Out for a duck
Our pleasant walk was disturbed by finding an eviscerated carcass of what looked to be duck lying in the middle of the driveway. The only recognisable parts were the webbed feet. Whatever animal did the deed did a very good job. The skeleton was mostly intact but there was scarcely any meat left on it. This suggested to us that this wasn’t a fox or feral cat kill.
The carcass was obviously fresh. We may have even disturbed what was feeding on it. So we set up a remote camera at the scene, in case something returned to finish the meal. We returned after a few hours and sure enough the 
body had gone. The image captured on the camera was of a Brown Goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus). The scientific name comes from the Latin accipere meaning to seize or to capture and the Latin word fascia meaning banded, referring to the brown and white bars on the underbody. The Collared Sparrowhawk looks almost identical to the Brown Goshawk. The main difference is the latter is stockier and has a heavier brow.
Goshawk version of a ‘heavy meal’.
It is hard to know if the bird pictured killed the prey or was just an opportunistic scavenger. Brown Goshawks normally hunt by diving on prey from low, concealed perches using speed and surprise as an advantage. Rabbits and mice make up most of the diet, which can also include birds up to the size of domestic chooks. Brown Goshawks will also feed on carrion. The kill is taken and eaten on a nearby perch. I presume that is where the Goshawk is taking its prize captured in the ‘action shot’ on our camera.
For such an effort it deserves raptorous applause.
Snakes and ladies
Red-bellied Black Snake
Australian Painted Lady
One of the first butterflies to appear in spring is the Australian Painted Lady (Vanessa kershawi) pictured at right, which has taken a particular fancy to a Downy Zieria bush (Zieria cytisoides). For another impressive image of the lady go to the Strathbogie Ranges – Natureview website.
Other butterflies seen around and included in the slide show below are the Yellow Admiral (Vanessa itea) and the Cabbage White (Pieris rapae). The Imperial Jezebel (Delias harpalyce) was flying too high to photograph satisfactorily.
Pigs might fly but sheep don’t
At the moment the Valley of a Thousand Hills looks wonderful. On the vivid green slopes, snowy-white sheep graze. Maybe those sheep are a little too white. As I move closer to get a better look, they take to the air. Well, pigs may fly but sheep certainly don’t.
Birds of a feather…
At this time of the year flocks of cockatoos graze in the paddocks. Up on Junction Hill these flocks are comprised exclusively of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) but in the lower, more open parts of the King Parrot Valley, Galahs (Eolophus roseicapillus) and Little Corellas (Cacatua sanguinea) are also in the mix (pictured left).
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They are digging up Onion Grass or Guilford Grass (Romulea rosea var. australis), a herbaceous perennial weed originally from South Africa. In late winter the plant develops small bulbs called puddings (pictured right) that are sweet to eat and for these birds this is the food of choice before the acacia seeds ripen later in the year. The flowers, which come out in spring, are pink (pictured below).
It’s a surprise that these cockies can do such a fine community (weeding) service. I wonder if we could teach them to eat Cape Weed as well?
Finding phascogales
Brush-tailed Phascogale
A Focus on Fauna favourite, the Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa), was photographed recently on “Three Sisters” on the Broadford-Flowerdale Road. Since the FoF project began in late 2010 there have now been at least four phascogale sightings at widely-spaced locations on this large grazing property adjoining the Mount Disappointment State Forest, which is encouraging since much of its habitat was severely burnt in 2009. Two of those sightings were reported in previous posts on this blog – click HERE and HERE to view.
According to the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas, the Brush-tailed Phascogale was found on “Three Sisters” in 1932 and 1933, but there were no subsequent records in the vicinity until Focus on Fauna entries in 2011. Although this phascogale is listed as a threatened species under the Fauna and Flora guarantee Act, we are finding it is a case of the more you look, the more you find, and a greater awareness in the community as well as remote surveillance (and mobile phone) cameras are making it easier to record sightings.
Brush-tailed Phascogales have an interesting, and somewhat precarious, life-cycle. Breeding is restricted to the cooler months, with frenzied mating in May and June, after which all males die of various stress-induced diseases, with only pregnant females surviving. They give birth from mid-June to early August, following about 30 days gestation. The photo above was taken on 11th August, so this would be a female, probably with several young attached to the teats in her pouch. Most females only produce one litter and survival beyond 3 years is rare.
Tales from the woodpile #2
Annoy-ance
While splitting wood recently, the bark fell off a log revealing an colony of irate ants, which proceeded to scurry around with their abdomens in the air (pictured left, click image to enlarge it). They were threatening to spray formic acid (methanoic acid) as a defense mechanism. The word ‘formic’ comes from the Latin word for ant, formica.
Defi-ance
Most ants use a mixture of formic acid and other chemicals to defend themselves. In some ants this is delivered as a painful sting. The Dolichoderinae family of ants lack a sting and therefore spray the chemicals by forcibly ejecting the formic acid from a poison gland in the tail. A Spider Ant (Leptomyrmex erythrocephalus) (from the Greek eruthros meaning red and kephale meaning head), pictured right, is shown with the abdomen raised in a defensive position. Another local ant from the same family (pictured below) is the Double-spined Dolly Ant (Dolichoderus doriae) (from the Spanish dorados for golden colour). It is named after the spines that protrude from the thorax. Annoying either of these ants will result in a defensive spray and the familiar ‘ant smell’.
Protuber-ance
Other fauna use this ant behaviour to their advantage. Many birds, including some Australian birds such as the Regent Honeyeater, are known to perform ‘anting’ where they rub ants into their feathers. The ants get annoyed and spray formic acid, which acts as a combination insecticide, miticide, fungicide and bactericide. Some birds then eat the ant after all the formic acid has been eliminated.
In an amazing evolutionary step, creatures such as the Anteater (from the Americas) do not produce hydrochloric acid to promote digestion like most mammals. Instead they rely on the formic acid secreted by ants they eat to do the job. Hence the ants provide the acid to digest themselves.
And that is why you never see an echidna with a sore tummy. It’s full of ant-acid.
Small is beautiful
Just to show that size (or lack of it) is no barrier to qualifying for this blog, we’ve included this lovely little beetle that came in on the clean washing straight from the line. It’s an Orange-spotted Ladybird (Orcus australasiae) and the fine-knit windcheater background gives an idea of the size – approx. 5 mm long. This ladybird reverses the usual colour scheme of black spots on orange/red wing covers found on many species of the Family Coccinellidae, including the familiar Common Spotted Ladybird (Harmonia conformis).
Many ladybird beetles are not just pretty, but perform a useful role as predators on aphids, mealy bugs, mites and scale insects. So, despite their depiction in the ABC-TV’s Minuscule series as irritating little smarty-pants, they represent a valuable means of biological pest control.
Tollway planned for Flowerdale
Agile antechinus
I have spent a lot of time near our dams in recent weeks watching for the Rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster). (Who says I’m obsessive?) I’ve noticed that the critter frequents both our dams. Our driveway cuts between the two dams and the Rakali scampers between them through a culvert under the road. In an attempt to get some close-up photos of the Rakali I set up a remote camera at one end of the culvert.
South end of a north-bound wombat
The results were amazing. The culvert has more traffic than the Burnley Tunnel. Even though I have not photographed the Rakali using the short-cut, shown in this post are some regular commuters. Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis) and Common Wombats (Vombatus ursinus) use this passageway every night.
Too squeezy!
The only thing stopping the Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) from using the same thoroughfare is their ‘wide load’ status … the width of their hips.
Taking a leaf out of Richmond City Council’s book, I have plans to make the tunnel a tollway. It might even pay for my Murrindindi Council rates.
(Click on the photos to enlarge image).
Opportunism
Grey Shrike-thrush
Angophora stump – spot the bird!
Wood-eating grub – possibly a longicorn beetle larva?
The species name from the Greek harmonikos, meaning skilled in music, is entirely appropriate for this wonderful songster. A sample of its range of calls can be heard by clicking on the audio bar below.
Tales from the woodpile #1
Whoever said that this July was one of the warmest on record wasn’t living on Junction Hill. We have been through a pile of firewood. Last weekend we headed up to the woodpile again to split some more fuel. What we discovered in doing so was a collection of animals equal in variety to those in the Healesville Sanctuary, but these ones don’t cost anything to visit.
The critter pictured left is one of a number of species known as House Centipedes. They all belong to a group known as scutigeromorphs, which are distinguished by having compound eyes. All other centipedes have single-lens eyes. This one, an import from the Mediterranean, is Scutigera coleoptrata. You can tell by the pair of prominent spines on the first joint of legs 6 to 14 (true!). The adult has 15 pairs of legs. The centipede pictured only has eleven pairs, meaning it has only been through 4 of its nine moulting phases. Either that or I chopped off four pairs of legs when splitting the wood … only joking.
The other centipede I came across (pictured right)
is of the Order Scolopendramorpha. Identifying it further meant getting up close and personal with it and it did not appear to be in the mood, hence I wasn’t either.
Both species are predatory, feeding mainly at night on spiders, cockroaches, ants and other centipedes. In S. coleoptera the antenna act as both a touch and a smell organ. These animals deserve to be left alone. As ferocious as they look, they play an important role in reducing invertebrate pests. And you should see them play soccer.
Focus On Fauna 