Things That Go...

I've been pushing Pisces to go through some boxes of stuff I sorted out and left on the veranda mumble mumble months ago. If it had been down to me I'd have simply taken it to be recycled once I got it sorted but he was convinced that I was just throwing usable stuff out and wanted to check through it. Well, that's perfectly true but it's not usable by us and that's the point of taking it to the recycling depot, isn't it. It's a place where anything that can be reused as is will be sold on and other usable bits and pieces - like metal, paper and glass - are sent off to be used again. I'd rather it went to someone who can use it rather than just sit around here to clutter the place up. Still he, having filled the car boot to the brim, has headed off to the depot so I'm not complaining.

Anyhow his sudden spring into activity led me to go out and check the gas BBQ which has been bundled up for far too long and to see if we have enough gas should we need it (the answer to that is not really). This in turn reminded me that there was a pile of empty plant pots that had accumulated from my recent repotting frenzy and which really needed to be transferred to the garden shed (if they'll be of any use to me in the future) or into the recycling bin (apparently the local council can deal with them. Who'd have thought.).

I'd stacked the pots out of sight under the eaves but we have a garden shed, don'cha know. Why not keep them in there, I thought. So I put on my gloves and started to dismantle the pile. For some unknown reason, probably in the interests of moving along quickly when I was planting some plants out though why I thought it would work as a long term solution I do not know, I had put a whole pile of empty seedling trays into one of the large pots. I tipped them out and found one was full of spider webs. Okay, I thought, better get rid of that before it goes in the bin so I took it over to the nearest garden bed and gave it a good shake. Not much moved so I got a stick to pull the web out - and uncovered an unusually large and shiny black widow spider. Her body was about as big as the nail on my little finger so you can imagine how big she was when her legs were included and she wasn't going anywhere. I tried shaking harder. Nope. Then I banged it on the ground forcefully. Nah. Finally I flicked her out onto the garden with the stick and thought we'd seen the last of each other. Nooooo. She was not happy about giving up her home and started to chase after it - and since it was in still in my hand, after me as well. I'm not even mildly arachnophobic but even I was getting a little nervous by now - black widows have a painful bite - but she was so intent on getting home that I was able to use the container to guide her to a suitable new place where she disappeared from sight.

The pots had another surprise for me when I went back to finish dismantling the pile. There I was happily taking pot after pot out when something moved in the bottom of one - something a lot bigger than a spider. Before I had a chance to even think a large frog flung itself at the side of the pot - and I have to say I don't know who got the biggest shock. I yelled, Pisces came running and the frog threw itself even higher up towards the top of the pot. On its third attempt it made it up and over - the pot is about 40 cms deep so that gives you an idea of froggie's jumping ability - and disappeared in among the pots of cacti (these by the way are in bloom at the moment and their blossoms are truly glorious).

So there you go - some somewhat unexpected things you can find in my garden.

Frogs

I just found an exquisite little frog sunning itself on the edge of the pond. Not much longer than the first joint of my thumb (approximately 3 cms), slender and delicate with lengthwise narrow brown stripes over a soft creamy beige body, it lives up to its common name of the slender tree frog. More properly it is Litoria adelaidensis.

I'm afraid I can't show you a photo because by the time I came back it had gone. Maybe it realised if it stayed much longer it would shrivel up into a dehydrated remnant of skin and bone. After all it is 38℃ out there at the moment. This tiny frog is the first of its kind I've actually seen in the garden although I often hear them. This was a baby - they usually grow to 6 cms.

There are in fact quite a few of these frogs living in the garden along with several other kinds. We have western green and golden bell or motorbike frogs - if you've ever heard them you'll know why (officially they are Litoria moorei), moaning frogs (Heleioporus eyrei) and something that sounds suspiciously like a water holding frog (Cyclorama platycephala) but can't be because it's not found in this area. They don't all live by the pond. The moaning frogs burrow and particularly like the vegie patch. Makes digging there somewhat nerve wracking but so far - fingers crossed - I haven't hit one. There are several motorbike frogs resident in the water bowls of self watering pots and others who just make homes for themselves among the plants themselves where the moist potting mix is enough to stop them drying out.

On summer evenings when the cicadas join in the cacophony of frog calls the noise in the garden is deafening. On the other hand, in winter when the cicadas are tucked away, the the slender tree frogs and motorbike frogs are quiet except when the motorbike frogs emerge from their hiding places when it rains. Their screams if the dog startles them have to be heard to be believed. Dog makes occasional rushes at them while the frog shrieks its way to safety. I'm not sure who is the most upset of the two. Winter is when we hear the moaning frogs plaintive call from their burrows too.

Given the rapid decline in frog numbers worldwide due to a fungal disease which literally smothers them by growing on their skin I'm delighted to have a pond full of tadpoles and such a healthy population of frogs living here.

If you'd like to find out more about these frogs you can see some photos and hear their calls here.

Oh Dear.

The doves I mentioned a little while back have abandoned their nest. The little hen was sitting very diligently so there must have been eggs but about a week ago when I looked out she wasn't there. The empty nest had been pushed off the solid part of the clothesline frame and was balanced precariously on two strands of the line. There were no eggs anywhere either. It was very well constructed for a dove's nest and I doubt its movement was anything to do with her building capabilities. I suspect rats doing some nest robbing.

Since our new neighbours cleared the jungle in their yard and several other neighbours have cut down their mature palm trees the rats are doing it tough. The passion fruit have finished, there's only a handful of Cape gooseberries left on the bush and nothing else is ripe. I've seen them running long the pergolas in the middle of the day which is very unusual.

The ravens are in trouble too. The smorgasbord of eggs and nestlings that the overgrown garden behind supplied has vanished and they are struggling to feed their babies. Much as I disliked to seeing them hunting around the garden I have no wish to see them starving either.

On a happier note the storage crate on top of the verandah cupboard has another resident pair of turtle doves. We can't actually see the babies in this spot until they are preparing to leave the nest but once they start trying out their wings they need more space so I'm looking forward to seeing some young birds perched on its edge staring down at us with interest for a few days before they fly off.

While there may be less birds there are certainly a lot of frogs. They start their chorus around dusk and it builds to a crescendo over a couple of hours. The garden shrills with dozens of cries of "Listen to me. I sing better than anyone else. What a father I would make for your children." Summer is really just around the corner.