december update

I've been a bit slack updating what's new in the garden recently.  First up, my little vitex shrub is steadily powering along.  It used to be this small!

Speaking of small, it has a little visitor.  I just love finding praying mantises in the garden!

Not so welcome a visitor was the locust I found in the lawn.  There's a really bad plague of them this year up north in country Victoria, with sporadic sightings throughout the city.  So far I've only seen the one, who tried to escape in the rosemary.

The sunflowers are also powering along, and one of them's forming a flower head.  Unfortunately the new leaves are coming in a bit warped which is worrying.  But on the up side, as you can see, the geraniums are recovering from their combined ordeal of rust and getting the soil under them replaced.

My melons are only coming along slowly, which is disappointing.  The weather's been a bit cool for their liking.  But I also think I had unrealistic expectations for how quickly they'd grow, since last year they were around this size in December too and I was harvesting them in March.

I planted some African blue basil in the bed below them.  Last year I had some near the bird bath and the bees went absolutely nuts for it.  This year I decided it was better to put it next to the melons for pollination.  It's already got some flowers on it, yay!

Speaking of flowers, my qarabali zucchini has already put out a few male flowers even though the plant is still pretty small.  The leaves are going a bit funny as they age, though, I don't know what's going on there.

And finally, I snapped a photo of some of the neighbourhood lorikeets who were having a look into the garden.  I think they periodically stop by to see if the figs are ripe yet.  The breba (early) crop is just starting to look like it's thinking of ripening, the main crop won't be ready until autumn.  This year I put a few cheap mesh bags over some of the fruits to see if I could save a few for myself, we'll see how it goes!

another blackbird nest

My suspicions appear to be confirmed ... the blackbirds have two sets of babies per season.  For the first time since living here, they've made a nest in the fig tree!

I don't hear babies chirping yet, so there's a chance they'll abandon this nest as they did the last one.  I do wish sometimes that something other than blackbirds would nest here.  I did see a currawong for the first time in my garden although I didn't get a snap.  They're huge black birds, but I then found out they have a habit of killing and eating small birds.  I'd rather have my thornbills eating bugs than a big giant currawong any day.

using the bird bath

I don't see birds in the birdbath too often, let alone when I have the camera in hand, so I was glad to get this snap of a very wet blackbird today.

Oh and as you can just see, the tequlia blue salvia is already starting to flower.  It should keep flowering right through to autumn, I love this plant!

i'm siiiiinging in the rain...

OK not necessarily singing, but man, the rain was nuts this weekend.  We got almost 85mm across two days, I think that's our average rainfall for the whole month but in one weekend.  We've had the wettest October in something like 25 years.  Excellent!

This poor wet crow wasn't looking too happy though.  They don't usually come into my garden but this guy was just outside the back door.  I had a look to see what he was doing so close to the house, and he was pulling something long and white out of the crown of the evergreens along the back.  No idea what it was, but he ate it, found a second one, and at that one too.

Speaking of birdies, I should mention that Moms and Pops the blackbirds didn't end up nesting in the yard this year.  After seeing Moms on the nest for a day or two, they were gone.  They must not have gone far, though, because I now see them around with a few grown babies flapping about.  The cats haven't gotten near them this year, thankfully.

moms and pops are back ... already!

Last November I discovered a pair of blackbirds nesting in the ficus against the garage.  I named the Moms and Pops and was amused by their antics and those of their babies.  Well today I noticed a blackbird flying into the ficus - Moms and Pops are back!  Pops is keeping an eye on the yard and snapping up the worms that are absolutely crawling in the soil after all this rain.  And Moms is already on her eggs.

Look, I don't really like blackbirds.  They're an introduced species and this is exactly why they're crowding out the natives: they're back for a second round of babies in the same year.  But they have diplomatic immunity because I love the wonder and joy of birds nesting in my yard.  Even if they are blackbirds.

more planting and more lorikeets

I just wanted to record that I planted my next set of winter veggies, some Chinese broccoli.  I find if I don't write it down somewhere I forget and it's pretty useful to remember it!

In the meantime my kale and brocoletti have sprouted.  My kale had a surprise - a quadricot!  Most plants have two "seed leaves", the first leaves that come up.  Sometimes they mutate and have three leaves, called a tricot.  But the sprout on the left had four seed leaves!  The slightly wrinkled looking leaves in the picture are the first "true" leaves.

I only need one plant though so I plucked out the quadricot, because I don't know if the grown plant would be slightly "off".

And I couldn't help it, I had to take more photos of the lorikeets.  They're skittish and rarely give me such a clear shot, and the lighting behind them was so beautiful.

fig visitors

I know I spent a lot of time last year gushing about how much I love my fig tree.  But well, I do.  And it isn't just eating them.  I like figs - I don't adore them the way some people do, but I like them.  It's more that in fig season I suddenly have so many friends!  Family and friends and neighbours love them too and it makes me happy to bring them around to people.  And ofcourse they make the birds happy too!

The lorikeets are my favourites.  They always wait a few weeks until there are quite a few figs ripe before coming to visit.  But tonight I met some of the night time visitors who also enjoy the figs.

I'm pretty sure the fruit bats are visiting.  I saw them flying very low in my yard, usually I only see them high above flying between the large botanical gardens in Melbourne.  But when I got out the flashlight to see if I could spot some bats, this is who I found instead!

It's our resident ringtail possum.  You can just see the white tip of her tail holding the branch below her.

I love my fig tree.  It provides more than enough for the birds, possums, bats, and for the humans.

another new bird

I've spotted yet another new bird in my garden for the first time.  I was sitting below the plum tree last night and I heard a sweet, faint set of chirrups coming from the tree. At first I wondered if someone had built a nest and I hadn't noticed. But I looked up to see a type of bird I'd never seen before in my yard.

I managed to get a decent photo up into the tree.  I believe it was a family of silvereyes.  Two juveniles were doing the chirping and being fed by either mum or dad.  Turns out they love fruit so they must have visited for the figs.  The first of the breba crop is ripening - it's the small early crop that I don't bother to net.  There are too few figs so I just leave them for the birds.

the babies

It was ages ago now, but hardly 10 days after discovering the nest, I got home, let the cats out, and this little fellow clumsily flew across the yard and thudded onto the windowsill.

I immediately grabbed both cats and shoved them inside.  I thought, that can't be Mom and Pop's baby!  They were just tiny things last week!  But sure enough, a peek into the nest confirmed they were already flying!  Flying badly, but flying.  They landed all over the place.  Here's one that kept sitting either in or next to the birdbath.

And this one thought the front porch wasn't a bad place to rest.

After the afternoon's comedy antics I didn't see much of the babies.  Mom and Pop must have decided the cats would not be good for their children's health and took them to another yard.  I still see Mom and Pop a lot and occasionally their kids, looking a bit more grown-up now that they have their tail feathers.

birdy momma

Got a snap of mom blackbird with a mouth full of worms for the little ones.  I see both mom and pop like this all the time now, perched up there, then on the ground near the lollipop tree, before flying in.  And I saw mom with a HUGE curl grub in her mouth.  Like, the size of your thumb.  So I can't really complain if they're eating those kinds of pests along with the worms.

I also saw my first bird in the bird bath, a loud little thornbill who was obviously very nervous about the whole thing.  Unfortunately I didn't get it on camera - when I got up to get the camera I must have scared him away.  Shoulda just stayed where I was and watched!

blackbird nest

Last year our resident blackbirds tried to make a nest in one of the kumquat bushes.  This was a very silly thing to do as it was easily in reach of the cats.  Luckily they got a good scare from one of the cats before they laid any eggs so they were at least smart enough to move on and build a nest elsewhere.

This year I'd been noticing they were spending a lot of time in the year with their mouths full of worms.  Then one afternoon when I was reading in the yard, I saw one fly into one of the ficus trees, then heard the faintest "cheep cheep cheep" sound.  Now the ficus aren't much higher than the kumquats, but they're a bit higher off the ground.  We call them the "lollipop trees" because as you can see in the photo they're carefully pruned into a nice round lollipop shape - not something I would have thought a bird would be interested in using.  But on second thought, it's been pruned so much over the years that the branches are very dense, providing lots of cover.  And sure enough, I waited until both mom and dad were picking up more worms and took a look into the ficus tree pictured here.

Four ugly little mouths to feed!  Now the blackbirds are not my favourite birds, they're not native and they're quite good at making a mess of the garden.  But I'm still tickled that they decided to nest in our yard again.  Even with the cats, whose favourite spot now is to sit under the lollipop tree and stare at the blackbirds.  But it hasn't scared them away this year as they simply fly right over their heads and into their safe haven.  I will, however, be keeping an eye out when the babies are big enough to try to fly.  They'd be absolute sitting ducks at that age, so I'll be sure to keep the cats inside.

thornbills

I tried to take some snaps of the thornbills that have been spending a lot of time in the garden lately.  I remember seeing them at times last year but these days they're around for hours at a time.  I've found them really hard to identify because there are half a dozen species and to me they all look "plain gray-brown".  But the important part is that they eat insects, so I'm glad they've decided to spend more time in my garden!

this picture wasn't easy to snap, they never stop moving and they don't let me anywhere near them.  I had to sit at the upstairs window trying to catch them in the fig tree.

bird bath!

Yesterday after some summer thunderstorms we had some visitors. The lorikeets usually only visit when the figs are ripe, but they were drinking from the gutter of our neighbour's garage. From inside the house I could get close enough to take this video.

I was particularly excited because I'd asked for a bird bath for my birthday. Surely if they'll come this close to drink from the gutter, they'll come down to use my bird bath? And sure enough, I got a bird bath that very night from Tom's parents.

I just love it. A nice earthy colour, simple in shape but with a lovely texture to it. It suits its surroundings nicely, it's not gaudy or woggy. I can't wait for the birds and bees to discover it!

For some added enjoyment, here's a close up of the stella bella daylilies growing near the bird bath. I might plant a few more of these around the bird bath, once they got over their aphid invasion in the autumn they've proven to be great hardy little plants.

more birds in the fig tree

My fig tree has attracted two more species of natives that I've never before seen in the yard! As if the lorikeets weren't a joy enough. It's not easy to capture them on the camera though so bear with me. These are zoomed in as much as my little camera can handle, then massively cropped.

This is a noisy miner. They're loud, social larrikins and lots of fun to watch. There are heaps of them where I work where there's a lot more native vegetation, but I can't recall seeing any in the inner suburbs and I've never seen them in my yard. There were only three but they're usually in larger family groups. Better photos and information can be found here.

After I ran in to get my camera, I got another surprise - a red wattlebird or two. These you do see in suburbia, they're quite common, but still I'd never seen them in my yard. Better photos and information here.

Now I wonder if there's a way to invite them into the yard more often. Feeding Australian birds isn't encouraged; most of the natives eat insects, fruit or nectar so if you put out bird seed you'll mostly just feed the non-native birds. The best way to attract native birds is by planting vegitation they love, especially Australian natives. Unfortunately I hate the look of most native plants, so for now I'm content with my fig tree's seasonal attractive power.

Speaking of attractive power, I think that planting all of those flowers recently is starting to pay off. There are noticeably more bees in the garden these days. OK I'm sure that a lot of that has to do with the kumquats blooming and there being a bit more water about, but I'd like to think that the alyssum and salvia have something to do with it too.

i love you, fig tree!

I came back from Texas to be greeted by a pleasant surprise.  I had a look at my fig tree and noticed not only that the main crop was beginning to ripe, but right there at eye level was a fat, black fig that hadn't been ravaged by the birds.  At first I thought I just got lucky, but this evening I went out and picked four more!  I've posted so many pictures of my figs that I restrained myself from taking yet another photo.  They're smaller than the early crop and richer in flavour from the lack of rain, it hasn't rained for like 40 days here.  And for some reason a lot of them are splitting.  I had to eat two of those four right away - one I dropped and another had a few pecks from the birds - but after two weeks in Texas I can sure use the fibre.

Now have you yet spotted the reason why I posted this picture of the top of my fig tree?  No, it's not because of the lovely view of the car repair shop next door.  Look closer.  There's on on the left and another (harder to see) on the right.  Spotted them yet?

Lorikeets!

I love lorikeets.  My friends and family know that when I was younger I worked at my local zoo in the lorikeet aviary and I've loved them ever since.  When I moved to Melbourne I was excited to see them flying around even in the cities.  And I've seen them just near our house, but never in our yard.  No, all I ever get in my yard are mynahs and obnoxious blackbirds and boring house sparrow.  But I am more than happy to share my figs with lorikeets!  There were 4 or 5 of them in the tree this morning hamming it up.

So I'm pretty happy with the fig tree right now.  I even love the smell.  Even months ago I started to notice it - a sweet, earthy smell that's hard to describe.  I've been told that fig trees stink late in the season but for now, I love the smell.

I love you, fig tree!

oh brother

This morning I was taking down the last of the fig net (at least until the autumn crop ripens, then the bird wars begin again).  When I turned around, guess who I saw in the garden bed in front of the house?  Little Mr. Bird again.  And when I walked toward him, he hopped away but didn't fly.

Oh brother.

So I took a quick walk to the vet next door and asked if they took in hurt birds, which they do.  I got a shoe box and went over to Little Mr. Bird here he was hiding behind my Designer Twig.  But when I tried to pick him up, he let me get all the way to touching him, then fluttered away.  On the second try he flew all the way into the fig tree.

So I didn't bring him to the vet after all, because he seems to be on the road to recovery.  But unfortunately he's not there yet.  I hope I don't find him dead under the fig tree in a few days, but in the meantime the cats stay inside whilst he recovers.

killer instinct

Because my cats lived indoors the first few years of their lives, they don't have much in the way of hunting instincts.  Well, they're quite good at catching flies and moths from practicing indoors.  Percival is kind enough to eat the flies he catches (ew) whereas Thatcher just plays with them until they stop moving, then leaves them for me to clean up (also ew). 

In regards to birds they're pretty hopeless.  Thatcher once gave a blackbird a good chase, but he doesn't get to go outside much any more due to several escape attempts.  And Percival ... well Percival's idea of "hiding" is to crouch in the middle of the lawn staring at the fig tree.  This cat is WHITE with a bit of ginger, there is no hiding that.  I know the blackbird alarm call for "beware, there's a cat" because every time we're outside, they're making that call, fully aware of Percival's attempts to "stalk" them.  In fact even today I was thinking of taking a photo of him behind his favourite hiding bush to show you all how hopeless he looks.

But before I could do that, I was behind the fig tree when I noticed Percival go running at a dead bolt inside the house.  The cats NEVER run back inside, they like being outside too much, so I thought to myself "that's a bit odd ... perhaps he's chased a fly inside?"  I went back to what I was doing for a minute or two, but then decided to check on him inside.

Oh, it wasn't a fly.

It was a juvenile blackbird.  And adult bird would have the sense not to get caught, but this bird was quite young.  Percival didn't quite know what to do with it, but I shoo'd him away and scooped the little thing up.  It wasn't bleeding and didn't have any obvious major damage, just a few down feathers scattered in the hall, so I put it outside near the fig tree.

Half an hour later it was still there, then next I saw it had lurched over to the path but no father.  So I did some research and learned that stunned birds probably have a concussion which causes swelling of blood vessels in the brain.  So I took their advice and got a shoe box, put a towel inside, and went to fetch the bird.  He struggled a bit when I picked him up this time which I took as a good sign, but I put him in anyway and put him in the hall closet to calm down for an hour.

Supposedly this allows the blood vessels to heal without causing further damage from the bird struggling or being stressed.  When you open the box they're meant to fly away ... otherwise there's something else wrong and the prognosis isn't good.  So I opened the box by the fig tree ... and it just sat there panting.

I got it a little dish of water even though I knew it would be too stressed to drink.  We sat outside a little ways away for 15 minutes.  It just sat there.

Finally we got up to get our things and go get some dinner.  When we walked back outside, this is all we saw:

No sign of the little guy.  And no sign is a very, very good sign.

Though I have to say, any bird dumn enough to get caught by Percival, the great white stooge, probably won't be adding anything good to the gene pool.