In full voice
Common Froglets (Crinia signifera) are calling day and night at present in wetlands around the district. Two (or perhaps more) in particular are battling it out for supremacy in our garden pond, as can be heard in the audio recording below.
Those who attended the recent talk on Frogs and Reptiles by Steve Wilson at Flowerdale would be aware that only the males call to advertise their presence. With the Common Froglet, the males call throughout the year and breeding can occur in any month, unlike many species where breeding is seasonal. This little frog is one of Victoria’s most common and widespread frog species, absent only from the far north-west Mallee region. Its colouring and markings can vary greatly, so we hope we have correctly identified the frog above which was photographed next to the pond – we would welcome any other suggestion.
Anyway, take a minute to listen to the hypnotic clickety-click calls by clicking on the audio below.
Slip, slop, slap
A marsupium (from the Greek marsupion meaning pouch) is a specialised pouch for protecting, carrying and nourishing newborn young. Animals which have one are called marsupials. In some marsupials such as kangaroos the marsupium is a fully developed pouch. In other marsupials the marsupium is simply a flap of skin.
For marsupials that perambulate on all fours close to the ground, for example wombats, the pouch faces backwards (see picture left) – you can just imagine a forward facing pouch scooping up all sorts of debris. A previous post has featured a photo that clearly shows a young wombat peering out from the backward facing pouch.
Young wombats when old enough to leave the pouch looks very much like, but a smaller version of, the parents (pictured right). They are haired and eat grass but still rely on sustenance from the mother. Before they get to that stage the young wombats are pink and hairless and depend entirely on the protection and nourishment offered in the mother’s pouch. At this age they are commonly referred to as pinkies.
Chris, our local landcare facilitator, recently found a dead wombat on the side of our road. The animal had been killed by a car. Examining the body he found a ‘pinky’ still alive in the pouch (pictured left). Pinkies rarely live if the mother is killed. However the local wildlife carer it was taken to thought this one was sufficiently advanced in age to survive with the proper attention.
Let’s hope it grows some hair before summer otherwise it’s definitely a case of sunscreen and a hat for the little critter.
Bathing beauties
Making a splash
The study is due to start on 1st August and run for 4 weeks. You will be asked to monitor the birds visiting your bird baths and/or feeders 3 times a week. To take part, all you have to do is register with the Australian Bird Feeding and Watering Study at their website.
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- Buff-rumped Thornbill
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- Brown Thornbill
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- Superb Fairy-wren
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- Eastern Spinebill
Click on any of the photos for a closer look.
Red rumps
One of the most beautiful parrots in the district is the Red-rumped Parrot or Grass Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus) (from the Greek haima meaning blood and noton meaning back). The male bird (pictured left) is mainly emerald green in colour with a bright red rump which is very visible when it is flying away. The female’s feathers are a more sedate olive in colour (pictured below).
Red-rumps are open country birds and are ground foragers, feeding primarily on grass seeds. Clearing of land for agriculture has extended the range over which they live. They are particularly well camouflaged on the ground which means your first sight of them is usually as a group of red bottoms flying away into the distance.
However the other day I noticed ahead of me the head of a male parrot just over a slight rise – and he didn’t see me. After a few minutes of slithering across the ground on my stomach I was rewarded with the sight of several pairs quietly feeding on grass seeds – a great day for me and no doubt a talking point for any neighbours who may have been watching.
Porphyry pearl
No, the title doesn’t refer to that much-maligned sparkling wine of the 1960s (for those old enough to remember it!), but instead to that strikingly colourful waterfowl, the Purple Swamphen, which has the delightful scientific name Porphyrio porphyrio meaning ‘Purple Water-hen’, originally from the Greek porphuroeis, purple.
A group of these birds can regularly be seen on the roadside on Upper King Parrot Creek Road, just a short distance out of Strath Creek. They are presumably attracted there by the lush watered grass outside ‘Callandoon’ and have become quite accustomed to passing traffic. But they are also often found along the banks of the King Parrot Creek in the same area.
The purple swamphen spends much of its time on land, strutting on big feet and long legs, flicking its tail to show the white underneath. It is an accomplished if rather clumsy flyer and doesn’t often swim, being essentially a wader in swampy vegetation on the margins of various wetlands. It feeds on soft shoots of water plants, but also small animals such as frogs, snails and reportedly even ducklings – and remarkably, lerps in trees, according to a reference in Where Song Began by Tim Low.
Purple swamphens are common across most of northern and eastern Australia, with a separate sub-species in southwest Western Australia. It is also found as various sub-species in parts of Europe, Africa and Asia.
It emits quite a variety of sounds – brief examples of its calls recorded near Shepparton by Jo Wood from the Goulburn Broken CMA can be heard by clicking on the audio bar below.
Prepare to be (fly) blown away
In the biological cycle we tend to overlook the things that die. What happens to them? How come we are not knee deep in carcasses? A set of photographs sent in by Judy from Limestone really shows you what a dog-eat-dog or in this case a beetle-eat-maggot world it is out there. The pictures were taken of a fly-blown fox carcass. In them you can clearly see fly maggots feeding on the carcass but feeding on the maggots are two species of beetle.
The beetle with the red head is known by the ominous name, Devil’s Coach Horse (Creophilus erythrocephalus) (from the Greek eruthros meaning red and kephale meaning head). It has large powerful jaws for cutting open prey. Unlike many beetles, its hard wing-casings only cover a small part of the abdomen. Active mainly at night the Devil’s Coach Horses are one of the first species to arrive at a dead animal (obviously after the flies have been there). The adult beetles feed on maggots and pupae of flies. The upper left photograph clearly shows a beetle with a maggot clenched firmly in its jaws. These beetles lay eggs in the carcass and the emerging larvae also voraciously predate on maggots.
The brown, flattish shaped beetle with the handsome orange-tipped antennae is a Carrion Beetle (Ptomaphila lacrymosa) which as the name suggests feeds on the flesh of dead animals but also on fly larvae. They are distinguished by short, longitudinal ridges (called tubercules) on the wing-casings. Both beetles play an important role in maintaining a clean environment and reducing the risk of disease by consuming carcasses and/or fly larvae.
Alien (the movie) has nothing on real life!
Frogs, lizards and lots more at Flowerdale
It’s amazing what you find in the woodpile – not just the usual suspects like spiders, woodlice, ants and earwigs, but frogs, skinks and even bats. The little frog pictured here was one of three that appeared as we were moving split wood into the woodshed – after being relocated near the garden pond, it promptly hopped straight in (photo below).
We think it’s a Plains Brown Tree Frog (Litoria paraewingi), but we’ll have a much better idea after Steve Wilson’s talk at the Flowerdale Hall on Friday evening. Steve will be talking about the frogs and reptiles of the Goulburn Broken Catchment. This is a natural follow-on from the previous Focus on Fauna talk on Turtles, and will complete the picture of our local reptiles and amphibians. Steve will have lots of wonderful photographs of the geckos, lizards, skinks, dragons and snakes, as well as frogs, that may be found in our district, some of which have featured in previous posts on this blog.
For full details of the presentation, click on the flyer at left. And if you plan to come, please let us know by email to focusonfauna@gmail.com .
Right-hand drive
It did not take much rain to bring out the mushrooms – and all the fauna that rely on mushrooms as a food source. One of those creatures is a slug, a name used generically to include all snails that do not have a shell. Scientifically slugs make up a group of gastropods (snails) that have lungs instead of gills.
Slugs, it turns out, are fascinating creatures. Most have two sets of feelers (pictured above). The larger pair, set high on the head, contains light sensing organs and is tipped by eye-spots. Lower down, the smaller feelers give the slug a sense of smell. When threatened, the slug can retract these feelers. In addition the slug will produce extra mucus on its body to make it difficult for a predator to pick it up.
On the right hand side of a slug is the pneumostome, an opening through which air is drawn into the single lung-like organ. If you look closely at the photo (immediately above) you can just make out the opening. Slugs are also simultaneously hermaphroditic meaning that they have both sex organs at the same time. They are located near the head. During mating, fertilisation of the eggs occurs in both partners. Afterwards each goes off to lay eggs. Incidentally the sex organs are also located on the right-hand side of the body.
It makes one wonder whether in Europe and the US, the slugs have all their organs on the left-hand side.
Low flow – any fish?
Macquarie Perch
There were also good numbers of other native fish including River Blackfish, Mountain Galaxias, Southern Pygmy Perch and Flat-headed Gudgeon. Brown Trout made up most of the introduced fish catch – one carp was caught at Richards Bridge and two Eastern Gambusia were also found there – the first time in the 10 years of surveying the King Parrot Creek. The by-catch also included 1 Platypus and 13 Snake-necked Turtles, all of which were released uninjured.
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- Low flow at Draytons Bridge
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- Renae and Adrian hard at work
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- Flat-headed Gudgeon
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- Southern Pygmy Perch
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- Snake-necked Turtle
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- Lernaea parasite after removal
The surveys this year involved both fyke netting and electro-fishing. Caught fish were measured, weighed and inspected for external parasites and lesions before being released back into the creek. Macquarie Perch also had fin samples taken for genetic analysis and were checked for presence of previously installed tags – this year there were only 6 recaptured fish.
One parasite found on a few fish is Lernaea cyprinacea, commonly called Anchor Worm, although it is actually a copepod crustacean rather than a worm. It burrows into the fish’s flesh using horns on its head to anchor itself. It causes lethargy and may lead to death if embedded in a vital organ. The survey team carefully removed these 1cm long parasites with tweezers.
A worrying aspect highlighted in the report was the lack of connectivity in the stream caused by the construction of illegal rock weirs which represent a barrier to fish passage.
Just like school kids
We only had one bully at primary school and he wasn’t very good at it. Although I was never directly affected I was vaguely aware of where he was in the schoolyard and when he got close I kept my head down. What I was aware of was the circle of yelling school kids on the oval after school that formed as the bully tussled (not always successfully) with his latest victim.
I was reminded of this last week when I observed a circle of a dozen Australian Magpies (Cracticus tibicen) carolling loudly around two birds having a rough and tumble (pictured left). A search of the web to explain such behaviour revealed that this is not an uncommon occurrence in magpies with many explanations given for such behaviour – a territorial dispute between flocks, determining the pecking order within a flock or a battle for food or even breeding rights.
Dust ups between birds I am used to seeing (see Wattlebird Wars). They are usually over and done with in a flash. However in this case the dominant magpie in the fight held the other magpie down for several minutes occasionally delivering a peck or two to the prostrate victim which just laid there (pictured right). The carolling onlookers also added a peck or two for good measure.
What disturbed me about the whole proceeding was that it somehow looked vaguely – human!
