In which another cuckoo visits my garden

A bright little bee visited my garden this morning and I didn't know what it was. Turns out it's a Chequered Cuckoo Bee Thyreus caecruleopunctatus. Apparently the females lay their eggs in partially-constructed brood cells of Blue-banded Bees. The similar-looking Neon Cuckoo Bee has a different stripe pattern on the abdomen.

Most of the records for this bee on Atlas of Australia are in March and April with a few in each of the other months.

Now I have to go back into the garden to have another go at photographing the little skipper butterfly feeding on the flowers of my garlic chives. Every attempt so far has been a dud.

Dragons

Now here's something I didn't know. (Can you tell I'm not a 'sea' person?) 

Like most fish, sea dragons swim horizontally rather than in a vertical position, like seahorses.

I discovered this in Museum Victoria's blog about dragons to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

The Stones

Recently, a few thousand years ago, Mt Eccles erupted and lava flowed slowly to the south in a fairly narrow band that we now call 'the stones'. It's a very rocky area and the dominant trees are Blackwood Wattles and Manna Gums.

Geologically it's a very interesting area and there is a diverse range of flora and fauna found there as well. The most recent survey, based at Lake Condah, was done by the Bush Blitz team from Museum Victoria. A large part of the lava flow area is now reserved in Mt Eccles National Park or Indigenous Protected Areas (Caring for Country) on the Darlot Creek at Budj Bim (Lake Condah), Kurtonitj (Homerton) and Tyrendarra. Some, like the property above and below, is still privately owned and grazed.

A chance to read

Inclement weather? No worries. It's an opportunity to put a dent in my holiday reading pile.

Apart from the usual who dunnits I have with me a few recent journals that I have yet to catalogue for the Field Nat's library (there are a few perks to being their librarian!). And they have been an absorbing lot this month. Here's a sample. See if you can lay your hands on one or two.

Vic Babbler has several fascinating articles about Port Phillip Bay's penguins and Mud Islands.

Victorian Landcare has articles about the various individuals and communities who won the  2011 Victorian Landcare Awards. There's some fantastic work being done across the state.

Wingspan is excellent as usual but I loved reading about the individual kids who are birdwatchers even though none of their friends are.

Parkwatch has some very well-written and thought-provoking articles about Victoria's national parks.

Growing Australian is about growing Australian plants but usually has a strong conservation aspect as well. This issue has an interesting article about a plant survey at the 'neglected' Maam Water Reserve near Warrnambool.

The Victorian Naturalist is a special issue that publishes the papers presented at the 2010 FNCV Biodiversity Symposium. Presenters were asked to compare wildlife in Melbourne today with that described at the turn of the century (1900) by Spencer in The Handbook of Melbourne. Topics include reptiles, frogs, plants, marine molluscs, terrestrial invertebrates, birds, mammals and fungi.