Australian garden!
Love your passion for the native stuff, Woko!
Keep it up!
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
There's nothing like a bit of passion to spice up one's life, Timmo!
Hello Woko,
Couldn't stay away!
If l recall correctly, Mrs Woko likes colourful flowers in the garden. At present, the Correa has run its race and all the honeyeaters are demolishing the Salvia's. They are South African but ...some of the new hybrids (Waverley and Wendy's Wish) have long tubular bell flowers which the birds just love. Other Salvia's such as the flat petalled ones are the bees delight but the birds dont visit them. They make lovely flowers for a vase as well and l'm sure you'd probably win a few brownie points by planting the odd one or two for Mrs Woko!
I also have an Asparagus bed in the garden (yummy stuff) and they are now in seed which is attracting all the seed eaters from far and away! The only downside to leaving the Asparagus go to seed is the weakening of the plants (fixed by applying lots of animal manures and a bit of lime) and the multitude of small plants showing up everywhere as the live seeds are dropped after being carried away or pass through the birds gut.
Hi mtck. Many of the colourful flowering plants near our house are Eremophilas, partly because they attract honeyeaters & blue-banded bees but also because they don't need water apart from what falls from the sky. I'm not sure about Ms Woko being delighted by salvias. She's just as passionate about Australian plants, including those indigenous to our area, as I am. Given the almost total land clearance in our neighbourhood many years ago we can see no reason at all for planting non-Australian vegetation to attract birds & other Australian wildlife. Here's a photo of our property in 1981, 6 years before we arrived, which might help explain why we're heavily into indigenous vegetation.
As you can see, not a blade of grass in sight!
Woko, l'll take your word about the garden - l couldn't get the photo to open but l'm sure it is beautiful.
so where's the after photo Woko?
Here 't is, Margaret.
That looks fantastic woko, well done
Thanks, Margaret. A labour of love!
Is that all your place, Woko, or are your neighbours of a similar mind?
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
That's part of our place, timmo, and the neighbours have been doing something similar on their place for about 7 years. Not to the same extent because they run cattle on their place whereas Ms Woko & I have revegetated & encouraged regeneration on most of our place. Other neighbours are also into revegetation so we're getting some really good wildlife corridors in our area now.
Do you work in the environmental area Woko?
I would love to have, Margaret, but my early study was in history, politics & social work. I took the social work path but later became interested in the environment via Harry Butler's In the Wild series & in birds in particular after a trip to Orpheus Island near Townsville. I eventually did a TAFE course in Natural Resources Management with the aim of getting out of the bureaucratic madness of social work in a government department. Sadly, it wasn't a highly enough powered course to land me an environmental job. I tried to get my own environmental consultancy going but I lacked the capital to make it work. At the same time Ms Woko & I were putting much of our spare cash into revegetating our own property so I was stuck with social work. But it worked out OK in the end because I learned, belatedly, a lot of skills in surviving in a pathologically dysfunctional government department, even to the point of having fun. Looking back, I'm not sure I would have been as satisfied now had I moved into a succsessful or even unsuccessful business. The stress I see around me in small businesses hardly makes it worthwhile. Hopefully, I've prolonged my life by doing what I've done.
THE END
History, politics etc i love that stuff, i did Music and later philosophy. Anyway I am in charge of welfare at my school so similar - i love it. I would like to do a TAFE course in horticulture just for fun.
THE END
There's no end to what can be learned. I love it, Margaret. Perhaps it's the meaning of life - if life has to have a meaning.
Hi Woko. Just browsing over your untidy garden technique, it is just the way I would have it too. A fallen branch on the ground is home for many insects and spiders, I have wood piles of small and large logs . Any branch or log with any piping is a place for living things to sleep and to hide. So I place many of these items around my property. You never know who might move in. I placed a small hollow on a fence post and a Pink tongue lizard move in. It was the first time I had seen one. We now have little ones running around. As for the Yellow plumed honeyeater, what part of the country do you live?
Nightowl
See it! Hear it!
Mid-North Coast NSW
Hi Nightowl. It's truly amazing what litter & fallen logs can do for a garden as you're experiencing. We've had a wet May & June so far & it's amazing to see the fungi which are growing on & around fallen timber that has been in place for a few years. Fungi are great for breaking down organic material & returning nutrients to the soil. In spring I find that bearded & tawny dragons & skinks enjoy basking in the warm sun on logs as well. And all that litter on the ground slows down the water runoff which is absorbed into the soil for the plants & the water table & there's less soil erosion. Then, as you mention, there are all the critters that make their homes in hollow logs, not to mention under bark, leaves & twigs. The sterility of tidy gardens makes for ecological wastelands in my view.
I'm on the south eastern slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges a few kilometers south of the south eastern freeway. Much of the land was cleared years ago for grazing & it's still being cleared for the Great God Mining & to ensure the smooth passage of increasingly wide agriculture machinery but there's an increasing number of folk who are trying to restore lost ecologies with revegetation projects & bush care.
Yellow-plumed honeyeaters aren't a feature of the bird life on our place. They prefer the drier, mallee country but some years ago there was an irruption of the species. I saw one at our place & one was seen as far west as Ashbourne which is a much wetter part of the Mt Lofty Ranges than where I live. Events like these add to the mystique & wonder of bird watching & nature in general.
It's great to hear of the breeding of the lizards where you live. There's a number of bird species which predate lizards so you're adding to the biodiversity big time just by placing a hollow on a fence post. Simple!