For several months a Little Corella has been living in the garden, until fairly recently always on foot, and never on the wing. It has been making a comfortable living, supplemented by seed put out by the sympathetic humans from the house. It has always appeared healthy, and climbs a tree to roost for the night. Gradually it has become able to take off, at first flying for just a few metres close to the ground, and now it can gain enough height to land in a tree, nevertheless it still prefers to walk as it goes about its business. Whether this state of affairs has been caused by an injury that is slowly healing, or simply a loss of flight feathers is unknown, it will be interesting to see if it eventually gains full mobility and joins its free ranging comrades. Meanwhile, bird seed remains on the shopping list. Click to enlarge.

A walk seeking the Autumn Dragonfly was unsuccessful, and other subjects were hard to come by, however persistence finally paid off. Verbena bonariensis is a garden escape that has become widely naturalised, and occurs along the local river and creek. It is not a problem and is in fact a nectar resource for butterflies and other insects, this Yellow-banded Dart was taking advantage of a plant in the shady understory.

A few Common Brown butterflies are still on the wing, and the remains of one dangling from a spider web invited a closer look. The St. Andrew’s Cross spider is often seen in its shapely orb web complete with cross shaped stabilimentum, this very large female’s web was just an untidy tangle low to the ground in tall grass.