Looking for a spring in autumn
A spring?
We moved to our property during the drought years. Living in the Spring Creek catchment I always wondered why it was so called. I had noticed that at the same elevation in each of our valleys there was an area of ‘greener’ vegetation. It hasn’t been until the last three years we have actually seen water welling up out of the ground. Now that we are deep into autumn, which usually brings rain, I am again looking for signs of the springs.
I recently noticed down the valley a bright patch of green standing out against the dried grass. The spring is back, I thought. Closer examination showed the green to be ‘pickings’ from an exotic Irish Strawberry (Arbutus unedo) a ‘nasty’ weed-of-a-tree, I’ve been told. And the culprits weren’t too difficult to spot against the green foliage… Crimson Rosellas (Platycercus elegans, from the Greek platukerkos, meaning broad-tailed and elegans meaning elegant, referring to the tail shape that is distinctive from other parrots). These birds, like most other parrots, must spend half their life shredding trees. Not only do they get food this way but they aid in propagating the tree by dropping the seed or flying off and distributing the seed in their droppings.
And to show that they get stuck into Aussie bush tucker as well, the photograph (left) shows a Crimson Rosella eating a Calllistemon seed pod ‘corn-cob’ style.
Not at all drab
Sparshall’s Moth
Moths are sometimes thought of as rather drab and uninteresting creatures, but many of our native moths are in fact very attractive. A good example is this moth photographed recently on Three Sisters at Flowerdale. It is a Sparshall’s Moth (Trichiocercus sparshalli), identified as a male by the long white tufts of hair on its abdomen (see photo below). It’s coming to the end of its flying time, which peaks in April/May and again October/November.
Sparshall’s Moth larvae
Photo courtesy of P. Carwardine and Peter Marriott
Corella torture?
Long-billed Corellas
Driving along Upper King Parrot Creek Road the other day we came across the pair of Common Bronzewings that often sit on the road near Carver Creek – the Flowerdale-Strath Creek ‘border’. Our attempt to get a photo of them was in vain as they quickly fluttered off to an adjacent paddock out of sight. We then noticed a continuous strange wheezing noise from overhead that at times could possibly be mistaken for someone having their toenails ripped out – or possibly their throats cut (see photo). On investigation, it turned out to be a group of Long-billed Corellas (Cacatua tenuirostris) sitting on a branch high in a roadside eucalypt tree, together with a single Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.
Their constant noise (click on the audio bar arrowhead below to hear it) was still going on when we returned more than half an hour later, although the cockatoo had left (driven off by the noise?). We have watched Galahs making a similar call while engaging in mutual grooming, known as allopreening, a practice thought to promote bonding and reduce tensions in close-roosting birds. So perhaps this strange vocalisation is part of the corellas’ social bonding ritual – maybe these are recent fledgelings? We have heard Gang Gang Cockatoos and Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos also make regular wheezing calls when feeding, so it seems to be a feature of members of the Family Cacatuidae. Comments welcome.
Rakali River, anyone?
When I was a kid the family went for picnics in the bush at Diamond Creek. That’s when Diamond Creek truly was the bush. I spent many an hour wading through the water trying to find those elusive diamonds. It was only much later in life I was told Diamond Creek was named after a bull called Diamond that drowned in it.
Until recently I had consigned the King Parrot Creek to the same category as Diamond Creek, great name, but not based on reality. I have lived in Flowerdale for nearly a decade and spent many hours on the banks of the creek. I regularly see platypus, rakali and any number of bird species but never a King Parrot (I can hear the Flowerdale residents gasping in amazement!). Grey Fantail Creek – sure, Platypus Creek – yep, Sacred Kingfisher Creek – maybe, but King Parrot Creek – no.
Trudie and Len recently invited me around to their property to look at the Tawny Frogmouths, which had returned to roost in their usual tree (click HERE to view blog). And there, sitting on a branch was an Australian King-Parrot (Alisterus scapularis). The male has a striking orange head and body with green wings while the female has a green head and wings and an 
orange belly. They are truly worthy of having a creek named after them. Word of my heresy, however, has spread through the township. To all Flowerdalians, I do believe in K-P’s. Please stop sending photos.
This weekend, weather permitting, we’re going on a picnic … to Diamond Creek … to make our fortune in diamonds (no bull).
Sheer opportunism
Wombat-poo or Toad-stool?
A previous post (click HERE to view) mused about the athleticism needed by wombats, wallabies, etc. to construct the ‘plop-on-the-rock’ installations that exist across our landscape. Structures built on logs, rocks and grass are pretty impressive but for sheer opportunism nothing beats this effort photographed on the Three Sisters, Flowerdale – on top of a growing mushroom.
If opportunism was an Olympic event, this deserves a platinum medal.
A flurry of wings resolved
The vegetation on the eastern side of our property consists of open Box–Stringybark forest. The understorey consists mainly of grasses — natives with a few exotics. In summer the long grass hides a multitude of creatures, primarily Red-bellied Black Snakes, Brown Snakes and smallish birds that suddenly burst from the grass in a flurry of wings and disappear equally quickly back into the grass some distance away. We call these LQJ’s (little quail-ey jobs)—not to be confused with LBJ’s (little brown jobs), which are the unidentified birds that flit around the tops of trees. Trying to photograph the LQJ’s for identification purposes is almost impossible. They appear when you least expect them—sort of like the Highway Patrol, and then are gone.
Because of the drought, the long grass is flat and there are not many places for the LQJ’s to hide at the moment. And so it was during my dusk stroll I saw an LQJ power-walking across my path. I managed to get a couple of photos that helped me identify it as a female Spotted Quail-thrush (Cinclosoma punctatum, from the Greek words kikhle meaning thrush, soma meaning body and the Latin word punctus meaning sting—hence spot).
The Mrs. – note the orange cheeks
These birds build a loose nest of bark, leaves and twigs against rocks, stumps or native grass tussocks from June to November. This one was probably out looking for a date.
Now one species has moved from LQJ status to a big tick on the identified bird list. I wonder how many other LQJ’s are out there?
Colourful kingfishers
Azure Kingfisher
Last November we had a surprising appearance of an Azure Kingfisher in our garden near Strath Creek, but it was such a fleeting visit that we had no chance to get a photo. Fortunately, Ken from Alexandra, who provided the wonderful pictures of a Whistling Kite in the recent post, Kite flying, was either luckier or more patient, and managed to capture the image shown at left of this gorgeous little bird near the Goulburn River. If you ever get a glimpse of this bird in direct sunlight, as we did recently at Majors Creek near Mitchellstown, it is an absolute knock-out! The colours are extraordinarily vivid, and that’s coming from one of us who is supposed to be colour-challenged!
The Azure Kingfisher’s natural habitat is along well-vegetated waterways and it is occasionally spotted beside the King Parrot Creek. It is one of the birds that would definitely have benefited from revegetation works along the creek by Landcare and others.
Sacred Kingfisher
Ken also sent in a picture of the slightly larger and more common Sacred Kingfisher (at right). It isn’t confined to waterways, and may be seen in open woodland where it feeds mainly on small reptiles and insects. Its plumage can be variable which may be confusing for identification. Its distinctive repetitious call is often the first indication of its presence. It also has other less easily identified calls, which can be heard by clicking on the audio bar arrowhead below.
A pleasant surprise
Superb Lyrebird
More than four years after the Black Saturday fires we thought we would set up remote cameras on a couple of the larger patches of bushland in private ownership. Paul’s 360ha bush property in the middle of Flowerdale was severely and totally burnt out in 2009, but the regeneration is quite impressive, especially in the moister gullies, with dense regrowth of a range of eucalypts, Silver Wattle, Blackwood, Hazel Pomaderris, Prickly Currant Bush, Victorian Christmas Bush and numerous other shrubs and ground flora.
Checking the cameras’ SD cards the other day, we scrolled through lots of shots of the expected wombats and wallabies, and, (ho-hum) the usual suspects among feral pests – foxes, Sambar, rabbits – and then a pleasant surprise … a Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) (pictured above).
Walking around the property, it is clear that many other bush birds are returning – and last year a Long-nosed Bandicoot was recorded on remote camera.
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- Black Wallaby
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- Sambar – a voracious browser of regenerating plants and spoiler of revegetation efforts
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- Common Wombat
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- Red Fox – a significant threat to recovering wildlife
We tend to think of dams as places where the feathered and furry come to drink – and of course they are. But if you hang around a dam long enough you’ll soon realise that dams also double as a swimming pool, bathroom and day spa.
Scarlet Robin – believe it or not
We all have our beauty routines. The bathroom at our house is littered with sample pots of pastes and potions with exotic names like ‘Doux Nettoyant Moussant’ (Gentle Foaming Cleanser) and ‘Masque ‘Anti-Soif’ Multi-Hydratant (Thirst Quenching Hydra-care Mask), which are applied in a set order at a set time every day. These are not mine. It may surprise you to know that fauna also have their set grooming routines. Some birds such as the Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang) (pictured left) favour the cleaning regime that I use. It’s called the ‘splash-
Brown Thornbill Sit-and-soak
and-dash’. Others like the Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla) (pictured right) prefer to ‘sit-and-soak’. However some animals have a far more complex routine. Take the Rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster) shown in the video clip below for example. Its technique consists of a self-manicure, followed by a facial, a facial mud-pack, a rinse, a bath, another facial and finally a swim.
It is amazing how the differing routines at the dam mirror what happens in our house.
P.S. For those who have never seen a Rakali close up before, note the webbed feet and the distinctive white-tipped tail.
(The video below is a large file and may take some time to load.)
And the SMS text message read…
‘The tawny frogmouths r back. Xxx trud’ 15:49 12May
So around we went to observe the new arrivals. Trudie and Len live on a property nestled beneath what is officially known as Grannie Hill, between the pub and Coonans Reserve, Flowerdale. When we turned up, Len stood us in the middle of the yard and proudly pointed up at the nearby tree. I couldn’t see a thing. After several minutes of an ever-more frustrated Len waving his arms about, we spotted the two Tawny Frogmouths (Podargus strigoides) (from the Latin ‘strix’ meaning owl and ‘oides’ meaning form) sitting together on a branch (pictured left). They were perfectly camouflaged. Given our difficulty in seeing them and the fact that, chronologically, both Trud and Len have at least a decade’s head start on me, I politely inquired how they managed to see the birds in the first place. Apparently they heard the frogmouths calling.
A young Tawny – still wet behind the ears – and everywhere else
Tawny Frogmouths are not owls. Their diet is almost exclusively made up of insects and instead of actively hunting on the wing, the birds wait motionless until the prey comes to them. (That’s my kind of lifestyle – not the diet, but the mode of getting it). Tawny Frogmouths are nocturnal birds that during the day roost very close to tree trunks with an erect stance, beaks up in the air. This makes them very difficult to see. Like owls they have excellent hearing and eyesight.
So if you are walking in the bush and think you are being watched but can’t see anything, you probably are – by Tawny Frogmouths. To locate them, sit down, wait until nightfall and listen for their calls. To hear an example of the call on BirdLife Australia’s Birds in Backyards website, click HERE.
Tawny Frogmouths at Reedy Creek
Focus On Fauna 