Ben Cruachan - natural history

Sunbather.

Duncan — Sat, 25 May 2013 22:42:08 +0000

Although night-time temperatures are quite low, the days are sunny and still warm enough for reptiles to be out and about. This Eastern Blue-tongue was soaking up the sun next to its retreat in the wood heap. A reminder perhaps to continue to keep an eye out for snakes while birding.

My closest encounters with snakes have been while moving quietly with eyes upward looking for birds. Blacks, browns, copperheads, and tigers have all crossed my path at times, luckily though none have taken exception to me and been aggressive. Tigers have the habit of sunbathing while lying with half of their body in the long grass and the business end on the short grass of the track. It always pays to glance down at regular intervals!

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In praise of the GST

Duncan — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:56:04 +0000

Grey Shrike-thrushes are down from the bush in numbers and up to four have been foraging in the garden and adjacent paddock. Autumn is a quiet time for bird song so we’ve only heard the occasional piping note in lieu of the gorgeous full song. I took a number of shots of three individuals that show the difference in plumage between two immatures and an adult male.

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Notes from the birdbath..

Duncan — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:38:16 +0000

In the garden, in the shade of a big Correa glabra there is a shallow terracotta water dish that holds 20 mm of water when full, and it is extremely popular with the smaller birds for both drinking and bathing. Sometimes a number of birds are waiting for their turn, or muscling in to jump the queue. We wonder why it is so when the weather is so dull and cold! Brown Thornbills and Eastern Spinebills are the keenest bathers, but recently a lone Silvereye with the rich chestnut flanks of the Tasmanian variety came to the dish on several occasions.

This made us think that there must be more about and acting on a hunch after the last sighting I walked to the large berry-laden Cotoneaster and there they were, a small flock gorging on the ripe red fruit. With the ISO rating bumped up to cope with the dull light and bird movement I managed a few keepers, this was one.

Two large Burrendong Beauty hakeas in the garden are in spectacular full flower, and the next evening the flock descended on them to feed. Unfortunately the light was too poor to catch them but here’s the hakea anyway…..

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A flurry of birds.

Duncan — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:22:05 +0000

In the space of about three minutes on a cold blustery day, ten species of native bird mobbed the area around the bird baths, with all except the first two in the list having a dip. Willie Wagtail, Grey Fantail, New Holland, Eastern Spinebill, Silvereye, Grey Thrush, Blue Wren, Brown Thornbill, Yellow Thornbill, and Scarlet Robin. Speaking of the latter, we’ve had the pair around for the longest time ever, absolutely delightful.

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Beauty in a small package.

Duncan — Tue, 14 May 2013 23:54:00 +0000

When mothing at a site I normally photograph everything that turns up just for the record, that is except the flighty ones that elude me. On the occasion detailed in the previous post three small moths about 15-16 mm long landed on the ground sheet, and at first glance seemed completely unremarkable. However, after checking the first image in the camera monitor I realised they were something out of the ordinary and took several more shots. Their full beauty became apparent when enlarged on the computer monitor, the tufts of scales and shining spangled appearance making them creatures of beauty. They belong to the family Carposinidae, also known as the fruit worms, and the species is Carposina hyperlopha. There are forty named species of the family in Australia but there doesn’t seem to be much information readily available about them. This link shows collection points, it would be interesting to know its status in Victoria.

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Twinkle twinkle little bat….

Duncan — Sat, 11 May 2013 10:43:32 +0000

With the foothills and much of the lower country under a dense pall of smoke thanks to the arsonical activities of the Department of Sparks and Embers, I drove south for three quarters of an hour to some bush where the moths might have a chance of seeing the light through the murk. With the light shining it wasn’t long before the reconnaissance scout flew in and then I soon came under attack from a squadron of Batwing Moths, Chelepteryx collesi. They say you can have too much of a good thing, and it turned out a bit that way with fifteen of them fluttering around, I had to be very careful where I put my feet in case I stood on them. When they quietened down somewhat after about three hours I started to pick them up and park them out of harm’s way on bracken fronds.

The bush is mainly peppermint forest with some Banksia serrata and bracken to nearly two metres high, yes, it does grow that tall in a favourable location. One of the most beautiful moths in that country, logically enough is the Banksia Moth, Psalidostetha banksiae.

An autumn flying moth that was new to me is Smyriodes trigramma, I’ve photographed it on my last two outings. several variations came in on this night, this was a nice one. Its resemblance to a Stibaroma as it was once named is plain to see.

I’ve often featured other creatures that come to the light, but a scorpion was a first, quite a good sized one too.

There are lots more photos from the session here.

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A list of birds.

Duncan — Sun, 05 May 2013 05:21:51 +0000

A casual glance through the window yesterday revealed a beautiful but totally unexpected Crescent Honeyeater sharing the birdbath with three Eastern Spinebills, all cleaning their plumage after working through the callistemon flowers. This prompted a look at the home birdlist to see if we had recorded one before, and yes, there was an entry. The list is now in its thirty seventh year, started when there was just a house in a bare paddock, and continued as trees and shrubs were established. It has been interesting to look back over the list to note some of the more unusual birds that visited briefly and have never been seen again, for example Tawny-crowned and Fuscous Honeyeater.
There have been significant changes in the listed birds we see, the White-fronted Chats that used to frequent the north-western corner are long gone, Banded Lapwings no longer visit, and it’s been years since we last saw a White-winged Triller or Restless Flycatcher. On the other hand new birds have become established, Little Corellas and Galahs have become common, and Crested Pigeons are gradually increasing in numbers and local distribution. Two Song Thrushes recently made the list, and the latest and most exciting addition is Spotted Harrier, formerly a bird typical of more northern climes but now being seen in various locations in Gippsland.
Along the way there have been highlights, bush birds like the Bassian Thrush that came into the garden in the midst of the prolonged drought, the recent White-throated Treecreeper that co-operated with the photographer, and the occasional visit of a Scarlet Honeyeater, like the Crescent often chance sightings through a window into the garden.
Returning to the Spotted Harrier, although I’ve seen it on several occasions, once hunting low over our paddock, I’ve not had the occasion to take a measured photograph. The only chance I’ve had was when I chanced on it being pursued by magpies, I pulled the car to a halt and just had time to grab the camera off the seat, point it hurriedly out of the window and pull the trigger hoping for the best.

And in the same area while talking to friends, a raptor was soaring at a great height, a Little Eagle, another bird that has become more common over recent years.

And, the Crescent… I just enjoyed watching that beautiful bird bath and preen, so no picture.

Following on….

Duncan — Wed, 01 May 2013 02:03:22 +0000

….from the previous post, the track through the Ponds reserve goes through two gullies where the vegetation type changes from the lower eucalypt/banksia/heath to tall White Stringybark with a dense Burgan understory. I noticed a clear spot beside the track at one gully that looked to be ideal to set up the moth light, and that happened a few nights ago. The full moon was due to rise at 7 PM on a warm night so I’d have about three hours to get an idea of the autumn moth population in that particular habitat. I finished setting up just as darkness fell and it wasn’t long before the first moths started arriving. It was a good night for Geometrids, lots of Dichromodes, but it was several species in the Ennominae sub-family that were the stars of the show.
The first I also got a month ago along the track in the banksias, my Ennominae guru Marilyn tells me she doesn’t have a name for it but describes it as one of the Boarmiini Bark Moths. This is a female, the March individual was a male.

The next is unnamed, Marilyn who is preparing the MOV books on the Ennominae says it is unnamed and she is calling it Boarmiini sp. 1.

I had more than one of that moth and the next pictured come to the light, the latter does have a name, (Selidosema) agoraea; while photographing the several individuals I noted the similarity to the one I got in the Mullungdung forest recently, I must be learning something!

A very small moth demanded to be photographed, it was distinctive in that its antennae were held forward of its head. A very similar moth, Tritymba pamphaea is pictured in the Plutellidae in A Guide to Australian Moths by Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards. This perhaps could be it.

I’ve had the MV light shining from the exterior house light socket on the odd occasion, and recently got two individuals of a Microdes species that also turned up at the Ponds session. it is noted as an alpine to sub-alpine species, M. oriochares that apparently is in the lower country as well. The pictured home moth shows the field mark of a dark stripe on the trailing edge of the fore wing.

And although I’ve photographed Platyptilia emissalis many times, this shot of the tiny plume moth is the best yet, especially interesting because of the way it is holding its back legs. You can get an idea of its size compared to the 10 mm brick joint that is partially obscured in the photo.

This is a common moth at home, accounted for by the fact that we have an abundance of Speedwell plants in the garden on which the larvae graze.

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A mystery solved.

Duncan — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:15:18 +0000

Five years ago I photographed a strange creature in the Providence Ponds Flora and Fauna Reserve that I never identified. Then, the other day while reading a copy of the Victorian Entomologist, I found an article by Dr. Penelope Gullan on the genus Callipappus, unusual scale insects known by the common name of Bird of Paradise Flies. I had photographed an adult female, completely unlike the beautiful male. They are most often seen in the autumn, and favour areas of bush with sandy soils.

The Ponds reserve is ideal habitat for them with its land form of ancient sand dunes, and it seemed like a good idea to pay a visit in the hope of catching up with more of these interesting creatures. The first thing that caught my eye as I started to drive through were the bright flowering plants of Bossiaea heterophylla, an autumn flowering species.

On reaching the spot where I had photographed the female I started searching, but was immediately struck by the scarcity of insect life. I disturbed a few Dichromodes moths as I walked around, there were honey bees on the bossiaea flowers, mosquitoes, and not much else. I sampled several sites on the old dunes and at one a larger moth flew and landed. Down on hands an knees I managed to get a photo through a small gap in the sticks and stems. It was one I hadn’t encountered before and learned later that it was Nearcha species, possibly ursaria, a genus and species new to me.

A crane fly flew and landed in the shade of a bracken frond so it was down to ground level again. When I checked the first photo in the camera monitor I noticed something unusual, it had what appeared to have a single very long antenna held rearwards over its back.

I took a few more shots in attempt to get more details, plus the whole insect in focus, not easy with the long legs, and antenna five times the length of its body.

I haven’t been able to identify the species, but from what I found on the web I believe it is a male insect. No luck with the birds of paradise but there’s always another day.

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Mantis mayhem.

Duncan — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:08:04 +0000

The Praying Mantis is a common visitor to the light sheet, prowling around in search of an easy moth meal. This one was pictured tucking into a Pyralid.

The common or garden green variety is the one most likely to be seen, but occasionally a different species turns up. This smaller brown ground or bark mantis was very active and hard to photograph, the lack of a leg didn’t hinder its movements at all. Pity the poor insect that gets trapped in those vicious spikes on the muscular front legs.

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