Seedlings - from bird droppings and pellets

The larger birds which come to the bird feeder drop various items which contain lots of plant seeds. One can see the larger seeds quite clearly in the items the birds leave behind.

Some of these are regurgitated items, known as "pellets". Others are, to put not too fine a point on it, bird droppings, or "Bird Poo".

I have been curious about these, to know what the birds eat, (firstly) and then, to see what I can raise.

Several months ago I collected a number of these pellets and the dried bird poo, and placed them in a cut-down plastic drink bottle, with some local soil.The first things which came up were very fast to germinate. Two weeks or just over. They had relatively large leaves, and from my experience with weeds around Robertson I knew straight away that they were "Ink Weed" seedlings.

Then the next lot to germinate (after about one month) were these Kangaroo Apple seedlings. They have hardly grown since coming through.

For several months now I have been patiently waiting to see what would happen to them but almost nothing. I need to prick them out and put them into a better drained soil mixture. You might notice, if you click on the image to enlarge it, that some of the stems of these seedlings are purplish, and noticeably hairy. In that regard, they resemble Tomato seedlings - to which they are related. They are both in the Solanaceae.

Resemblances like that are really quite eerie, as, in other respects, the plants do not look at all similar, apart from the shape of their flowers.

Anyway, in the last few days, several new seedlings have emerged. They have very large, rounded leaves. At this stage I have no idea what species of plants these seedlings might grow into.

I love a challenge, so I shall pot these on shortly, and see what develops.

Kangaroo Apple - "It is in dying that I live"

Did this Kangaroo Apple read the famous "Prayer of St Francis"?
Or indeed was St Francis inspired by seeing a plant giving its life as completely as this plant?

• "it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life."

I photographed the plant by flash, at night to accentuate its bareness
and the masses of brightly coloured berries.

This next image is of a normally fruitful Kangaroo Apple (Solanum aviculare) - with leaves and berries.
The top plant is not totally unusual, but it is an extreme example of a phenomenon which I have observed before - which is that some Kangaroo Apples lose all their leaves, while fruiting to an extraordinary extent, prior to the entire bush dying.

Kangaroo Apples are relatively short lived plants (5 or 6 years generally). They normally fruit heavily, but sometimes, when they fruit excessively, they do as this top plant has done - it has shed all its leaves and is bearing vast numbers of berries.

After such excessive fruiting the entire plant dies.
But of course, genetically, the plant lives on - through its progeny.
Hence the metaphysical and meditation interpretations coincide.

It was this which put me in mind of my late Father's favourite Prayer - the so-called "Prayer of St Francis", which apparently can only be traced to a publication in French in 1912, but, hey, lets not get bogged down in historical details....

It was a Prayer which inspired my father, who, now that I think about it, was born in .... you guessed it 1912.

Mothy Nights in Robertson

Over the last week, we have had some non-windy nights - not hot, nor cool. Just nice. The moths have been out - presumably seeking out the various perfumes of the local vines (Parsonsias, Wonga Vine, etc) which are in flower at present, and the more obvious Pittosporum trees, with their heavy night scent.

Somewhere in between all these odours, we know that Moths are using their antennae to track down the pheremones of their potential mates.

And then we humans build our little houses (on the edges of the scent-filled rainforests) and light them with electric light bulbs, to confuse the poor darlings. Consequently, when I come inside the house at night I expect to find some moths, sometimes swarms of them, around the little low-energy bulb on my front porch.

Sometimes I take their pictures. Some are more co-operative than others. Some are positively impossible to photograph - buzzing around furiously. Others sit there, patiently.

Some hold their wings wide spread - flat moths (in my mind). Others are compact wing folders, and then there are the tight tuckers, some of the small moths which fold their wings along their abdomen, but have funny upturned tips of their wings. And then there are those rude looking ones which spread their wings, and stick their bottom up high in the air.

Possibly a "Plume Moth"
(Nick Monaghan has a similar moth marked as "unknown Geometrid Moth",
but that seems unlikely to me.
Edit: Mosura says NOT a Plume Moth. Some Geometrids do roll their wings like that....

What's that body posture about? As if we cannot guess!!!

As a rank amateur moth-er (not a "mother"), I have a problem with the classic displays of dead moths, all spread out uniformly, for that is not how one sees them in real life. My comment about how they hold their wings typifies this problem. When you see a photo of a dusty specimen of moth, collected 100 years ago by some famous collector - it does not look how one sees the real thing - a live specimen.

This is one of the reasons I like the work which Mosura, Junior Lepid and Duncan are doing - presenting real moths, in the manner in which I see them - hanging around my front porch.
From what I can glean from these other bloggers. this moth is probably in the Chrysodeixis genus. In that case it is probably within the Noctuidae family. It does not have the seemingly distinctive (or typical) silvery markings which those moths are supposed to have. (Unlike this one below, which I photographed last year - which is probably Chrysodeixis argentifera ).
Edit: Mosura says probably Chrysodeixis eriosomaThe recently photographed moth (below) - the same specimen as on my finger, (2 images above) also has the tufted hairs on the back of the thorax. The closest I can come for this specimen is Chrysodeixis subsidens. The caterpillars of this family are said to feed on Tomatoes, and Tobacco, but it is interesting to note that those plants are in the same family as some of the very common local (native) plants, the "Kangaroo Apple" (Solanum aviculare) and the low-growing, thorny, Eastern Nightshade, (Solanum pungetium). So, while these Moths are said to be more-or-less universal in distribution, it is quite likely that their distribution is natural. In other words, they might not necessarily be an introduced pest species.
I like this photo (below) - for I feel this moth is saying to me - What family are you in? I have a feeling that the banding on the legs might be significant - but what would I know? Certainly the legs look very fetching.
This appears to me to be a totally different type of moth - just from the way in which it holds its wings flat. As a bird-watcher primarily, I cannot help be reminded of the Nightjar family of birds, which are famous for their camouflage.
This moth was sitting high on my front screen door, so it was on the limits of my ability to reach with the camera, and so I could just manage to get a front-angle view, which at least shows the prominent antennae. (I desperately need to clean the screen door, obviously!)The closest I can come with this Moth is that it is a member of the Geometridae family - possibly a member of the Gastrina genus or perhaps it is a member of the Scioglyptis genus.

Any advice on names would be welcomed, folks.
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Two other observers in the bush, today.

Young Grey Kangaroo
Normally, in the wet forests of this area, the Macropods one sees or hears going "Thump, Thump", are Swamp Wallabies.

Today, however, I found two Grey Kangaroos (Macropus gigantea). I was driving very slowly into a grassy area (beside an old quarry), to look for Greenhoods (which I did not find). But I did surprise these very puzzled Grey Kangaroos.

Not many people drive in here, obviously, and so they allowed me to drive within about 80 metres. Once I had taken a few photos, they gently retreated - without the thump sounds, as the grass is so long there.







With grass in mouth
I love the way this little Roo was not troubled by my presence, and kept chewing on the long, rich grass, while I was photographing her (?).








Greenhood - opening
Previously I had found a rosette-type Greenhood just about to flower. I have no idea (yet) what species it will turn out to be.

I also found literally hundreds more Ground Orchid plants, just at the leaf stage. Anyway, it looks like this season, with the heavy rain in February, is allowing the Ground Orchids to form great growth, which hopefully will lead to a good flowering season over the next spring, and summer months.

Long-leafed Greenhood
Bunochilus longifolius (formerly Pterostylis longifolia) shows its distinctive long leaves. The leaves look almost grass-like, especially if the plant happens to have been knocked over, (which is quite common).
This one is still budding, while there were quite a number of the same species in flower down the coast last weekend. But that is not surprising, given the climate difference, from the extra altitude here.




Another surprise!
This Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus) was so busy chewing on a trunk of a young tree, to get a fat borer grub, that it allowed me to pull up in the car, quite close to her.
They listen for the sound of the grub chewing inside the trunk, and then chew away the wood, until they get the grub out.

Unfortunately the forest was quite dark, and so the shot is not very successful. But the activity is so very typical of these Cockatoos, that I have been hoping to get such a shot for a long time. So, for better or worse, I publish this photo.
I have previously posted photos of the damage which they inflict upon Kangaroo Apples (Solanum aviculare).

Cockies love the Grubs in Kangaroo Apples

KangarooApple Shrub.
If that topic headline does not mean anything to you, have a look
at these photos.
I do not have a photo of a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo in action on a Kangaroo Apple shrub (Solanum aviculare), but I have known for a long time that they love to chew Kangaroo Apples "to bits" chasing after the grubs which eat out the pith in the centre of the stems of these plants.


Chewed branch
I published a blog entry on 25 April about the Kangaroo Apple (Solanum aviculare). In that entry, I commented upon a hugely productive plant which appeared to be flowering itself to death. Well the Cockies have since shown me that it was being eaten to death by the grubs.



Thicker branch
snapped in half
The Cockies caught me by surprise, because I walked down my driveway, in the half-light of evening, suddenly these two huge birds (as big as Eagles, they seemed) flew out from where they had been chewing on this shrub.
Now, as a Robertson resident, I am totally used to seeing (and hearing) Black Cockies in the tree tops, or flying overhead. But, although I had often seen their tell-tale signs of damage, I had not ever "caught them at it", so to speak.
And another shot.
I would have to say that the Cockies do a huge amount of damage, but then, as I commented in the previous post, the shrub was clearly dying anyway. The loss of leaves was what made the shrub at my place stand out. This particular shrub in tonight's post looked more healthy than the one I mentioned as "dying" previously.
The thing to notice is that they go half-way into the branch till they find the grub which is eating out the core of the stem, (where the pithy centre is).
Cockie up a Pine Tree
shredding a Pine Cone
Local Robertson residents know the power of the beaks of these great birds, which can pick a pine cone off the tree, shred it and drop the finished cone, more easily than most of us can eat a Sweet Corn Cob. It is hardly surprising to see how they can tear apart the branches of a soft and brittle shrub.

But remember this. Cockatoos are parrots, and are supposed to be seed eaters. Vegetarians, right? Here is evidence that they love to eat fat grubs or caterpillars (moth larvae probably).
The only other Cockatoo which I know to have a similar carnivourous habit is the Gang-Gang Cockatoo, which loves to chew on "Spitfires" (the larvae of Saw Fly insects) which devour tips of Eucalypt trees.

Kangaroo Apple - Solanum aviculare

Full shrub
The Kangaroo Apple is a dominant shrub of "disturbed areas" in the rich red basalt soil of Robertson.
In many persons minds it is a weed, almost a nuisance plant.

Despite the name, it is not favoured by Kangaroos, but is named for the shape of the leaf, and the resemblance to the shape of the leaf to the toe structure of the Kangaroo's foot. But that applies only to some leaves - in many cases, the mature leaves are plain ("entire") as in these plants illustrated.
Young bush in flower
I love this plant for its form, for its resilience, for its bright blue flowers in spring and summer, and for the way the birds love its berries in autumn and winter.
Solanum aviculare, as the scientists know it, is described in the Botanic gardens website here. The botanical illustration shows both the entire leaf form, and the lobed form of leaf.


Flower


I can imagine few other shrubs which are so productive of fruit and berries. OK, grasses and small perennials might produce more fruit per plant, but then, if you were to count the berries, and multiply by the number of seeds in the berry which is exposed (half eaten) below, you can see you need to be very patient, and to have a calculator, to begin to estimate the number of potential plants which one mature plant might generate each year. Look at the photo of the "wild" plant below, which appears to be dying, presumably from exhaustion, from carrying so many fruit.


Shrub as viewed from
my bedroom window
I love to watch the Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) zooming in and out of this particular plant in Autumn, when it is heavy with ripe fruit. They just seem to keep coming and going much of the day. Mostly the green birds, of course, but that is a comment upon the ratio of "blue birds" to the greens, in the Bowerbird population. That is to do with the fact that the immature males keep the green plumage until they reach sexual maturity, perhaps only in their fifth to seventh year (apparently). The "Birds in Backyards" website has a good page on this species (see link above). It even has an MP3 file for the call, although it is not particularly clear in its call. (Scroll all the way down the birds in backyard page, looking on the right hand side)

Single Berry
While you are in the mood, why not browse the entire "Birds in Backyards" list (ordered alphabetically by first name - hence S for Satin Bowerbird). It has some excellent pages for relatively common birds.

This is a close-up of the single fruit (a "berry").







Half-eaten berry -
numerous seeds inside
See the numerous seeds visible inside this half-eaten berry. Tiny little seeds, like grains of sand almost, inside a reddish pulp. I have gingerly tasted these berries, and find them not very appetising. As they are related to tomatoes, and chillis people often ask if they were "bush tucker" for Aborigines, but it seems not.
The Russians have developed a pharmaceutical industry based upon the cultivation of this plant for production of hormones and steroids. So, in general the consumption of the fruit is advised against.




Hugely productive plant
but dropping its leaves
I wonder if this plant, which is a self-sown seedling growing beside my fence, is so productive that it is literally killing itself with its production of fruit? This plant is losing most of its leaves.
I have given up trying to count the number of berries on this plant, but there are about 7 berries per bunch of fruit, on average.
Another thing which often kills these plants is that they are a host plant to grubs of certain moths, which grow inside the stems. In turn, the Black Cockatoos often come in and chew the trunks of these plants, to get at the large grubs inside, thus killing the plants, or destroying their shape.

When a plant has been as productive as this, in just 3 years, why not grow fast, be productive and then curl up one's toes? It seems fair to me.

My Peonies are wilting in the heat

The sunlight is powerful today. While the temperature is offically 33.6*C at Moss Vale (about 25 Km away), the humidity is a mere 20%, which is sucking the moisture out of the leaves of my Peonies.

*****

I had always known that growing cold climate plants in Robertson was a bit of an experiment. But Robertson is famous for its cooling sea breezes, which are said to roll in from about 2:00 pm. Not this week they aren't. The prevailing breezes are north-westerlies, bringing in pre-heated air from the hot dry parts of the country. And these are just breezes, not those dessicating hot dry winds, which can occur.

*****

I had been attempting to grow the Peonies without any supplementary watering, but today their leaves are just shrivelling up, before my eyes. They may have already incurred permanent damage. Bugger. I have waited too long, obviously.

*****

I was trying to be "water-wise", in this hot dry land in which we live. I have now weakened and resorted to some hand watering. But is it too late, already? Can I continue to grow these plant here?

*****

Prior to next summer, I shall experiment with a more cunning strategy of growing a hedge of Kangaroo Apple (Solanum aviculare) in order to protect the Peonies from the strong sunlight (and dry winds). Failing that, the Peonies will all have to move to a "morning sun only" area, close to the rainforest. But I don't have much suitable land at present, until my shade trees (planted 18 months ago) grow taller. It is tough, balancing the conflicting demands of plants and the environment. Obviously one should grow endemic plants.

*****

Damn, we don't have any local Peony species.