Botany Nerds Ahoy

Morning Alfred

Gosh I hope U are Out There , getting slotted into some 4-6ft Good Ones , as I type .

As U know , I am a Philostein lol , with ecosystems , genes and stuff .

I don't usually stay in 1 place long enough , 4 moss 2 grow near my Lichen walls .

The last picture looks like booming upside down mushrooms , growing on a fn Rock .

So real , they are making Me hungry , so will go and do an AW , " go and Load up " .

Keep Loading and Keep Surfing , AW !

Pop Down wrote:

Morning Alfred

Gosh I hope U are Out There , getting slotted into some 4-6ft Good Ones , as I type .

As U know , I am a Philostein lol , with ecosystems , genes and stuff .

I don't usually stay in 1 place long enough , 4 moss 2 grow near my Lichen walls .

The last picture looks like booming upside down mushrooms , growing on a fn Rock .

So real , they are making Me hungry , so will go and do an AW , " go and Load up " .

Keep Loading and Keep Surfing , AW !

PopDown.

How are you ? You’re no Philostein or Philistine, of that I’m sure, way too kind.

They say a Rolling Stone gathers no moss.

But Cold Chisel did.

You’re a Fuel Officer (not a philosopher), all gassed up on wanting GAS to be part of our energy future.
What goes in must come out, rectally speaking.

Energy load up last night, todays fuel, burnt in some nice 4ft waves.

A small seal and desperate small fish out the back today, don’t want anything bigger getting any closer otherwise I’ll need to wear aquatic incontinence undies.

I know you are a real Fungi, keep off the mushies otherwise you may turn into a ‘White Rabbit’. AW

@ hey AW
I didn’t get back to you on your coffee club
I don’t always have the time to read longer posts
So I’ll try again later

Juliang wrote:

@ hey AW
I didn’t get back to you on your coffee club
I don’t always have the time to read longer posts
So I’ll try again later

It’s all a bit of fun.

Now , watch your nose doesn’t increase in length. I’m not interested in the topic you’ve been heavily involved with, but that doesn’t mean I don’t notice stuff.

From my recollection, oh, my friend, you’ve got plenty of time to read long posts. AW

Three in the Grandstand tonight, me and my mates.AW

And such a mournful call. Love em.

seeds wrote:

They crack me up when they just stand still. I mean dead still.
You wonder if they are real.

Hi mate. I love them, I get excited everytime I see them. Observing their behaviours is fascinating. It’s alive up here at night, so many different bird noises in the littoral forests that abutt the primary dune scrub.
The Orange-Footed Megapodes give the Curlews a run for their money regarding their night calls.

Sounds like 1000 woman are being killed off in the distance. AW

blackers wrote:

And such a mournful call. Love em.

Blackers. Hi fella. Yes, mournful, wailing, they mix it up that’s for sure.

They also play the old one broken wing act to deter predators when near their chicks.
They also pull their legs in and sit on them and freeze as another predator deterrent then by using camouflage .

I’ve a beautiful painting of one at home it’s my favourite.

Not a bad game of football at present. AW

Throw in a few masked lapwings for a great sleeping soundtrack.

tubeshooter wrote:

Throw in a few masked lapwings for a great sleeping soundtrack.

Tubeshooter. Hi pal. Yep, they seem to be active all night.

I went to a lecture a few months ago in Geelong, a bird bioacoustics dude who really knew his stuff.

Birds of different species call at all different periods overnight.

The scale of timing was broken down into about 8 groups, it was fascinating, its governed by available light.
For example, there’s was the astronomical period, nautical period, certain periods certain times before first light to actual light.
When I get home I’ll dig it up.
It was recorded in our Field Naturalist Clubrooms.
The fellas name is Andrew Skeoch, there was basically a different species of bird for all the different times. AW

Just read they are getting reintroduced at the renaissance man’s current home too. More wailing from the rock.
https://www.penguins.org.au/about/media/latest-news/landmark-study-to-re...

Rare down here yes. Plenty up north.
Small things.

seeds wrote:

;)
Critically endangered though? Surely they are being location specific.
A quick check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_stone-curlew
says they are wide spread but must be rare other than up north

Blackers thanks. Interesting for sure.

Seeds, surprisingly they are endangered, the more feral cats and foxes progress north, the more under threat they are.
Let’s be realistic, it’s still habitat clearing that’s the biggest threat.
Even though they are shorebirds, they don’t hang around water, but not too far from water. They are not found in the really hot dry areas of Australia,
Surprisingly they are found within the vicinity of big inland rivers also.
Widespread up here on the Atherton Tablelands. AW

blackers wrote:

Rare down here yes. Plenty up north.
Small things.

Cotula ?

Yes. Your trip sounds ace.

blackers wrote:

Yes. Your trip sounds ace.

Day One, 16 more to go. AW

Noice. Enjoy.. Off to B6 country for 2 weeks myself shortly.

Got a mate who lives at Dunwich on Straddie.
That place is off the Richter at night.

Could be seeds.
They're pretty strict on dog control too. Very strict.
Dunwich though has so many open grassy fields in that area.
I've stayed all over that island and plenty of others, but that joint takes the cake for me.

Yep,
and the local dolphins are pretty friendly too.
Just don't try to feed or pat them.
You might get a lecture from a bipedal local.
Which is another thing I love about places like that.

There's plenty of signage around but people still do it.
I witnessed one young couple getting strictly worded up by an irate local after trying to feed and pat in one in the shallows while I was having a cast a bit further way.
I was actually happy it wasn't bothering me and my potential catch.

haha, actually I think we should stop talking the place up.
It's really a shithole, full of midges.

blackers wrote:

Noice. Enjoy.. Off to B6 country for 2 weeks myself shortly.

Blackers, Hi. Nice one, I hope you have a great time.

Look forward to seeing your quality photos.

Safe travels. AW

blackers wrote:

Just read they are getting reintroduced at the renaissance man’s current home too. More wailing from the rock.
https://www.penguins.org.au/about/media/latest-news/landmark-study-to-re...

Trivial reply, but I almost choked on my tea this morning when I realised who our renaissance man is. Funny stuff.
Albeit, I do worry about the amount of dogs on Phillip Island regarding the Curlew release. AW

seeds wrote:

Im talking koalas and you’re talking dolphins.
(dolphin in a tree. Now that’d be something)

Haha, you could only read that here! Nice chat chaps.

When I worked at coolangatta tweed golf club we had a curlew nesting between the two 18th fairways about 60 meters short of the greens , amongst the trees and rough. We had to rope the area off and golfers couldn’t ( but did ) enter to retrieve their ball . I was amazed that the foxes that hunted the ibises at night didn’t attack the curlews . They were nested there on the ground for a few months. @AW any idea why the foxes didn’t hunt them down ? There were also many plovers nesting on the ground that again never seemed to be attacked.You would think the eggs & birds would be easy targets .

Supafreak wrote:

When I worked at coolangatta tweed golf club we had a curlew nesting between the two 18th fairways about 60 meters short of the greens , amongst the trees and rough. We had to rope the area off and golfers couldn’t ( but did ) enter to retrieve their ball . I was amazed that the foxes that hunted the ibises at night didn’t attack the curlews . They were nested there on the ground for a few months. @AW any idea why the foxes didn’t hunt them down ? There were also many plovers nesting on the ground that again never seemed to be attacked.You would think the eggs & birds would be easy targets .

Supafreak. Hi mate. Hope all is good at your end.

Good question.
As I’ve kind of mentioned , the Masked Lapwings ( previously known as Spur-Winged Plover) and the Bush Stone Curlews are great at being able to protect themselves let alone their eggs on the ground on a scratching of soil and their chicks.
Their first tactic is to always lead a predator away by pretending to be maimed , that’s often a bent wing or dragging of it or simply flying a very short distance to lure the predator.
Next defence is a raucous vocal attack with body actions, pestering and swooping of the predator.
All the time any eggs in a nest or a scrape are mottled and extremely well camouflaged.
In fact I see Lapwings eggs solely on top of the ground more often than not.
Both Curlew parents share the incubation period s it’s a bit of a tag team approach.

Whatever they do, it certainly works. AW

seeds wrote:

Ha
Never crossed my mind. Just beautiful to see them.
Had one in a tree above my swag camping at Adder Rock 2 years ago.
Saw plenty at Amity every day we went there for a jetty jump. Couple with joeys.
So good

Seeds. Hi mate.

Ooh, Amity pier, Great White Alley. Just off shore of Amity is a big channel running down the West side of Straddie. I would never swim there.

Remember the young 14 , 15, 16 year old girl who got attacked in waist deep water , a horrific scene it was reported.
Apparently a family member later told emergency services the young woman was menstruating at the time and was told that sharks could detect that.

I don’t know the science behind that but clearly remember that being reported.
Regardless a vey unfortunate incident and loss of a young person’s life. AW

nice to read and reflect on my recent Curlew experiences - as you say seeds, they are prolific on Maggie. They were at every stop on my recent NQ trip, some places more dense than others. Cape Hillsborough areas was definitely the loudest, a whole bunch of them right outside the house so it was some intense screaming at times! Love them, and really wondered why we dont get them on our coastal areas seeds. Perhaps just too much development, but they are very adaptable - and they seem to happily coexist with urban development elsewhere... Anyway, check this book - Daryl Jones is all over it. They are thriving right in the city in Brisbane. I heard him explaining in an interview that they very successfully deter foxes and cats from attacking them, so they can thrive where they have successfully done that and the foxes/cats have learnt a lesson not to take them on.
https://bulimbacreek.org.au/shop/books/curlews-vulture-st-darryl-jones/

and I came across this really nice article yesterday. Great nature pictures from a committed photographer and storyteller. And a good story here of the interconnectedness in nature - in this case (NW USA), the link between fish and trees, and more. I thought most on here would also appreciate this. enjoy.
https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2024/09/03/g-s1-5057/photo...

Awesome GreenJam. Thanks for sharing. Great images.

GreenJam wrote:

nice to read and reflect on my recent Curlew experiences - as you say seeds, they are prolific on Maggie. They were at every stop on my recent NQ trip, some places more dense than others. Cape Hillsborough areas was definitely the loudest, a whole bunch of them right outside the house so it was some intense screaming at times! Love them, and really wondered why we dont get them on our coastal areas seeds. Perhaps just too much development, but they are very adaptable - and they seem to happily coexist with urban development elsewhere... Anyway, check this book - Daryl Jones is all over it. They are thriving right in the city in Brisbane. I heard him explaining in an interview that they very successfully deter foxes and cats from attacking them, so they can thrive where they have successfully done that and the foxes/cats have learnt a lesson not to take them on.
https://bulimbacreek.org.au/shop/books/curlews-vulture-st-darryl-jones/

Curious that he thinks they can keep foxes away. Bush Stone Curlews are endangered in NSW /Vic primarily due to foxes. Fox numbers in Oz decrease to the north and areas of higher rainfall, roughly the subtropics, which is about from Ballina. And it’s roughly from about Ballina where the Curlews start becoming more common.

blackers wrote:

seeds wrote:

Im talking koalas and you’re talking dolphins.
(dolphin in a tree. Now that’d be something)

Haha, you could only read that here! Nice chat chaps.

Drop Dolphins are out there. Be warned.

haha, @ts, i thought koalas in the shallows was the highlight. well played, sir.

And I definitely wouldn't swim in the channel off Amity.
Bull sharks can get around in big numbers there.
Some great land based game fishing though in that area.

basesix wrote:

haha, @ts, i thought koalas in the shallows was the highlight. well played, sir.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Some flora of warmer climes. Not native.AW

upload images

I think there's only been the one fatality there, so I'd agree the odds aren't any worse.
But it's still not a place I'd recommend for a dip given the alternatives.

Edit. Whoops now I've crossed wires with another post about koalas. ;)