Once more unto the creek dear friends.
Aug 17th, 2008 by Duncan
Owl Creek would have been better called Cockatoo Creek today, hordes of Sulphur-cresteds were really making their presence felt with deafening choruses of raucous screeches. Thankfully though they were only in the first couple of hundred metres, and once we left them behind we started to hear the calls of Crescent and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, Eastern Spinebills, and White-throated Treecreepers, the gully was alive with them. For a long time after the fires of two summers ago the creek was very quiet, but with the eucs flowering the birds have moved in in numbers. The sambar deer have moved in too, and are making a mess browsing the incense plant, skidding down the mossy slopes leaving trails of torn up moss behind them, and making tracks into the creek that will be likely to erode when the rains finally arrive. A pair of Golden Whistlers kept us busy trying to get a clear shot of the male, I was only partly successful, the photo’s a bit soft but anyway….
In this creek our main target is the pair of Powerful Owls, we know quite a few of their favourite roosting areas by now and check them every visit. The first is a stand of tall old teatrees that miraculously escaped the fires. They weren’t there today, but fifty metres further on we looked across a little flat towards the creek and we had one, complete with prey. A Brushtail Possum is a powerful animal, and to see one hanging lifeless from the talons of a Powerful Owl made us realise just what awesome hunters these birds are. Click to enlarge and press F11 to toggle to full screen for full photograph size.
Anything after that was going to be something of an anticlimax, except perhaps a sighting of a male lyrebird in all its finery, but that wasn’t to be, we could hear them, and did get fleeting glimpses of one on the far side of the creek. A small consolation prize was a group of five Eastern Spinebills working through the low foliage near one of the lyrebird’s mounds. In full colour for the breeding season they really are stunning birds. The moss covered boulders had their usual small gardens of greenhoods, nodding, trim, and maroon. We hoped to find flowering helmets, but were unsuccessful, we did find leaves of acianthus and chiloglottis.
This has been a very disappointing season for fungi due to the dry conditions, we kept an eye out but found very little, this was the best we found, a small group of tiny fruiting bodies, caps only 10 – 12 mm diameter.
When I’m in this creek I never tire of looking at the moss covered boulders, the greens are wonderful, click this one to enlarge.
And that just about sums up our morning, The owl was still perched with its prey when we retraced our footsteps, I took a few more shots including the one above, it turned out the best of all. Back at the vehicles lunch was very welcome, and the conversation turned to discussing our next outing, it’ll have to be good to equal this one!
Photos from the top.
Sulphur-crested Cockatoos.
Male Golden Whistler.
Powerful Owl with Brushtail Possum.
Maroonhood, Pterostylis pedunculata.
Unidentified fungus.
Moss covered boulder.
Lunch.
sounds like a great walk, the photos are stunning!
sorry you’re having a bad fungi season – we’re having a very good one, as its been raining non stop.
Duncan – What an amazing day out. I’m well impressed with the photo of the Powerful owl with the possum. What a privilege to have seen it.
A Brushtail Possum is a powerful animal, and to see one hanging lifeless from the talons of a Powerful Owl made us realise just what awesome hunters these birds are.
And just how big they are too! What a great shot.
I would not want to mess with a powerful owl.
Great shot of the owl, Duncan. Brushtail possums were introduced here (NZ) and are our worst vertebrate pest. It’s the usual story — no natural enemies here. However, I doubt a biological control programme using powerful owls would be considered favourably ;^)
CGP, we’ve only had about 175mm or seven inches of rain for the year so far, with much of that in the early months, way down on our traditional average. Seems to be becoming the norm over recent years, not good.
Quite so Alan, we’ve seen them holding birds, but to see one with prey of this size certainly is a great sighting.
All our trips in there paid off this time Snail, might never get such a chance again.
John, there’s more than one person been badly hurt by these birds, they’re formidable creatures
Right Pete, I don’t think NZ needs any more introductions, that is unless you’d like some of our sambar deer that are becoming a problem.
How great to see that Owl complete with prey! A very good day out indeed. btw I know those white cockatoos are noisy and destructive and all the other things but I still think there’s nothing quite so pretty as a treeful of them against the blue sky.
I call them lovable rogues Mick.
Hey Duncan – you are so lucky to have all that you venture out into so close to your back doorstep – being an ACT city dweller I really only have the Nat.Bot.Gardens to encounter an almost equally diverse experience close to home. I do frequent them regulary. We were lucky enough to have a Powerful owl make his temporary home in the gardens May07 to about October but I think he ate himself out of the area as I haven’t seen him since. But yes what and honor to experience him!
My brother lives up Marathon Road Briag. and when I’ve visited him those ‘loveable rogues’ have settled into the trees across the gully for the night – literally in their hundreds – it is quite a sight.
Great Golden Whistler photo too.
Hi Lindell, yes they will eat themselves out of an area and have to move elsewhere, we’ve noticed this on owling surveys. No owls and no possums or gliders where they were previously present.
Know the Marathon road well, my route to the high country and good birding lower down too.
Awesome Duncan, on so many levels: Awesome
A fitting word Clare. Good to hear from you, miss your items from the Arctic.
Hi Duncan.
Couldn’t connect to your blog late last night. Wanted to, having seem Gouldiae’s blog and cross-posting to yours.
You didn’t disappoint (of course). Great photos of the Owl. I agree with the others. They normally go for the large Gliders (Greaters or Yellow-bellieds). But those animals are not as heavy as a Brushie. I was wondering quite how they kill the prey. Obviously the huge talons can hold a Possum, but the beak must surely be used to do the real damage. But Possums are well capable of fighting back. Surprise must be part of the explanation.
Your Maroonhood is nice. Ours haven’t started yet – but I expect them soon. Do you notice how often there is a spiders web in the photo? Often only noticeable in photo when you get home.
An amazing trip, well reported.
As I told Gouldiae, I am as jealous as hell of your Owl.
Denis
I can’t get over that picture of the Powerful Owl. It sure was named apropriately. If I am ever to visit your country, that would be the reason there.
I had a shrewd suspicion you’d like it Dave!
G’day Denis, I reckon the Powerful would sink the talons in and then go straight for the back of the neck and spine with that formidable beak. It would have to be quick, because as you note a brushtail is no slouch when it comes to fighting. Right on about the spider webs, happens all the time. Could have cloned it out in Photoshop but decided to leave it au naturel.
That was quite an outing! Your yellow whistler looks like our black-capped chickadee except for the yellow, of course. I can see why that owl is named Powerful. That’s an amazing shot! I’m glad you liked edition 82 of I and the Bird. Thanks for stopping by.
Good to hear from you Kathie, I enjoyed your presentation of I and the Bird.