Tortured by cicadas …

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Bottle Cicada

Another of the consequences of our recent rain has been the emergence of thousands of cicada nymphs from their seven-year hibernation underground, to shed their skins, mate, lay eggs and then die.  All this occurs in the space of a few weeks.

For some people these are the longest weeks of summer, as waves of ear-piercing calls roll through the bush, drowning out all other sounds and making conversation difficult if not impossible.  My friend Mary Ann who lives just out of Bellingen on a farm, is being driven slowly insane by 14 hours of non-stop noise every day.

I discovered that Australia has over 200 species of cicada.  Amongst them the colourfully named Black Prince, Floury Baker, Yellow Monday and Whisky Drinker (due to its red nose). Fortunately, it appears that only the Golden Drummer, Bottle, and Green Grocer have so far found my garden attractive.  Unfortunately though, the Green Grocer is said to be one of the loudest insects in the world!

They are quite an attractive insect, but this amazing and slightly creepy film on American cicadas will make you look at them in a new light!

Golden Drummer (deceased)
Green Grocer on my hand
Discarded exo-skeleton
Green Grocer

The Decoy Duck …

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Well, the Rain God gave us two days to mow and clean up before re-commencing daily thunderstorms.  I’m not complaining though.  The garden is fresh and green and full of birdlife – lorikeets, king parrots, catbirds, galahs, honeyeaters, bower birds and more. I’ve even had a few wild ducks wandering around looking for snails and slugs in the grass.  Which is why I nearly missed a big event …

Three nights ago I heard a quiet “quack quack” coming from somewhere in the garden.  Thinking it was a duck, I ignored it.  The second night, the same thing.  Then last night my curiosity got the better of me, and out I went with camera and torch to see what this duck was doing when it was supposed to be sleeping!

Strangely, no ducks, and for a while no “quacks” either.  So I sat down in the wet grass and waited … and after a few minutes, from the leaf litter behind me came a “quack quack”.  I turned to discover one of the frogs on my wish list, a Great Barred Frog.

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The Great Barred Frog is a cousin to the Giant Barred Frog which is endangered, although spotted in the lagoons in North Bellingen.  They both like the same habitat, and my pond doesn’t exactly fit the description, which is why I wasn’t expecting it to turn up.  That’s frog species number NINE !!

A Great Barred Frog
A Decoy Duck

Dear Rain God …

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Dear Rain God,

Thank you very much for responding to my request for 100mm of drought breaking rain.  I actually envisaged that you might send the rain as gentle drizzle over two days rather than in seven huge thunderstorms. Perhaps I should have been more specific? And was the extra 105 mm a mis-calculation or were you just being generous?

The addition of hail to Wednesday’s storm was a great idea.  It changed the day from hot and oppressive, to cold and dangerous in a matter of seconds.

Being a God, you are obviously aware that my motto is “neat is good”, so I’m not sure why you sent the strong winds to strip the leaves from the trees, shred them and scatter them ALL OVER my garden like confetti.

The pond is overflowing and the frogs are deliriously happy … so happy in fact that I am able to identify five different species from the comfort of my bed even with ear-plugs inserted.

The grass has turned from anaemic to a gorgeous technicolour green in a matter of days and I can almost hear it growing.  Unfortunately due to repetitive drenchings the ground is waterlogged and I am unable to use my ecologically-sound but underpowered electric lawn-mower. So when the lawn finally does dry out I will probably have to mow it TWICE.

Now I don’t mean to sound un-grateful… but would you please STOP !

Thank You …

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With thanks to the Rain God ….

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Yesterday’s departing storm clouds

The last few months have been tough.  No rain to speak of and unseasonably warm weather. The river level has been dropping and last week, Level 1 water restrictions were announced, something almost unheard of in Bellingen.  According to a local farmer who’s been keeping records (as farmers do!), it’s been the driest Spring in forty years.  It was nearly time to remove the inverted commas from the word “drought” and declare a real DROUGHT!

So when the Bureau of Meteorology forecast a week of thunderstorms starting on Saturday, the whole of Bellingen crossed its fingers and held its breath …

Then, right on schedule the first storm arrived bringing 13mm of rain, and on Sunday night another storm and another 12mm.  Last night brought a “severe thunderstorm” with rain, hail, high winds and some flash flooding.

And rain changes everything …

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One happy tree frog!

I feared that most of my frogs had “croaked” in the hot dry weather, and I had visions  of little mummified frog bodies lying in the undergrowth.  But no … the pond is now full of fresh rainwater, the frogs have miraculously appeared, and if noise is any indication, there’s a lot of excited “frog business” going on at the moment.

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Drops on the Kaffir Lime

So, this morning instead of rising at 6:30 and rushing around the garden with hose in hand, I wandered around with camera in hand photographing water.  Droplets of water are everywhere, glistening in the sun and gently dripping from the leaves …

The rainfall total in my garden as of this morning is 85mm, slightly short of my request to the Rain God for 100mm. But then the week is not yet over!