Preparing to take advantage of nesting fairy-wrens, thornbills and scrubwrens.

This female spent an entire morning in and out of this tree hollow. The male watched on. We’re not sure if she’s chosen this site but if she has we’ll have a fine view as the ducklings make their first leap.

I was surprised to see these birds feeding on Allocasuarina seeds. Surprised because they usually feed on the ground. And surprised that any seeds remain in the cones, dead and split wide open since the fire.

Banksia serrata started resprouting months ago, and the new leaves just keep coming.

Epicormic growth on the trunks of Banksia serrata trees is now quite lush

Sprouting from the rootstock of burnt Banksia spinulosa bushes continues to be vigorous.

The first flowers of Burchardia umbellata opened in mid August

Solanum aviculare responded extremely vigorously to the fire and is now flowering

Schelhammera undulata started flowering in mid April

Stackhousia monogyna is another fire responder. Plants are more widespread and numerous than before the fire. Flower buds will open before long.

Male flower buds have just started to appear on the rush, Lomandra confertifolia

Indigofera australis plants shot up all over the place after the fire. The profusion of flower buds on many of these promises a colourful start to Spring.

Many Drosera auriculata plants shot up all over the forest in mid July and their flower buds are just beginning to open now

Pterostylis nutans is one of the five orchid species that have flowered in the forest since the fire. We saw the first of these plants several days ago.

A veritable grove of Caladenia catenata plants appeared several days ago in the same patch as we’ve seen them previously - but in much larger numbers.

We found a few plants of this tiny orchid Acianthus pusillus in mid July in a spot in the forest where they hadn’t been previously sighted

Rain and cool temperatures is perfect for fungi. This species is growing in dead wood.

These huge bulbous fruiting bodies are growing high in a living eucalypt.

These flies seem to be setting up breeding territories, flying sorties from the shiny leaves they use as perches.

Melangyna sp.

A species I’m not at all familiar with. Probably a male – no ovipositor and it seemed to be on patrol.

The braconid group of wasps include many like this … black, orange and white. This is a female in search of wood boring insect hosts for her eggs.

We’ve seen a few small, day-flying moths in the forest undergrowth in Winter

This ladybird Harmonia conformis is one of the few beetles we’ve seen out and about in Winter

This beetle was hunkered down, motionless, among the leaves of a grass tree.

Family: Chrysomelidae. Genus: Paropsisterna (?)

Atrax sutherlandi, the southern cousin of the Sydney Funnel-web. This very large female was unearthed when the plumbers were digging a trench alongside the water tank.

A very welcome 255mm fell in July, much of it over just a few days. This is the view looking upstream, and as high as we’ve ever seen the river!