Silly memories.

The past few weeks there have been a number of special little moments that have made me smile and laugh with Wesley around the home and beyond.  Here are a few of them:

1. He loves crabs and sharks and well basically all sea creatures.  I was cooking dinner when I felt a little hand sort of pluck the material on my pants.  I looked down to see Wesley wearing the red oven mitt.  He looked up at me and said “craaaaab” which was adorable and so funny.  He loves the mean crab from moana and sort of sings along with the song whenever it gets the part where he says “shineeeey”.
2. I saw he was about to play with our heater, when I called for him to stop he held a rag at the wall and pretended he was washing the wall instead.
3. We’ve discovered an area in the woods that has a really cool dirt hill (almost like a bmx set up) and so were scrambling around on it yesterday.  When we were just about to walk back to the car I nearly stepped on this blue mouse spider (related to the dreaded Sydney funnel web!).  Gingerly I tucked it into an envelope and brought it home for identification and photographs.  The experts are looking at it right now and will be back with more info soon!  The blue colouring is exquisite.
4. We’ve joined a playgroup in Jurien bay which is about 45 minutes away – there are so many kids.  It’s been awesome meeting new people.
5. Wesley is ever adventurous but there have been a few moments in the past week when he comes back and seeks cuddles.  He’s also given a few kisses (of free will) and that just melts my heart.
6. We read an illustrated compendium of the sea and he’s nearly memorised the names of all the sea creatures.  He’s really that into the ocean!
7. It was wee mans first ever time out in the rain to splash in puddles and he took to it so quickly!  We were both soaked by the end!  It was so much fun.
8. The freaky looking (and ugly) mantis creature is actually not a mantis at all.  Crazy right?  After some investigating and eventually emailing a scientist friend – it was discovered that this thing is called a mantis fly.
9. Wesley loved running naked in the garden beds after his bath a couple of weeks ago as the full moon was rising.  It was such a warm night so we all sat in the grass enjoying the view.  Tom was with us again for the night too!

Blue Blood Super Moon Eclipse, Western Australia

These are some images from last night’s super, blue, blood moon eclipse.  We stood out peering at the moon in wonder as the earths shadow slowly swallowed it whole.  The third image is a section of the milky way that was visible in the darkness as the moon was hidden.  It was such a nice night with friends – we’d had a pretty massive dinner together and then were enjoying the sunset on the porch before we noticed the super moon.It’s fascinating how many orb spiders we’ve seen around the area – this one particularly is striking.  I found a few days back.  The red on it’s legs and abdomen stopped me in my tracks.  It’s also giving me serious cooked seafood vibes with the deep orange red hue.  I cannot stop looking at the perfect like 4 square set up it’s eyes have.  Such a unique placement!Brian and Wesley heading into the lambs paddock to stir up some trouble!This tree is the biggest one for kilometres.  You can see it at least 6 km away on the drive up to the property.  We’ve planted a few trees here ourselves (bottle brush) to help close in the yard and provide more shade around the home.  We’ve got quite a bit of firewood to sort out and I think we might set up some form of bonfire pit over winter.  Maybe.These are some gorgeous figs that we’re patiently awaiting.  They have been sitting unchanged for months and only just today are they showing signs up plumping up and darkening to a pale purple pink.  Tessa makes this incredible stewed fig desert with brandy.  I ate it 6-7 years ago and I can still recall the flavour.This last image was taken last week in the light of the half moon.  I was stunned to see this many stars when I reviewed the image on my camera.  It was incredible to see how much light my eyes were missing!

Have you ever taken any night photos?  This is kind of unchartered territory for me, and I’m still learning the basics.  Hopefully the next time I’ve got a bit more skills and can show you the milky way in the next new moon here in Australia.

 

Maratus Spider – Western Australia

These are some of the exquisite spiders and insects that we’ve found around the home over the past couple of weeks.  The Maratus spiders shown are both male and female (the first 9 images).  What’s interesting about them is right now they are out an about in the natural world – where as many of the species are untraceable at this time of year.

We ask ourselves – why is this particular species active?   I’ve spent the past few weeks observing the yard at all times of day and found something of a patterned emerging.  Only after the sun began to lower, and the time beyond 3.30pm would I ever spot the Maratus.

The large orange wasp, stings her prey and creates a tomb like space for the creature to lay dormant and become host to her offspring.  Many jumping spiders become entombed and it’s no wonder they are hard to find when it is warm and the wasps most active.

Mike helped me out with spotting and found the female Maratus which is so small that when you take a photo and blink – if she’s moved it’s quite challenging to locate her again.

Lucky for us all – the temperatures here have been mild (mid to low 30’s) and the breeze cool.  Summer so far has been wonderfully warm.

Do you have spiders in your yard? 

I’ve read recently that jumping spiders are the most common across the planet.

Point Louise, Greenhead Western Australia

The breeze was so refreshing at the beach yesterday.  I had a few solo hours in the bush and sand dunes keeping an eye on what’s flowering, what bugs are pollinating at midday and where the little jumping spiders are on the coast at midday.  Do they move about in the full sunlight part of the day?

A little treat to myself during this little venture was an iced coffee.  And people! Australia and New Zealand do this right!  It comes with whipped cream on top and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  The bitterness of the coffee is all at the bottom, and as you finish the drink you’re left with the sweet taste of ice cream to cool you down.  On a crazy hot day it is perfectly refreshing.

My search for the first two hours proved uneventful, though I did see many butterflies, beetles and wasps (and even one blue banded bee) out hustling between all the flowering coastal plants.

I’d thankfully slathered on a huge portion of sunscreen before leaving.  As I wandered the beach it crossed my mind to remove my shoes and feel that soft white sand and warm Indian ocean between my toes.  As I progressed along Point Louise, I followed a path up the limestone cliffs and began to walk North.

This was perhaps a poor impulsive decision as I then spent the next hour painstakingly walking along a gravely hot path barefoot.  What’s worse?  The sharp pain of awkwardly placing my foot on a rock or the searing pain of the hot ground cooking my feet?  Both at once was fairly uncomfortable.  I had to hype myself up to turn around and walk to full track back!

The good news is during this little tortured walk, I managed to spot what I’d been looking for.  One small brown jumping spider hopped across the path and into the shade.

After several hours out in the sun, I started to make my way home.

Greenhead is a gorgeous little community, with a number of holiday homes to rent a couple of cafes and a small pharmacy.  Now that Christmas is nearly upon us the town will be bustling with holiday makers, children and plenty of happy families soaking up the sun on these lovely beaches.

We’re also settling into the weekend and will be celebrating a quiet little Christmas with Wesley and friends.  Eggnog spiced with a little rum will be whisked up by Mike after a successful and popular batch last year.  He’s keen to try again (it was so delicious and I don’t even like liquor) and today I’ve baked some old style cookies my grandma taught me how to make when I was a child.   I hope you take time to connect with your loved ones, create or uphold traditions and cherish these memories.

New Spider Discovered – Tharpyna (Crab Spider) Western Australia

Yesterday I sent off a brief email detailing the behaviours of this unusual red and black spider.  It was found about a month ago at the front of our home here in Warradarge.  I first noticed it as it was scrambling in the sand (quite frantically) as soon as the sun started to dip toward the horizon.  It was new to me at the time.  Initially I thought it was an orb spider as I’d been referencing an Australian spider field guide and it was the only image that seemed to match my red and deep black spider.  Being the curious person that I am, I decided to contact the author to see if he knew what it might be.

The author (Robert Whyte) confirmed with me this morning that “It is an as yet unknown, at least as far as live photos are concerned, species of Tharpyna, you are the discoverer! It looks like it is a mature male, so it may have been frantically out and about for a quick shag before bedtime. Many crab spiders are daytime spiders, but Tharpyna are often under bark and may be night hunters. It is one of the prettiest Tharpyna I have seen. ”

So my first question to Robert was a little egotistical: Could I name it?  He wrote me back saying that technically I could but it would need to be scientifically named and also peer reviewed.  I let him know that I’m no scientist – and he was able to share with me the details of another expert based in Poland who might be able to help.

I also asked how he was able to distinguish that it was a crab spider and not the orb I’d originally guessed at.  He informed me that there were several identifying features that clued him into the species.  You see, I am a literal amateur.

“The eye tubercles, eye arrangement, general flatness and shape, shape of male palpal (sex) organs, arrangement of legs (laterigrade).”

I’m quite thrilled to share this news with you all.  It is a really great to know that there are new species out there for discovery, and that there are resources out there to help novices like myself.

I’ll update you if this little beauty gets a name.

If you have a love for spiders, or want to look at some examples of them from across Australia this book is worth every penny.  I also want to thank Robert for being so kind and taking the time to help me with identification and steering this newbie in the right direction.

-Holly