DECEMBER 2009
BALLAMBAR – season of butterflies.
Early Summer (Mid November to late January)
(from Brambuk’s website)
The weather stabilises.
Heat starts to dry the country.
Butterflies chase in the warm sun.
Beetles and moths collect around lights at night.
Small birds are moulting.
Echidnas dig for ants.
There is cumbungi and water ribbon growth in streams and wetlands.
Wildflower displays now on the higher peaks.
Banksias are in full flower.
Murnong is flowering in heathlands.
The website http://bird.net.au/ from the South West Integrated Flora & Fauna Team adds:
December is a time for seed development for many plants, there is a transition from the winter flowering eucalyptus to the summer flowering eucalypts. The grasslands are in their prime with forbs and grasses in flower, whilst many native orchids have completed their flowering and have seed developing.
Fauna
Koala; females giving birth to cubs (Nov – Jan).
Bats – start of birthing of many species
Brolga fledglings leave the nest.
Masked Owl fledglings ready to leave the nest.
In some years, the deafening sound of cicadas on hot days.