Keeping a low profile
We’ve been aware that our resident pair of Bush Stone-curlew have taken to spending more time in the area around the house rather than in the orchard which is adjacent to the creek. Perhaps the regular calls of the Dingoes along the creek and in the hills was making them nervous or they just enjoy a bit of company – for whatever reason they have been hanging about amongst the clumping bamboos. The culm sheaths which litter the ground under these giant clumps make quite good camouflage.
The bird became a little nervous about the intrusion of the lens into its personal space but remained in the one place so we are wondering if it might be sitting on a egg or two. The somewhat frantic evening serenade has been absent for a few nights now so they might be trying to keep their present locality a secret. We’ll leave them in peace and hope they have some success in their breeding endeavours.
Living in harmony
During the last few weeks we have frequently heard dingoes calling, mostly at night but there have been one or two occasions during the day. Last night there were three animals harmonizing quite beautifully on the hills; on a still, moonlight night it is quite an eerie sound and I wonder how all the creatures vulnerable to their attack might be feeling. In spite of their, at times, close proximity (we found a scat only a few metres from the carport) we have been unable to see them and so have no idea how close to a true dingo they are.
This afternoon we spent a couple of hours enjoying a walk around the property – I was trying not to focus on the various weeds I noticed that required attention and for the most part we talked about the progress that had been made in various areas. We took cameras as well as our binos. but many of the birds we saw were busy feeding and were often in shade so photographic opportunities were very limited. The arrival of our winter birds has been announced by the return of Rufous and Grey Fantails, which we observed feeding with Fairy and Large-billed Gerygones, Grey Whistlers, a female Golden Whistler, lots of Lovely Wrens and Little Shrike-thrush. We also saw Spectacled and White-eared Monarchs, the latter sighting being two immature birds which is of particular interest as Tyto Tony reported a similar sighting. Our list also included Varied Triller, Spangled Drongo, Figbirds, Helmeted Friarbird, Yellow-spotted, Dusky, Macleays and Graceful Honeyeaters, Yellow Oriole, Sunbirds, Silver Eyes, Mistletoe bird as well as a Laughing Kookaburra and a Shining Flycatcher. No sign of the other Kingfisher relatives which was unusual and no sign of the small flock of immature Metallic Starlings which has been feeding frantically and doing practice flights for the last few weeks. Perhaps they have left for the winter along with the Brown-backed Honeyeaters and the Black Bittern neither of which were evident this afternoon.
We heard but could not see Pale-vented Bush-hens but Orange-footed Scrub-fowl are now well established here. We heard and saw Rainbow Bee-eaters and watched them bathing in one of the ponds.
Two Whistling Kites were soaring around with a Darter, while later we saw a Pacific Baza circling in the vicinity of a flock of Top-knot pigeons and unusually the pigeons were wheeling around, apparently enjoying a thermal with the Baza.
And just to finish off with some colour – we did manage a few shots of the Lovely wrens enjoying their favourite shallow bird bath – we think they must have had a good breeding season as numbers seem to have increased considerably ……. plenty of room and lots of food for them here.
Forest Kingfisher
Recently we had a phone call from an elderly resident in Daintree Village who had picked up a small Kingfisher which, although fully feathered, seemed unable to fly. We arrived with a small box to find a distressed immature Forest Kingfisher being carried around in the hand – a quick glance didn’t show any major problems so we put the bird into our box and brought it home. After a period of rest (for the bird) we gave it some water with a little glucodin and then tried unsuccessfully to get it to take some food. As dusk deepened into dark we decided to leave the poor creature to rest and reassess the situation in the morning.
The bird, while immature, looked capable of being independent and as there were no Kingfisher nests in the vicinity we did wonder why it had been found hopping around on the ground. On opening the box the next day we were greeted by a very lively looking bird so I suggested to Allen that we just see how well it could fly. Not even a thanks as it took off through the garden! So we now think it must have been a case of concussion, most likely caused by collision with a vehicle as it was found near the road. This bird is one of the lucky ones and appeared to make a full recovery.
On several occasions Allen observed it feeding around Graham’s pond and then one day he was able to take these photos from the bird hide as a nearby branch made an ideal perch for the consumption of a small insect or spider. We are sure this is the same bird we rescued and we’d like to have a happy ending to this story.
Distractions
No posts here for such a long time – my apologies to regular visitors.
My secretarial duties with Daintree Region Cassowary Group have been claiming a fair proportion of my ‘desk time’ as we try to co-ordinate a cassowary population monitoring project with CSIRO, which of course involves applying for some funding assistance.
www.daintreecassowary.org.au will give you some more information about the group’s activities as well as some facts on cassowaries. We are also busy telling the local tour guides about the sighting submissions page so that we can start to build up a picture of cassowary movements in the Daintree area. The last survey of the cassowary population north of the Daintree river was carried out in 1996 so another assessment is vital.
AND We have now launched ourselves into social media with a facebook page http://www.facebook.com/cassowarydaintree
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However, it hasn’t all been hard work here. In early March we had a holiday on North Stradbroke Island (‘Straddie’ to the locals) as part of a family reunion to celebrate the younger of my two older brothers’ 70th birthday. We all agreed that it was fun to get together without the stress of a wedding or funeral and Straddie is well set up with a variety of accommodation to rent. The scenery is spectacular with some wonderful walks along the cliffs, beaches and around the freshwater lakes. We couldn’t find many small birds. This may have been why …………
however, we particularly enjoyed the sea birds and spent a long time watching the terns diving close to the rocks – this group of Crested Tern, including some juveniles, is taking some time to rest in the sun.
And we weren’t the only ones to enjoy the cliffs, this well-muscled Eastern Grey kangaroo met us at the start of the walk at Point Lookout. In the afternoons Eastern Greys browse on the grass around the cliffs, undisturbed by the tourists on the extensive boardwalk. This one may have been coming in to the local cafe for a home-made gelati, these delicious frozen treats are absolutely beautiful, and there seem to be new flavours every day - such temptation!
Although keeping an eye out for any danger even this female with her joey at foot didn’t bother hopping away when we walked quietly past.
It is 30 years since I last visited North Stradbroke Island and there are now many more houses and shops – there were only a few shacks at Point Lookout 30 years ago and now it is the most popular tourist destination. It is, however, still a delightful place to visit and although sand mining continues at least 50% of the island has some form of environmental protection.
Litoria junggay?
Since Snail has been writing about Litoria junggay I decided we should join in the discussion by adding a couple of photos of the frogs we used to know as Litoria lesueuri or Stony-Creek Frogs. As Snail has mentioned, this species is now described as L. jungguy and L. wilcoxii and according to my “Rainforest Frogs of the Wet Tropics” by Conrad Hoskin and Jean-Marc Hero this distinction is based on genetic data as the two species are morphologically very similar and cannot be reliably distinguished in the field. As we are in the Northern part of the range we should be seeing Litoria junggay so I’m staying with that. These males are pictured sitting on the edge of our fresh-water swimming pool – I thought the bricks gave a good indication of their size.
Inspired by Snail’s discussion I went out with a torch a couple of nights ago to see if I could find any female Stony-Creek frogs – we always have males sitting around the pool edge but the females are not as commonly seen. And I found one – the male had also found her and he wasn’t letting go even when she frog-leaped quite a distance into the garden. As you can see there is quite a difference in both the size and colour of the male and female of the species.
These frogs have one of the softest sounding calls of any of our frogs – more like a loud purr. They are commonly associated with rocky and sandy streams, the males often being found near water where as the females can be located some distance away. We are amused by the fact that they are attracted to our pool and breed in it quite successfully although they are described as ‘stream breeders’; we have water moving through an undergravel filter system and spraying over the surface of the pool for about 6 hours a day plus a small fountain which runs directly from a solar panel and is therefore dependent on the sunlight but this seems to be sufficient to keep quite a few different frog species happy as well as maintaining a lovely cooling off place for us.
The photo below (taken in Feb last year) is of another female showing how well she is able to blend into her surroundings
and this one was attempting to gain entry to our house in December last year. I have included the photo as it shows the colour variations between females as well as her inner thigh markings.
And just to finish off, when I was walking back to the house from the pool the other night I noticed a fluffy ball on the leaf of a Ginger plant – it wasn’t at all disturbed by the flash from the camera as its head was tucked so far out of sight and I was careful not to brush against the leaf as I walked past.
Click on photos to enlarge.
January highlights
The weather conditions have been as expected for this time of the year – hot and humid. Some days it seems more extreme than I remember but probably I’m just using the weather as an excuse to only work outside for a relatively short time in the morning.
Another update on Spotted Whistling Ducks: when we had some heavy rain for a few days the Wandering Whistling ducks departed along with the large flock of Magpie Geese which had descended upon us. Our resident Magpie Geese are still here and one suspects they may be rather relieved that peace has been restored. The Spotted Whistling Ducks stayed for a day or so longer but then for nearly a week we didn’t see them anywhere. However, they are now visiting again and have been trying out all our ponds, we can see where they’ve been by the remnant pieces of water weed, Vallisneria, and shredded water lily flowers! They actively feed through the heat of the day both on the water surface and diving, staying underwater for 15 – 20 seconds. After a period in the water individuals will fly to a suitable horizontal branch, or in some cases a perching post, where they busily preen and dry off before returning to the water for further feeding.
There have been flocks of Double-eyed Fig Parrots feeding on Glochidion, commonly known as Cheese Tree, and we have also observed them feeding in Melaleuca cajuputi. These paperbarks provide food and shelter for many birds, insects and fruit bats and we’re pleased that much of our swampy areas that were cleared of paperbarks in the early 1900′s are gradually returning to useful habitat.
This week the Melaleucas have started flowering, the event was announced by a loud humming sound accompanied by the sweet, nectar laden scent.
An Azure Kingfisher flew past Allen yesterday with a fish in its bill and two younger birds following behind; a Little Kingfisher used one of our perching posts as a take-off point for fishing and Black Bitterns are frequently disturbed at the spillways both here and at our neighbour’s place, we estimate at least three regulars are moving between the two properties. We suspect Shining Flycatchers are nesting again but haven’t yet confirmed this. They are quieter than a couple of weeks ago when we watched some amazing displays from two males competing for a female’s attention as they went through their repertoire of calls.
Spangled Drongos have, once again, successfully harassed a Great-billed Heron until it flew back to the creek. I confess it is a little disappointing as it would be rather fun to have more regular visits from this majestic bird but I can’t blame it for leaving as the Drongos are very persistent in their attacks.
So we’ve been enjoying the birds this month as we make the most of the sunny mornings and mostly fine ‘though cloudy afternoons - it looks like rain is heading our way.
Spotted Whistling Ducks update
We’ve had some fairly hot and humid weather which is usual for this time of the year but watching the storm clouds build yesterday afternoon was something of a relief. In the morning I could hear a lot of Magpie Geese honking – so I left the weeding job in the vegetable garden and walked down to the hide on Graham’s pond where one group of about 60 birds had our single resident Jacana skipping around the outskirts of the flock probably feeling overwhelmed by the noisy invasion. There were 4 Wandering Whistling Ducks tucked away in a quiet corner but no sign of the Spotted W.Ds, however I wasn’t too concerned as there are many out-of-site channels and ponds. Later in the day Allen, who has been working in a different part of the property, reported both Wandering and Spotted W.Ds in the same vicinity. Although they were near each other, Allen said that when disturbed, the 4 WWDs gathered close together and moved away.
The gathering storm clouds passed us by, the huge flock of visiting geese departed and sultry conditions persisted until a welcome 52 mm of rain during the night. A quick check of Graham’s pond this morning before we left for a day in Cairns resulted in a count of 10 Spotted W.Ds enjoying some peace and quiet. We’ll have a good look around tomorrow but we often find the Wandering Whistling Ducks will leave as soon as there is a decent shower of rain.
The big questions are - will the Spotted Whistling Ducks remain in the local area?
- we know they rest on branches during the day, do they roost at night?
- and if they do, where do they roost?
Spotted Whistling Ducks
We first encountered these unusual ducks in Mungan Kundju National Park in 2009. At first we were totally baffled as to their identity but a quick study of our Field Guide, Pizzey & Knight, gave us the answer …….. Spotted Whistling Ducks are native to Philippines, East Indonesia, PNG and Bismarck Archipeligo. The first sightings in Australia were apparently at the Weipa sewerage farm in 1995. They are now regular and breeding at Weipa and also at Coen and Mungan Kundju N.P. is only just a little north of Coen. As the ducks were on the other side of a large lake we only had a distant view and a very poor photo but felt generally quite pleased about our sighting.
Last September 13 Spotted Whistling Ducks were observed on a pond at Wonga (about 10 km north of Mossman) and since then they appear to have been frequenting a variety of swamps and dams in our area. When we were returning from our weekly shopping expedition to Mossman yesterday we saw them in flight when we were about 10 minutes from home. We have been seeing them regularly on our ponds or perching in low branches overhanging water but when they flew in this morning I only counted 10 . They are quite approachable, although they will keep completely still while assessing a situation with normal behaviour resuming within a minute if all seems well. They are very well camouflaged when totally still!
There is a considerable amount of water weed in our ponds and we’re very happy to see the ducks enjoying it.
Although sometimes its nice to have a bit of variety!
And they also like to perch on branches overhanging the water.
Click on images to enlarge
Grey Whistler
Grey Whistlers don’t have any particular ’look-at-me’ traits but they are delightful little birds. I think of them as having a rather pleasant personality (perhaps a somewhat anthromomorphic description) as they quietly hunt for insects without any apparent aggressiveness towards other insect hunters. They have a sweet, almost tentative call that sounds to me like it is not quite complete. We see them on their own or in pairs and sometimes in mixed foraging groups.
Nesting activity
A pair of Large-billed Gerygone are once again taking advantage of a branch arching over the Spring-fed Ponds on which to construct their nest. They made a start about 4 days ago -
I noticed one of these delightful little birds busily pulling at some silken thread that was holding two leaves together (possibly a retreat constructed by one of our many Jumping Spiders)
and watched it making a start on the nest. A very clever design with a sloping verandah which shields the occupiers from our heavy tropical downpours, it looks remarkably like a bit of flood debris caught on a branch. The birds enter the nest by flying up under the sloping verandah. I’ve been watching the building progress over a few days – Read more »
Barbara
Allen
