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.
.
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.
.
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.
Manky and moth-eaten
The Crimson Rosella (Platycerus elegans), pictured left, is a beautiful bird. The word elegans in the scientific name refers to this fact. On an elevated, wooded bush block such as ours, these are the only rosellas that visit our birdbath. Not 500 metres away down the valley in the open pasture land, Eastern Rosellas (Platycerus eximius) rule. But not up here.
Normally our birdbath is frequented by quiet and sedate pairs of adults, sometimes with juveniles in tow, quietly chattering to each other. The adult 
and juvenile Crimson Rosellas have markedly differently coloured plumage. As stunning as the crimson of the adult plumage is I think the juvenile plumage of red, green and turquoise is just as striking (pictured right).
For the past month, especially in the late afternoon, our birdbath has been invaded by 
boisterous groups of sub-adult rosellas. They travel in flocks of half a dozen or more, are loud and extremely active, and usually use the bath as a diving pool. We call them the teenagers. Their plumage is starting to transition from the green juvenile feathers to the crimson feathers of the adult. They have a manky and moth-eaten appearance (as a lot of teenagers do) when patches of crimson feathers start to appear all over the body.
It looks like a form of avian acne.
Sluggish snake
This Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus) was looking decidedly sluggish when spotted the other day with the temperature only 14°C. It stayed motionless for a long time , despite our moving out of its view, before slithering off very slowly indeed.
The colouration of Tiger Snakes is quite variable and the banding on the body is not always obvious. To confuse matters, juvenile Eastern Brown Snakes can show some banding. One of the distinguishing features is the frontal shield (large scale on the centre of the head), which in the Tiger Snake is about as wide as long, whereas the brown snake’s shield is longer than it is wide. Fortunately, with a super-zoom camera you can get a clear view of a snake’s head without fear of getting bitten – see picture at right.
Focus On Fauna 