Long Walks and Galahs in Mandurah

 

We're thrilled to be back aboard Nine of Cups and back in Australia … also fondly known as Oz (as in AUS...tralia). We saw some kangaroos grazing in a field on our way back from the airport. There's no mistaking it … we're in the land down under again.

We were walking to Bunnings, the local hardware store the other day (think Lowes or Home Depot), along the beach road. The walk is long (2-3 miles one way), but it's quite scenic when you stick to the side roads. We chatted amiably as we ambled along. It's good getting into the habit of walking again instead of jumping in the car for every errand.

En route, we came upon a tree teeming with galahs. That's pronounced ga-LAH. We've seen them many times before, but never tire of them. They're gregarious pink and gray cockatoos that are lovely to see and fun to watch. They're a bit cheeky. They travel in great flocks and there's never any doubt where they are as they're never quiet. Like most parrots, they're screechers and they find it hard to keep to themselves.

In Aussie-speak, calling someone a galah can be a rather derogatory slur … it's calling them a loud mouth or a big fool. In more endearing terms, we've heard people call each other “you big galah”… kind of like “you, dumbell”. I guess that's no worse than telling someone they're “crazy as a loon” or referring to them as a turkey. Poor birds take a lot of bad mouthing.

Of Dragons and Damsels

Yes, I'm into bugs again: dragonflies and damselflies. According to Smithsonian Magazine, dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, some 300 million years ago. Modern dragonflies have wingspans of only two to five inches, but fossil dragonflies have been found with wingspans of up to two feet. I'm thinking I wouldn't have liked them then. There are distinct differences between dragonflies and damselflies, by the way. I only learned the difference a few years ago.  

Believe it or not, there are several books and websites specific to the topic of dragonflies and damselflies. I don't know why I'm surprised … there are books and websites out there on every topic imaginable. Though I appreciate the grace, alacrity and sheer beauty of these critters, I never really thought someone could dedicate their life to studying and photographing them. I figure just dedicating a whole blog post to them is pretty bizarre. Moving on … The basic differences, I learned, were that dragonflies are stockier, have dissimilar wing pairs and their wings are usually held open or horizontal when at rest. With these criteria, it was pretty easy to tell the two apart. And then, of course, my identification-itis set in.

When I was in New England recently and spent so much time at Bird Park, I had a great opportunity to photograph some dragonflies and damselflies. Sometimes they seem to light forever … good photographic subjects. Other times, they're fidgety and flit around so much, photos aren't possible. The grasses along the duck ponds at Bird Park were the best viewing site in early morning and evening. The great thing about digital cameras is you can take a thousand pix and choose only a couple that are the best. Nothing lost.

There are more than 5,000 known species of dragonflies, all of which (along with damselflies) belong to the order Odonata, which means “toothed one” in Greek and refers to its serrated teeth. The fact they have teeth is interesting in itself. Dragonflies, though not harmful to man, are predators to other insects. In fact, a single adult dragonfly can eat 30 to 100+ mosquitoes per day. They're expert fliers with the ability to fly straight up and down, hover like a helicopter and even mate in mid-air. If they can’t fly, they’ll starve because they only eat prey they catch while flying.

The males are territorial and quite aggressive in both protecting their territory as well as mating. I read a National Geographic article and it sounds as if dragonfly courtship is not very romantic. Males and females, by the way, are many times dimorphic, i.e., they don't look alike. Take the ebony jewelwings, for instance.

Now that I'm in Las Vegas, you'd think dragonflies would be scarce. In the desert, they are. Here on the east side of town near the Clark County Wetlands Park though, there are scads of them. Once again, early morning and dusk are the best time for viewing, but what a show.

A dragonfly called the globe skinner has the longest migration of any insect—11,000 miles back and forth across the Indian Ocean. We'll be on the lookout for this one when we cross the Indian.

By the way, I used to be afraid of dragonflies … we called them sewing needles or darning needles when I was a kid. The local legend warned that if a dragonfly landed on you, it would sew your lips shut. I'm quite a talker, so you can see that if the myth was true, it really would have affected my style.

De Moss on de Roof

A rolling stone gathers no moss … what about the north side of a roof under a cover of trees. I'd say Lin's roof has gathered its share of moss and maybe a little extra. It was driving her crazy and she was looking for ways to get rid of it.

Moss (or anything else) growing on your roof is probably not a good thing. Moss does not require standing water, just a bit of moisture. Asphalt shingles don't completely "shed" water . Due to surface tension, a certain amount remains. Normally the minimal amount that remains will evaporate rather quickly, but because this roof is shaded and under cover of trees, it provided a good, healthy environment for moss to grow … especially on the north side. Once moss had started to grow the amount of moisture retained increases. Moss does require nutrients, of course, but most roofs develop a film of organic material that helps to feed the moss. Tree debris on the roof helps this process as well. The moss can work its way under shingles and eventually cause problems like leaks, for instance. No, thank you. Call in the moss patrol. She needed Moss-Busters … bad!

Lin's friend, Terry, came to the rescue. We watched him haul the ladder into place, connect up the power washer and clamber up the ladder like he knew what he was doing. After watching him for the awhile, we busied ourselves with small indoor chores (and a game of cribbage). We went outside occasionally to check his slow, but steady progress. Seeing him perched tenuously on the roof peak only made us nervous. We played another game of cribbage to calm our nerves.

A full day's effort and the roof still wasn't done. It took another full day to complete the de-mossing procedure, but it looks great and very moss-less.

While checking out websites for getting rid of green roof moss, I found one website that sells green roof moss, so you can attach it to your roof. The website touts “Mosses can add uniquely appealing colors and textures to green roof projects”. Lin could have made her fortune! Who knew?