Swift silhouettes

At last the promise of rain has been delivered and while the Newstead tally has been rather modest (20mm compared with more than 4 times that not far away), it has been most welcome. Each time thunderstorms have threatened over summer I have been watching the sky for swifts. This evening I was finally rewarded with good views along Mia Mia Track of both Fork-tailed Swifts and White-throated Needletails. These magnificent aerialists spend most of their lives feeding on insects, generally in and around storm fronts. I was reminded of the impact of stormy weather as meat-ants swarmed all over me as I paused to photograph the swifts! Fork-tailed Swifts Apus pacificus are smaller than White-throated Needletails Hirundapus caudacutus and tend to be less common locally, although often in mixed flocks with needletails.

Fork-tailed Swift, Mia Mia Track, 27th February 2012.

White around the head and underparts are just visible on this White-throated Needletail.

The fork-tails announced their presence with a distinctive ‘whistle and buzz’ that was very different to anything else I had heard for ages – sure enough their silhouette and that of accompanying needletails enabled me to confirm both identifications easily. A pair of Dusky Woodswallows joined the party at much lower elevation, providing a nice contrast.

Dusky Woodswallows along Mia Mia Track, 27th February 2012.

Two needletails disappear into the storm front.

Swifts and rain … what a great combination!

At the waterhole #4

The catalogue of birds using the tiny waterhole along Mia Mia Track continues to grow – another week of warm weather however will force the birds to look elsewhere for a bath and thirst quenching drink! The highlights of a brief visit earlier this week were some hawking Rainbow Bee-eaters, a juvenile Diamond Firetail and a lone Yellow-faced Honeyeater. This latter species is common from late autumn through spring but largely absent from our dry bush at the moment.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater at the waterhole, 23rd February 2012.

A Rainbow Bee-eater perched above the waterhole.

This immature Diamond Firetail is just starting to develop a pink tinge to its beak.

A Spotted Pardalote dropped by for a drink.

Some of a small flock of Brown-headed Honeyeaters that are regular visitors to the waterhole.

Aerial experts

White-backed Swallows Cheramoeca leucosternus are by no means common locally. In fact in recent years I have only observed them at one site, between Spring Hill Track and Gully Track, where they routinely use a tall, dead eucalypts as a perch between feeding sallies.

White-backed Swallow, Muckleford State Forest, 23rd February 2012.

Superficially similar to other swallows and martins they share a forked tail with the Welcome Swallow but have a white back, mantle and head. They fly not quite as swiftly, but with equal skill. The martins, including the Tree Martin pictured below have short, square tails and pale rumps. The small flock of White-backed Swallows numbered ~ 8 birds and was mingling with a similar number of Tree Martins, making it a nice identification challenge at first.

Note the dark head on this Tree Martin that was perched nearby.

Many years ago White-backed Swallows bred in a pile of sand at the Rise and Shine. They excavate nesting tunnels in gullies and sand banks to breed, or use sites abandoned by birds such as Rainbow Bee-eaters. In central Australia they are reputed to use the former burrows of bilbies and bettongs!

An ordinary photo showing the characteristic upper-parts of the White-backed Swallow.

A yawning White-backed Swallow shows that it's perfectly adapted to catching flying insects!

Grey Box flowering

A signature of late summer in our district is the annual flowering of Grey Box Eucalyptus microcarpa. This year looks like being a particularly productive flowering event, with many trees currently laden with blossom.

Grey Box flowers, Gough's Range Road, 21st February 2012.

The buds of Grey Box are distinctive, diamond-shaped and usually arranged in clusters of 7-9.

Grey Box buds

While Grey Box is widespread locally in a variety of habitats, it is most numerous on infertile sites – a legacy of prolific regrowth following repeated timber harvesting. Prior to European settlement it would have been a prominent feature of the extensive grassy woodlands now largely converted to agriculture. For this reason our most majestic veteran Grey Box are restricted to road reserves or as isolated paddock trees where they provide critical habitat for nectarivorous birds such as lorikeets and honeyeaters. As a result of this chequered history Grey Box Grassy Woodlands are now listed as endangered nationally. 

A veteran twin-trunked Grey Box near Gough's Range.

It’s good to see some nice regeneration of Grey Box starting to occur across former woodland areas – triggered by a combination of reduced grazing pressure and favourable climatic conditions.

A close-up on some Grey Box flowers.

A mystery Ogyris

Butterflies were the star attraction last summer – their variety and abundance the result of an amazing wet period. This year has been very different, with few butterflies gracing us with their presence. It was a nice surprise then to come across one late today near Welshman’s Reef – this ‘azure’ butterfly was spotted hanging around a clump of mistletoe attached to a Grey Box, on Gough’s Range Road.

One of the 'azures' Ogyris sp . found on Gough's Range Road, 21st February 2012.

I’m not certain which species it is (suggestions welcome) but it belongs to the Ogyris genus, of which a number can be found locally, some are rare and endangered. As usual when faced with a new butterfly I consulted the Museum of Victoria butterfly database - a great resource for the interested amateur like myself. My best guess is that it may be a Large Bronze Azure Ogyris idmo halmaturia but I would appreciate anyone helping confirm the identity*.

* Thanks to Chris Timewell for correctly identifying it as a Broad-margined Azure Ogyris olane

The Ogyris genus generally uses Mistletoe as a food plant.

Ogyris butterflies have a fascinating and complex life history – the larvae feed on plants in the Loranthaceae family such as this Box Mistletoe Amyema miquelii, but are also believed to feed on ant larvae such as those from the Campanotus or ‘sugar -ant’ group. There is some great information on butterfly-plant-ant associations at the South Australian Butterflies and Moths website.

Ant-ics

I am very ignorant about ants but have a “live and let live” policy, presuming them all to be indigenous creatures residing here long before I came along. Methinks there are at least three species here. The smallest kind, about 4mm long, collect seed for me (see post of 2^nd February 2011).

Then there are the medium-sized ones, 8 to 10mm long with a reddish head, which have a huge, inconvenient nest on the bare ground between my greenhouse and my potting shed. These nip any visitors not wearing shoes/boots (if I forget to give warnings), but their bite does not hurt much.This kind of ant have been busy over summer carrying Ruby Saltbush fruits (and are always very interested in my nail clippings when I clip them outside!)

Thirdly, scarily, there are the black Bull Ants which measure 20mm from front of face to pointed end of abdomen. I have been bitten by these on several occasions and each time the bite has hurt for days so I now avoid that part of the property.

Bull Ant antics, Newstead, 19th February 2012

This morning I noticed one of these Bull Ants on my verandah doing a strange kind of circling dance, with its hind legs up in the air. Was this a mating ritual? No, looking closer I figured out that the hind legs must be caught in a bit of spider’s web and the ant’s antics were merely attempts to escape. I was surprised that such a large insect, which could still move around a lot, could not release itself.

I couldn’t help thinking it looked quite exhausted, pathetic and desperate. I thought of the Robert Frost poem, A Considerable Speck (see ‘Reflections on Ecology’ section of this blog) and took pity on it. After taking these photos I got a ruler and chopped at the air above the tethered ant until it was set free from the invisible, super-sticky threads.

Bull Ant doing the 'Bamboo Dance' with a matchstick, 19th February 2012

According to the Australian Museum website there are 90 species of Bull Ants in Australia, all in the genus Myrmecia. If anyone can identify this one to species level, let me know!

Newstead Landcare Group will have a presentation on ants later in the year. Keep your eye on the ‘Events’ section of this blog.

Where Rainbowbirds go

At this time of year you can hear the distinctive trill of Rainbow Bee-eaters overhead in the bush around Newstead. Once they finish breeding – adults and immatures gather into loose feeding flocks, chasing insects in the hot mid-summer air. This is a prelude to their departure from our district – as the weather cools into autumn these flocks head north for the winter. With such an active aerial lifestyle their energy demands are large and there is simply not enough food to sustain them locally throughout the year. Late yesterday I came across a small flock feeding high above Mia Mia Track  – a couple descended to perch briefly above me before resuming their feeding.

Rainbow Bee-eaters, Mia Mia Track, 18th February 2012.

The Rainbowbirds were a nice distraction from watching honeyeaters at the waterhole. A flock of Brown-headed Honeyeaters and a lone immature White-naped Honeyeater the highlight amongst their ever-present Fuscous and Yellow-tufted relatives.

Brown-headed Honeyeaters, Mia Mia Track, 18th Febuary 2012.

Immature White-naped Honeyeater - note the pale gape and orange skin above the eye.

Common … but never ordinary

I’m afraid the feast of raptors shows no sign of abating. The series of photographs below were provided courtesy of a very friendly and co-operative Brown Falcon, spotted near Picnic Point, Cairn Curran Reservoir. They highlight some of the nice diagnostic features of what is probably our most widespread and common local raptor – the distinctive moustachial stripe, prominent wing barring and mottled underparts. Despite its relative abundance I am very fond of this species.

Brown Falcon near Picnic Point, 13th February 2012.

The same individual moments earlier in level flight.

This one was being extremely co-operative for the photographer!

Majestic!

I recently received this note from Mary Grant of Clydesdale …“saw “my” pair of Wedgies for the first time in a while yesterday morning (6th Feb) about 7.30am, together with what looked like TWO juveniles! At one stage all four were in the air together, over my 20 acre paddock, then the two juveniles landed in a tree and one commenced begging for food. Couldn’t clearly see if the other one was doing the same. If indeed both are immatures, what a thrill. Obviously there is plenty of food around, but I have never seen a pair with more than one young before. Since moving here nearly 10 years ago, I have seen that pair of Wedge-tails produce a young one every year, even in the driest years of the drought. They must be exceptional parents. I am assuming they are the same birds – certainly they follow the same routine each season”.

The number of Wedge-tailed Eagles in the district certainly appear to be at healthy levels. It is a common sight to see one or more of these majestic birds most times I venture out. A couple of days back I had a close encounter with two birds, near the railway bridge at Joyces Creek, as they were gliding low along the basalt ridge to the west of the lake.

Wedge-tailed Eagle, Joyces Creek, 12th February 2012.

I think at least one of the two was an immature bird based on the degree of honey colouring on the neck and upper-wings, not altogether obvious in these photographs.

Another view of the same individual.

A sip and a dip!

Another visit to the waterhole, now reduced to not much more than a puddle, found it still proving magnetic to small birds. Late on Saturday afternoon it was attracting a range of honeyeaters – Yellow-tufted, Fuscous, Brown-headed and even a couple of White-naped Honeyeaters which are scarce at the moment. A solitary Diamond Firetail provided a highlight, dropping in for a drink and then deciding to take a bath – just the ticket on a warm and dusty afternoon.

Diamond Firetail drinking at the waterhole, 11th February 2012.

Venturing in to bathe.

A quick dip ...

... and then a couple of shakes to dry!