Botany Nerds Ahoy
Sprout wrote:Gah, sorry AW, done in by their inaccuracy, you're too smart for my quiz! Always appreciate your added facts too, so interesting, you should write a book.
Job well done if you made Alfred think.
This was a cool find.
A 2m long Oarfish found washed up on the beach near Strahan.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-03/tas-rare-oarfish-found-on-strahan...
Harbinger of doom, run for the hills!
Tearymasseuse. Hi mate.
Thanks for posting that video.
Funny you post that, we must have had the same thoughts lately.
So, which country in the world has the tallest trees ? The US does.
The Californian Redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens ) from the Cupressaceae family is the tallest tree in the world at present.
The largest tree in the world ( by volume and enormity) is the Giant Redwood
( Sequoiadendron giganteum ) also from the Cupressaceae family.
I’ve been fortunate enough to visit both species and stand in awe at something that originally arose from a very small seed.
Both these trees are Gymnosperms ( naked seed), they evolved well before current day flowering plants ( Angiosperms).
To understand the simple tree of life for plant evolution, it goes like this;
Starting with simple cells akin to bacteria ( Cyanobacteria) , early photosynthetic plants that evolved in the ocean, the first to liberate oxygen into our current atmosphere.
Next in the evolutionary line is ferns and allies, liverworts, bryophytes, club mosses etc, still no flowers along the evolutionary pathway, following them is the Gymnosperms, the conifers (cone bearing), Cycads, Macrozamias etc., still no flowers until we come into a period around 135 million years ago where Angiosperms (flowering plants) enter our world and proliferate still to this day.
The tallest flowering ( Angiosperm) plant on earth today’s is our own ,
Eucalyptus regnans Mountain Ash.
Historical evidence in Australia shows us that at some stage back almost a century ago , Mountain Ash was the tallest tree in the world, exceeding the height of modern day Californian Redwoods.
Major problem is that most of the giant Mountain Ash were chopped down in forests east of Melbourne, Otway Ranges and East Gippsland, a smear on society if there was ever one.
I bought a book a few years ago about trains that operated in the Otway Ranges , Victoria. An area my parents use to live and ride some of those early trains.
I’m not a train spotter or enthusiast by any means, I do like history.
The sole reason I purchased this book was my eye caught something in a photo that really grabbed me.
Here was evidence of the once enormous Mountain Ash trees.
I stare at it and wonder all kinds of thoughts , regrets etc,
If you look at the photo of the tree take the time to look at the basal trunk area, it’s gigantic, a trunk with that girth tells us this tree was incredibly tall, just one of many of the tallest trees that no longer furnish our landscape.
Such a shame. AW.
@AW. Hi Alfred. I hope you are well and getting some sunshine and surf. An ornithological rather than botanical topic, but I direct this question to you as I feel you might have some local and intellectual knowledge about this 'phenomenon'. Heading south on Anglesea road past Freshwater creek near the Olive grove at the roundabout intersecting Coombes road and Hendy main road, I've often witnessed a large 'conspiracy' of ravens circling. There are literally hundreds of them. I wonder, do you have a theory on why this spooky looking flock gather in this particular place? Thanks in advance. ICD.
icandig wrote:@AW. Hi Alfred. I hope you are well and getting some sunshine and surf. An ornithological rather than botanical topic, but I direct this question to you as I feel you might have some local and intellectual knowledge about this 'phenomenon'. Heading south on Anglesea road past Freshwater creek near the Olive grove at the roundabout intersecting Coombes road and Hendy main road, I've often witnessed a large 'conspiracy' of ravens circling. There are literally hundreds of them. I wonder, do you have a theory on why this spooky looking flock gather in this particular place? Thanks in advance. ICD.
Icandig. Hi mate. Great observation, thanks.
I know exactly the spot, I drive past there often, in fact, I drove past today but the birds were absent.
The birds are Little Ravens, the most common raven in the Geelong and Melbourne areas.
We do have Australian Ravens sometimes amongst the former but only a few if any. They are a different bird with a slightly discernible call.
Also, the further you go down the coast in the Great Ocean Road hinterland, there are Forest Ravens, different birds again.
Corvids are the most intelligent group of birds on earth. They are incredibly smart and have excellent memories.
They consign themselves social/play time as part of an overall hierarchy, but it’s really about education and often forming mega flocks and doing what you so correctly described, you should observe birds more often, more we observe, more we learn as human.
They will often form a huge flock, and face north and rocket high up into the sky, all turn around and plummet at speed before pulling up before hitting the ground.
I’ve been near this exercise a few times and you feel the huge mega draft as they flash on by.
Animals including birds really do stuff related to food mainly and water.
For a flock that size to be present, conditions are obviously favourable, otherwise they would not be there.
They would take olives and any other food source, particularly as most farmers have just sown grain in scarified lines, so there’s a free feed in most paddocks in most places.
They can memorise where they’ve stored food and also food stored by other birds in their flock, they are so intelligent that they often fake the burying of food to trick others and then sneak on over and steal their mates food.
They are not spooky at all, you can train them easily and they’ll definitely befriend you.
It’s like all things black in life, we seem to fear that colour for some reason.
Would you have called them spooky if they were white or light brown, I think not.
We have them everywhere here at present, eating lines and lines of barley seed sown by farmers to make beer. Good stuff. AW
In related news, well at least regarding a large flock of black birds, I disturbed a flock of black cockies driving home the other day. The whole flock took to the air from the pines they were hanging in. Unfortunately they also dropped everything they were busy destroying. It rained twigs, small branches and lots and lots of bits of pine cone. Felt like I was under attack, things banging off the roof and bonnet, coming from everywhere.
went under a low-flying yellow-tail mob yesterday, and one was carrying a cone twice the size of its head!
basesix wrote:went under a low-flying yellow-tail mob yesterday, and one was carrying a cone twice the size of its head!
No doubt looking for someone or something to drop it on! Amazing birds.
I prefer the yellows to the reds, (despite the reds' endangeredness),
..yellows sound like they are going 'wheee... wheeeee...'
red-tails sound like they are projectile-vomiting and have boofheads.
shallow and judgey of me, I know : )
Not judgey at all, although a little shallow; we all have our favourites. I like the languid way the yellows fly, no rush or wasted movement.
Red Tail incoming.
pine cones on the barbie..
Thanks for the prompt reply @AW. Very informative. - Not at all spooked by them; just really intrigued -a throwaway line. I have previously been aware of the raven intelligence and have an avid (but amateur) interest in birds and behaviours. I have at least two copies of "What bird is that?" : )
Yellow Tailed Blacks fly over my place occasionally and one time one dropped a macadamia nut that it had taken from a tree up the hill. The nut hit the car port roof, bounced onto the driveway and rolled past my feet. Like one of the kids Rube Goldberg Machine experiments.
icandig wrote:Thanks for the prompt reply @AW. Very informative. - Not at all spooked by them; just really intrigued -a throwaway line. I have previously been aware of the raven intelligence and have an avid (but amateur) interest in birds and behaviours. I have at least two copies of "What bird is that?" : )
Icandig. Great reply I was also joking.
If you want to further your knowledge of birds and for an easy to learn way, I suggest purchasing this book.
It’s the most definitive and comprehensive, up to date book on birds in the country.
$50 at most books shops or on line.
Once you are into it you’ll enjoy it.
A bit of advice with bird observing. GISS is an acronym for General Impression of Size & Shape.
When you first see a bird , note key features quickly, bill shape and length etc.
You learn something every day, I always thought those large black birds were all just crows, turns out they are more likely to be little Ravens which are actually bigger than Crows.
Here's one for you AW. Are these birds that frequent the Sheoak trees in the backyard on K I Glossy black or red-tailed cockatoos. Here's a photo but it's not very clear. They look pretty big which suggests they might be the latter. The local restaurant is called the Glossy Black.
Here is another resident.
Glossy blacks have a brownish tint to their head feathers. Hard to tell for sure from your photo but it seems like it is likely to be that.
old-dog wrote:You learn something every day, I always thought those large black birds were all just crows, turns out they are more likely to be little Ravens which are actually bigger than Crows.
Here's one for you AW. Are these birds that frequent the Sheoak trees in the backyard on K I Glossy black or red-tailed cockatoos. Here's a photo but it's not very clear. They look pretty big which suggests they might be the latter. The local restaurant is called the Glossy Black.
Here is another resident.
Old-Dog. Hi mate. Great photos.
As Blackers correctly eluded to, they are definitely Glossy- Black Cockatoos, beautiful birds.
A solid stronghold on KI, SA.
Red-tailed Black Cockatoos are very prevalent in Perth metro and larger areas of WA.
Same for Queensland in most areas including the tropics .
Amongst the coastal littoral forests ( the area just behind primary dune scrub) you often see these guys eating the big hard fruits of the Beach Almonds ( Terminalia cattapa) only a bird with a large bill like that could break open the woody fruits AW
watcha fucking around with cockys for @AW..?
you got wacko owls and cuckoos and parrots to perve on..
(no offence, @old-dog, great pics for us down here..)
old-dog wrote:You learn something every day, I always thought those large black birds were all just crows, turns out they are more likely to be little Ravens which are actually bigger than Crows.
My father in law (RIP) used to say that the only crow in Victoria was Claude from Shirl's neighbourhood. He was a pigeon fancier - homing pigeons. I'd do a run and release with him every now and then. 3 or 4 hours in trapped in the car with him rattling on incessantly about everything anyone would need to know about pigeons. Classic old school Aussie bloke. I miss him. He'd shoot Hawks out of the sky to protect his pigeons and also ping Indian minors in our back yard. Lucky the neighbours were old and deaf.
icandig wrote:old-dog wrote:You learn something every day, I always thought those large black birds were all just crows, turns out they are more likely to be little Ravens which are actually bigger than Crows.
My father in law (RIP) used to say that the only crow in Victoria was Claude from Shirl's neighbourhood. He was a pigeon fancier - homing pigeons. I'd do a run and release with him every now and then. 3 or 4 hours in trapped in the car with him rattling on incessantly about everything anyone would need to know about pigeons. Classic old school Aussie bloke. I miss him. He'd shoot Hawks out of the sky to protect his pigeons and also ping Indian minors in our back yard. Lucky the neighbours were old and deaf.
Icandig. Hi mate, you’re hooked, you’re talking birds , it doesn’t take long, they get under your skin.
Nice story bar the hawk slaying.
Schools out for Summer.
Corvid School has just opened.
Melbourne- Geelong area, Victoria and most of NSW, S.E-SA and King Island Little Ravens.
Australian Ravens, Victoria, NSW, QLD , east NT and east SA, The Bight and SW-WA.
Forest Ravens, coastal Victoria and SE-SA, Tasmania, Bass Strait Islands, Mid North Coast NSW.
Little Crow, SA, most of the interior, bar SW-WA and NW-WA
Torresian Crow, most of the top half of Oz.
I had no idea Dampier was a forerunner in collection and description of flora and fauna.
Very interesting. (Plus his introduction of so many words to the English language)
Seeds. Try reading A Pirate of Exquite Mind by Diana Preston and Micheal J Preston for an excellant in depth account of Dampier.
Amongst much else it has a section on medical practice of the times which suggests treatment of constipation with "a well oiled spoon".
(last Cranker night on the original site for a couple of year on Friday 19th @Mattlock..)
https://www.crownandanchorhotel.com.au/
Cheers b6. Unlikely tho.
Who is on the lineup.
Mega bill b6.
Haven't heard of any of them.
Looks like I'm a bit out of touch eh.
ha, that's what a healthy music scene is about @matt, I don't know anything either.. recognise 3 bands, hardly know their music. These boys are loosely representing the '89 southern backyard party sound and attitude..
King Jeff & The How Are Yous at the Cranker ^
seeds wrote:I had no idea Dampier was a forerunner in collection and description of flora and fauna.
Very interesting. (Plus his introduction of so many words to the English language)
https://youtu.be/691SWtYzn_Q?si=bzvBWFwVt4xoYCOh
Seeds. Hi mate. Good stuff highlighting William Dampier and his exploits.
We have a genus of ground cover plants to low shrubs named after him Dampiera sp.
Sturts Desert Pea The floral emblem of South Australia has had many names and name changes.
Swainsonia formosa, Clianthus formosus, Clianthus dampieri and a once attempted
Willdampier formosa. From your plant nerd. AW
Good to hear from you AW
I’m jealous of your travels
seeds wrote:Good to hear from you AW
I’m jealous of your travels
Seeds. Hi mate. We all have a chance to travel, I was jealous reading and hearing about your recent solo trip exploits, you know we are the same, happiest away from home.
Your photos and dialogue made me feel I was in the passenger seat vicariously sharing the pleasures of life.
Then you turned all Tom Kruse on us and delivered a package (surfboard) to Basesix on the Limestone Coast.
I think you know me by now despite never meeting. I did those two bathroom renovations a few months ago, made very good coin.
I work to live, once my fist is full of bucks I spend it all. That cycle is my life, upon returning to home I’ll need to work a bit, I’ve always got about a years worth of enquiry for work in front of me if I want it even though I’m basically retired, it’s a pleasure to be able to pick and choose your own path in life.
Living life to its fullest is my mantra, not here long. Good stuff. AW
Live it up mate. I do when I can.
seeds wrote:Live it up mate. I do when I can.
Beautiful pal, succinct. AW
Just got out, it’s still pumping, glaring sunlight, even got a glimpse of Mt.Agung today , hoping to see Mt. Rinjani ( second tallest mountain in Indonesia on Lombok) after Puncak Jaya near the east border of West Papua.
Stop bringing a tear to my eye old mate.
Good stuff indeed.
SF owes me a block of wax for getting that Rat snake ID correct AW.
Only fitting you claim it on my behalf and put it to good use. ;)
The dust has settled a bit, anyone know exactly what ID did? Did he take it outside the safe space of the forums?
He'd assumed I was Adam Robertson, and appeared at crumpets with a cross bow and demanded Adam stop quashing the zionist military complex with his mild socialist suggestings on a boutique oz surf site. Robbo was taken aback, had no idea what @indo was on about. Robbo took @indo down with just his feet, which have lately taken on a texture akin to an allosaurus-skin after working on ridged boards these last months.. Robbo shouted us all shots at the Iron Bar that evening, but it was a surprising day.. @indo's last day on this site.
tubeshooter wrote:SF owes me a block of wax for getting that Rat snake ID correct AW.
Only fitting you claim it on my behalf and put it to good use. ;)
Tubeshooter. Hi mate. Hope ya cruisin.
I’ve just rolled into bed like a sumo wrestler in a bean bag. We just had incredibly good Indian food for dinner.
Well, on your behalf, I will seek permission from Supafreak to vicariously enjoy the pleasure of using YOUR block of wax for the correct snake identification , I won’t be a pain in the asp but will remind him to pay his debt. Good to hear from you.AW
Seems a keen interest for some, so why not.