Winter tucker
On a cold, drizzly winter’s day this Hairpin Banksia (Banksia spinulosa) provides a welcome food supply for honeyeaters such as the New Holland Honeyeater . This handsome spreading shrub is actually a planted garden specimen. Hairpin Banksia has a scattered natural distribution across eastern Victoria, but doesn’t quite extend to the Flowerdale-Strath Creek area.
Our local banksia representative is the larger and once-widespread Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata) which, in the Goulburn-Broken catchment, is now confined to a few isolated patches, although it is often included in revegetation plantings. Apart from extensive clearing for agriculture, one of the reasons that naturally-occurring banksias have largely disappeared is their sensitivity to elevated phosphorus levels in the soil resulting from the use of superphosphate as a fertiliser.
Snuggle up!
As a follow-up to the previous post, here’s another nest-box installed as part of the fire-recovery project. We noticed signs of gnawing around the entrance hole and thought we should check inside it, even though it had only been installed fairly recently. Sure enough, inside was a huddle of Sugar Gliders (Petaurus breviceps) snuggled into a nest of eucalyptus leaves – what better way to spend a cold, foggy day in Strath Creek?!
At a very informative nest-box forum held at Violet Town recently, high occupancy rates ( up to 80%) were reported for areas around Lurg/Greta, Warrenbayne/Boho and Whroo/Goldfields in Central Victoria. As one of the presenters said, “… you can never have enough nest boxes!” That certainly applies in our area where so many old hollow-bearing trees were destroyed in the Black Saturday fires.
Click HERE for more information about nest-boxes in the Strathbogie Ranges.
UGLN fire recovery nest-box project
Of the many who lost their homes on Black Saturday, our smallest and neediest have required as much help as others in finding and rebuilding a new home. The destruction of so many hollow-bearing trees in the 2009 fires meant the loss of sanctuary for much of our native wildlife.
In November 2009 the Upper Goulburn Landcare Network Fire Recovery Program set about providing new homes for some of our furry and feathered friends. We embarked on a project to install nest-boxes in the blackened trees, providing new artificial homes for these animals.
Kinglake Scouts building nest-boxes
We have received help from many varied groups of volunteers, including Kinglake Scouts, students from Yea High School and Greensborough Secondary College, Shepparton Mens’ Shed and Conservation Volunteers Australia.
Chris Cobern with Yea High School Students
Volunteers at Flowerdale
So far we have installed 322 nest-boxes throughout Flowerdale, Toolangi, Glenburn and Kinglake. Of the boxes installed, our monitoring has shown that approximately one third have been used by wildlife. Tenants have included many Sugar Gliders and Agile Antechinus, as well as the occasional Brush-tailed Phascogale, Common Ringtail Possum, Brush-tailed Possum, Owlet Nightjar and small insectivorous bats.
For more information phone UGLN Coordinator Chris Cobern on 5736 0104.
Ringtail Possum at Kinglake
Agile Antechinus at Flowerdale
Fish found near Flowerdale
Mountain Galaxias – photo by Rosta Buc
Rosta from Junction Hill, east of Flowerdale, sent us this picture of a school of small fish she noticed in a pond that forms part of an intermittent creek on her property (click on the photo for a better look). They were described as being about 90 mm long and very speedy, and she wondered if they were native Mountain Galaxias (Galaxias olidus). Joanne Kearns, a freshwater ecologist from the Arthur Rylah Institute, was able to confirm that they do indeed appear to be Mountain Galaxias, and it is not unusual to find them in pools along non-flowing watercourses. According to Jo they are actually very tough little fish; they can tolerate water temperatures up to 32 degrees Celsius and can survive several months (in the summer period) in isolated pools of water. Individuals have even been known to survive in wet mud at the bottom of a drying pool! So they are quite remarkable fish.
For more information on Mountain Galaxias click on the link to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s fact sheet below. One disturbing fact is that introduced trout pose a real threat to native galaxiids.
Foxhole?
This magnificent old Candlebark tree (Eucalyptus rubida) near Strath Creek is hollowed out near the base and has a long narrow opening about a metre above the ground, leading to quite a large level platform inside the tree. To see what animal(s) might be using the hollow, we set up a remote motion-sensitive camera on the trunk of a small dead tree nearby. The camera showed that the hollow is fairly regularly visited by a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), both at night and during the day. It is unclear yet whether the fox is using it as a den or just checking out the hollow for possible prey, although it is probably too low for most animals to feel secure. There is no obvious fox smell inside, and every time we visit the hollow, it is vacant.
The abundance of foxes in the district was highlighted during our Focus on Fauna surveys, when foxes were recorded at 17 out of the 22 properties where remote cameras were set up for week-long observations.
Bird-bath biodiversity
If you have been following previous posts on Ron and Kate’s bush block bird-bath at Flowerdale, you will know that they have recorded on a remote camera a wealth of visiting fauna. To add to the list of about 25 native birds, ringtail and brushtail possums, sugar gliders and a brush-tailed phascogale, not forgetting mice, rats and a frog, they now have a delightful new arrival – an antechinus, most probably an Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis). So the bath is clearly becoming a biodiversity hot-spot !
To see a close-up photo of the Agile Antechinus, have a look at the previous post Antechinus using nestboxes.
Some good news on ‘maccas’
Researchers from Arthur Rylah Institute have once again been monitoring the endangered Macquarie Perch (Macquaria australasica) in King Parrot Creek and have good news to report. Preliminary results show a tally of 54 Macquarie Perch at 6 sites, which is the highest number recorded since annual surveys began in 2006. The number is certainly well up on last year, when only 19 were caught.
The highest number of maccas was just downstream of Burslems Bridge (21), with a further 9 netted at the nearby “Callandoon” site. This stretch of creek has previously been found to be a major spawning site for the perch. Other survey sites along the creek from Flowerdale down to Kerrisdale all recorded significant numbers of Macquarie Perch. Most of the fish were around 200 – 230mm long (from 2 to 4 years old), but a couple of maccas were up around 40cm. One disappointing result was that only 2 juveniles were captured – it is not clear at this stage why there were so few, but it tallies with similar results in Hughes and Seven Creeks.
It was of great interest that two of the captured maccas were tagged fish that had previously been caught at the same location in 2010, and had grown well over 100mm in just 2 years! The ARI researchers are testing a new tagging method this year. This involves an external tag (see pictures in slide show) with a unique fish number as well as “DSE, REWARD” and phone number on it. If an angler catches a tagged fish, it is hoped it will be reported to DSE and there is less likelihood of the fish being taken illegally. To encourage reporting, the angler will be rewarded with a stubby holder or lure! The reported tag information can provide valuable data on fish growth and movement between survey periods.
Other positive results from the surveys were that no carp were found upstream of the Goulburn Valley Highway, and 2 platypus were recorded. Unfortunately the survey team also found illegal nets set in the creek as well as a considerable amount of abandoned fishing line.
A timely reminder here that this once-widespread fish is now confined to a few isolated populations and is a threatened species. It is strictly prohibited to take Macquarie Perch from all Victorian waters, except Lake Dartmouth, the Yarra River and the Upper Coliban Reservoir.
Film Launch & Final Fling
On Friday 13th April, Focus on Fauna held a ‘final fling’ at Strath Creek to celebrate the end of the project and launch a short film. In somewhat of a party atmosphere, about 70 people joined us to watch the film and be treated to a fascinating presentation on Powerful Owls by local enthusiast Ron Litjens.
You too can watch the video below. The download size of this video is 280 MB.
Enjoy
Further remote camera images and photos sent in by community members can be viewed below.
Creeping, crawling, buzzing …
Hawk Moth caterpillar - photo Kay Granter
Some small critters have been brought to our attention recently, including this large caterpillar photographed at Strath Creek by Kay, whose daughter and dog seem to be equally curious. Our friendly and helpful moth expert Peter Marriott, author of the Moths of Victoria series of books, has identified the caterpillar as most likely that of a Hawk Moth, Psilogramma casuarinae. This species has only been discovered recently in the north of Victoria, too late to be included in Peter’s volume on Hawk Moths. The mature larvae can actually be either green or pink.
Black Spider Wasp - photo by Ron Litjens
We also received from Ron at Flowerdale a photo of a Black Spider Wasp, Fabriogenia sp. Ron informs us that they are solitary wasps, and soon after mating the female looks for a single spider on which to lay her eggs, while the males die !! In this picture, the wasp has cut off the spider’s legs, so that it can fit into the nest.
Foliate Jumping Spider - photo by Laurie Macmillan
Perhaps Ron’s wasp wouldn’t bother with the tiny Foliate Jumping Spider, Clynotis severus shown below, which was photographed by Laurie near Strath Creek, very bravely managing to overcome her arachnophobia!
Scarlet Robins calling
Male Scarlet Robin - photo by Ron Litjens
Scarlet Robins can now be seen and heard in farmland areas around Flowerdale and Strath Creek. They tend to move down from their higher, more forested summer breeding areas in autumn to forage in more open habitats throughout winter, where they can often be seen perched on fence wires.
The picture at left shows the more colourful male. The somewhat duller female can be seen perched on a branch at a bird-bath in the remote camera image below – click on the photo for a closer look.
To hear the robin’s distinctive call, click on the arrow on the icon below.
Focus On Fauna 