Tree-cam! So that’s how it’s done.
David & remote camera in a very large, old Yellow Box
Over the last half-year Dave has been developing some serious covert surveillance expertise! He’s often sighted either behind trees, or up in them. In this case it’s a very large, spreading Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora).
Getting the remote-images that provide so much of the enjoyment and value of this blog has become more than a pastime for Dave and has required considerable ingenuity. You can see more pictures about how the cameras are set-up and the various other survey techniques used in this project HERE.
And then there were two.
The Powerful Owl in a previous post, Talk about owls …! on March 29, has again been spotted, this time with a mate to share a meal of Ringtail Possum (whose partly eaten remains are visible below the male on the left). The photo was taken in almost the same spot as the previous observation.
The owners of the Flowerdale property have been recording the location of roost trees (identified by “whitewash” and pellets on the ground), and trying, so far in vain, to find a nest site that the owls may be using. Because of the owl’s size, potential nest hollows are limited to large old trees.
Focus on frogs!
Zoologist Mark Cairns from Healesville Sanctuary will be coming to Flowerdale on 5th August to give a presentation, with a particular focus on frogs. Mark may also cover other aspects of his experiences with wildlife.
Click on the flier for more details.
The owl and the swan…
The owners of a large Strath Creek grazing property were delighted to have a couple of unusual bird visitors this week. This Black Swan spent a day on a dam close to their house before moving on.
A couple of days later they were able to take this magnificent photo of a Barn Owl perched in a eucalypt tree. With the large numbers of mice around at present, the owl should be having a feast !
Wallabies, wombats and possums near Junction Ridge
Our cameras were recently kept busy at a bush property to the north of Flowerdale, which includes a steep gully known as Devil’s Glen. Above the gully the property consists of Red Box forest and a cleared native grass slope. The cameras recorded hundreds of shots of inquisitive Black Wallabies, Common Wombats and both Common Brushtail and Common Ringtail Possums, as well as a Red Fox.
Bobuck up close at Pheasant Creek
A remote camera trained on a fallen log across a small tributary of Pheasant Creek recorded these shots of a Mountain Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus cunninghami), also known as a Bobuck.
The Bobuck has shorter, more rounded ears than the Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), and inhabits wetter forest areas. It prefers gullies and, although arboreal, spends much of its time feeding on the ground. Fungi form a significant part of its diet.
Little critters had us guessing!
A remote camera set up on this fallen, but still growing, remnant paddock tree at Allandale Road, Strath Creek, revealed a group of very active small animals that had us guessing as to whether they were the small native marsupial Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis) or just the common House Mouse (Mus musculus). Several DSE experts reviewed the pictures and came to the (disappointing) conclusion that the critters were indeed house mice.
View the video clip below, which may take a few moments to load.
Birds get in on the act !
Our recent remote camera deployments in the Falls Road/Allandale Road area of Strath Creek have revealed a range of birds – all common farmland species. These shots from an Allandale Road property show that many birds use fallen logs as perches.
Which Brown Tree Frog ?
This little frog (about 40mm long) has been seen, and is currently calling, in the Strath Creek area. But is it the Southern Brown Tree Frog (Litoria ewingi) or the Plains Brown Tree Frog (Litoria paraewingi) ? The Flowerdale/Strath Creek area seems to be roughly on the junction of the distributions of the two species, which do not overlap. Can anyone help us identify exactly which species it is ?
The pads on the ends of its digits, which identify it as a Tree Frog, are clearly visible in this photograph.
The recording below (assumed to be of the photographed species) was made on a very frosty early morning, so it may well have been feeling a bit sluggish!
Another recent arrival
Just a few days after photographing a young wombat in its mother’s pouch (see previous post: New arrival at Strath Creek), our remote camera detected another wombat with young in tow on the other side of the same 40 ha property. The home range of a Common Wombat has been reported as varying between 5 and 23 ha, but there can be considerable overlap between adjacent territories.
Seen here, after sniffing our scent lure, the mother leads her youngster away to greener pastures. The video may take a few moments to load.
Focus On Fauna 