Tag Archives: leaf curling spider

Exploring Meadows Creek……an interesting drive

3 Mar

Dear Reader:

I hear movement in the long grass. Fifty metres away a Western Grey Kangaroo twitches its ears and looks back at me before slowly hopping into the scrub.

Western Grey Kangaroo

I am exploring Meadows Creek from three roads that intersect the creek from Brookman Rd, which starts at the top of Willunga Hill and terminates at Meadows. The first is Adams Gully Road.

Adams Gully Road ford

Here, the creek’s bank is obscured by scrub and grass. I wade through the tangle of dry stalks and spot a Common Brown Butterfly amongst a mat of fallen grass.

Common Brown butterfly

Nearby, a leaf curling spider has strung its web between some bushes. I can just make out its spindly legs protruding from its specially constructed home.

Leaf Curling Spider with legs visible

Sometimes tracking a creek or river is a complex endeavour. Meadows Creek runs through farmland and only flows freely when it has rained. In drier months it is typical of many SA waterways, consisting of a series of shallow pools.

Typical summer pool along Meadows Creek

A few kilometres past Adams Gully Road is Tynan Road where there is a slightly larger more accessible pool. There are prickly blackberry stems (canes) close to the water providing a safe place for small birds to shelter. A Silvereye lands on a branch providing a nice camera angle. Then a Superb Fairy Wren puts in a brief appearance while an Adelaide Rosella perches high in one of the tall roadside eucalypts.

Tynan Road crossing

Silvereye

Adelaide Rosella

My final crossing point is on Wickham Hills Road where I walk along the dry creek bed towards a pool and spend a quiet ten minutes waiting to see what animals are in the area. Eventually a Grey Fantail alights on a nearby rock as it searches for insects near the water. Further along the creek I can hear Kookaburras calling and a pair of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos fly overhead.

Wickham Hills ford

Grey Fantail

Rather than drive back to Brookman Road and return to Adelaide via Meadows or Willunga, I continue along Wickham Hills Road and wind my way back to the city through some lovely rural areas.  Rich pastures, stock, vineyards, barns and farmhouses provide some picturesque, rural scenes, making a wonderful ending to my creek exploring day.

Vines and open bushland

Cheers

Baz

Additional notes

This is an easy drive which is quite suitable for families and seniors.

Please pass on this blog title and or contact information (URL) to any person or organisation with an interest in taking walks and enjoying wildlife in SA.

Click on these links and see more South Australian stories and pictures in my Weekend Notes articles as well as locating similar blogs on Feedspot’s top 20 Australian wildlife blogs

https://www.weekendnotes.com/adelaide/writer/452

https://blog.feedspot.com/australian_wildlife_blogs

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Mount Barker’s Laratinga Wetland………Crakes and Warblers

16 Jan

Dear Reader:

A small bird with vivid spots and dashes paddles out from the reed bed. A Spotted Crake, the first one I have ever seen.

Spotted Crake feeding

 

For the next ten minutes I watch several of the striking birds as they dip into the water in search of aquatic plants and animals such as worms, crustaceans, molluscs, spiders and even small fish and tadpoles.

Spotted Crake habitat

Leaving the crakes I walk a further hundred metres to another pool before I hear the melodic call of a reed warbler. There are reeds, small bushes and a variety of grasses bordering the water. I can still hear a bird calling and scan the reeds for movement. Deep in the tangle of stems I locate the source of the call; an Australian Reed-warbler.

Australian Reed-warbler calling

Reed warbler habitat

My hunting ground is the Laratinga Wetlands near Mount Barker about a Forty five minute drive from the city. In the local ‘Peramangk’ language it approximates to “Flooding Land Creek.” This wetland serves numerous purposes including filtering waste water, providing habitats for a range of animals and the establishment of walking, running, and cycling trails.

Wetland entrance

Having achieved my primary goal of photographing Spotted Crakes and Australian Reed-warblers, I continue my stroll around these fascinating wetlands keeping an eye open for more interesting plant and animal life.

Channel between larger pools

Because my Nikon P900 with its 83X magnification doubles as a spotting scope, I am able to search the opposite bank of a broad pool. I notice several Grey Teal perched on a branch overhanging the water. But it is the Short-necked or Macquarie Turtle in the background that is my main focus.

Grey Teal, Eurasian Coot and Short-necked Turtle

The day has been overcast and the light is fading. I have encountered numerous bird species in addition to the crakes and reed warblers as well as two reptiles; the turtle and a gecko. Another animal group would complete my day’s excursion. I turn my attention to invertebrates searching the foliage and leaf litter.

Marbled Gecko……showing camouflage

I am in luck. Perfectly suspended in the branches of a Christmas Bush is a Leaf-curling spider. These little arachnids create a home by spinning their silk around a dead leaf slowly curving it until they form a cylindrical shelter to hide in.

Leaf-curling Spider in Christmas Bush

Leaf-curling spider…Image shot at another location to show the spider

Now it is time to leave this amazing wetland but I will return in the near future to search for more wildlife in its maze of waterways, reed beds and bushland.

Cheers

Baz

Additional notes

This is an easy walk and drive which is quite suitable for families and seniors with public toilets, parking and other facilities nearby. It is dog friendly.

Please pass on this blog title and or contact information (URL) to any person or organisation with an interest in taking walks and enjoying SA wildlife.

Click on these links and see more South Australian stories and pictures in my Weekend Notes articles as well as locating similar blogs on Feedspot’s top 20 Australian wildlife blogs

https://www.weekendnotes.com/adelaide/writer/452/

https://blog.feedspot.com/australian_wildlife_blogs/

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Jupiter’s Wildlife

2 Oct

Dear Reader:

Before I have even climbed out of the car I notice a flight of cockatoos gliding low towards the grassy oval where they settle to feed on tubers and roots. Then from the trail head I spot a pair of tawny frogmouths high in one of the stringy barks that dominate the area. These fascinating owl-like birds are nocturnal and use the fine whiskery feathers to locate prey in the dark. Their camouflage is superb making them appear to be an extension of the branches they cling to during the daylight hours.

 

Tawny frogmouth

 

I am exploring the trails around the heritage listed Jupiter Creek Gold Diggings. They are located in the Kuitpo Forest area and were mined intermittently between the 1860s and 1930s. The diggings are now a heritage site and a great place to go for an historic and wildlife wander.

 

Bush trail near the car park

 

Today the weather is a little on the bleak side; not characteristic of South Australia’s habitually warm spring season. But the light adds softness to the bushland setting while providing many photographic challenges as I try trying to capture acceptable images of the constantly moving wildlife.

 

Grey currawong

 

A little further along one of the trails that leads to the diggings I hear the bell-like chimes of a grey currawong. Eventually the bird flies between some trees and I am able to get a clear shot as it perches high in the branches framed by a rare patch of blue sky.

 

Female scarlet robin

 

There are many small birds flitting between the branches and amongst the wattle and pea bushes that form the mid story. I catch glimpses of fairy wrens, tree creepers and even a crescent honeyeater. Eventually a female scarlet robin lands on the trunk of a large eucalypt and begins to forage between the layers of bark for grubs, spiders and insects. In the low light I have to steady the camera against a branch to make the shot.

 

Leaf curling spider web

 

Leaf curling spider emerging

Although only the first vestiges of Spring have graced the state a few insects and spiders are emerging from their winter dormancy. Numerous webs are strung between the lower branches of bushes and trees. Curled leaves are suspended in many of the webs in what, at first, seems a random fashion. However, closer examination shows this web and leaf combination is home to leaf-curling spiders that use silk to draw in the sides of the elongated eucalypt leaves to form a tubular shelter.

 

Common brown butterfly camouflaged

 

A few species of flowering plants are beginning to bloom in the leaf litter and under story and the contrast between them and a well camouflaged common brown butterfly provides a striking image.

 

Gums in low light

 

Today I have only wandered a little way along the trail that leads to the old diggings but I am determined to return later in spring to investigate more of this fascinating area. For now I shall climb back into the car and head for ‘Fred’, a charming little restaurant in Aldgate a just a few kilometres down the road and the home of some of Adelaide’s best lunch time treats. I’ll try the croque monsieur….then go for another walk in the wild to work off the calories!!!!

 

 Cheers Baz

 

Additional notes

There are some challenging areas when walking the trails around the mine site. A signposted area near the oval with basic shelters provides maps and diagrams of the area.

 

 I have recently spent time in Africa and the link below will allow you to enjoy images and text describing some of my encounters with the wonderful wildlife of Botswana and Zambia. I will attach a new image and notes to accompany each post. 

The link does not work well on mobile phones and is best followed through a computer.

https://silkstone627.wixsite.com/mysite

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