Rosella repast
One of the more abundant and ubiquitous birds around this district at present is the Crimson Rosella, with many small, and some not so small, flocks roaming around in search of winter food. With introduced fruit trees and vines now bare, they resort to a range of native tucker. It is fascinating to watch them eating seed from Callistemon and Melaleuca shrubs, holding small branchlets in one claw and nibbling at the woody seed capsules like corn on the cob. We also observed a couple of richly coloured adult birds spending ages delicately feeding on Yellow Box, Eucalyptus melliodora, seed. All these seeds are extremely fine (up to 400 per gram for Yellow Box) and lengthy periods of feeding are required for birds the size of rosellas to get a decent feed – the ripe seeds are presumably highly nutritious to make it worthwhile for them.
The few local indigenous plants flowering at present also attract Crimson Rosellas, who can devastate isolated specimens, such as the Common Correa, Correa reflexa, pictured below in our garden. A Drooping She-oak, Allocasuarina verticillata, has been a target, with 13 of the rosellas counted in the small tree the other day.
See also a recent post by Ronlit on Crimson Rosellas: Manky and moth-eaten.
What’s black and red with a potent attack?
Essendon? You are kidding — not since Matty Lloyd. It’s the Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii).
I grew up in Ringwood on a half-acre block through which flowed the Mullum Mullum Creek. My childhood was spent racing through the creek-side bush collecting bugs. In those days I was warned of only two dangers – snakes and Redback Spiders. The latter inhabited our outside toilet (in the days when you had outside toilets). I had not thought about Redbacks for 30 years or more until last Saturday when I opened up our water pump housing and met one eye-to-eyes.
Messy, messy, messy
Redbacks, closely related to the Black Widow spider of North America, are so called because the female spider is glossy black with a red stripe down the back and a red hour-glass shape underneath the abdomen (see picture above). The male is smaller and brown. They build ‘messy’ webs in quiet and dark places. Another reason for wearing gloves when gardening! White egg sacs are often suspended in the web, pictured right.
The venom is neurotoxic and though dangerous to humans, of the hundreds of bites reported every year there have been no reported human deaths since the anti-venom was developed. You are in more danger of dying if you are the male spider. During mating the male offers itself for sacrifice and is consumed by the female. This act is thought to increase the chances of his genes being propagated by prolonging the act of copulation (it takes longer to eat and mate at the same time).
As I am thinking of the past I am going to complete my nostalgic tour by searching through my cassette collection for the album Welcome to my Nightmare by Alice Cooper, Track 3: The Black Widow. Oh to be young again.
New focus on flora and fungi
Scented Sundew, Drosera whittakeri
When the Focus on Fauna project was conceived by the Upper Goulburn Landcare Network coordinator Bertram Lobert back in late 2010, it was envisaged that monitoring of post-fire flora (and fungi) recovery would also form a part, albeit a minor part, of the project. However, once we had come up with the catchy title of Focus on Fauna (Focus on Fauna, Flora and Fungi seemed a bit long-winded!), the flora/fungi side seemed to take a back seat, and the project concentrated mainly on fauna, as does this continuing blog.
Spectacular Rustgill, Gymnopilus junonius
However, regular blogger on this site, Ronlit, has now started his own blog which should fill the gap. Titled Focus on flora and fungi, the blog will cover species found in the local area, including his bush block just east of Flowerdale on Junction Hill.
The local Flowerdale-Strath Creek area will now have at least four nature websites/blogs running: Focus on Fauna, Strath Creek Biodiversity Project, King Parrot Creek Environment Group and Focus on flora and fungi– all with their own individual character. And the beauty of the internet is that they are only a click away – see the right-hand sidebar for the respective links. As well as his own new blog, Ronlit will continue to post snippets about fauna for Focus on Fauna.
Endangered or elusive?
Stumpy looking for a re-tail store
When we arrived in Flowerdale the Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) had mythical status, sort of like a Bunyip. Published reports variously classified it as rare, threatened or vulnerable. Indeed bushfires, the loss and fragmentation of its forest habitat and its unusual breeding cycle mean it is a ‘species in decline’. After the ’09 fires we installed a remote sensing camera on our birdbath and were thrilled when we photographed one of these critters having a drink (click HERE to view). We considered ourselves lucky to have seen it.
However, in recent times up to three or four phascogales are turning up at our birdbath on a nightly basis. They can be identified individually by their physical differences. Take ‘Stumpy’ for example, pictured above. Presumably an altercation with another phascogale has left it with a defect on the very feature that provides its name.
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A couple of week ago we discovered an unusual looking opening in the trunk of a Long-leaved Box (Eucalyptus goniocalyx). The cavity behind the entrance extended upwards so we guessed it was not the home of a possum or phascogale but could be the possible living quarters of bats. A week of monitoring with the remote camera turned up no bats, only a curious Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) joey, pictured above, and, you guessed it, a phascogale, pictured left.
Now, either phascogales are endangered and we have been extremely fortunate to have photographed the one creature in the area on the very tree we were interested in. Or they are as common as rabbits but are elusive, and because they get around at night, rarely seen. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle … at least in our area.
A visitor from Queensland ?
This photo was sent in by our regular contributors from “Three Sisters”, Flowerdale, with the question “What is it, worm or leech?” It had us baffled, so it was another case of consult the experts, and the obvious person to ask was Max Campbell, the speaker at the most recent Focus on Fauna presentation on Invertebrates. Max identified the creature as a terrestrial flatworm, or land planarian, and put us in contact with Dr Leigh Winsor, a world authority on flatworms, who confirmed that it was indeed a flatworm, Caenoplana coerulea Moseley, which is in fact a complex of 3 or 4 closely related species, one of which is native to Queensland but has proved to be a great traveller in potted plants, and has turned up in many parts of the world, becoming a pest in some places by seriously depleting earthworm numbers.
Given that the pictured specimen (about 10 cm long) was found in a domestic setting with a predominately exotic garden, it is almost certainly the Queensland species of “Caenoplana coerulea“. It is nocturnal and shelters by day beneath pot plants or pavers, or in cracks in stone walls. It is generally beneficial around the garden and has been reported to be a predator of the introduced pest, the black Portuguese millipede.
Leigh also provided us with a wonderfully informative fact sheet which can be viewed by clicking on INFOSHEET Terrestrial Flatworms.
Six legs and not an insect in sight
During winter we place buckets around our backyard to collect the rain. The water collected is used to top up the bird bath and fill the ‘bushfire-ready’ wheelie bins around the house in preparation for the next fire season. If the buckets are left for a few days the water surface becomes populated with a writhing mass of grey bugs (see picture left). In close up (pictured below) these creatures have six legs. For the last three weeks I have been poring over my insect books trying to identify them, to no avail.
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Springtails and their mitey friend
But on Friday night at the Focus on Fauna talk entitled Leaf Litter Invertebrates a photo of the very same animal was shown. And they are not insects at all (despite the six legs). They are commonly known as Springtails, one of the most abundant animals on the planet. From a classification perspective they have been moved from Class Insecta to Class Entognatha because, unlike insects, they have internal mouth-parts.
Springtails are so called because they have an appendage under the body that they can use to fling themselves through the air if threatened. Most springtails are terrestrial, living their lives in the leaf litter and soil. Some spend their lives on the surface of water. The eggs when laid sink to the bottom and when the instars (larvae) hatch, they float to the surface. Sometimes I have seen Springtails hanging out on the water surface with a number of mates including Red Mites. It’s safer to go swimming with friends.
Done it again !
Our resident Common Wombat hadn’t been seen for a while, but she turned up the other day with what is becoming a familiar bulge! When we managed to get close enough, a small pink nose confirmed what we suspected – another youngster in the pouch (see photo below).
She hasn’t been tagged, nor does she have any obvious identifying marks, but we are fairly sure it is the same wombat we first photographed with young in 2005, and have subsequently recorded with offspring in 2009, 2011, 2013 and now 2014 – fecund indeed!
What’s lurking in the leaf litter ?
Another Focus on Fauna community information evening is to be held at Strath Creek on 30th May. This time the topic is “An Introduction to Invertebrates with Special Reference to Leaf Litter Faunae” and the presenter is Max Campbell.
Max is an experienced and active naturalist and educator, and current convenor of the Terrestrial Invertebrate Group of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. He is also an accomplished photographer and will have plenty of fascinating photos to illustrate his talk.
Invertebrates sit at the lower end of the food chain and are critical to the functioning of ecosystems by recycling nutrients and providing food for the higher levels. They are extraordinarily diverse, complex and adaptable.
Click on the flyer above to see full details of the presentation.
Ever seen a toadstool fly?
The answer probably depends on whether you ate it or not.
Along our ridgetop after the recent rains a group of Giant Boletes (Phlebopus marginatus) (pictured left) has appeared. This mushroom is Australia’s largest terrestrial fungus. Some specimens have weighed in at over 20 kg.
Where there are Giant Boletes you will find Toadstool (or Fungus) Flies (Tapeigaster sp.) If you look carefully at the photo will find a toadstool fly diligently guarding its domain (from me!). In the brief time I have spent observing these insects the mushroom surface alternates 
between a boxing-ring and a boudoir. Male flies patrol their particular mushroom and if another male lands, both rear up on the two pairs of rear legs and appear to box each other with their front legs until one is forced to fly off. If a female lands the process of courting and procreation begins. The resulting larvae feed on the fungus. As they feed, they reduce the large mushroom to a large oozing mess soon afterwards.
Back off! It’s my mushroom.
These flies have been seen patrolling the parasols of several species of mushrooms out at the moment. To see a toadstool fly you don’t need to eat it, just sit patiently nearby and watch.
Focal species found
Southern Whiteface – click on the photo for a closer look
While conducting a bird census last week on one of the Strath Creek Biodiversity Project sites, we were pleasantly surprised to come across a small group of Southern Whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis). This small bird (about thornbill size), which is one of a number of woodland species in decline due to habitat loss and fragmentation, was highlighted in the ‘Focal Species’ section of the local booklet ‘Birds of the lower King Parrot Valley’ produced by the Strath Creek Landcare group in 2007. It has not been recorded on the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas database in this district since 1999 (and that sighting was in fact on our own property), although we do recall a later sighting on ‘HumePark’ about 9 years ago.
With its mainly grey-brown plumage, it is not easy to detect, but the white forehead patches are unmistakeable. From front on, it seems to have fallen head first into a bin of flour! It feeds on the ground, often in association with other species such as Yellow-rumped Thornbill. It’s sturdy bill is well-suited to eating seeds as well as insects.
The Southern Whiteface builds an untidy nest in a dense shrub, or often in a hollow tree limb (spout). It has been known to use nest-boxes.
Focus On Fauna 