Yellow Sand Wasp

Sand wasps are generally not aggressive toward humans – but don’t disturb their nests! They are solitary nesters but sometimes it is not unusual to find a number of nests in the one area. They dig a nest hole in the ground, often on the side of a sandy-gravelly walking track. The adults feed on nectar and are often encountered in a native garden.

After laying their eggs and the larvae hatch, the adult wasps prey on other insects, particularly flies, which they capture on the wing and immobilize with a venom and carry to the nest.

It is thought that sometimes the adults work in pairs, one catching the prey, the other guarding the nest burrow from predators.

Once the larvae are fed, the adult (female) exits the nest and fills the entrance in with sand to hide it from predators. When she returns with the next meal, she has to dig the burrow open again.

Bembix palmata (I think) belong to a genera of about 20 species.

I came across this wasp recently at the Frankston Conservation Reserve.   

Pelican

A recent excursion to McNeilly Park resulted in some nice views of a Pelican or more correctly, Australian Pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus. 

Pelicans are highly mobile as they search for suitable water bodies on which to rest or feed. Their diet consists mostly of fish and other aquatic animals but a hungry Pelican is not beyond preying on ducklings, seagulls and other small water birds. 

They may feed alone (like this one) or they may work cooperatively as a group, ‘herding’ fish into a concentrated area for easy pickings. 

After a while, this lone bird decided it was time to move on and after taking off, circled continuously searching for a thermal of air to take it to a greater altitude. In this way, Pelicans can cover huge distances, sometimes staying aloft for 24 hours.

Grey Teal

Our most widespread duck, the Grey Teal, Anas gracilis, is easily mistaken for the female Chestnut Teal. (‘Anas’ = ‘duck’ and ‘gracilis’ = ‘slender’ – referring to the rather slender neck when extended). The white patch on the throat and chin is more pronounced and extensive on the Grey Teal. The Grey Teal is a smallish duck. The sexes are alike.

Female Chestnut Teal                                                     Grey Teal

Grey Teal can be seen as pairs or as huge flocks on almost any water body; fresh, brackish or saline. They are highly nomadic, depending on rain and flood patterns, and often are ‘here today and gone tomorrow’. In wet seasons, Grey Teal will be widespread on inland river systems and lakes. In drought times, they congregate on coastal wetlands and estuaries.

The Grey Teal is a typical dabbling duck. It feeds on aquatic plant and animal life by upending and ‘dredging’ in shallow waters.

Their nomadic, irruptive patterns result in Grey Teal breeding at almost any time of year. They nest in a wide variety of situations: rabbit burrows; on bare ground; crevices in rocks; tree hollows; etc. If conditions are right, Grey Teal can produce multiple broods per season.

Victoria’s Game Management Authourity says, “The Grey Teal is available for recreational hunting”. Just thought you’d like to know.

 

 

Notched Phebalium

Back in October, a visit to Vue at Jindivick resulted in the discovery of an unusual understory plant that had us scratching our heads for a time.

Credit: vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au

Notched Phebalium, Leionema bilobum, is rare in Victoria and listed as vulnerable in the F&FGA. ‘Leionema’ = ‘smooth’ and ‘nema’ = ‘thread’. It refers to a "hilar strand," which is a small piece oftissue that connects the hilum, a scar on the side of a seed, to the ovule. ‘Bilobum’ = ‘two lobed’.

The medium dense shrub has aromatic, serrated leaves and white flowers. The shrub has a suckering habit. The branchlets are covered in minute hairs.

The shrub we came across was growing in a Silvertop woodland. Although its distribution is pretty limited, apparently in some locations Notched Phebalium can grow in very dense stands.

 

Purple Beard Orchid

Beard Orchids, Calochilus sp, need warm, humid days to fully open. Their common name obviously refers to the hairy or bearded labellum. Calos = beautiful and cheilos = lip.

The two or three examples I came across recently in Sweetwater Creek NCR are probably Calochilus robertsonii, the Purple Beard Orchid although I’m happy to be corrected. John George Robertson was a Scottish naturalist who collected the species in the mid-19th century.

There are about 6 species of Calochilus that grow in Victoria. Several of them are listed as endangered under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 20224.

The cryptic nature and short flowering period means these beauties are often difficult to locate – most of the time it is just luck to come across one.

Like several other orchid species, the Purple Beard Orchid is ‘probably’ pollinated by pseudo-copulation by a male wasp species; the flower either emits a female wasp pheromone or appears visually like a female – or both. The male wasp is attracted to the flower and becomes the pollinating vector as it visits other plants in the vicinity. The flowers can also self-pollinate after a time.

C.robertsonii is a fairly widespread species that grows in a variety of habitat such as heathy or open woodland from the coast to the foothills.

Flying Duck Orchid

The Flying Duck Orchid, Large Duck Orchid or just Duck Orchid, Caleana major, is endemic to the south-east corner of Australia. The genus, ‘Caleana’ refers to George Caley who was an early English naturalist, explorer and botanical collector. The species, ‘major’, refers to it being the larger of two variations of this plant.

I stumbled (happens often these days) on two small colonies of this quirky orchid in Adams Creek NCR recently and again a little later in Sweetwater Creek NCR.

Because of their distinctive/quirky appearance, it is always a delight to come across ‘ducks’ in the wild. Sometimes they are not easy to spot. They grow in a variety of habitats; I have found them in gravelly woodland and, like these at Adams Creek, in almost pure sand.

Notice the spider web. Many orchids and native wildflowers have attendant spiders waiting for some prey to visit the flower.

Because of their distinctive appearance, Duck Orchids are popular amongst orchid hunters and many clever people have tried to grow them - with little success. Propagated plants barely survive one season of flowering. This probably has something to do with the plant requiring a relationship with a particular mycorrhizal fungi in the soil.

Another special characteristic of the Duck Orchid is that it produces a pheromone that attracts male Sawfly wasps. When the wasp enters the flower, the labellum (the duck’s ‘head’) closes quickly downwards (below image) and traps the insect which struggles to escape. After some time, perhaps 15-20 minutes, the labellum opens again and releases the wasp which now has a coating of pollen for its visit to the next orchid. How clever is that?

Yet another weird feature of this amazing orchid is that the structure of the flower is ‘upside down’; the labellum is at the top of the flower and not towards the base like most orchid species.

We are so lucky to live in this amazing corner of our planet!

Trump and the environment

In his first term as president, Donald Trump pulled America out of the Paris climate accords. He downplayed the dangers and even denied the existence of climate change. He reversed, revoked, rolled back and dismantled more than 100 policies governing climate change, clean air and water, wildlife and toxic chemicals.

In his first administration, Trump appointed a number of nominees with close ties to the coal, oil, gas and chemical industries.

In his recent campaign for a second tilt at the presidency, Trump said, “On day one I will tell Pennsylvania energy workers to frack, frack, frack, and drill, drill, drill, baby, drill.”

Trump has voiced skepticism about electric vehicles but has also said Elon Musk will have a role in his second administration because of Musk’s Republican endorsement.

Quote from Dan Lashof, the Director of the respected World Resources Institute:

“There is no denying that another Trump presidency will stall national efforts to tackle the climate crisis and protect the environment…. One can only hope that Donald Trump will put conspiracy theories to the side and take the decisive action to address the climate crisis that the American people deserve. But I won’t hold my breath, and neither will the global community nor U.S. state and local leaders.”

I’m sorry for getting political and no doubt some of you reading this will disagree but I reckon that if we’re not worried, perhaps we should be?

Normal service will resume shortly.

PS: President elect Donald Trump has just appointed former congressman Lee Zeldin as his head of the Environment Protection Agency. Zeldin has a political science and law background. He has a reputation for voting against environment protection bills. Trump has said he is looking to reverse many EPA rules.