It is an all too rare occurrence finding Peter Hendry a new moth to identify. I took the photo this morning, just over six months to the day since the previous time. Peter’s reply arrived within two hours. The species is found in the south west Pacific Region and in Australia in Western Australia, The Northern Territory, Queensland, Norfolk Island and New South Wales. Wingspan is 4.5 cm.

The power lines were in place long before the then owner of the house planted the row of tibouchina in Central Avenue, which I filmed more than twenty five years ago and photographed today. They have been regularly pollarded since, to prevent them encroaching on the power lines. I have never seen them looking so well as now. I suppose tibouchina are the autumnal equivalent of Spring’s jacaranda. Both species are endemic to Central and South America. 

I decided to photograph the huge clearing in the rainforest bordering Eagle Heights Road, wrought by Cyclone Alfred a year previously. I was intrigued by its scale, glimpsed as I repeatedly drove past. The cyclone crossed the coast a little north of Brisbane. I took the photo at the edge of the clearing, noticing the amount of debris covering the ground all the way to the far side. It is hard to do the subject justice. This was my second attempt to photograph the clearing. My first attempt was a few metres in from the road through a gap in the vegetation. I thought that the leach I noticed crawling on the carpet between the bedrooms, had hitched a lift on my shoe, but seeing its engorged state made me look for evidence of a bite. The sock above my right ankle had a patch of blood on it, my first leach bite in more than five years.

Today I added two photos to my albums. The first was of a red flowering gum leaf which had fallen onto the grass verge from one of the slender trees which lined the road. It caught my eye because of its shape and the subtle beauty of its colours against the vibrant setting of the hues of the grass. The species is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia and typically grows to a height of ten metres.

The second was of the huge clearing in the rainforest bordering Eagle Heights Road, which I decided to photograph a year after it was wrought by Cyclone Alfred. The cyclone made landfall a little north of Brisbane. Whenever I drove past, I sensed its scale. I took the photo a few metres in from the road. I thought that the leach I noticed crawling on the carpet between the bedrooms, had hitched a lift on my shoe, but seeing its engorged state made me look for evidence of a bite. The sock above the ankle of my right leg had a patch of blood on it. This was my first leach bite in more than five years.