An extract from Michael Smith's "Port Stephens Diary of Natural Events"
MAY
Sour current bush is in flower.
Many species of bird migrate north to avoid winter.
Eels return to the sea to breed.
Silvereye birds arrive from Tasmania.
Mountain devils in flower.
Southern cross is high in the evening sky.
Orion sets at dark and Scorpio rises in the east.
Bream and blackfish migrate from Shoal Bay.
Dingos mate.
The smaller male spider sits at the edge of the Golden Orb Spider web.
Pittosporum revolutum in fruit.
Scaly breasted lorikeets squabble over swamp mahogany blossoms.
Noisy miner birds defend their territory.
Caterpillers feed on Melaleuca quinquenervia.
A few trigger plants are still in bloom.
Correa reflexa are in flower.
Sunshine wattle in bloom.
The flowers of Epacris pulchella start to dominate the bush.
White lerps form on bushes.
Wombats mate.
Fly Agaric toadstools grow.
Yellow faced honeyeater birds pass through, moving north.
Tadpoles hatch in freshwater ponds.
Leaf skeletoniser caterpillars nibble on gum leaves.
Humpback whales are seen heading north from now until August.
Brown antechinus babies disperse from their maternal home ranges.
Brushtail possums are born.
Five-corners are in flower.
Baby quolls are born, the first six to attach to a nipple will survive.
Flocks of insect-eating birds fly about.
Michael Smith, 1999
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| Kath Fries, North Arm Cove, 2013, photograph |
