Bush Bites

Birds in tunnels – the Striated Pardalote – Ed Frazer

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It has been an interesting exercise getting photos of Striated Pardalotes breeding in their tunnel in the embankment on my property during August 2017.

 

It’s breeding season now – time for these birds to drill their 1metre-long tunnels into embankments.

These three shots, taken on 20 August, show the male and female pardalotes arriving at, sitting inside and departing from their tunnel:




I’ve been watching these Striated Pardalotes for about 2 weeks and it seems they are now starting to feed their young. It’s interesting to note that they never call when they are anywhere near the nest, even when searching for food.

Returning to the tunnel with food for the chicks – August 2017

A check of the surrounds before entering the tunnel with food

I believe the pardalotes communicate by emitting very quiet sounds when they fly in to swap patrols. Obviously they can’t see when the other is inside the tunnel so they must have a way of communicating when each one returns. I have tried to hear them, as my viewing spot is only about 7m away, but to no avail – the call must be either extremeley faint or the register is too high for the human ear.

Parent changeover (8 August 2017)

The parents seem to mainly return with lerps or psyllids, but I have also seen them arriving with small grubs. I can see the white lerps oozing out of their beaks.

Generally, one stays in the tunnel cavity whilst the other is out collecting, but sometimes they travel together or occupy the tunnel together for short periods.

Pardaote with lerp (20 August 2017)

I imagine the parents would have to keep the nest cavity clean, given that it is inside a tunnel. The following photo seems to support this theory:

Removing a faecal pellet from the tunnel
(20 August 2017)

I believe these final two photos show the parents trying to entice the young to leave the nest (taken on the morning of 18 August).

 

Note: You can learn more about the Striated Pardalote by reading Jim Butler’s Feather Fascination September 2017.

 

Nightlife in the Catchment – Ed Frazer

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During the past eight years I have been using several trail cameras around our property. This has greatly expanded my appreciation of the wildlife which lives alongside us.

Over the 44 years we have been here I have regularly seen during daytime red-necked wallabies, hares and water dragons.  I have occasionally seen possums, platypus, koalas and antechinus, but the cameras have revealed a whole lot more going on during the night.

 

A camera-shy Echidna

I use a number of different cameras and many of them are white and some infra-red flash. They are all triggered by infra-red. The quality of the photos has improved considerably with the most recent models taking 16 megapixel photos.

My method of viewing nightlife is to select an interesting habitat area and set a few cameras up targeting where I think the animals may have regular tracks or on branches I think might be used as perches. Transition zones between bush and open areas are another target. Every few days I swap the cards in the cameras and review them on my computer to see what I have photographed.

Deer on the move

As most of our animals are nocturnal I have seen so much more than I expected. It is the insight into their night life that is interesting as they go about their normal behaviour without being frightened by my unexpected presence.

It is not just the animals.

I have found the regular habitat of a number of very cryptic birds that are seldom seen during the day. Shy species such as Russet-tailed thrushes, Noisy Pittas, Lewin’s Rails, Spotless Crakes and Little Grassbirds are usually well gone before they are seen during daytime.

A Bush-stone curlew poses for the camera

 

Once I have found their hangout I set up a hide and this allows me to photograph them with my good camera. I have also been able to see nocturnal birds such as Bush Stone-curlews going about the normal business instead of looking like statues as they behave during daylight.

The cameras also show me there are a lot more feral animals than I had realised. Foxes, deer, dogs, hares and cats are photographed by the trail cameras almost daily.

Here are a few more examples of the nightlife that occurs on my property:

A fox escapes with … a bandicoot?
 
 

A domestic cat on a night-time prowl
 

A Ring-tailed possum avoids the light

 

Antechinus

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If a picture is worth a thousand words here is the equivalent of 10,000! 

I’m not knowledgeable about the names of identification of the different species of Antechinus so these photos may be of the Yellow-footed, Brown or the newly discovered Buff-footed Antechinus. Hopefully one of our readers may be able to identify which one from tjhese photos.

The first four are of an Antechinus that was holed up during the day in a crevice between two tree trunks near the top of our hill. I was photographing a White-throated Treecreeper when the bird got a huge fright and out came this little fellow.

   

  

The next five photos are of an Antechinus that was helping itself to mealworms I was putting out to encourage the Painted Button-quail to come into camera range. They were taken over several days and it gradually it became less timid. It was in a much wetter area in a gully at the back of our property in Adavale Street.

The following photo of the cat taken with an infra-red triggered camera is just one of several I have taken at night. The cat was playing with the animal before it killed it. It is not clear if it was an Antechinus, a Melomys or a mouse, but there is no doubt that Antechinus and other small native animals are being slaughtered by domestic cats that are allowed to hunt our native wildlife at night.

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Photography tips from Ed

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It’s the time of year to start thinking about the Moggill Creek Catchment Photo Competition.

I thought the standard last year was terrific. There were so many beautiful entries and they certainly viewed by a large number of shoppers in Kenmore Village.

As many were photos of birds in the Catchment here are a few tips:

  • Try and get close to the bird. That usually means using a telephoto lens of 300 to 500mm or a camera with a 30 to 50 times zoom.
  • Best not to go chasing the bird. Get a comfortable chair and hide against a shrub so that you stake out an area where the birds will come. I locate suitable flowering plants such as Grevilleas, or shrubs with ripening fruit such as Lillipillies or Figs, where I’m likely to find spectacular birds like Rose-crowned Fruit-doves.
  • Get the sun in the right position. Usually behind your back, but you can get artistic effects with backlighting. The sun a little to the side produces shadows that give shape to the bird, but avoid the middle of the day because of harsh shadows.
  • Try and get photos of the bird looking towards you and that will get a “catch-light” in its eye which is more engaging.

A bird feeding or doing something is always more interesting. Last year’s winner was an engaging shot of a Pacific Baza looking out at the photographer from behind a tree.

A Grey Butcherbird caught in the light by Ed
 

Fairy wrens – by Ed Frazer

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The presence of Fairy-wrens breeding on a property is always an indicator that there is good habitat as they are one of the first groups of birds to move away if conditions are poor. We have three groups of Fairy-wrens on our property and each group have been fascinating to watch over the years: Superb, Variegated and Red-backed.

We have three families of Superb Fairy-wrens that regularly nest on the property. One pair nests near our house and they are not very successful as they spend much of their time attacking the windows of the swimming pool room and our car side mirrors.

The next family, usually a breeding pair with two or more assistants, breeds behind a shade house along the fence line in a Callistemon bush about 2 metres off the ground and they raise two lots of young successfully each year. They feed on insects from a wide range of shrubs and even quite high up in trees. 


One of Ed’s Superb Fairy-wrens

The third pair nests on shrubs on the road verge and, while they are in excellent condition, they seldom raise a family as they are put off with the traffic and dogs and cats from the neighbours’ properties. 

The Variegated Fairy-wrens live in the drier parts of the property and they generally forage on insects. They breed in the Lantana on the SEQEB easement or on the drier Western facing slopes over the back of our property.


Variegated Fairy-wren – courtesy of Ed Frazer

They are more secretive and range over quite large overlapping territories so I am not sure how many breeding groups there are. Usually they have only one coloured male with a number of juveniles including some young males with blue tails. Often there are 5 or 6 in the troupe. They usually breed successfully, raising 4 young twice a year. 

The Red-backed Fairy-wrens are the most interesting of the three. They have smaller territories and feed much more on the insects in the grass than the other two. Usually there is only one male to about 4 females and juveniles. Sometimes there are two coloured males and often they associate with the Variegated Fairy-wrens.

I had an interesting experience where 4 fully coloured males were showing off to a group of females. Two of the males had a petal each of what we call  “Wild Salvia” in their beaks. The petals are bright red and I assume they were trying to enhance their similarly red coloured backs. While this is not a common practice I have seen it before.

One day when the Wild Salvia was not in flower I saw a Red-back carrying an orange Lantana petal in its beak. Maybe it was colour blind, but birds perceive colour differently to us.


Red-backed Fairy-wren on Ed’s property

 

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Where did the Bullies go? – Ed Frazer

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When we started building on our property in Brookfield in 1973, I remember flocks of 50 to 100 “Bullies” wheeling over the lower paddocks, changing direction in unison. It was a wonderful sight!

“Bullies” was the local name for what we now call Chestnut-breasted Mannikins. The name is derived from a group of similar sized seedeaters from Europe: the Bullfinches.

A “Bullie” (Chestnut-breasted Mannikin)

Over the years we have had fluctuations in the numbers and species of finches. Early on it was “Bullies” and “Double-bars” that dominated. In recent years it has been “Red-brows”.

Last year our slashing contractor had a major tractor breakdown. Our grassed areas weren’t mowed and the grasses seeded and hayed off during the winter. For the first time in about 30 years I saw a flock of about 30 “Bullies” wheeling around in a dense flock and settling on the dry seeded grass.

We also had a resurgence of “Double-bars” too, close to the numbers I remember years ago.

Double-barred finches

Finches can breed up rapidly as they have up to six young each nesting, and can breed up to three times a year if conditions are good.

I have concluded that each finch species has a preference for different stages of the grass seed. I think the “Red-brows’ like the green and semi-ripe seed and take it live off the grasses.

A Red-browed finch

The “Bullies’ seem to like the mature seed still on the stalk and the “Double-bars” prefer the dry seed which they eat off the ground. There is cross-over and each will take any type of seed in scarce times, but their numbers seems to be related to the availability of these stages of ripeness of the seed.

This year I have again allowed the grasses to ripen their seed fully and I am watching to see if my theory is correct.

You can learn more about Bullies in Jim Butler’s Feather Fascination January 2017

All photos courtesy of Ed Frazer.

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Bites and stings

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This article and accompanying photos were kindly provided by Ed Frazer (August 2017), who has lived in the district for 45 years and is well known for his award-winning photos of birds on his Brookfield property.

Working in the bush has its hazards and biting creatures are one of the most painful and frequent! We have quite a few that you might encounter in the Moggill Creek Catchment.


Which is the worst? Well they have all had a go at me and this is my list rating from one to ten. What is your experience?


1. Midges:   Don’t really sting, but they certainly itch!
2. Bees:   Sting doesn’t last, but a problem if you are allergic
3. Hairy caterpillar:   Hurt and cause a rash that hangs around 
4. Scorpions:   The ones with the small pincers are the worst
5. Large paper wasp:   Sting is severe but doesn’t last long unless a lot get you
6. Jumping spider:   Bite is not the problem – the toxin rots the flesh from some bites
7. Small paper wasp:    Hurt more than the bigger ones and last longer too
8. Assassin bugs:   Really hurt and last a long time and the flesh around the sting rots
9. Bull ants:   One you’ll remember for a very long time …
10. Bullrout (in the creeks):  This one is a lifer – you’ll never forget it !!!

Hints and tips

Clothing

Wearing suitable clothing and using insect repellent helps avoid trouble.

Treatment

Ice, hot packs, vinegar, calamine lotion – nothing really works for me, but it can help distract you from the pain.

Anaphylactic reaction

Can be a serious problem for a small number of people. Get an ambulance – don’t muck around. 
Carry an Epipen if you know you may have a problem.

Ropalida romandi. I haven’t been stung by this little Yellow Paper Wasp and don’t care to!
 It swarms and chases intruders and stings multiple times with a very nasty sting.
Usually it is high in a tree, but can be attached to the walls of a house.
The entrance is at the bottom of the nest.

Dragonflies

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It’s winter as I write this and it won’t be long now before the Dragonflies and Damselflies start appearing.

They are a good indicator of the health of our creeks, dams and other waterways around the Moggill Creek Catchment.

There are a few species that breed in rather polluted water, but most species in the Catchment prefer water that is fertile enough that it supports the worms and insects that the larvae feed on, but clean enough that there is plenty of oxygen.

The adults will hatch out from early Spring to late Summer. It’s the adults that you will see flying around, often even quite a long way from the water. I see large numbers up our hill early in the morning, sitting on the tops of the grass stalks or on the Lantana, drying off the dew on their wings in the early morning sun.

As the day warms they then patrol the grasses and shrubs catching small moths, midges and, hopefully, any mozzies to fuel up before they return to Gold Creek to mate. Individual males patrol their own patch of creek and defend it with interesting aerial dogfights. Some pairs, especially of Damselflies, go about laying eggs in tandem flight.

The eggs of both Dragonflies and Damselflies hatch into voracious ugly nymphs that eat worms, aquatic insects, tadpoles and even small fish and may take from a few months to three years to emerge as the beautiful Dragonfly we see. Damselflies are reasonably similar in behaviour, but quite a bit smaller. 

Dragonfly larvae are a most important food source for creek life. They are eaten by everything from platypus and water rats to water dragons, eels, fish and wading birds. They are a hugely important natural food for Trout and fresh water Bass.

  Graphic Flutterer 
 Pale Hunter  
  Red and Blue Damselfly 
 Scarlet Percher  
  Yellow-Striped Flutterer 

All images supplied by Ed

Check out our Dragonfly Identification List to see even more of our stunning local dragonflies!

Stick insects

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We have several stick insect species in the Moggill Creek Catchment living on a variety of trees and shrubs.
Nearly every winter we get a few Pacific Bazas (Crested Hawks), that come down from the higher land West of the Great Divide to feast on the various stick insects.

The Baza is the only hawk that doesn’t cause the local birds to make the usual fuss when they see a bird of prey as they seem to know Bazas only eat the stick insects and never baby birds.

This photo is of a pair of Spiny Leaf Stick Insects mating. The male is much smaller one and has a short lifespan – about 8 months, while the female will live about 18 months – that’s if the Baza doesn’t find her!

Ticks – by Ed Frazer with a note from Gordon Grigg

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Last year after I had been in our bush taking photos I found I had a tick just above my ear. Not uncommon for me. I must have had dozens, even hundreds, over the 45 years I have been wandering around on our property in the bush.

I just pulled it out without thinking and within minutes I was pink and purple all over gasping for  breath. The ambulance was called and they pumped me with adrenalin and carted me off for the night at the Wesley.

I really felt OK even before we got to the hospital, but they wouldn’t let me go until they had me equipped with an Epipen and showed me the correct way to use it.

I was also referred to a very comprehensive Tick Removal website which said all the ways we have relied on for taking ticks out are wrong and I now have “Medi Freeze Tag Remover” (approximately $26.00) in the cupboard for next time.

I was talking to veteran bushman Geoff Mohr about my experience and his theory was that ticks have become a lot more dangerous these days because of the increase in the number of feral deer in the area.


Feral deer – Photo supplied by Ed Frazer

Some people are becoming allergic to eating red meat after tick episodes.  I’ve become a lot more careful in the bush now. I wear long trousers tucked into my socks and use insect repellent.

So, with tick season just around the corner watch out for the ticks and have some Tag Remover in the cupboard!

An additional note from Gordon Grigg

Aerostart is a cheaper alternative to the ‘Medi Freeze Skin Tag Remover’ or ‘Wartoff’, and one can will last for years and many many applications.  In sensitive areas, a cotton bud or even a moistened finger can be used as an applicator.  We were advised to use it by a doctor at Royal Brisbane Hospital years ago and have found it very effective.

The main thing to realise is that killing the tick is the important bit. Removing it is of secondary importance, and in the case of tick larvae there’s no need at all (realise that even a little squeeze in the removal process can inject fluid from the tick that may start a tissue reaction).

An article I wrote for the MCCG Summer Newsletter in 2011 about ticks and the use of Aerostart was modified and included in the July 2015 Land for Wildlife newsletter.

There’s also a lot of useful information about ticks and how to deal with them in an item on the ABC website.

In it I was pleased to learn that the usefulness of Aerostart, alongside other ether containing preparations, has been given approval by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) as indicated in the Tick Removal website link provided by Ed above.

Click here to open the MCCG 2011 Summer Newsletter.

Note: Aerostart is available at SupaCheap Auto for $16.99.