Brisbane Storm 20/05/2009

Brisbane had its heaviest rain in 24 hours for decades on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Having spent several years in Darwin I love heavy rain and generally regard the 'severe' weather in Brisbane as pretty mediocre. I'm sure people who have had their houses damaged wouldn't agree. Anyway, the creeks were close to bursting their banks in several parts of Brisbane and actually did so in the suburb of Windsor. In our neck of the woods (a tributary of Bulimba Creek called Phillips Creek) I was kicking myself for not having my camera on me during the storm when we were out driving. The water was boiling under the bridge just upstream from us and actually over the bridge downstream from us.

The bike-path bridge a short distance downstream from us a few hours after its peak. It crosses a storm water channel leading to Phillips Creek about 10m away.

Downstream from the bike-path bridge

Upstream from the bike bridge on Phillips Creek

Downstream from the Gallipoli Rd bridge. The red line shows the high water mark.

Upstream from the Gallipoli Rd bridge

Tracking growth

I thought it would be a good idea to track the growth of several plants around the garden. Generally it is very difficult to tell what a plant is until it has grown past its initial leaves so I'm starting early. There are also a couple of Hibiscus shots related to the previous Hibiscus inhabitants entries.

Gooseberry seedlings

Silverbeet seedling

Brussel sprout seedling

Hibiscus stem closeup. It's a spikey one!

I planted it a bit too close to the neighbours fence but after recent persistent rain (over a few weeks) it started leaning out from the fence. It is growing in clay soil. However the top is now pointing skywards again and it seems none the worse for it.

Hibiscus inhabitants 2

I'm interested to see what comes out of this egg case?

Transient wasp. Possibly a Hatchet wasp? Hatchet wasps attack lawn grubs.

Shy spider. It is probably a Green Jumping Spider, Mopsus mormon (ID source - Brisbane Insects and Spiders)

Transient sap sucking bug

This little spider appears to be camouflaging itself with nearby caterpillar frass... or perhaps the frass just landed there.

Hibiscus inhabitants

I thought I'd focus on beasties that inhabit particular plants from now on (not too rigidly of course). These ones inhabit or visit Hibiscus splendens (need to double check the ID and get a photo as well).

I believe this is a Katydid rather than a Grasshopper due to the very long antennae.

I haven't confidently IDed this caterpillar yet but think it might be in the genus Amonis, which is a moth.

I'm assuming this is a later instar (molt). There were about 6 caterpillars when I looked a few days ago but there appear to be only 2 left.

Environmental Science

I'm seriously considering moving away from computing as my main job focus and instead using my IT skills to complement working in environmental science. Right now I'm going through job sites, university sites and government web sites identifying the kinds of work available. The area is as rife with acronyms as IT. Here are just a few.

EMP - Environmental Management Plan
EIA - Environmental Impact Assessment
EIS - Environmental Impact Statement
EA- Environmental Assessment
GIS - Geographic Information System (essential)
ABRS - Australian Biological Resources Study
TCM - Total Catchment Management
CWMPs - Catchment Water Management Plans
ESD - Ecologically Sustainable Development
SoE - State of the Environment (the IT acronym means 'standard operating environment')
NPI - National Pollutant Inventory

I've a lot to learn not only about government departments managing the environment but also about private firms carrying out assessments, surveying and doing site rehabilitation. At the federal level there is the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. The QLD government has the Department of Environment & Resource Management (comprised of the former Department of Natural Resources and Water, and the Environmental Protection Agency). How they can separate that from Infrastructure and Planning I don't know but hopefully they work closely together. You would think Primary Industry and Fisheries would belong under natural resources as well. The logic behind it is probably interesting.

Slimey and spikey

I have no idea what this nymph develops in to, perhaps a ladybug?


What is this? It looks like a cross between a slug and a beetle...
This furry spider likes to hide during the day and spin its web at night. Probably a Garden Orb-Weaver (Eriophora transmarina - ID source - Wildlife of Greater Brisbane).

Moths

It's been a while since my last post. My daughter is now 3 1/2 months old. Enough said :-)

This little beastie was sitting on a cupboard handle in the kitchen. Its markings almost look like acrylic paint. It is a Green Blotched Moth (Cosmodes elegans - ID - Ozanimals.com). We don't have any Lobelia or Verbena mentioned on the Ozanimals site so it must have come from a neighbouring yard.

This very large moth (probably a Hawk Moth) had the misfortune to be discovered by our cats and is thus looking rather battered. I kindly relieved its suffering by feeding it to our chooks. At least they don't play with their food!

I know it's not really an expression but the moth does look pissed off.

Another small moth attracted to the light in the bathroom. Its colouring is of course brighter but I haven't learnt how to adjust for the necessary flash.

One more moth shot. There were of course many more visitors but I didn't always have a camera nearby and charged. There was a magnificient praying mantis on the front door frame last night but the camera battery was flat!