Dragons and Drones.
Jan 16th, 2009 by Duncan
I didn’t have to go far to find subjects for the camera lens yesterday, just a few paces from our door. A number of Black-faced Perchers moved into the sheltered spot behind the creeper covered fence. There were males and females, and they were co-operative too, as the perchers usually are.
I had another interesting sighting too, a very attractive fly that was identified for me by Ian E, thanks Ian. It’s a species of hoverfly in the genus Eristalinus, and goes by the common name of Native Drone Fly, another new one for me.
Photos, from top.
Black-faced Percher, Diplacodes melanopsis, male,
Face close up,
D melanopsis, female.
Native Drone Fly, Eristalinus sp.
Click all to enlarge.
Lucky Duncan! Drone on and we’ll all call for more
They’ll be coming thick and fast Tony, got lots more.
That drone fly is more handsome than the introduced one, Eristalsis, with its rat-tailed maggot young. (Hope that link works. I do not have mad html skillz.)
Thanks for the link Snail, you’ve just added to my knowledge!
Hello Duncan and happy new year,
Today as I was driving towards the Flooding Creek end of the Sale Common I saw 3 big fat birds flying overhead towards Lake Guyatt.
They weren’t pelicans, they were too grey for swans and too plump for cormorants. Were they the Cape Barren geese back again?
Later on this arvo I went to Lake Guyatt and there is 3 Cape Barren geese there, not as tame as before though, and I took lots of pictures to bring home and see which is the youngster.
Perhaps I was just lucky to catch them passing through.
Cheers,
Miss Jane
Hi Miss Jane, and a Happy New Year to you too. Thanks for the tip re the Cape Barrens, I’ll check them out. They’ll make a good addition to the quarterly report for The Babbler.