This ‘cloud waterfall’ shrouding the Flinders Ranges in the early morning is an orographic cloud, formed by moist air being forced up over a mountain range. As the air rises, it cools and condenses into a long, continuous cloud bank that hugs the terrain.
Sand Monitor (Varanus gouldii gouldii), also known as the Gould’s Goanna or Sand Goanna, paid a visit to the Copley community vegetable garden in the northern Flinders Ranges.
Some birds—including raptors, corvids, and kingfishers—regurgitate compact, undigested masses called pellets (or castings). These can contain indigestible material such as seeds, insect exoskeletons, bone fragments, and fur.
The Black-breasted Buzzard (Hamirostra melanosternon), a hawk species usually found across northern Australia, has recently been observed over Copley in the northern Flinders Ranges. Smaller than the familiar Wedge-tailed Eagle, it stands out with bold white wing panels and sharply defined black “fingers” at the wingtips. Its rust-coloured nape feathers form a small crest, giving it a distinctive profile when perched. The species feeds on carrion, small animals, birds, and insects, and is known to crack open emu eggs with a stone.
Male Flower Wasp feeding on Grevillea nectar near Lyndhurst in November. Body length approximately 25mm.
Grevillea nematophylla ssp. nematophylla, known as Water Bush, is a rare sight in the Flinders Ranges. This solitary tree between Copley and Lyndhurst was flowering in November.
Acacia rigens, known as the Needlebush Acacia, flowering in the Hawker area in November.
Eremophila freelingii is a common sight in the Flinders Ranges, with flowers that are typically blue-purple to mauve. These white and lilac coloured Eremophila freelingii flowers were seen on Leigh Creek Station in the North Flinders Ranges in November.
Eremophila longifolia, distinguished by its drooping strappy leaves, seen flowering near Carrieton in November.
The Purple Burr-daisy (Calotis cuneifolia) is uncommon in South Australia, local to the flood plains of the Murray River flood plains. It was seen flowering among the shales of Chambers Gorge in the North Flinders Ranges, South Australia, in November.
