Creature features 2013 – 2018 About this publication Since 2013 NRM Education has produced a weekly digest distributed to teachers and other interested people subscribed to our email list. Most weeks we included a short creature feature that promoted a local plant, animal or fungus, usually connected to a season, environmental event or interesting date (for example Walk to School Day or Christmas). This publication brings together all of those articles for the first time. As the articles were written to tie in with those seasons or events and they have been reproduced here with minimal edits, they may reference websites or other resources that are no longer available or to dates that have passed. We hope you will find this resource useful and appreciate any comments. Visit our website for all contact details. 35 Heath Goannas Contents 36 Coming out of your shell 36 Actually it’s a civil serpent Insects, spiders, worms and other invertebrates 21 It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…Beetle 37 Wrestling snake 6 Darting about amongst the Kangaroo Grass 21 Raise your glasses to the beneficial Dolly Wasp 37 Turtles at loggerheads with mankind 7 April Fool’s! – our clever Adelaide butterflies 22 If life gives you lemons, be a butterfly 38 When is a snake not a snake? 7 Beeautiful tomatoes 22 No web of intrigue for these spiders 38 Secretive sunbathers 8 Butterflies may have the wings but caterpillars have the legs Fishes 39 These geckos are barking mad! 8 Vampire worms save lives 23 Male mothers, wrinkly tails and egg cups 39 Don’t be shellfish - think of the turtles 9 Red nose, furry body 24 A small fish feeding a lot of people 9 Populations suffering shell shock Birds 24 The king of Australian fish 10 Hitchin’ a ride 40 A long journey ahead for the Red-necked Stint 25 Bridging the gap for Congolli 10 A short life on the wing 41 Where have all the Sacred Kingfishers gone? 25 Protect fish with your face wash 11 The best back swimmer in town 41 Volunteering for the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo 26 Mosquitofish they’re not! 11 Quick, leg it! 42 Go the mighty magpies! 26 Its name is morwong than right! 12 A well-rounded worm 42 Fly me to the moon 27 Can you see it? 12 The Rain Moth 43 Bushman’s alarm clock 27 Great White Shark - threat or victim? 13 Miners for a heartwood of gold 43 Nankeen as mustard Amphibians 13 Life’s not all plain sailing for stoneflies 44 Adelaide Rosella 28 The tadpole has landed! 14 What’s the buzz on native bees? 44 ‘Sharpie’ the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 29 lt’s just not cricket! 14 Hey now, it’s a sea star 45 A stiff tail and a droopy bill 29 In pole position 15 Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a Pipi by the toe! 45 The masked musketeer 30 Going bonkers this silly season 15 Under the sea 46 The flashing white bum bird 30 Lords of the marshes 16 Painted Ladies spotted 46 Flying west for the summer? 31 Do these froglets really have so much in common? 16 This damsel’s not in distress 47 Moorhen for your money 31 Underground art, wrestling matches and an over-inflated ego 17 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Fly 47 The ever-inquisitive Grey Fantail – your friend in the bush 32 Maniac on the run 17 Cry Wolf – but they’re lurking out there 48 The Bronzewings are all a clatter 18 Vagrant seen in the wetlands Reptiles 48 Rainbow Lorikeets don’t keep their broom in the cupboard 18 The ‘Jaws of Life’ for our terrestrial ecosystem 33 A lizard by any other name... 49 Circumnavigating the globe with the Eastern Curlew 19 A spider came into my parlour 34 Make sure it is the right kind of litter 49 Leave no stone unturned 20 A big head, but down-to-earth 34 Help keep our water skinky 50 A specially adapted beak and tongue 20 Come on, keep up –many legs make light work! 35 Stick your neck out 50 A bird with a taste for other feathered flyers 51 Not a bird for night owls 72 Brown and slimy but kind of cool 91 Keep Australia naturally beautiful 51 Splitting the bill - cooperative feeding and flight 72 Weave Flat-sedge into your garden and curriculum 91 The ‘must-have’ plant for your grounds? 52 Have you gone off the rails? 73 From the hills to the ocean – take advantage of the SEA-nery 92 Eat your shiny greens 52 Godwit – long distance record holder 73 The blue ribbon plant for your pond? 92 What smells like wee and attracts native bees? 53 Solar powered or wind powered? 74 Slimy pearls of wisdom 93 The hitchhiker’s guide to the Viscaceae 53 Keeping an eye on Little Penguins 74 Let’s be blunt, this is no weed 93 A little ray of sunshine 54 Flightless, but fast 75 Bottlebrush Grass 94 Red and orange in grey attracts blues 54 Silvereye; a sterling bird 75 Seeking out the sea nymph 94 An environmental weed that is a rose by any other name 95 A prickly customer Mammals Groundcovers 95 Ruby Saltbush Tuesday 55 Trying to stop the bandicoots crashing 76 Caltrop - a right pain in the arch! 96 More peas please 56 Kangaroos, kiwis and conservation 77 The survivor of the sands 96 Fedge your bets 56 Playing possum 77 A native apple a day...... 97 Pink, purple, perfect, purpureum 57 Paws for thought 78 This plant will have you seeing red this spring 97 Pretty in pink…or scarlet...or white 57 Batting for our natural pest controllers 78 Ap-PEA-ling plants for your school garden 98 The ideal shrub for a natural playground 58 Lion around on the beach 79 Boobialla a boon for biodiversity 98 This native plant rocks! 59 Don’t let the Numbat go the way of the Dodo 79 Who’s eating who? The dark secret of the Scented Sundew 59 Playing possum 80 This clubmoss is not bog standard Trees 60 All thumbs and gums 80 This spinach deserves to take a bow 99 Tree of the Year 2500? 61 Small but mighty! 100 Silver Banksia: the Good Samaritan of Australian plants. Orchids 62 Just hanging around 100 Go the green and gold! 81 A unique group of wildflowers 101 Home among the gum trees Fungi 82 An orchid with a heart-shaped leaf that has a love for fire 101 Marvellous mangroves 63 Fungi – the good the bad and the interesting 82 You’re so vein-ed, I bet you think this article is about you 102 The ideal small tree for a natural playspace 64 Twinkle twinkle earthy star 83 How do you spot the Spotted Donkey Orchid? 102 Adelaide’s Grey Box grassy woodlands 64 Turkey for Christmas? 83 Pretty fly for an orchid guy 103 Fancy a Quandong Tarte Tartin? 65 Scent fools flies 84 Here comes the sun 103 True blue and dinky-di! 65 Indigenous fungi – the next bracket Shrubs, herbs and climbers 104 Native Christmas tree - the parasitic plant that takes and gives 66 Be a mycologist 85 Sennas are “happy chappies.” 104 Grow your own native Christmas tree 66 You’ve been struck by a Smooth Criminal 86 Christmas comes early for this bush 105 A deceptive fruit 67 Is there a skinhead in your garden? 86 This plant is a real pick-me-up 105 This tree made a mess mate! 67 A fungus that grows on poo 87 Is the Mount Lofty Grass-tree a grass or a tree? 68 Better together? I’m lichen what I’m seeing. Ecosystem processes 87 The gentle old soul of the bush 106 Groundwater - hidden yet so very precious Grasses, algae and other water plants 88 Blue blooms 107 Natural recycling 69 The gills of the earth 88 Slightly droopy but with beautiful stamens 107 Farewell shorebirds 70 The ocean forest - seagrasses and kelp 89 Cor! ‘ere’s a cute shrub 108 Go forth and multiply! 70 Bulrushes in 89 Hop to it in the bush! 108 Peering into the world of Plankton 71 A bush ballerina 90 In a bit of a purple patch 109 You’ve got some gall 71 Here come the autumn colours…..it’s summertime! 90 This shrub takes pole position 109 Our most endangered ocean ecosystem Natural Resources Adelaide & Mt Lofty Ranges creature features 3 Creatures by Common Name 66 Yellow Brain Grasses, algae and other water plants Birds 29 Ewing’s Tree Frog 74 Blunt Pondweed 44 Adelaide Rosella 31 Painted Frog 70 Bulrushes 53 Australian Darter 32 Peron’s Tree Frog 72 Common Kelp 42 Australian Magpie 30 Spotted Marsh Frog 72 Flat-sedge 51 Australian Pelican 29 Tadpoles 71 Kangaroo Grass 52 Bar-tailed Godwit 71 Lemon-scented Grass Ecosystem processes 50 Brown Goshawk 74 Neptune’s Necklace 107 Farewell shorebirds 52 Buff-banded Rail 75 Neptune’s Necklace 109 Galls 48 Common Bronzewing 69 Seagrasses 106 Groundwater 46 Double-banded Plover 75 Sea Nymph 107 Natural recycling 47 Dusky Moorhen 73 Sea Rush 108 Plankton 49 Eastern Curlew 70 The ocean forest 108 Seed dispersal 50 Eastern Spinebill 73 Water Ribbons 109 Shellfish reefs 54 Emu Groundcovers 47 Grey Fantail Fishes 78 Black Coral Pea 43 Laughing Kookaburra 24 Common Galaxias 80 Bog Clubmoss 53 Little Penguin 25 Congolli 80 Bower Spinach 51 Little Wattlebird 26 Eastern Gambusia 76 Caltrop 45 Musk Duck 27 Great White Shark 79 Creeping Boobialla 45 Musk Lorikeet 24 King George Whiting 77 Muntries 43 Nankeen Kestrel 23 Leafy Seadragon 77 Pigface 46 Purple Swamphen 26 Magpie Perch 78 Running Postman 48 Rainbow Lorikeet 27 Southern Pygmy Pipehorse 79 Scented Sundew 40 Red-necked Stint 25 Western Blue Groper Insects, spiders, worms and other invertebrates 42 Red-necked Stint (2) Fungi 16 Australian Painted Lady 49 Ruddy Turnstone 64 Collared Earthstar 20 Big-headed Ant 41 Sacred Kingfisher 67 Dung Buttons 7 Blue-banded Bee 44 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 63 Fungi 8 Caterpillars 54 Silvereye 67 Green Skinhead 21 Christmas Beetle 41 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo 68 Lichen 11 Common Back Swimmer Amphibians 65 Scarlet Bracket 22 Dainty Swallowtail 28 Bibron’s Toadlet 66 Smooth Cage 16 Damselflies 31 Common Froglet 65 Starfish Fungus 21 Dolly Wasp 30 Eastern Banjo Frog 64 Turkey Tail 22 Fishing Spider 4 Natural Resources