#gsb2025

Another species described by John Lindley in his 1839 work, A sketch of the vegetation of the Swan River Colony. That one comes up a lot when I'm researching Perth plants.

Well yesterday was the last day of the Bioblitz and was both successful and also went wrong in so many ways. The plan was to head to a local lagoon for birds in the morning, an afternoon bush walk and then a night bush walk with more mothing to tie it off.

This….. did not happen. We did in fact go to the lagoon! Saw a great many bird species we hadn’t got yet in the Bioblitz like Rufous Whistler, Brown Honeyeaters and White-Cheeked Honeyeaters and I also saw an Osprey catch a fish!

However one small problem was our planned trail was actually impassable. We used a few different tracks and the problem came with our last track, a poorly maintained Fire trail that was flooded at several parts, eventually forcing us to turn back when the flooding became impassable.

Still along the way we got good shots of the Black Swans exceedingly common in this lagoon, and I did see my first Robust Ctenotus, and we managed to catch a Pacific Koel in open view for once, so while the trip ended up twice as long as planned due to backtracking (in very hot weather), it was certainly worth it.

Unfortunately soon after our late lunch the weather turned, the wind gusts reaching dangerous levels and eventual rain that cancelled the rest of the days plans. Very unfortunate to not have that opportunity to add nocturnal species to our list.

While the Bioblitz itself is over now, things aren’t quite wrapped up! There’s still a few days for identifying and uploading observations, and I have yet to check if my trail cam caught any additional observations from those days. In a few days we will have a better idea at where we stand (currently I have 162 species over 250 observations). In a few days I will likely do a wrap-up post reflecting on end results and things I’d do the same or change for next year!

The big naturalist event for October was the Great Southern BioBlitz 2025 - I got about 327 species, myself, over the weekend, but many are species I've covered before. Did get some new ones, including at least two of the Peacock Spiders we found in a patch of dunes the size of a dinner table in the Port Kennedy Scientific Park. There were at least 3 species, and maybe as many as 5 - females are hard to tell apart. The spiders clearly agree - hence the colours and elaborate courtship dances before they dare approach a potential mate.

Not the best photo - here's a better one by Jean and Fred Hort.

'Pavonis' means 'peacock', and this really is the quintessential peacock spider, widespread in the SE and SW of Australia.

A genus of Australian intertidal spiders (Desidae - not all intertidal) first described by Finnish arachnologist Pekka T. Lehtinen in 1967, although that placement is a new development, after the results of a 2019 genetic analysis. It was originally placed with the Stiphidiidae. A few of the species in the genus got moved into other genera, as well.

Compactly-built harvestmen with massive chelicerae, found in the damper southern parts of Australia.

Originally a Helichrysum, then moved to Bracteantha, until it was realised Russian botanist Nikolai Tzvelev had already moved it to his new genus Xerochrysum the year before in 1990.

A paper daisy endemic to SW WA, growing to about 1m in height. Usually an annual, sometimes a short-lived perennial.

As one of the events for the BioBlitz, the Waterbird Conservation Group gave us access to a small wetland reserve that I'd never known was even there, despite driving past it on the adjacent freeway hundreds of times a year. This was one of the species observed.

Widespread but tiny Braconid wasps that lay their eggs inside aphids. The unfortunate aphid becomes a swollen yellow or tan mummy by the time the wasp larva finishes it off, and pupates inside the dead, hollowed out host.

Unsurprisingly, the 17 or so species are important biological pest controls in crops, greenhouses, urban areas and home gardens.

A cheesewood found in coastal communities along the south half of the western coastline of Australia. It grows in grey soils, clayey sand, calcrete, sandstone, granite, laterite, and limestone, which is pretty impressive for a plant that otherwise demands ocean views.

Despite their tempting appearence, the fruit is a woody capsule containing dark red, sticky, inedible seeds.