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A Timeline for the
Upper Blue Mountains
compiled by Jim Smith, 2002
introduction    spring    summer    autumn    winter   
Winter
(June, July, August)
Weather:
July/August: Coldest months, frosts, snowfalls, waterfalls freeze.
August: Westerly winds, often have effects on plants growth and form, and on bird behaviour.
Mammals:
June: Swamp Rat (Rattus lutreolus) numbers peak (born May/June). Many young present.
Pygmy Possums and Feathertail Gliders in torpor.
Quoll breeding season. Males wander.
July: Bush Rat (Rattus fuscipes) and Swamp Rat (Rattus lutreolus), numbers lowest, adults die off.
August: Marsupial mice, Antechinus, mating. Males die at end of mating season.
Insects:
Ghost Moths fly
Nellies Glen Butterflies (Pseudalmenus chlorinda) pupate on wattles.
Gnats swarm over heaths.
Blue Spotted Painted Ladies (Vanessa kershawi) migrating south-brown butterfly. (late August)
Reptiles and Frogs:
Broad-headed Snakes shelter under rocks. (will bask in sun).
Most reptiles in torpor.
Goannas bask in sun.
Whistling Tree Frogs continue to call.
Aquatic:
August: Trout spawn.
Eels migrate from sea up Hawkesbury River to mountain streams (Aug-Sep). On upper Blue Mountains plateau only in Greaves Creek.
Mountain Minnows, Galaxias, hibernate in mud.
Clam Shrimps (Conchostracans) dormant in pools as eggs.
Birds:
June: Lyrebird calls peak breeding season.
Flocking: Black Cockatoos, Satin Bowerbirds (males) and Red Wattlebirds.
Crescent Honeyeaters seen on escarpments, influx from south, can breed in area.
Breeding: New Holland Honeyeaters, Powerful Owls, Wedge-tailed Eagles.
Influx of Eastern Spinebills (June to September). In lower mountains influx is in May to July.
July: 'Spring' begins for birds.
Resident birds (insectivores) form territories, begin to breed.
Tree Martins return.
Male Superb Fairy Wrens turn blue.
Lyrebird eggs laid.
Many juvenile New Holland Honeyeaters.
August: Many breeding birds, territorial calls, eg. Fantail Cuckoo, Grey Shrike Thrush.
Night calls (Boobook Owls, Tawny Frogmouths, Masked Lapwings) through to November.
Young Lyrebirds in nests.
Migrants reappear. Noisy Friarbirds, Grey Fantails, Flame Robins.
Major honeyeater migration back from north begins.
Magpie nesting and bombing can begin.
Plants:
Banksia spinulosa, Banksia ericifolia nectar flow.
Winter wattles flower: Sunshine Wattle, Acacia terminalis, first, then Acacia longifolia.
Greenhood Orchids flower, e.g. Pterostylis longiflora, Pterostylis grandiflora.
August: Lady's Fingers Orchids, Caladenia catenata, flower.
Red bird pollinated flowers abundant - Styphelia, Epacris reclinata, some Lambertia formosa, Grevillea acanthifolia.
Dracophyllum secundum flowers until spring.
Boronia ledifolia flowers.
Lilly Pilly berries carpet rainforest floor.
Foliage of Dilwynnia retorta and Isopogon anemonifolius turns red.


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We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land
– the Darug and Gundungurra people –
and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.
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