More birds of prey
Collared Sparrowhawk – photo by David Johns
Collared Sparrowhawk – photo by David Johns
These photos were forwarded to Chris Cobern earlier this year from a couple in Kinglake West. It was thought to be a Collared Sparrowhawk rather than the similar Brown Goshawk, and an expert at BirdLife Australia has just confirmed that for us – the distinguishing features being the relatively slender body, the lack of a really prominant eyebrow and the greyish plumage rather than brownish on the back.
Brown Falcon – photo by Joel King
And here’s another bird of prey photo forwarded by Susan from Strath Creek, a regular poster of comments on this blog. It looks like a Brown Falcon to us, a fairly common sight around the Flowerdale – Strath Creek district, either perched on a fence post or power line, or cackling as it flies overhead.
Any other thoughts on the identification of these birds would be welcome.
For more detailed information on these two raptors, click on the Birds in Backyards website pages for Collared Sparrowhawk and Brown Falcon.
Lunch for Little Eagle!
As a follow-up to the 15th July post “Birds of Prey”, our friends in Rutherglen have sent us a video clip of the Little Eagle with its prey, a cormorant – probably a Little Pied Cormorant. The eagle dropped the cormorant just 25 metres from their house and came back 3 days in succession to briefly feed on it. It stayed longest on the third day before flying off with the remains of its meal, as shown on the video, which may take a few moments to load.
Hillside skink
This handsome striped lizard turned up the other day on the steep slopes of Lade Hill just out of Strath Creek. Bertram, our Focus on Fauna reptile consultant, has identified it as a Ctenotus skink, most likely Ctenotus robustus or Large (or Eastern) Striped Skink, which is the most common skink of this genus. However the photo is not clear enough to make a positive identification. Ctenotus is the largest and most diverse lizard genus in Australia, with almost 100 species. Identification to species level is often considered difficult.
The Large Striped Skink is found in a wide variety of habitats throughout eastern and northern Australia. It mainly eats ants, as well as other animal and plant material. It is a relatively large striped skink, with a snout to vent length (SVL) of up to 120mm. SVL, which equates to head and body length, is used to measure lizards, many of which can lose and regrow their tails.
Birds of prey
Little Eagle
One of the joys of coordinating the Focus on Fauna project has been the wonderful wildlife photos that have been sent to us by members of the local community, and from others elsewhere who have learnt of the project through the blog or word-of-mouth. As an example, the two magnificent photos shown here of a Little Eagle and a Collared Sparrowhawk were sent in recently by email from a couple in Rutherglen. We thank them for their contribution.
Collared Sparrowhawk
Bandicoot update
Following our previous post on the Long-nosed Bandicoot, the good news is that Chris Cobern, the Landcare Fire Recovery Coordinator, has successfully recorded a live bandicoot on a remote camera between Kinglake West and Flowerdale, close to where the roadkill bandicoots have recently been found.
Look out for bandicoots!
The Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) pictured here was killed by a vehicle on the Whittlesea-Yea Road at Flowerdale in April and is unfortunately one of five known roadkill bandicoots in the past few months, mostly in the Stony Creek area towards Kinglake West.
There is conjecture about the reasons for this spate of road deaths. Flowerdale farmer and naturalist Steve has been travelling along this road almost daily for 14 years, and, despite carefully monitoring roadkills (for possible young in pouch), had never seen a bandicoot until recently. One theory, looking on the positive side, is that, although disturbing to see these lovely animals being killed, it may indicate a large increase in the local bandicoot population following the catastrophic bushfires in the area in 2009. This may be as a result of the past two relatively wet years providing soft earth to dig in and a flush of insects and fungi, which constitute a large part of the bandicoot’s diet. Long-nosed bandicoots forage in leaf litter and often dig characteristic conical holes to locate invertebrates and underground-fruiting mychorrhizal fungi. The bandicoot also eats lush plant material and the prolific regrowth of vegetation after the fires provides both food and cover from predators.
The night-time shots in the slide-show below were taken on remote cameras set up at Toolangi in April this year.
If you do see a bandicoot, alive or dead, please let us know, either by posting a comment or by emailing focusonfauna@gmail.com.
Focus on Fauna gets REAL!
Focus on Fauna recently teamed up with Michigan State University’s Remote Environmental Assessment Laboratory (REAL) to analyse some of the bird/frog audio files recorded by our remote Song Meter during surveys on private properties around Flowerdale/Strath Creek last year (click on Project Activities for a description and photos of the Song Meter). Jo Wood from the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority instigated the contact with Professor Stuart Gage at MSU; Jo was previously involved in a joint project with Stuart to analyse frog recordings at Tahbilk Lagoon near Nagambie.
Stuart and his team at REAL specialise in “soundscape ecology”. Soundscape is a term for all the diverse sounds that emanate from a landscape, including biological, geophysical (wind, running water, thunder etc.) and anthropogenic (planes, vehicles, air-conditioners etc.) sounds. Biophony (biological sound sources) can be influenced by other sound sources; an example being birds that alter the loudness or frequency of their calls in urban environments to compensate for traffic noise. Frogs, birds and insects often cease calling when it is windy or raining heavily, and excessive background noise can disrupt frogs from finding mates.
Soundscape ecology is a complex and emerging new science with potential applications in developing conservation strategies. To learn more, click on the link to the REAL website:
http://real.msu.edu/projects/one_proj.php?proj=wfrp
Here Stuart has analysed dawn chorus recordings from 11 Flowerdale/Strath Creek properties and assigned a “normalised differential sound index” (NDSI), which attempts to quantify the soundscape of each survey site. Jo has emphasised that the index does not necessarily reflect the conservation value or management practices of each property, since it can be influenced by factors beyond the control of the landholder; however it can give us an idea of what is present, and the diversity at a site. Also at this stage the analysis is based on only a single one-hour dawn recording for each of the Focus on Fauna sites.
To access the sound recordings, click on ACCESS DATA and then SEARCH. For an explanation of soundscape interpretation, go to the HOME page.
Not just trees for this bird !
This White-throated Treecreeper spends most nights of the year clinging to the brick wall of our house, and it has been doing so for at least the past 8 years. (The nest seen above the bird is an old swallow’s nest). We assume it’s the same individual as it’s always solitary, and it is hard to imagine how it would pass on the habit to any offspring. The treecreeper has a clever technique of locking the tendons in its legs so that, with its strong feet and claws, it can sleep while clinging upright to a tree trunk – or a brick wall !
This particular bird has about five alternative sites for roosting in the angled brickwork; next to the chimney seems to be a favourite one in winter, or when disturbed near the front door.
We think the bird is a male, but once it has settled in at dusk it is too dark to see if it has the tell-tale orange cheek-spot of the female.
It is worth mentioning the unusual climbing technique of treecreepers. They put one foot ahead of the other, then move the lower foot up level with the front one, and continue in this manner so that the same foot always takes the lead. The leading foot may be either the left or right, but the bird does not hop like some other birds, nor does it “walk” in the usual manner of one foot ahead of the other in sequence. It cannot hang downwards like a sittella, so that, apart from an occasional shuffle backwards down a tree, it only moves upwards, eventually flying down to a low point on a nearby tree trunk. [Reference: Reader’s Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds]
Treecreepers have quite a range of calls/songs. The call recorded here is given as it leaves the brick wall outside our bedroom at dawn, which can act as a useful alarm clock – or an annoying intrusion if we wish to sleep in!
It can also give a lovely mellow trill, as recorded here
Phascogale, fox and an old Lightwood tree
This large and very old Lightwood (Acacia implexa) 0n “Three Sisters” at Flowerdale disproves the often-heard saying that “wattles are all short-lived and not worth planting”. The landholders have now protected this beautiful tree from livestock and planted out a significant area around it as a revegetation project.
The area has obvious value as wildlife habitat. The property’s owners were driving past the other night and were thrilled to spot a Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) scurrying around in a planted Sugar Gum along their driveway, close to the Lightwood and some old Long-leaf Box trees. We set up a camera trained on a fallen log in the area, and sure enough recorded a short video of the phascogale.
However, as is the case with so many of our Focus on Fauna camera deployments, we also recorded a fox. We can only hope that the phascogale is too quick and nimble for the fox!
A hard day’s work …. and lunch provided
Last week I spent some time splitting wood and came across several grubs (see picture) that had eaten themselves a cosy hideaway within a stringybark log.
As kids we called these Witchetty Grubs. This is a misnomer as the term Witchetty Grub applies specifically to the larvae of the cossid moth Endoxyla leucomochla. It is found in Central Australia and feeds on the roots of the Witchetty bush (Acacia kempeana).
This specimen is most likely the larvae of a Longhorn Beetle (family Cerambycidae).
Either way, it tastes like chicken.
So they say.
Focus On Fauna 