Visitors to My Garden

We're a tad bit behind you by about 14 or 15 hours. It's dinner time here right now. I am posting at about 6:30pm and it's still Dec 3rd here while I believe it's already Dec 4th by you. Or is that vice versa?

You mean like this.

Or is that versa vice ?
We are already monday.

Ah ha! I had it right. I thought we had lost a day flying over there but it's been a long time. Besides which, we get the day back on the way back.

I love your beetle. Terry is too girlie, her skin was probably crawling when her and her husband whipped out the ruler to get a feel for exactly how big your beetle is at 3". I get this visual of her getting all freaked out with the hairs on her arms standing on end while she gags and I am rolling on the floor laughing. I say you box it up with some provisions for an overseas journey and send it to my house where it would be appreciated.

Hey! Here I am doing some reading and I come back to being talked about! Yes ginger! Just like that! You did that with the Compu Pic? I love it! Have to find it.

Equil knows me too well I'm afraid. Yep, skin was crawling, hairs standing on end.....all from seeing a picture. Imagine what I'd do if I saw it in person. Most people scream at a mouse, not me, I'm fine seeing a mouse, might jump, but no creepy crawling goings on. Send it to her and make sure you send males and females. We want them to breed after all.

Isn't that weird to be talking to somebody on the computer and it's Mon for them, when it's Sun for you? How very weird. Speaking of dinner, I really should get some.

I will look into sending a dead one.
All sorts of quarantine laws, Both ways.
But Woulden`t it be fun taking it to the Xmas gathering Next year.

http://www.extremescience.com/StrongestCreature.htm
You can learn a bit more here.

This message was edited Dec 4, 2006 12:08 AM

Hey now, wait just one cotton pickin minute! It was my idea to send male and females for breeding, so therefore I have rights. Say what you will, but I do and you know it!

To bad you can't send me a live one or two. Perfect present for Equil.

Hey terryr
If you read the power link ,
You will see they also live in north USA.

OOps terryr,
Sorry bout that.
"the heebie jeebies " That is.

It's not your fault, it's the bugs fault. Maybe like some people, the picture doesn't do him justice. I'll just keep repeating that to myself and finally, maybe, just maybe, I'll believe it.

The reason I found this one was,
The old timber retaining wall got eaten away by white ants.
I found it in amongst the rotting wood.
I have now replaced the wall with a tyre wall.
But they do fly into the garden every Xmas.

That rhino thing flies? So you're standing outside, admiring your gardens, ahhh so peaceful, oh look, why it's a small bird, no wait, that's not a bird, it's a big ole bug, and it comes flying towards you? Or around you?

Too True.

Forgive me here for a moment as I borrow ginger's image for a bit... terryr tends to like fast cars so I was thinking that I'd make Mr Big Beetle a little bit sportier for her.

See terry, not only does it fly... it burns rubber too.

i think I will make a mechanical rhino beetle and fly it to terry for Christmas. LOL And terry, you won't know when it's coming either!!!

LOL Equil. That's a good one.

Good one, Equilibrium
Now that would make you a Millionare if you could do that.

I was pretty proud of myself for giving Mr. Big Beetle white wall tires but I really had fun making the flames. I tried my best to give him some old fashioned driving goggles but couldn't quite get it right.

LOL!!! That is too funny! I love the beetle now....LOL!!!

Thanks for giving me my morning laugh.........ROFL!!

A Couple of days ago
My resident Willy Wagtails laid 3 eggs.
The nest is on top of the clothes line
Under the garage roof.

Here`s a better shot taken 5 days later.
The young should be here within the next few days.

They are friendly with people, aren't they? Can you get the female to pose for us?

I did that 1 hour ago ,still in the Box Browny.

Here is Pic of mum as promised.
She is smaller than a sparrow.
If you know what that is?

OH BOY! Do I know what a Sparrow is? Yes, we have many. One is introduced from Europe and I have a very special place for them. We won't go there.

That's an interesting tire garden. I thought that they made those in factories. Seriously, that's a great use for something that is a waste disposal problem everywhere.

I read about your bird. The white (eyebrow) supercilium gets larger when the bird is excited and vanishes when they are frightened. Can you actually observe this?

Sure can, At the mo. she is on her eggs,
When we walk past her, she flys away from the nest ,
Puffs herself up and runs in the opposite direction to the nest.
She knows we mean her no harm but still puts on this act.
The tyre wall works very well here. And cheap.
Here she is on the nest.

Oh my gosh, I didn't realize where she made her nest. That's really neat!

Hey Mark! We have a special place for English House Sparrows too but I love my native sparrows. They are simply some of the most cheerful birds. .

Well ! I finally talked her around.
This is her 2 feet to left of nest.

She's pretty and not upset. You can see her eyebrow!

So many Sparrows and so hard to tell our native ones apart at times. I still need a book for many of them.

Her tail is like a giroscope.
She flicks it up and down
And spins it round in circles.
She does this all the time .
They also make the most Beautifull sound.

The Pic above .
She is below and he above.
You can see his tail in motion.
They were chasing insects in The Garden.

Today I took this Pic on the way down to get mail.
There are 8 Wild Ducks grazing on my front lawn.
Not sure what they are eating?

Our Ducks eat grass when it isn't frozen. What kind of Ducks are they?

good question.
Have to get back to you on that one.

Found it .


http://www.swbg-adventurecamps.com/animal-info/animal-bytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/aves/anseriformes/australian-wood-duck.htm

“Feeds mainly on grasses” Now we know!

“The Australian Wood Duck forms monogamous breeding pairs that stay together year round. It nests in tree holes, above or near water, often re-using the same site. Both parents feed young and young birds remain with them up to a month after fledging.”

Ours are very similar to yours. Our Wood Ducks are smaller and just a bit more handsome on the male side. I have a Wood Duck nest box in the lake where I am building my house and another in the woods. I have Eastern Screech Owls and Wood Ducks that use them. I’ll post some photos later. Here is a Wood Duck from our parts.

WOW ! That sure is more handsome on the male side.Like you said.
We had a palm that lost its top in a thunder storm.
As it started to hollow out,
Ducks came and laid 14 eggs in the hollowed out trunk.
They nested in there for 2 years.
All the young survived.
Then the palm fell over, now it is home to Goanas & wombats. lol