Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
In Perth the pictured species is indeed common, but Perth is the only Australian capital city which is within its home range
In springtime in Perth Diuris corymbosa – the common donkey orchid, aka “wallflower orchid” – is usually conspicuously present in just about any “bushy” location.
Spring 2025 is a bumper one for this species.
Inevitably, some folks fail to appreciate its beauty, simply because it is so common in Perth, so easy to see.
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Most Australian humans regard willie wagtails (Rhipidura leucophrys) fondly and encounter them frequently.
They are also well-liked in the rest of their range – Melanesia and eastern Indonesia.
On 21 September we – and circa 100 other people – enjoyed lunch at a popular Shenton Park eatery.
From our almost-outside table, just inside an open door, we watched two very industrious wagtails construct a substantial portion of their next nest.
To say the least, their choice of building materials was highly eclectic!
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All will be revealed in the next chapter.
At lunchtime on 21 September the pictured “construction site” was within two metres of our almost-alfresco table at a popular eatery in Shenton Park.
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In global terms, Australia’s major cities – Perth, most especially – are surprisingly rich in “wild”-ish, “bushy”, quasi-“natural” locations.
They are not all in parks and reserves.
Some are just a few square metres apiece – vibrant, tiny “Islands” within an otherwise-stolid “sea” of cement, asphalt, lawns, graceless buildings, etc.
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A clear majority of Australia’s Banksia species occur naturally in southwest Western Australia, exclusively.
One of the most arresting is Banksia prionoties.
Its common name – Acorn Banksia – refers to the appearance of its large flower spikes during the early stages of their flowering.
As you can see here, at that stage the flower spike is both elegant and spectacular, with each spike/“cone” exquisitely clad with hundreds of flowers. (many people are unaware of this reality. They misperceive each spike as “the flower”, singular)
As this post’s photo illustrates, the spike’s “post-flowering” appearance is every bit as spectacular, but rather less elegant.
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Very often, much more is going on within a single flower than is readily apparent to an observing human’s naked eye.
The deployment of a long or macro lens will often yield a surprise – sometimes lovely, sometimes startling.
If you zoom in on/enlarge the image below you will see two beetles.
They are at/near the top of the photo’s most prominent pistil – the white one, in sharp focus.
For a more “macabre” experience, look at the munching/nectar-sipping young animals that have “invaded” the very heart of two of the three flowers in the featured image, above.
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Chamelaucium – the genus known as waxflowers – has fourteen generally-recognised species.
They are members of the Myrtle family.
Some – most especially Geraldton wax, Chamelaucium uncinatum – are highly prized, globally, by florists and gardeners.
However, as is true of so many highly distinctive flowering plants, the natural range for all members of this genus is entirely confined to parts of southwestern Western Australia.
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The relevant “fairies” are Caladenia Latiffolia – an Australian orchid species, commonly known as “pink fairy orchids”, or simply “pink fairies”.
I took the photo near the western side of Lake Claremont at 3.46 pm on 19 September.
The floral diversity in southwest WA is phenomenal, globally.
Many of the region’s beautiful, often wondrous-strange flowering plants are endemic – in the wild, they occur nowhere else on earth.
Not a few are endemic to just a tiny portion of WA; for a few species, their entire “home range” is a single hill in The Stirling Range.
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Cygnus atratus – the black swan – is widespread over much of Australia, but is most especially associated with Western Australia.
From 1854 through to Federation in 1901 it appeared on every West Australian postage stamp.
It is still the local “heraldic beast”: prominent on WA’s flag and Coat of Arms.
This species is not endangered, and enjoys protected status in all Australian states and territories.
Black swans are mostly monogamous and both parents are very attentive to their offspring.
Breeding usually occurs in winter.
Spring is generally the best/easiest season to observe parents and cygnets on “open” water.
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Cape Freycinet not being an actual cape does not make it a “lesser” place.
This post’s photos look like they must have been taken at two rather different locations and/or on quite different days.
I took them within three minutes of each other, and my two vantage points were only a few paces apart.
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