Climbers, Prickles and Parasites at Ocean Grove

Male Superb Blue wren
in hedge wattle Acacia paradoxa

I found all sorts of things on my walk in the reserve yesterday. Some of the Spring flowers are starting to come out. This little wren caught my eye the contrast between his bright blue feathers and the yellow wattle was so striking.

I'd love to take more shots of some of the birds here but my camera is not ideal for it unless they are still and relatively close.

Acacia paradoxa closeup

The Hedge wattle he is sitting in looks pretty with its glowing golden mass of flowers. But look closer and see the mass of prickles hidden in the foliage.

We've had some unseasonably warm weather for the time of the year lately. But I was very surprised to see this butterfly out so early in the Spring.

Twining Fringe Lily Thysanotus patersonii

There are a few different climbers flowering at the moment from the tiniest little Twining Fringe Lily away down in the grass.

Love creeper Comesperma volubile

This is my personal favourite Love Creeper it is almost leafless and is covered with a mass of tiny bright blue flowers.

Small leaved clematis Clematis microphylla

This Small Leaved Clematis is every were and covered with a mass of small white flowers.

Small leaved clematis Clematis microphylla

A close up of it's flowers. The true beauty of this clematis unlike the showy garden ones is not in the flowers. But rather later in the year when it turns into a cloud of fluffy seeds.

The new growth of the leaves on this mistletoe are a rather attractive rusty orange. It will be interesting to see the flowers later in the year some of the Australian mistletoes have very attractive flowers.

Echidna rush Chorizandra enodis 

The common name of this rush is Echindna Rush you can see where it gets its name when you look at its one sided flowers up close. They look like tiny little echidnas climbing the stems.

Early Nancy Wurnbea dioica

The tiny but appropriately named Early Nancys announcing Spring is on it's way.