The Marri trees are flowering

I always say there is always something flowering in the Western Australian bush.  It's mid summer here and the marri trees are flowering in the south west of Western Australia. 

Corymbia calophylla - commonly known as Marri - is one of around 80 eucalypts which were transferred in 1995 from the genus Eucalyptus to the newly created genus Corymbia. The species was formerly known as Eucalyptus calophylla and that name is still preferred by some. Australian Native Plants Society

Marri is an indigenous aboriginal Noongar word. Growing to 40-60 metres tall they are not suitable for suburban gardens, but they shade a creek walk near where live. We walked along there this morning. The bees were buzzing in the Marri flowers and the cockatoos where having a good time high in the trees chewing on the new buds and cracking into last year's nuts. 

Here below you can see the buds, the flowers, the nuts (commonly called honkey nuts) and nuts laying on the ground that have fallen after they have been cracked open by cockatoos. 

Below you can see here are red-tailed black cockatoos. We could hear them screeching in the trees. 

The red-tailed black cockatoos use their wide beak to shred the edge of the nuts so they can get to the seeds inside. 

Gum nuts and the gum nut babies were a feature of May Gibbs book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie - an Australian children's classic - May Gibbs

More information:

Kings Park Botanic Gardens

Australian Native Plants Society

Just a short post from me today. I hope yo and yours are safe and well in these troubled times. Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. 

Take care, stay safe, hug those you love, and enjoy your week. 

You might also like:

Arbor Day - Celebration of trees

Old Timbeline Trail , St John's Brook, Nannup, Western Australia

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

 

All Seasons 
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

October 2020 - Covid photo a day project

 Hi everyone, my goodness it is November already! Can you believe it! Less than 2 months to till Christmas! I must tell you I've spent a while this morning scrolling on the internet looking for paper Christmas decorations. Amazing how quickly time goes. I've found a few I might fiddle with over the next few weeks with papers I have left over from making flowers.... once my wrist is feeling a little better. 

Anyway, here I am with the October edition of my Covid Photo-a-day project. 

1 October 2020 - Thursday - Blue Lady Orchid - Thelymitra crinita - Manea Reserve, Bunbury. I didn't expect to still be doing this project in October!!!

2 October 2020 - Friday - Jarrah blossom - along the Miller's Creek walking path

3 October 2020 - Saturday - Kangaroo at our son's block in West Dardanup. I think she is a mother carrying a joey

4 October 2020 - Sunday - Carbanup King Spider orchid

5 October 2020 - Monday - Cathedral Avenue paperbark walk, Australind

6 October 2020 - Tuesday - doodling with ink and botanical paints over an eco-print leaf print on paper

7 October 2020 - Wednesday - Moonstone - one of the weiroes we are "bird-sitting "for our grandsons. 

8 October 2020 - Thursday - cooking afternoon - lemon butter and savoury muffins. I did the one handed jobs like stirring the lemon butter.  Rod is the king of the muffins

9 October 2020 - Friday - we went for a walk along the Leschenault Inlet while our son was at afternoon dragon boat training

10 October 2020 - Saturday - we netted our apricot tree to keep the parrots from destroying our apricots

11 October 2020 - Sunday - through the paperbarks along the Collie River in Clifton Park

12 October 2020 - Monday - A day trip to Perth to see our finance adviser and then a lovely lunch at the Secret Garden Cafe in South Perth with friends. - it really is a lovely place for lunch, good serves, and very reasonably priced. 

Tuesday - 13 October 2020 - drying protea flower heads from a bunch of flowers I was given a few weeks ago

Wednesday - 14 October 2020 - our quince tree is blooming beautifully and we are looking forward to quince season

Thursday - 15 October 2020 - we have little baby birds. ps sadly a few days later they were taken before they were ready to fly.

Friday - 16 October 2020 - beautiful scented sun orchid along the trail in Manea Reserve. I had not seen this colouration before. Stunning.

Saturday - 17 October 2020- Sea eagles have nested along the Collie River. We could hear the baby squawking. One parent is sitting on the edge of the nest and the other in the tree. Unfortunately only place I could get a photo was straight into the sun and I didn't have my proper camera with me, only my phone..

Sunday - 18 October 2020 - Tassel flowers in bloom in the Harvey hills. I had never noticed their tiny stars before - Down in the bush today

Monday - 19 October 2020 - the drying protea heads are opening their cones

Tuesday - 20 October 2020 - Leopard Orchid - Manea Reserve. We hadn't seen these at Manea before.

Wednesday - 21 October 2020 - just playing with camera blur and swamp grasses

Thursday - 22 October 2020 - my latest article published in Caravan World magazine

Friday - 23 October 2020 - digital swirling in my garden

Saturday - 24 October 2020 - an orange rose from my garden

Sunday - 25 October 2020 - The Busselton waterfront was bustling in the burst of summer weather when we went down to have lunch with friends.- not that you can see it's bustling in this photo but there were people everywhere. We bought fish and chips for lunch and were lucky to get a picnic table in the shade.

Monday - 26 October 2020 - pink roses in my garden

Tuesday - 27 October 2020 - Back down to have afternoon tea with my sister and brother-in-law at the Equinox Cafe in Busselton. We sat and watched the rain roll in. So different to last Sunday.

Wednesday - 28 October 2020 - We bought two punnets of dwarf sunflowers - they are a colourful burst of sunshine in our back garden

Thursday - 29 October 2020 - Out of the splint and into physio and exercises for my broken wrist which is very stiff and not much flexibility. I need to be diligent with my exercises.

Friday - 30 October 2020 - just a few dry eucalypt leaves

Saturday - 31 October 2021 - making a start on making Christmas cards from botanical eco-printed scrap papers.

So there you have my October in pictures. I hope you and yours are doing well. Please take care and stay safe.  Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by and gave me words of encouragement last week. Now that my cast is off I am feeling more positive. I have a long way to go, as my wrist is very stiff, but if I keep up my exercise regime I know it will improve. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.  

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons 
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me

Pieni lintu - Monthly collage challenge

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Arbor Day - celebration of trees

Last Saturday 20 June was Arbor Day in Australia 2020. 

The day is celebrated on different days around the world. Arbor Day–which literally translates to “tree” day from the Latin origin of the word arbor – is a day which celebrates the planting, upkeep and preservation of trees. 

 The Spanish village of Mondoñedo held the first documented arbor plantation festival in the world organized by its Mayor in 1594.

 The first American Arbor Day originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton^. On April 10, 1872, an estimated one million trees were planted in Nebraska.

Arbor Day has been observed in Australia since 20 June 1889.

When I was a child in school, Arbor Day for us was a day to plant trees around our school. 

In the light of the horrific bushfires during the Australian summer of 2019-2020 where thousands of hectares of bushland, farmland, and homes were destroyed, this year more than ever seems to be a time to celebrate and plant trees. 

Whilst we didn't plant any trees, I did sketch the Sea-Urchin Hakea - Hakea petiolaris - at my son's block  - I really love the veins on these leaves.

And on Sunday we went up to the bush. So today I am sharing some images, all taken with my 100mm Macro lens. 

There is something really rejuvenating about walking out in nature don't you think away from the stresses of the world, albeit for a short while.  

We were a bit too early for flowering, but I could see where some wildflowers were starting to bud. 

Below you can see:
- Water Bush - bossiaea aquifolium. The sharp pointed leaves collects rainwater and gives you a shower if you brush by. They are covered in yellow pea flowers in spring.

- The Prickly Hakea - Hakea amplexicaulis - flowers August to October. I love the way the prickly wavy leaves wrap themselves around the stem, and the flowers sit on top of the leaves.

Below is the Snotty Gobble - don't you just love the name! The bark lays in thin red paper like layers. I thought at first there was a fire - but it was just the sunlight shining through the paper thin bark.

The botanical name this small tree is the Persoonia longifolia.  In the Eastern States this tree is referred to as the Geebung. Geebung is an Aboriginal word for the fruit which they use for food and medicine.

The snotty gobble flowers in summer and have fruit the size of blueberries which ripens in autumn and falls in June to July. If I had known this I would have looked around the base of the tree to see if I could find some fruit to taste. 

Fungi

And little mosses growing on fallen logs

 Ferns

Treasures on the forest floor

You have to look carefully to find these tiny orchids - these are from the Greenhood orchid family - Pterostylis 

And marri nuts way up in the canopy- Corymbia calophylla is commonly known as marri, a name derived from the Noongar language of Southwest Australia region

So there you have it - a quick overview of our visit to the bush in the south west of Western Australia on the weekend. 
My tip - bring a kneeling pad and a groundsheet if you want to get down at ground level to take photos.

For more information on Arbor Day -
 History of Arbor Day - USA
Arbor Day Foundation
 National Tree Day - Planet Ark Australia 
 Wikipedia.org - Arbor_Day 

 You might also like:
Down in the Woods today 
Enjoying the Western Australian bush 
Bushwalking at Hoffmans Mill 

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Does your country celebrate Arbor Day - what date is it? And do you do plant trees as part of Arbor Day. Perhaps you would like to share in your comments. 

I hope everyone is well and you and yours are staying safe.  Whilst in Western Australia our numbers of the virus have plateaued, in the Eastern States of Australia numbers unfortunately have spiked this week.  We are in this for the long haul.

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.