Golden Orb-weaving spider
Nephila plumipes
(female)
The small red spider to the left is the male.
Sunrise 6:29 am
Sunset 5:16 pm
28 July 2018
Saturday
9 - 25' C
Springwood Conservation Park
I took a nature walk on my own today while the children were tucked up at home with coughs and runny noses. It was a nice change to be able to set my own pace, be quiet and listen to the birds and sit still and look for wildlife. I walked off the path and found a big rock to walk on. I heard a rustle in the leaf litter and spotted a goanna eating beneath a tree. I'm not sure what it was eating, but it seemed large, like it was choking. It rubbed its face on the bark of the tree and eventually licked its lips, had a sniff around and wandered off. It was so quiet I heard bird calls I didn't recognise.
I kept walking and saw a water dragon sunning itself, the colours of its body a brilliant camouflage against the silvery lichen on the rocks. As I walked the loop up to the lookout I snapped off a few twigs and popped them in my backpack. I found a large flat rock at the highest point and sat down and made these sketches in pencil. I walked back to the car as the shadows grew longer and added pen and watercolour at the dining room table, looking up the names of these beautiful native Australian flowers.
Boronia pinnata
Qld silver wattle / Acacia podalyriifolia
