Ringtail Possum Nest

We have been busy trying to get our trees under control in our suburban block. It has been a very long time since we tackled this and the trees have got to the stage where we needed to bring them down to a level where we can get some sunlight into the house/yard. There are 4 lilly pillies on the fenceline and two of these are quite large about 6-7metres high. My birdwing butterfly vine had also wound itself up on of these trees so we decided to take it down to a reasonable level and take the vine off this tree just leaving it on the fence. The first smaller branch covered in the vine came down to a flurry of frantic activity from above. Out from the high enclosed space flew three ringtail possums. They had apparently made their nest in the vine which was way up to the top of the tree.this is the best view I could get of the ‘nest’.

We had no idea they were living there! Although I did photograph a ringtail possum a while back. Consequently the tree is still there but not sure about the possums – think we might need to make a possum nesting boxes to keep these ones safe – especially from a very large and nasty neighbourhood cat!

Here is the largest of the three ringtail possums – the other two disappeared back into the nest – I must say he/she was not looking impressed!

In my garden today…birdwings and grevilleas..

Birdwing Butterfly Vine Flower

This is the flower of the Birdwing butterfly rainforest vine – Aristolochia praevenosa.

It is currently flowering in my garden – as warmer weather looks like it is now approaching I will keep an eye out for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly.

My Grevillea barklyana is also flowering – I completed a linocut in the past of this wildflower. It has soft pinkc conmb-like flowers with interesting ribbed leaves with a pink tinge on the end. This particular form if the Jervis Bay Form from the South Coast of NSW.

Grevillea barklyana - Linocut

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly – Female

In our garden late yesterday afternoon my son found a female Richmond Birdwing Butterfly on the ground. We attempted to place it on the Aristolochia praevenosa vine but she was very “fluttery” with her wings never stopping even when she landed. She fluttered off in the direction of my other fenceline full of the “Birdwing Butterfly vine”.

It is wonderful to see these large beautiful butterflies in our garden particularly given their endangered status it is a bit like in the movie Field of Dreams and the concept of “if you build it they will come” we simply provided a food/habitat resource and they came!!

Butterflies and Habitats

     

There is a direct relationship between the decline of the local Richmond Birdwing Butterfly and loss of local rainforest habitat. The butterfly is dependent on the rainforest vine – Aristolochia praevenosa. The birdwing caterpillars only food source is this particular vine. With the loss of the ecosystems that supported this vine so has the Birdwing Butterfly become habitat threatened. The other threat is from home gardeners and their use of the similar South American Dutchman’s Pipe Aristolochia elegans. The female butterfly unfortunately mistakes this vine for the native Aristolochia praevenosa. I have been growing several large sections of my fenceline with the Aristolochia praevenosa for a number of years now and it is currently flowering. We have had some of the now rarely seen Birdwing Butterflies and have been fortunate to watch the lifecycle from caterpillar to crysalis to butterfly.

Aristolochia praevenosa - Birdwing Vine