Termite mound

Paladian insisted on a mini-safari this afternoon. She's fed-up with the garden - no bugs to be seen anywhere and done most of it in previous blips.

So we went up to a hiking track in the Belair National Park that is a bit less travelled, although there were a couple of other hikers there today. Such a glorious afternoon it was a real pleasure to escape from the office for an hour or so.

She blipped a bird which we had never seen before, but my eyes were cast to the ground, and I saw this HUGE termite mound not far from the track. Sadly I saw little termite activity as it all takes place below ground.

Mounds (also known as "termitaria") occur when an above-ground nest grows beyond its initially concealing surface. They are commonly called "ant hills" in Africa and Australia, despite the technical incorrectness of that name.

They don't grow anywhere near so big in Adelaide as they do in the Northern Territory, and I don't know why that is. Probably because it's cooler here than it is in the north, so maybe the temperature has something to do with it. The red colour is due to the clay coloured soil.

Spot the termite! I couldn't either!