Farewell to 2020!

It's a long time since I was sorely tempted to say 'and good riddance' to a year, but it truly has been a shocker for us all. Here it began as 2019 ended, with so much of eastern Australia (and significant areas elsewhere) burning on a scale and at an intensity unprecedented in European times, and quite possibly ever. In Canberra (and parts of NSW) it continued with savagely destructive hailstorms in late January, following hard on the heels of widespread intensive dust storms over much of inland NSW, product of an extended ferocious drought. 

And then of course COVID-19, which has affected - and continues to affect - every country on earth to varying degrees. Here in Australia, we have been more fortunate than most. This is due both to being an island, and to the efforts of state and territory governments working in rare cooperation. We have also proved to be a population which has by and large done the right thing, despite the costs of doing so and our reputation for being a mob generally uninterested in going along with government strictures. Nonetheless everything has changed for everybody.

Continuing my tradition of recent years (since 2013 in fact), to mark the changeover of years I've selected a photo from each month of 2020. In the past the difficulty has usually been choosing just one picture per month (or even just two on the occasions I allowed myself to stretch a point), but not so for most of this year. Among the places we'd planned at various times to visit, but been prevented by COVID restrictions, are South Australia (we got as far as the Victorian-SA border in March before things imploded), Costa Rica, Queensland and the Blue Mountains for Christmas. Accordingly my choices of photos are much more limited than I'm used to, one result of which is that I've had to post bird pics for instance for successive months, which I try to avoid doing. I hope the journey is still worth your while!

 

As ever I don't make any pretence to photographic excellence, but have chosen the pictures because of their associations, and in most cases because they are ones I've not previously used this year in a blog posting. Let's embark.

JANUARY

 

Regent Honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia, Watson woodlands, suburban Canberra.
This is one of the world's rarest birds, with perhaps only 250 adults scattered along
the east coast and hinterland. Formerly abundant, it's not clear exactly why it's seemingly
headed for extinction, but it's a nomad which relies on the threatened temperate woodlands.
It's years since I saw one and this was an encounter both exciting and poignant.    

FEBRUARY

Eastern Bristlebird Dasyornis brachypterus, Currarong, south coast NSW.
This is another endangered species which we encountered on a morning walk in the
heathland at one of our favourite 'escape places', on the northern end of Beecroft
Peninsula, Jervis Bay. We try to get there at least a couple of times a year and
this was our last pre-COVID visit. Bristlebirds, old Australians, are notoriously
shy, but this pair investigated us on the track, just before oblivious walkers
and accompanying dogs scared them away.
(More on Currarong here.)

MARCH

At the beginning of the month (pre-COVID here) we visited a friend
at Lake Cargelligo in mid-western NSW. It was very dry still and not
a lot of obvious wildlife but this big Lace Monitor Varanus varius (most of
two metres long) caught our attention, despite trying to be inconspicuous.

 

Later in the month we set out to attend a family wedding in Adelaide; the COVID clouds were starting to gather, but we'd not yet understood what was coming. Only two days into the trip however border closures were being announced, so we spent a couple of gloriously peaceful and safe days in Lower Glenelg NP in south-western Victoria where we'd booked before turning for home and bunkering down. (More on that park here.)

 

Among many highlights here was another threatened bird species (though only in NSW, and not nearly as endangered as the earlier two species). 

Olive Whistler Pachycephala olivacea, Lower Glenelg NP.
I almost feel guilty that I took this photo while sitting at our campsite table!
This is a generally uncommon bird (as well as being shy and inconspicuous) scattered in
wetter forest habitats along the east coast.

APRIL

By now we were largely confined to home except for necessary outings such as
food shopping and exercise. Fortunately a walk around nearby Narrabunda Hill
came into that category. This photo (taken into the sun) of White-winged Choughs
Corcorax melanorhamphos, threatening us with white wings (usually hidden) and
bulging red eyes, is a memento of that time (and one of the very few photos I took in April).

 

MAY

Another local walk, this time at a site known informally as Bluetts Block.
A reminder of the resilience of nature; epicormic growth sprouting from the scorched
trunk of a Broad-leaved Peppermint Eucalyptus dives. The shoots under the bark
of most eucalypts are held in check by a hormonal block until the tree is
defoliated by fire (or insect attack etc), when the block is released and the leaves
sprout to enable photosynthesis until the crown reestablishes itself.
 

 

 

 

 

 

JUNE

Another reminder of the fires - this time of the vast, near-continuous east coast fires of
December and January. Xanthorrhoeas (or grass trees) sending up post-fire flowering spikes
in Jerrawangala NP near Nowra, south coast NSW.
At this stage we were spending a lot of time travelling to and from Nowra,
assisting with a family move to Canberra. Driving through the devastation
for scores of kilometres was tough, but scenes of recovery like this helped.
Xathorrhoeas often put up these spikes in the
winter or spring after a hot summer burn.

 

JULY

Snow Heath Woollsia pungens, Currarong (see February above if you skipped it!).
Back there for a few days in winter, I was surprised to see an unfamiliar heath plant flowering
along the walk - especially such a striking one. I needed some help but discovered that this heath,
with which I'm familiar but which normally has white flowers, has a population of
bright pink ones centred right on Currarong! I love the constant learning process.

AUGUST

Now was the time we were originally due to be taking a tour to Costa Rica. As compensation we planned a trip to somewhere else warm - Queensland. However two days before we left, that border too slammed shut. We were something of collateral damage - there'd been a flare-up of COVID in Sydney and, though the ACT had been free of cases for weeks, we were included for convenience. By now we couldn't leave NSW so instead we travelled around it - it was a cage, but a big and attractive one. And by now too the drought was finally ending, and we were swinging into the wet La Niña phase of the cycle. We'd intended to spend most of our time in the semi-arid western plains, but the rains continually drove us eastward and we eventually spent most of our time along the coast.

Australian Logrunner Orthonyx temminckii, Borganna Nature Reserve near Port Macquarie,
north coast New South Wales. These little rainforest birds live almost exclusively on the
ground where they scrape aside the leaf litter with powerful legs and feet, braced on
spiny tails. I find them to be very wary and I'd never managed to photograph one
until that afternoon. This one was entirely focused on its long struggle with
a determined big centipede and didn't mind (or didn't notice) being approached.

SEPTEMBER

Sydney Waratah Telopea speciosissima, Brisbane Water NP, Central Coast NSW.
Into September now and we were heading south towards home, but the flowers were
starting in earnest. And for me who didn't grow up with them, the spectacular
big heads of waratahs, containing dozens of individual flowers, always enthrall.

 OCTOBER

Back home, and with hip surgery looming for me, we took a few days off in the Blue Mountains late in October. Vast areas burnt last summer, but not everywhere, and the flowers were again excellent. As a result, so were the insects. I'm slipping in two photos (well three actually, but one's just a supplementary for clarification) for this month.

Masked Devil Cyclochila australasiae form spreta.
I'm a big fan of cicadas and this one - cold and wet, low down and easy to photograph! - is a beauty.
This species come in a bewildering array of colours and patterns, with a variety of names
accordingly. Yellow Monday, Chocolate Soldier, Greengrocer and Blue Moon all
refer to forms of this species.
And after some dry years with few cicadas, they're making up for it this summer!

 

This is a 'bucket list' photo for me. It's the first time I've managed to get an acceptable photo of
orchid pollination. This sawfly Lophyrotoma sp. has just pollinated a Flying Duck Orchid
Caleana major (unrecognisable in this photo because it's been 'triggered'; see next photo).
He was attracted by the flower's scent which mimics the pheromone of a female sawfly
(actually a wasp relation) and in his exertions the orchid has transferred the sticky
bundle of pollen (the 'pollinia') which he is wearing like a yellow saddle. The fabulous
feathery antennae can detect very low levels of the pheromones (real and fake).

 

A Flying Duck Orchid in its untriggered state. In the previous photo the 'head' on
a sensitive strap has been snapped downwards to force the sawfly against the
pollen presenter.

NOVEMBER

Because of the splendid spring this year, I put some effort into trying to track down as many orchid species as I could, especially around Canberra, with some success. I'll report in detail in a forthcoming blog post. This was the last one I saw before I went into hospital, and it gave me quite a degree of satisfaction because it's uncommon and I'd tried several times in a known site without success before a kind hint directed me to this small scattered colony well away from where I'd ever looked for it.

 

Black-tongue Caladenia C. congesta, Black Mountain, Canberra.
It is delightfully lurid, and the densely warty 'tongue' (or labellum)
is most impressive.

 

 DECEMBER

Finally two December photos, marking significant days for me. The first was taken on my first excursion (other than to the physio and doctor!) after getting out of hospital. We did a short slow walk in the National Botanic Gardens, where the butterflies were enjoying summer as much as we were.

Australian Painted Lady Vanessa kershawi on paper daisy, Xerochrysum sp.
This is a very common butterfly, but that's no reason not to admire it each time.
I love that we can see its uncoiled proboscis inserted into a tiny floret to extract
a drop of nectar.

And the other December photo was taken very recently, a couple of days after Christmas. This was another big day for me because it was the first time I'd been in the bush - essential for my well-being - since the operation five weeks previously. We drove (ie Lou drove!) up into the Brindabellas above Canberra; this was also significant because it was the first time we'd up into this very special Canberra back yard all year. As well as COVID issues, most of the park burnt in February, and the rest was closed for much of the year. I took lots of flower and insect photos, albeit somewhat awkwardly, and this one appeals to me.

 

Silver Snow Daisy Celmisia sp. with a couple of visitors.
I'm cautiously suggesting that the lovely coppery iridescent beetle is Eleale sp.
in the family Cleridae. This genus often visits flowers to eat nectar or pollen.
I hadn't even noticed its neighbour though until I processed the photo (in fact it had
just popped up and wasn't present in a photo taken three seconds earlier). To my
embarrassment, from front on I can't tell whether it's a spider or small grasshopper!

So, that's one version of my year, but even with the relative paucity of photos I could have shown you others. Perhaps I've prompted you to muse too on your year's natural history highlights - that can be a very satisfying and even therapeutic thing to do, especially in such stressful times.

Thank you reading this, and if you're a 'regular' reader I greatly appreciate that support. May 2021 be kinder to us all than 2020 has been, and may we still be able to be comforted and inspired by nature - and in turn may we start being better stewards than we've been in the past.

 

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 14 JANUARY.
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