Swift Parrots now seen over a 28 day period 2022 Victorian Natives 2022-04-27 | Four more Swift Parrots, so possibly at least a total of 19 Swift Parrots including 5 immature birds if we assume there have been at least 3 different small flocks.Critically endangered Swift Parrots have now visited 11 times over a 28-day period.This set of videos starts with 2 birds on the 12th of April at 9am.Next you see a single bird 4.30 in the afternoon on the 17th.This is followed by 2 and then 3 birds on the 22nd April at 5:18pm to 5:22pm. You can see a fourth bird fly past at the 2.02 point of the video compilation.There seems to be at least 1 immature bird again so this is 5 immature birds if there have been different flocks.There seems to be at least 2 immature birds with 4 adults (6 total) on the 27th March (see March 2022 YouTube Video).There seems to be at least 2 immature birds with 7 adults (9 total) on the 7th April (see April 2022 YouTube Video).Lastly at least one immature bird with 3 birds (4 total) on the 22nd April (see this video).We were very surprised to see any birds visit this pond after the 18th of April when 44mls of rain fell. Very close to this pond is a creek line consisting of many small, full, pools.It is interesting that we have multiple cameras on 6 ponds and 2 dams but the Swift Parrots appear to only visit this one pond which is near our ephemeral creek line.We have over 340 Large Old Trees (over 70cm diameter at breast height) on our 350-acre property. Our Grey-box trees seem to have finished flowering, but most of our Spreading Wattle is now in flower and our Golden Wattle is about to flower. The flowering of our Grey Box was quite bad this year in spite of good early summer rainfall. We are curious to see if we will see any more of these magnificent birds.
9 Swift Parrots Visit April 2022 Victorian Natives 2022-04-09 | 9 Swift ParrotsCritically endangered Swift Parrots have now visited over a 12-day period.This set of videos starts with very short visits of single birds on the 3rd and 6th of April.Next you see two birds in the evening on the 6th so the video is black and white.This is followed by 8 birds then 3 birds with the finale of 9 birds all on the 7th April.There seems to be at least 2 immature birds again so this may be the same flock that were present on the 26th and 27th Match. The card in the camera became full on the 27th and so did not record anything for 3 days. Our Grey-box trees are continuing to flower but are still just getting started, we are curious to see how long these magnificent birds will stay.We have done significant culls of Noisy Miners in the past and we wonder if this is helping to make our property a desirable place for the Swift Parrots.The Noisy Miner culls happened between 2014 and 2017 (with permits) and 103 birds were killed.The Noisy Miners have never returned to the majority of our 350-acre property and are only found on two roadsides and nearby areas of our place. They have only once visited this pond - briefly in 2020. The property is now covered in plants from natural regeneration, direct seeding and planting and is no longer good Noisy Miner habitat. We contributed by planting over 5,000 plants of 40 species of shrubs, small trees and understorey species. Noisy Miners did visit the middle of the property briefly in March/April 2018 (very dry time) but did not stay.
Swift Parrots March 2022 Victorian Natives 2022-03-31 | Swift Parrots - We are very excited to have these amazing and very rare parrots visit.Our Grey Box trees are just starting to flower and this is our second Swift Parrot visit to our ponds, that we know of (last time 23.4.2020 to this same pond). Our property has a very high covering of naturally regenerated Grey Box, which are now mostly 10 to 14 years old. There are also many large old Grey Box trees.When checking our cameras today was very surprised and excited to find 7 videos of at least 5 Swift Parrots. We will be doing our best to look for more as we check the rest of the cameras. There were estimated to be fewer than 2000 Swift Parrot mature individuals remaining in the wild as of 2011. In 2014, researchers from the ANU modelled that the species may face extinction by 2031 due to predation and loss of habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) upgraded the status of the Swift Parrot from endangered to critically endangered in October 2015 based on results from the study.Swift Parrots breed only in Tasmania and then fly across Bass Strait to forage on the flowering eucalypts in open box–ironbark forests of the Australian mainland. While on the mainland, they are nomadic, spending weeks or months at some sites and only a few hours at others, determined by the supply of nectar. During dry years, when Eucalypt flowering is poor, Swift Parrots are forced to travel far and wide to find sufficient food, and may congregate into large flocks at sites where it is available.DNA sampling by researchers at Australian National University (article from Dec 2020) has found there is likely to be fewer than 300 parrots remaining – significantly less than previously thought.
Turquoise Parrot immature Victorian Natives 2022-01-15 | This video was taken at our survey pond near our creek line on the 31st December 2021.It shows the arrival of a pale yellow Parrot which we think it is an immature Turquoise Parrot. It will be exciting if this is the case as we have not had this species before.It also shows many Red Wattlebirds so there must be some Eucalypts flowering in the area (but not our main species). Our property is 350 acres of Grey-Box woodland and is north of Violet Town.
Swift Parrot - Most Exciting Visitor Ever!! Victorian Natives 2020-05-02 | After 3 terrible dry years we have finally had fantastic rainfall and our Grey Box trees are flowering like never before. Our property has a very high covering of naturally regenerated Grey Box, which are now mostly 8 to 12 years old, and most of these are flowering for the first time.In the first four months of last year the Shepparton area had 24mls of rain and this year we have had 240mls in the same period, what a change!When checking our cameras this week I was very surprised and excited to find a picture of a Swift Parrot. They do not need to drink as they feed on nectar, so it only stopped for a second. The camera took a video straight after the photo, but the Swift Parrot was already gone. This series of 5, 30 second, videos is from before and after the Swift Parrot visit, if you turn the sound up you can hear many Lorikeets and Parrots in the background as well as seeing and hearing the 2 Eastern Rosellas. If you are experienced in hearing Swift Parrots, please let me know if you can hear any in the background bird noise?Dean Ingwersen (Woodland Bird Program Leader for Birdlife Australia) told us that the number of Swift Parrot sightings in Vic, so far this year, has been pretty good. He said if we have one coming to water there is a good chance we have more around, particularly with the Grey Box flowering. We will be doing our best to look for more.There were estimated to be fewer than 2000 Swift Parrot mature individuals remaining in the wild as of 2011. In 2014, researchers from the ANU modelled that the species may face extinction by 2031 due to predation and loss of habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) upgraded the status of the Swift Parrot from endangered to critically endangered in October 2015 based on results from the study.Swift Parrots breed only in Tasmania and then fly across Bass Strait to forage on the flowering eucalypts in open box–ironbark forests of the Australian mainland. While on the mainland, they are nomadic, spending weeks or months at some sites and only a few hours at others, determined by the supply of nectar. During dry years, when Eucalypt flowering is poor, Swift Parrots are forced to travel far and wide to find sufficient food, and may congregate into large flocks at sites where it is available.
Why Bush Stone-curlews are Endangered Victorian Natives 2019-11-03 | This Shows Why Bush Stone-curlews are Endangered and likely to become Extinct in Victoria.We are extremely upset by what is shown on this video. It is no wonder that Bush Stone-curlews are gradually disappearing from all of Victoria where they used to be widespread. Bush Stone-curlews are Endangered in Victoria and Listed under FFG act and are resident on our property, they nest on the ground which makes them very vulnerable.It is very clever that Bush Stone-curlews are so well camouflaged, they are almost impossible to see when they keep still and this often keeps them safe.This footage is from 2 cameras so you will sometimes see the same event from a different angle. Video covers 8 days from seeing the eggs on the 3rd of October to their destruction on the 11th.Our Bush Stone-curlews last nested is this location in October 2015 and they successfully raised 2 chicks see: youtu.be/oSfinT2fmP8In the past we have been very excited because they have succeeded in breeding every year for 6 years until now. We have seen an immature bird, or birds, every year but have only seen the nests twice.We have baited continuously for foxes, since we have owned the property (now 7 years), in order to help these birds breed safely.The number of foxes is particularly high at the moment and we have been doing extra baiting, this normally works for us. New foxes come onto our property all the time so it can be an uphill battle. The Bush Stone-curlews seen in this video were extremely brave and scared the fox away the first time it came (on the 9th) but failed when they tried the second time on the 11th.This fox will now remember how to find the eggs, they are very intelligent so it is a good thing that it has probably taken a bait now and is probably dead. We have more than 20 movement sensing cameras, so we know that our baiting has always been successful in the past. We see when new foxes come but we did not get this one quickly enough. You can clearly see why foxes are such a big problem and why Bush Stone-curlews are disappearing from Victoria. We do not know of any others who do constant baiting to help these stunning birds to breed.
An Amazing Fox Fight and the Last Remaining Eagle and Kite at our Property Victorian Natives 2019-09-15 | More birds of prey have been found dead after suspected poisoning near Violet Town.It was announced on the 30 August that 31 more dead birds were found across several paddocks owned by a known landholder. This brings the total number of birds killed to over 151 and we have been told the final number will be much higher.Total numbers are now over 89 for Wedge-tailed Eagles and 15 more Kites were found with the second survey. Also found were hawks, falcons and other native bird species. Given the large number of native birds found within the immediate locality, it appears that they may have been poisoned. Greg Chant from DELWP said: “The incident is under investigation and we are undertaking testing of the birds to determine the exact cause of death. “We are seeking information from the community to help find the people responsible by contacting Crime Stoppers. Reporting is confidential and we only need your information to help solve this crime.”This video is from the last 2 weeks and shows what appears to be the last remaining Eagle and Whistling Kite. Kangaroos are in extremely high numbers and are regularly hit by cars. When we see them, we bring them onto our property to give a safe feeding source for birds of prey. Unfortunately, they also feed foxes, so we regularly bait with small numbers of buried, shelf stable fox baits. We have never seen two foxes ‘fight’ like this before!Many people are unaware that poison 1080 (also called sodium fluoroacetate) is the most environmentally sensitive and target-specific poison available to protect Australia’s vulnerable wildlife and ecosystems from feral animals, because it occurs naturally in over 30 species of Australian native plants. The incredibly tiny amount of 1080 contained in each fox bait is deadly to those species but safe for native predators. https://landcareaustralia.org.au/project/natural-australian-toxin-protecting-plants-wildlife-predators/It is interesting to note the very mangy fox near the end of this compilation, it is no wonder that domestic dogs get so sick with mange from foxes.The video finishes with some past footage of three Eagles that I did not include in previous compilations. One is from February this year and the others are from 2018 and 2017. During the 6 years we have owned our property we have footage of at least 10 Immature Wedge-tailed Eagles that have probably all been killed. These are three of those, the other Eagle footage is of the only Eagle that we know is still alive. This one will also die if the poisoner is not stopped.
White-browed Babbler - restless, noisy and querulous Victorian Natives 2019-09-08 | White-browed Babblers do not need to drink as much as some other birds as they feed on moist foods like invertebrates, mainly insects; also seeds and fruit. They have however visited all our ponds and visited every month, to two of the ponds. We have seen a maximum number of 7 on video at once.Most footage is from our pond in the Curlew protection area which is protected from kangaroo grazing. It has high quality under-story with many large open areas and a good cover of native grasses. The video starts 28/7/2019 with a Wing-fluttering Display by one bird which has with a feather in its beak. There is other 2019 footage, then at the 5 minute mark (from 27/7/2017) male and female perch side by side and face in the same direction, after female fluttered wings and gave bubbling chatter. Then she adopted a rigid posture with tail raised, male mounted her twice but did not mate. Bird mating is very short. These Wing-fluttering Displays often occur in late August to early Sept. Also, in other circumstances, including by young towards parents. During first 9 months the frequency of Wing-fluttering towards parents and begging for food gradually decreases.Paired birds are usually seen close together at all times of the year and often forage close to each other.People sometimes think they have lots of the larger Grey-crowned Babblers when in fact they have mostly White-browed Babblers. The two can be easily confused if you are not an expert or do not have binoculars at the time. They both move quickly with lots of noise and look similar from the back as they fly away. The white brow is more pronounced with the Grey-crowned Babbler and you can compare the two by looking at this compilation and our recent one: youtu.be/W_14uf3GfWY Like the larger Grey-crowned Babbler, the White-browed Babbler engages in a frantic incessant flurry of behaviour, it is, if anything, more active. John Gould commented that “it moves about in small troops of from six to ten in number, and is without exception the most restless, noisy, querulous bird I ever observed. Where they occur together, the White-browed Babbler often prefers drier, stonier sites although the habitat preference of both species tend to vary from place to place. Gould observed that “When the troop are ascending the branches, they usually do it in a line and they have a habit of suddenly assembling in a cluster, spreading their tails and wings, and puffing out their plumage until they resemble a great ball of feathers.” This behaviour is now known to be a territorial display and is referred to as ‘huddling’. Found in large tracts of open eucalypt forest and woodland, especially with dense thickets of wattles, cassinia and other shrubby under-storey. The White-browed Babbler is highly sociable and is seen in small family groups of mostly 4 – 8 birds. They are sedentary and maintain permanent territories.White-browed Babblers forage on the ground among leaf-litter, fallen timber or low trunks and branches, gleaning insects, tossing leaf-litter and probing crevices in wood. They move with bouncing hops; comical and playful. Members of a group communicate with quiet chuckles. The group unites when disturbed, bounding rapidly away or flying in single file into a nearby dense tree or shrub, where the often make agitated calls and clamber about frantically.They usually forage and move in groups of up to 15 birds. In Chiltern Box-Ironbark NP they foraged in groups of 2 to 19 birds. Outside breeding season, feeding flocks are often larger than in breeding season as groups may forage together. They mainly forage on the ground and less often in vegetation.Nestlings and fledglings are fed by both parents and by other members of co-operatively breeding groups, the role of helpers varies between studies. The nature of bonds is not known, but they appear to breed in at least socially monogamous pairs, even within co-operatively breeding groups. In the Chiltern Box-Ironbark NP paired birds were almost always seen together and often foraged close to each other. Probable mate-guarding was also observed, with dominant males escorting females to and from nest in early stages of nesting and suggested that males attempt to monopolize the breeding female.White-browed Babblers build a bulky domed twig nest which is used for both roosting and breeding. Brood nests are a little smaller than roost nests. In quite a small area one often finds many nests, but perhaps only one out of 8 or 9 will be used. In one study auxiliaries did not build brood-nests, though they did help maintain them and they also fed incubating female, mostly when she was off the nest; main contribution was feeding nestlings and defense of nests and fledglings. Members of groups forage, preen, dust-bathe and roost together.
Nankeen Night Heron – a furtive friend Victorian Natives 2019-08-11 | The Nankeen Night Heron is classified as Near Threatened in Victoria; we have only seen this cryptic bird twice with our eyes but have picked it up many times with our cameras. This fascinating species visited our property during the October/November period in 2013 and 2014. Next an immature (striated) bird is seen from January to March in 2017. Lastly an adult bird is again seen, this time from October 2018 to March 2019. Nankeen Night Herons normally roosts throughout the day in trees and fly out at night to feed in swamps and shallow ponds. This is why they are seldom seen although they are widespread.When they are seen flying out at dusk with rather heavy, flapping flight, they are sometimes mistaken for flying foxes.The handsome Nankeen Night Heron has 2 or 3 long white nuchal plumes descending from the back of its black-capped head. Claims that these are lost during non-breeding times are incorrect; 2 or 3 plumes, 15 to 23 cm long, often wrap round one another to give the appearance of a single tubular plume.Young birds are heavily streaked below and strongly resemble bitterns in general appearance; the two are often confused.Nankeen Night Herons both roost and nest in small or large colonies. For some curious reason they often choose to roost in urban streets and parks during the non-breeding season. Such a colony has existed in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne for many years.From 1914 to 1941 several hundred birds actually nested in the zoological gardens in Perth until the colony was destroyed on the grounds that the birds were killing fish in the goldfish pond!Nankeen Night Herons are most common along coastal rivers of south-eastern Australia and the inland rivers of the Murray-darling basin. During nesting time Nankeen Night Herons became partly diurnal. They leave their colonies shortly after midday to feed during the afternoon. Unusually, among herons, colonies of this species are sometimes established on islands, devoid of trees or fresh water, where the nests may be built on the ground or even in caves.Nankeen Night Herons feed on a wide variety of fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects. They swim occasionally and both dive and jump into water to seize fish. They also prey on the chicks and eggs of other water birds. During a plague of house mice in the 1970s they turned eagerly to this new food, hunting over dry fields in pursuit of the mice and even entering towns during daytime.
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill - an exceptional small bird Victorian Natives 2019-08-04 | Chestnut-rumped ThornbillWe are very excited that we have this exceptional small bird which is on the very edge of its range.The Chestnut-rumped Thornbill is sparsely scattered through northern Victoria. Its population has declined and its range has contracted. It has disappeared from many sites around Chiltern, Warby Rangers and Rushworth. It is declining at the fringes of its range.We started to set up our ponds early in 2014 and we saw our first Chestnut-rumped Thornbill late in October 2015 on just two dates. We did not see any again until we saw another single individual in April and June 2016. This delightful small bird arrived properly in February 2017 and stayed for 2 years, without a break in any month, till Jan 2019. During this time the numbers of Chestnut-rumped Thornbills went from 2 to 6 and they regularly visited our two ponds in our two large kangaroo exclusions. These areas have dense understory and contained many grasses which were able to go to seed even in the very dry weather. Since then only one or two have been seen on 6 dates from April to June and none since. We hope that we still have our small population and that they are just not visiting the ponds as we have many natural water sources after some better rainfall.This footage is from the pond in the old exclusion area and from the babbler pond. It mostly starts with the older footage and moves through to the most recent.Chestnut-rumped Thornbills prefer the drier inland areas. They have unusual nesting habits because their dome-shaped nest is nearly always tucked into a hole in a dead or fallen tree or even into a stump or fence-post. The entrance is often extremely narrow, a mere crack or knot-hole in the wood, so that even this tiny bird has trouble squeezing through. Yet inside is a neatly constructed perfect dome. It is made of dried grasses and bark fibres, feathers and other soft materials are used for lining. Their food is insects and other small arthropods and they occasionally eat small seeds.Chestnut-rumped Thornbills like dry open woodland with dense heathy understorey. In our area they especially like Grey Box with a dense low understorey of wattle, saltbush, Cassinia, heath and grass tussocks. They fly bouncingly showing their contrasting rump.They are usually in parties of 4 to 6 birds and they often associate with other small ground and shrub-foraging insectivores in autumn and winter. They forage on or near the ground catching insects from low shrubs and fallen branches, they also probe bark low on tree trunks. They are often with other thornbills and whitefaces.
Wedge-tailed Eagles are still being killed – the bad news and the good news Victorian Natives 2019-07-28 | Two of our wildlife loving neighbours (Anita and Gordon Norris) did a fantastic job last week of publicising the fact that Eagles are being killed again. They found two freshly killed birds and notified police and DELWP. They also told their story on local radio and local newspapers over many days. Anita said, including the two recent deaths, 11 eagles have now been found dead on the couple's property in four years. Anita and Gordon should be commended for really pushing this and contacting so many authorities including our local state Member of Parliament.Leading Sen Const Storer urged anyone who sees any suspicious activity to contact the 24-hour Police Assistance Line on 131444. He said police are assisting the Department of Land, Water and Planning with an investigation into the bird deaths. The maximum penalty for hunting, taking or destroying protected wildlife is a $8,059.50 fine or six months' imprisonment or both.We have owned our property for 6.5 years and we almost never see one of these magnificent birds soar overhead and we (and our neighbours) have found many dead Wedge-tailed Eagles for many years. It seems that when new birds come into the area they do not last long.We have been told that there is a local family who routinely both poison and shoot Wedge-tailed Eagles and other birds of prey. The authorities are aware of this behaviour and have a great deal of anecdotal evidence but cannot get first hand evidence that is strong enough to take to court.We also have video of a dying and then dead young magpie from Feb 2017. The magpie looks sick for an hour and a half and is seen dead at 9.35pm another hour and a half later. We found another dead magpie on our property at this time. We found a dead fledgling Wedge-tailed Eagle under a substantial eagles nest on our property on 30th March 2015 (we posted photos).We have also found 2 long dead Wedge-tailed Eagles in our bush the one shown in this footage was found 17 Aug 2018.We have been told that someone regularly put poison on carcasses in order to kill Wedge-tailed Eagles even though other creatures, like magpies and other birds of prey, could also be killed. We have had the wonderful sight and sounds of Whistling Kites and Little Eagles for short periods but then they disappear as well.Apparently tests from the recent deaths show that a legal herbicide is now being used and that makes prosecution more difficult.We are excited and worried as we once again have 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles visiting our property. We watched them last Friday 26th July as they glided above and did barrel rolls together with their feet joined, they looked truly amazing and made our hearts soar. We will do all we can to keep all these beautiful birds alive! This video starts with our most recent footage and then shows some from last year. First you see a young Wedge-tailed Eagle feeding on a dead kangaroo. Kangaroos are regularly killed by cars and we pull them onto our property and put a camera on them so we can see if any birds of prey that are around. All the rest of the footage is of birds that are now probably dead, beginning with Little Eagle footage and then close-up standard camera shots of Whistling Kites (2018) followed by videos of the Kites from 2019. Both times we only saw the birds for a week or less before they disappeared. The footage finishes with Wedge-tailed Eagle footage, from 2018; we were impressed by their size and their dignified and imposing demeanour.Wedge-tailed Eagles eat both live prey and carrion. Their diet reflects the available prey, but the most important live items are rabbits and hares. Rabbits usually comprise about 30-70% of the diet, but may comprise up to 92%. Wedge-tailed Eagles will kill small or sick lambs, but these make up only a small percentage of their total prey. Many of the reports of predation on lambs result from birds scavenging already dead animals. With a wingspan reaching more than two meters, the Wedge-tailed Eagle is Australia’s largest bird of prey and one of the biggest eagles in the world. This protected species needs to be preserved, we are extremely sad that we almost never see them flying above our property.We will do all we can to protect the 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles we saw last week and all other birds of prey. We plan to remove or cover any carcasses that we find on the roadsides, or in the area, to make it harder for the poisoner, who may poison carcasses on public land. We have also put cameras on dead creatures in public areas, we will continue this, and continue to tell the world what they are doing.
Eastern Brown Snake – great to watch but keep your distance! Victorian Natives 2019-07-13 | These snakes are extremely defensive when provoked and have a nervous disposition. Their venom rating has been upgraded and it is now Australia’s second most venomous snake. If it is provoked it may raise its fore-body off the ground, to form an ‘S’ shape, and open its mouth. Brown snakes have visited 5 out of our 7 ponds over the last 6 years. They have visited 2 or 3 ponds each spring/summer. Eastern brown snakes visited between Sept/Oct and Jan/Feb and the total number of dates visited has varied from 17 dates in 14/15 summer to 7 dates in the 16/17 summer. Brown snakes visit in the hottest months and there is no overlap (in pond visit time periods) between them and the Red-bellied black snakes.Red-bellied black snakes visit in the other months, apart from June and JulyBrown snakes are egg laying and active during the day; they produce 6 to 35 eggs per clutch. Eggs are laid below soil surface, usually in deep cracks in late spring or summer.They like to shelter in fallen timber, ground cavities and under surface rocks. They feed on lizards and mammals, like the house mouse, and can benefit from human activities.This species is responsible for the majority of snake bite-related deaths in Australia. They are occasionally active at night in warm weather and are known to overwinter in burrows of other animals, particularly rabbits.Brown snakes are mainly terrestrial but will climb low trees and shrubs to reach prey. Ritualised combat has been observed between males, mating occurs in spring.
Koala – a very special sight Victorian Natives 2019-07-06 | It is very rare for us to get footage of this wonderful marsupial as it does not often come to ground. We have bad footage from our block of bush from November 2014 and December 2015.The better footage shown on this compilation is all from our small dam and starts from a warm night in April 2016 when a Koala came and had a drink for 4 minutes; we have only shown a small bit of this because it is barely in the picture.The next footage is from November 2016 followed by March and May 2017. Lastly you see a Koala in January and March 2018 finishing with November 2018 climbing on a fallen branch.Koalas are found in open forests and woodland, particularly wetter areas closer to their favourite trees which are Manna Gum, Swamp Gum and Blue Gum. In Box-ironbark country, like our property, known Koala food trees include River Red Gum which we have along our creek-line and around our small dam. The Koala or Koalas (??) shown have to cope with a Kangaroo exclusion fence which has been around our small dam for 3 years. It does seem to be able to do this but we are thinking of providing a ladder to make it easier. We love to see Koalas on our property; they are usually solitary and sedentary within a home range. Adult males move more widely than females. Most feeding and social behaviour occurs at night. During the day they mostly sleep. They may rest in the trees where feeding occurs or in nearby non-feeding trees. It is thought that our Koalas have probably dispersed from the Strathbogie Ranges where they are found in larger numbers.
Brown Falcon - a striking short term visitor Victorian Natives 2019-06-30 | Brown Falcons have visited our NW Pond over a short period in either very late August or in September or October in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Perhaps they breed nearby as a juvenile has been seen each year.The video starts with a light phase adult close-up and further away (yellow skin around eye), next you see a very dark phase juvenile bird with blue-grey skin around the eye. Then you see some more light phase adults, including one being attacked by a very brave Willie Wagtail. We included some washed-out footage, from early evening, so you can hear how loud the call of the Brown Falcon gets.The Brown Falcon is a common raptor with beautiful markings and we are very excited that it continues to visit our North West Pond.Brown Falcons occur in a dark phase and a light phase (both seen in this video). They have been called the Cackling Hawk because of their loud, coarse, cackling call. The Brown Falcon takes most prey on the ground, either from a perch or after gliding and hovering. It also runs around on the ground after grasshoppers. On rare occasions the species has been recorded building its own nest but usually it claims an old nest from another Hawk species or a Raven or Magpie. The scientific name for this species is Falco berigora because Berigora is the Aboriginal name for this bird.
How We Build Our Survey Ponds Victorian Natives 2019-06-22 | Our Ponds are designed to act as a means of surveying our wildlife and pests and also providing a special, safe niche to help our threatened species survive the hot dry summers. If there is a threat, like a feral cat we can see it and deal with it. Our ponds can be moved if there is a major problem and they create great habitat without causing any significant disturbance.We also love to see and learn about all our native creatures, for example, we now have videos of 124 different bird species!As you can see from the photo collection we place the ponds where they get some shade and where we can put cameras that face south. We have a close-up camera which allows us to have a really good look at even our smallest beautiful wildlife. Our more distant camera includes the whole pond so we can see every creature that approaches or comes for a drink or splash.The ponds need to have many rocks and logs in them, so wildlife can’t be trapped in them, no matter what height the water is. Rocks and logs around the outside provide habitat for reptiles and small mammals and increase their visitation.The pond should include pots containing water plants. This will help to keep the water clean and fresh and mean that water creatures (such as backswimmers and waterboatmen) can be added to eat mosquito larvae. It is very important that the water stays clean, if it becomes dirty or turns green then the whole pond may need to be emptied and refilled.If too many visits occur from Wallabies and Kangaroos then a netting fence with big spaces will stop these species and give lots of perches for approaching birds.Two centimetres of river sand is placed over the soil in the pot plants, sealing them, so that the soil does not mix with the water. We use two main native water plants, which are found widely across Victoria. They are Watermilfoil (Myriophyllum salsugineum) and Swamp Stonecrop (Crassula helmsii). It is important not to use introduced plants because birds can spread them and they can become weeds.It is a major job to keep the ponds full of water so now we have barrels (put under trees and painted white to keep cool) full of water. We have a pipe set up so water slowly drips into the pond. There is some spillage over time and this helps the trees near the ponds and makes them flower longer. This creates an even better small refuge for our many threatened species.Most barrels now have a recycled satellite dish on them so they are self-filling if there is any rain. During the terrible hot summers the barrels need to be filled about every 2 weeks and the visitation is so great that camera cards are filled in about a week. We can reach our ponds with an ATV with a load of water containers on the back.
We Built a Pond for Grey-crowned Babbles – and they Came!!! Victorian Natives 2019-06-16 | We have been monitoring one small group of Grey-crowned Babblers visiting our NW Pond since 2014. Over time the group went from 6 to 4 and we realised a second group was forming on the East side of our property but not visiting any ponds.We decided to erect a new pond in 2017 in the area where they seemed to hang out. We called it the Babbler pond and waited with fingers crossed hoping they would come. We wanted to be able to monitor them over time and also help their survival, in the increasingly hot summers, by providing a safe, cooler spot where they could drink and rest.To our absolute delight 4 Grey-crowned Babbles visited in December 2017 and this group has continued to visit in the warmer months since then and has gone from 4 to 6. Grey-crowned Babblers are Endangered in Victoria and listed under the FFG Act, they are very special, engaging birds and they are a big favorite of ours.This video starts with their first visit to the new pond. Initially 4 came and they were a bit unsure of the new structure. This pond has both a close-up and a more distant camera. Next the footage shows how well the Grey-crowned Babblers cope with aggressive birds like Noisy Friabirds, Noisy Miners, Eastern Rosellas, Magpies and Kookaburras. In March 2018 you can see five individuals at the pond for the first time; presumably the new bird came from another group.In October 2018 two Grey-crowned Babblers do a sort of dance together with their tails fanned and this may be courtship behaviour. Pairs often perform a distinctive antiphonal ‘ya-hoo’ duet; the female emits ‘ya’ and the male, ‘hoo’.We were very excited in January 2019 to see the first Juvenile Grey-crowned Babbler arrive at this pond and the group continues to have 6 individuals from this time. You will notice that the Juvenile has a monotonous constant ‘slow chirping’ call so it will continue to get attention from the adults. The 2018/2019 summer was particularly hot and many birds hold their mouths open to try and cool off. The pond seems to be much appreciated as the Grey-crowned Babblers stay for a longer and longer time to cool off. For example on the 13th January they stayed cooling off, for about half an hour, twice. Providing ponds may be helping this endangered species deal with the extremely hot and dry weather which may increase with climate change.During this time the Grey-crowned Babblers cope with sharing the pond with large numbers of other birds including large flocks of White-winged Choughs.
Kangaroos - a major problem for environmental properties and for threatened species. Victorian Natives 2019-06-08 | Humans have altered landscapes so Kangaroos are provided with extra grass and water and their numbers increase to an unsustainable extent.Then we have dry years, like the last 2 years, and Kangaroos do enormous damage to native plants and declining animal and bird species.We have created Kangaroo exclusion areas and this means that the difference Kangaroos make can be easily seen.The accompanying footage show photos from the last two years and videos of kangaroos from the last 5 years. Our 350 acre property has about 4 mobs this size that visit or live on our place.We are trying to increase the diversity of plants on our property and provide nectar, seed and insects over a much longer period.We recommend the planting of our local Banksia that used to be widespread and is now almost gone as this species and Bursaria spinosa and Allocasurina can be very helpful for threatened woodland birds and animals.We highly recommend the article: http://ianluntecology.com/2013/10/13/forgotten-woodlands-future-landscapes/#more-7913 Everyone involved in revegetation should read it as it explains really well why the Banksia is so important.Unfortunately these 3 species are particularly targeted by Kangaroos, they eat them and the big males break them down as part of their territorial displays. There are many other native plants that they leave alone.The photos show what we have to do to guard these 3 species and how they are still attacked by large kangaroos.After the photo of the Australian Pipit on the orange fence you can see how well these 3 species grow when protected from Kangaroos. These were planted the same time as the ones in the big plastic guards – 5 years ago. The area shown was devoid of plants (apart from roadside trees) when we bought the property 6 years ago.The fences have been there for 2 to 5 years and before they were erected the ground inside and out was exactly the same. Now the difference is extreme and the erosion and washing away of soil and litter outside the fence is profound.Our property would have had zero grass seed and zero low ground flora for the last three years if it were not for our exclusions. We have now fenced out all our permanent water supplies in an effort to reduce Kangaroo numbers.
Golden Whistler males – beautiful burst of colour on a dull day Victorian Natives 2019-06-02 | These stunning autumn visitors are infrequent subjects at our ponds. It has taken 5 years to collect the footage shown here and they only visit 3 of our 7 ponds - mostly in May.Golden Whistlers are altitudinal migrants, they are seen in the plains and Box-Ironbark forests during autumn/winter, brown females and immature birds are often in the bigger numbers. We have much more footage of the brown females.Golden Whistlers and Flame Robins move back to the foothills and high country to breed in early spring/summer. This video shows different male Golden Whistlers that have visited briefly over the years. During the non-breeding season, they move into open habitats and sexes appear to separate.Golden Whistlers have been shown to live for over 15 years.Males do not stay long in mixed feeding flocks, while females appear to stay in the same flock throughout the day. Males also associate significantly more often with other yellow birds like Crested Shrike-tits and Eastern Yellow Robins. Unfortunately they mostly visit the ponds one after the other rather than together so we cannot easily show this association.If you are interested in learning how we set up ponds to survey wildlife you can follow this link: https://www.victoriannativeseed.com.au/using-small-ponds-t…/
Brush-tailed Phascogale 2019 Victorian Natives 2019-04-13 | Brush-tailed Phascogale We are extremely excited to see that Brush-tailed Phascogales have now visited 4 ponds over the last 2 years.This video starts from Jan 2019 at the Babbler Pond and then shows Dec 2018 at the Block of Bush Pond.Next you footage from April from both the Old Exclusion Pond and the North West Pond. The video finishes with very short footage from May 2017.Brush-tailed Phascogales do not normally need to drink but last summer was so hot and dry that they did need to come for a drink.The previous footage was from Autumn when the males are out looking for a mate. Mating occurs in late autumn - early winter and males die after the breeding season at an age of about one year old. Females give birth to about six young from mid-June to early August. Females may live for 3 years but usually lifespan is shorter.Brush-tailed Phascogales are listed under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee and are rated as Vulnerable in Victoria. The numbers are declining due to clearing, fragmentation and removal of logs and older trees.Brush-tailed Phascogales have an intensely black 'bottle-brush' tail which is up to 230 mm long. The hairs on the tail are up to 55 mm long and are capable of being erected when excited. They appear to be at least partly erected in our footage. When alarmed they tap forefeet on a substrate.Female Brush-tailed Phascogales forage over home ranges of 30–60 ha that do not overlap, while males forage over areas greater than 100 ha. Brush-tailed Phascogales primarily live in trees, and forage for their diet, which is predominantly large insects, spiders and centipedes, on the trunks and major branches of rough-barked trees and fallen logs.
Hares make the drought even more difficult! Victorian Natives 2018-09-23 | Hares and the damage they cause:When we purchased our lovely Grassy Grey Box Woodland property we wanted to increase the diversity of plants on the property so that we could improve the habitat for threatened birds and animals.Our plan was to add species that had disappeared; this article by A/Prof Ian Lunt (who focuses on endangered native grasslands and woodlands) influenced our choice: ianluntecology.com/…/forgotten-woodlands-future-l…/…Two hundred years ago Honeysuckle and Oak formed extensive woodlands across many parts of south-east Australia. Today we call these trees Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata), Drooping Sheoak (Allocasuarina verticillata).The demise of the oak and honeysuckle woodlands affected an entire ecosystem, not just a few trees. Eucalypt, honeysuckle, cherry and oak each provided specific foods and resources for insects, birds and mammals. In full bloom, the honeysuckle woodlands hosted a cacophony of birds.We also planted many Bursaria spinosa (Sweet Bursaria) and Callitris glaucophylla (White Cypress-pine) as many threatened species also benefit from these plants.Sweet Bursaria helps threatened woodland birds and fauna by providing a more diverse variety of foods over a longer period. A recent ‘state of Australian birds’ publication by Birds Australia said that the disproportional clearance of better quality land has meant that there are now less nectar resources for honeyeaters and insects during summer and autumn which is when the Sweet Bursaria flowers.Lastly we planted Callistemon sieberi (River Bottlebrush) and Poa labillardieri (Common Tussock-grass) in our eroded creek to help to restore this important area.We found that some species like Banksia and Allocasuarina were eaten by everything but our Bursaria, Callistemon and Callitris were never eaten so we took the guards off.Then along came the drought and everything changed as hares began eating our plants.This video first shows the hares at 2 ponds in our large kangaroo exclusion area where there is still grass. This is fantastic for our native seed eating birds, but unfortunately also provides harbor for pests like hares.Next you see some of our Callitris plants which were doing well but are now being killed by hares. Then you see re-guarded Bursaria plants, hopefully they will now be safe. The guards are lifted and stapled off the ground to make them a bit higher.We are systematically re-guarding and/or re-stapling every plant on our property.The Callistemons are not shown but they are also being eaten and ring-barked.Next you see some old footage of hares jumping the creek followed by hares at our big dam. This area is also fenced to exclude kangaroos and you can see how the Allocasuarina are being eaten by hares even though they are guarded. The hares ring-bark the stems till they fall over so the plants go from being quite tall to being cut off at guard height. This is our next area to work on!
Whistling Kites – A Sad Story Victorian Natives 2018-09-02 | Whistling Kites – A Sad StoryOur movement sensing cameras have now captured pictures or videos of 120 species of native birds. We were very excited to add the Whistling Kite to our list but then upset to realise that it had got caught on some rubbish in our small dam and probably died.The dam is very low at the moment and this must have exposed rubbish left by a previous owner. Once we saw the videos we searched for the rubbish and all we found was feathers and part of a skull. We think a fox must have carried away the rest of the bird and the rubbish. Thorough searching came up blank apart from what is shown. The beak looks different than the pictures but we think the sides of the bill have been removed leaving only the top and the hook.We felt very sad over the following days as the remaining Whistling Kite kept making its beautiful loud Whistling call but it was not answered. It was often sitting near an old Magpie nest as if and the mate had perhaps planned to expand and use this site.We were greatly relieved when after many weeks a second bird has arrived and they are now sitting together. I could not get them both in a photo but I did get one sitting and one flying.We will be keeping an eye out for a nest, perhaps the one they were sitting near or perhaps at another site?
Cats and Squirrel Gliders - Death in Paradise Victorian Natives 2018-07-09 | Warning: If you do not want to see a dead cat, fox and squirrel glider then do not watch this video.It is crucial that when we improve the environment, by providing ponds, it does only good. If introduced predators are using our ponds or dams as lures and traps for native prey, then we must act. We hate to kill any creatures, and no pleasure is taken when cats or foxes must be targeted, but we need to do this to be responsible stewards of an environmental property.The movement sensing cameras are excellent at letting us know exactly what is happening, as large species are always captured. We are very lucky that we have very few feral cats, as none of our neighbours own cats and many landowners in our area routinely shoot foxes and occasionally feral cats, if they see them.Over the 5 years that we have had the ponds and 20 movement sensing cameras, we have set traps hundreds of times, but not caught a cat until now.During the first 4.75 years, we had a large pale orange cat visit eight times and be captured on video on 13 dates. Two smaller cats have also visited, but only on two dates each. Three of these four dates were the same time periods as the large pale orange cat. Infrequent visits make these cats hard to trap.The mean home-range size for feral cats in a NSW study, in a rural area, was found to be 248 hectares. Cat weight significantly influenced range size, with heavier cats having larger ranges than smaller cats. Although the cats in the study are apparently solitary, their home ranges overlapped considerably, particularly between young adults and old adult cats. So it is likely that the cats on our property were also individuals ranging over large areas.In contrast, a very significant increase in cat numbers occurred during the 3 months from late February 2018, with 17 dates for the same 3 cats (one more than previous 4.75 years). It appeared that our ‘refuges’ were helping these feral pests as well as our valued threatened species.The accompanying video was filmed at the Old Exclusion Pond. It is in chronological order and shows a tiny percentage of all the Squirrel Glider visits captured.The footage starts with some of the best Squirrel Glider shots; they have all been shortened, as most gliders drink for between 30 seconds and a minute.Next, you will see the large pale orange cat, which visits a couple of times and unfortunately kills a Squirrel Glider. This footage has been slowed down to show the glider’s tail better. Then come more cat and Squirrel Glider visits.On the 1st of April we set 3 cages with bait, you can see one behind the pond. They cannot be set during the day because they capture native creatures, and the bait becomes covered with ants. The extremely dry weather meant that predators were desperate for food, and on the 2nd of April, we caught both the pale orange cat and a fox in 2 of the traps- set with Snappy Tom cat food as bait. Both animals were dispatched quickly. They were of comparable size, as can be seen in the photo.Before the trap photos, you can hear the startling snarling noises made by of one of the smaller cats, a clear indication that this animal is feral.Next the smaller black cat is seen. This footage is interspersed with more Squirrel Glider footage. The 2 smaller cats were not seen again after the 8th of April and we were not successful in trapping them, despite a great deal of effort.Lastly, is the best Squirrel Glider footage. The Gliders seem to become less wary and to stay for longer, once the cats are gone – all this footage is again edited to highlight the activity, they actually drink for long periods.The Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) – Is Endangered and Listed under FFG act. This footage is from one pond and they regularly visit 6 of our 7 ponds.It seems that there are a number of individuals at each pond, you can tell by variations in size and markings that there are a number of specimens.During the 21.5 weeks from 16th February to the 10th June, Squirrel Gliders visited the Old Exclusion Pond on 74% of the nights, with a total of 533 visits, giving an average of 6.35 visits per visited night. The night with the most visits was the 27th April with seventeen visits in the one night!! This shows just how dry it was.Feral cats pose a significant threat to Australia's biodiversity, killing more than 1 million birds a day. Bird-kill rates are highest in arid Australia (up to 330 birds per square kilometre per year). The organisation ‘BirdLife’ also estimated (albeit with fewer data) that feral cats in human-modified landscapes, such as the areas surrounding cities, kill a further 44 million birds each year. Pet cats, meanwhile, kill about 61 million birds per year.Moreover, cats are reported to kill 1 million mammals per day. In addition, new research estimates that Australian cats — both feral and domestic — are eating a total of 1.8 million native Australian reptiles every day.
Brush tailed Phascogale visits another pond Victorian Natives 2018-04-22 | Brush-tailed Phascogale We are extremely excited to see our second Brush-tailed Phascogale on our property with a tail that looks like a toilet brush! This video is from the 12th April at 12.26 am from our North West Pond. The video finishes with very short footage from the 9th of May 2017 at 6.50 pm, this is the only other time we have seen one.Mating occurs in late autumn - early winter and males die after the breeding season at an age of about one year old. In both cases this footage could be of males out looking for mates. Females give birth to about six young from mid-June to early August. Females may live for 3 years but usually lifespan is shorter.Young remain in the pouch for seven weeks and are then left in the maternal nursery nest while the mother forages at night. Juveniles leave in early summer. Females seldom survive a second year and usually only raise one litter.Brush-tailed Phascogales are listed under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee and are rated as Vulnerable in Victoria. The numbers are declining due to clearing, fragmentation and removal of logs and older trees.Brush-tailed Phascogales have an intensely black 'bottle-brush' tail which is up to 230 mm long. The hairs on the tail are up to 55 mm long and are capable of being erected when excited. They appear to be at least partly erected in our footage. When alarmed they tap forefeet on a substrate.Brush-tailed Phascogales nest in as many as 30 different sites each year. Nests may be in hollows in dead or live trees, under flaking bark, or in tree stumps. Nursery nests require large, secure cavities with small openings. It is very important to retain dead trees, older live trees and logs. Female Brush-tailed Phascogales forage over home ranges of 30–60 ha that do not overlap, while males forage over areas greater than 100 ha. Brush-tailed Phascogales primarily live in trees, and forage for their diet, which is predominantly large insects, spiders and centipedes, on the trunks and major branches of rough-barked trees and fallen logs.
Common Brushtail Possum and Joey cope with a hot, dry summer. Victorian Natives 2018-03-03 | Common Brushtail Possum and Joey cope with a hot, dry summer.These videos form an intimate portrait of the early life of a baby Brushtail Possum from pouch to independence.The videos start on the 5th and 17th Jan with the young in the pouch. Next on the 20th Jan you see the joey on the back of its mother even though it is still very small and vulnerable.We wonder if the young one left the pouch a bit early because it was so hot. We have never seen a young this small out of the pouch before. According to the camera the night-time temperature on the 20th and 21st was between 26C and 35C. Next you can see the mother and baby react to a Ring-tailed Possum and a Kangaroo that visit the same pond.Lastly you can see the joey has quickly increased in size and independence over time. The video finishes on the 23rd of Feb on another hot night (31C to 33C) and the joey is venturing off by itself after only a month out from the pouch. A male Brushtail is now following the female around so perhaps it can tell that she is nearly ready to mate again. Brushtail Possums are a rather solitary species and they reside in established territories of about five hectares . Brushtail Possums feed mainly on eucalypt and acacia foliage including blossom and buds. They also occasionally feed on large moths, eggs and nestlings from bird nests. Brushtail Possums also have a well-documented love of eating mistletoe and there is good evidence that they help to keep this useful native parasite in balance. Den sites are usually large tree hollows so it can help to provide suitable nesting boxes if you have a problem with too much mistletoe on your trees.
Courageous Creatures Victorian Natives 2018-01-28 | Courageous CreaturesThese videos show some gutsy creatures that are holding their own against much more fierce birds.The hot summer weather brings varied species into close proximity at sites that give relief from the sun and heat.The female Common Bronzewing puts both wings up in the air in alarm. Perhaps she thinks it makes her look bigger and fiercer. The Bronzewing in this case also slaps the Kookaburra because it gets so close. It is an amazing interaction to watch.Willie Wagtails are very feisty little fighters at breeding time. Both sexes of Willie Wagtails strongly defend their nest, eggs and young from potential and actual threats. You can see from this footage that Willie Wagtails are very vociferous in defence. This video is from half-way through December at 8.10 pm in the evening. The same event is filmed by two cameras and the second one filmed in black and white because it was dusk.Willie Wagtails attack people, Cats, Dogs and any bird regardless of size. They are willing to take on large birds of prey including a Brown Goshawk as shown in this footage. It is particularly interesting because the Willie Wagtail actually lands on the larger bird!The Brown Goshawk is a regular visitor to our ponds; this lovely fierce looking bird of prey is usually hard to see because it is shy, secretive and difficult to approach and is often only glimpsed through trees. It hunts by stealth and searches for prey from a concealed perch among foliage. It catches mostly small to medium sized birds and smaller rabbits. The Willie Wagtails are particularly courageous because they could become dinner. We would not have known that we had this magnificent Brown Goshawk on our property if it was not for our ponds and cameras.
Sand Goannas – speedy reptiles Victorian Natives 2017-12-23 | Sand Goannas – speedy reptilesSand Goannas are sometimes referred to as racehorse goannas because of their exceptional speed. These stunning creatures have beautifully patterned scales that set them apart.They may be increasing in numbers as they are visiting our ponds more often.In the 14/15 summer we had one visit to the NW Pond, in the 15/16 summer there were two visits to the SW Pond and one to the Block of Bush Pond. The 16/17 summer saw eight dates with visits to four ponds (the 3 mentioned and the creek pond). In the start of the 17/18 summer there have already been ten dates with visits at two ponds.This footage starts at the creek pond with our most recent footage and goes back through time. The high quality footage in the first videos comes from the same type of new camera described in our previous post (Bushnell model number: 119876C).Next you see lovely close-up footage from the SW Pond followed by videos from the NW and Block of Bush ponds. Lastly is the more distant SW pond footage which gives a great feel for these interesting characters. All the footage is of young individuals, we hope that they get to grow to full size adults.When threatened, Sand Goannas will usually disappear into the nearest burrow. They shelter in rabbit burrows and eat rabbits. Sand Goannas also build their own burrows and openings are up to about 8 to 9cm high and are curved at the top and flat at the bottom. Three to ten eggs are laid in a chamber which is dug by the female.Sand Goannas reach an average length of 140 cm (4.6 ft) and can weigh as much as 6 kg (13 lb). They are relentless foragers with most of their activities taking place during the day. Anything smaller than it will be eagerly devoured.Sand Goannas have an extremely keen sense of smell, and use their long, forked tongues to explore their environment. When hunting for food, they keep their snout close to the ground, and flick their tongue in and out, using scent to find any hidden prey underground.The diets of juveniles consist mostly of insects and small lizards. Older Sand Goannas also prey on mice, small birds, young rabbits, snakes and carrion. They are seemingly immune to snake venom and will kill and eat even the most venomous species.Their exceptionally strong legs are just made for digging, and they put their sharp claws and snout to work, too.When breeding occurs, the male goanna locates the burrow of a female and builds a burrow of his own a few meters away. Over several days the male and female spend an increasing amount of time together. Eventually, they begin to copulate. They continue to mate over and over again for several days. During this period of intense breeding activity, the pair may share the same burrow. After many days the intensity of copulation declines and the Sand Goannas separate and forage independently. When it is time to lay the eggs, the female locates an active termite mound. She lays her eggs at the end of a tunnel in the mound. Afterwards she refills the tunnel, and the termites reconstruct the mound around the goanna eggs. The termites regulate the temperature and humidity, so this is an excellent place for development of the eggs.
Testing New Bushnell Trail Camera Victorian Natives 2017-12-15 | Testing New Bushnell Trail CameraWe started using Bushnell movement sensing cameras over 7 years ago.We chose this brand because they had very good reviews and we have been mostly very happy with all the results so we have not tried other brands. This new camera was given to us by a Bushnell outlet in Australia so we could try it out. We have bought so many of these cameras over the years that they are now supporting us with a few free and reduced price cameras. This is one of the latest models and we are very pleased with the results.This camera is called Aggressor and has model number: 119876C, the sale price is $359.95.This is the link to the Australian seller that has supported us: http://www.ozriflescopes.com.au/optics/trail-cameraIdeally we like to have 2 cameras at each pond - a survey camera and a close-up camera. We are using this one as the survey camera at our bran new pond. The video collection starts with our best recent captures (late Nov) in the order they occurred. Next you see footage from the middle of Oct to the middle of Nov also in the order it occurred. The footage is so clear that we can identify small tricky birds.We now have over 20 cameras and we have at least 14 different models, most of these are no longer available. Bushnell keeps updating and improving the cameras, this is great but also frustrating. There have been a few missteps over the years and the changes are hard to keep up with but mostly they just get better.Scientific studies have shown that some brands are not good at capturing small creatures but (as you can see from our results) the Bushnell’s will pick-up very tiny birds and mammals and many reptiles.Most of our cameras have now been out in the weather constantly for over 4 years and we have had very few problems – almost all are still working well. We had two cameras go completely under water for 2 weeks and after thorough drying, with warm blown air, they continued to work for years. One is still going with sepia colouring (good for night videos) - we do not recommend this!!The two that we have had trouble with were the cheap models (less than $200) that we got direct from USA.Videos are better than photos in most cases. It is good to get some photos but the videos have correct lighting more often and give the jizz of the bird which helps with ID. I use the hybrid setting with takes a photo and a video.Settings for cameras – the correct settings make a big difference, these are the important ones we use with this new camera: Set Clock – this now comes up first which is great as this needs to be adjusted the most.Presets – Advanced – this allows all possible parameters to be set by the user.Mode – Hybrid – still photo and a video clip are both captured.Image Size – HD – only affects photos; this is highest quality but also largest file.Image Format – Full Screen – we think this size fits more uses.Capture Number – 1 - One photo before video works well.LED Control (amount of lighting at night – We tried Low as subjects close but medium worked better.Video Size – 1920x 1080 – we always use the highest quality even though this means the SD card fills more quickly. Each 30 second video is about 40,000 KB so 1,300 photos/videos (half photo half video) fit on the 32 GB card.Interval – We start with the shortest (0.6S) so we do not miss any action but we increase the interval if there are too many visits from common creatures. This helps card not to fill too quickly. Sensor Level – Normal – We get reflection and heat from the water which gives some false triggers (particularly in the middle of the day). Auto gives more false triggers. We do not mind some false triggers as we capture some good small reptiles with these. If too many we use Low.NV (Night Vision) Shutter – Auto – we tried High but it was a bit dark.Camera Mode – 24 Hrs
Short-beaked Echidna and Ticks Victorian Natives 2017-11-23 | Short-beaked Echidna and Ticks?This collection of videos gives an intimate portrait of these fascinating creatures. The videos also might show that we have Paralysis Ticks in this area (north of Violet Town, between Benalla and Shepparton).I have now been told that the the most common tick on the echidna is Bothriocroton concolor. It is not possible to tell from this video. The videos cover a 3 year time period and the tick infestations are noticeable in spring of all 3 years and may be getting worse. The footage starts with an echidna in a pond in 2015 and at 6 seconds you can see 3 white ticks in the ear area as the echidna has a scratch. Next is some lovely close-up footage and some more distant shots from 2016. At the 2.21 minutes stage there is some footage of the long tongue of the echidna as it drinks the water. The rest of the videos are from 2017 and you can see a male echidna closely following a female in the breeding season. He follows her into the pond and out again. Lastly there is more close-up footage from 2017 and at least 6 ticks can be seen on the echidna in the final videos from the middle of November.Echidnas are active both day and night and love to have a dip in water in the hot weather. Echidnas have a large home range of between 30 and 100 hectares and are usually solitary. This can change during breeding season when mature females (about five years old) are followed by amorous males. An Echidna train can form with one female being followed by many males in a line close behind. This conga line of head-to-tail Echidnas will usually only have one to four males behind the female, but as many as eleven have been seen. Echidna trains last for about six weeks and when mating occurs the males dig a trench around the female and the successful male mates with the female. They mate on their sides with their cloacas pushed together.The single egg, and later the juvenile, is carried in the mother’s pouch until the juvenile is about seven weeks old and starts to grow spines and to outgrow the pouch. The Echidna mother then places the baby (called a puggle) into a nursery burrow. These burrows can be constructed in a wide variety of places like the bases of trees, termite mounds or under rocks or piles of leaves and sticks. This means that anyone burning off such piles in spring or early summer, risks burning a puggle. Puggles spend five months in their nursery burrow and the mother only needs to feed the puggle every five days or so. The nursery burrow has a long curved entrance, with a chamber at the back. The mother Echidna backfills the burrow when she leaves so there is no obvious hole. So the best way to burn piles that have sat for a while is to move the materials from the pile to the fire, this could also help other creatures like frogs and lizards and will prevent puggles from being burned.
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Blue-winged Parrot and Scarlet Honeyeater increase bird species to 117. Victorian Natives 2017-11-19 | Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Blue-winged Parrot and Scarlet HoneyeaterThese single day visitors have increased our list of native birds on video from our property from 114 bird species to 117!I have waited to see if they stayed or if others would arrive but this has not happened – I have viewed videos till 13th Nov.This footage shows first a Yellow-tufted Honeyeater on the 28th of September, then a Blue-winged Parrot on the 10th October and lastly a Scarlet Honeyeater on the 15th October. They all stayed for only about half an hour and did not return. In 5 years of birdwatching and viewing videos from cameras on this property we have not seen these species before.We wonder if we will see them again.Scarlet HoneyeaterAccording to The Age on the 1st Nov many people have seen Scarlet Honeyeaters in Victoria for the first time. This is an exert from the paper: Scarlet Honeyeaters are more commonly spotted on the Queensland coast – but you may soon see this beautiful little bird in your Melbourne backyard.That's because the scarlet honeyeater appears to be heading to Victoria to seek refuge from drought in its usual habitat.Bird experts think it may now decide to call the Garden State home on a permanent basis.At least that's what preliminary data from the Aussie Backyard Bird Count appears to indicate.BirdLife Australia's Sean Dooley said the Scarlet Honeyeater regularly headed south from its home in the tropics in spring, but rarely ventured further into Victoria than Mallacoota."This year is unprecedented – it’s turning up everywhere in considerable numbers," Mr Dooley said."People have been picking it up all over the place, right across state, around Melbourne, Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, up towards Ballarat and the north west, Castlemaine and even the Shepparton area."It's small in size but big on excitement.In 2016, the tally of scarlet honeyeaters in Victoria was 17. This year, it is 139.Mr Dooley said last winter's extremely dry weather in Queensland could have prompted the honeyeaters to move south to find food.He expects to uncover a similar trend in regards to more inland bush and water birds being seen in coastal areas when he analyses the data.Blue-winged ParrotThe main populations of Blue-winged Parrots are in Tasmania and Victoria, particularly in southern Victoria and the midlands and eastern areas of Tasmania. Blue-winged Parrots are rare visitors to the Box-Ironbark regions of Victoria, mostly in September and October, possibly on passage to breeding grounds in the south of the state. Many aspects of the movements of the Blue-winged Parrot are poorly understood. Researchers know that most blue-wings that breed in Tasmania migrate to the mainland, leaving a handful behind, but what then? Do they leapfrog the populations which breed in southern Australia and head inland? Do southern-Australian birds migrate north, vacating their breeding areas, to be replaced by Tasmanian birds? Do Tasmanian birds augment southern mainland populations, with some remaining in southern Australia while others from both populations head further north for the winter? There is much to learn.Blue-winged Parrots breed in Tasmania, coastal south-eastern South Australia and southern Victoria. They form monogamous pairs and make their nests in a tree hollow or stump, preferably one with a vertical opening. The eggs are laid on a bed of decayed wood. The female alone incubates the eggs, leaving the nest at intervals to be fed by the male, but both parents feed the nestlings.Yellow-tufted HoneyeaterYellow-tufted Honeyeater is supposed to be common and widespread in the Box-Ironbark regions of Victoria but has not been seen by us before.We think this Yellow-tufted Honeyeater is sub-species meltoni which is part of the threatened 'Temperate Woodland Bird Community'. If this is correct then the Yellow-tufted Honeyeater is our 24th threatened animal/bird/reptile species captured on video on our property. We hope that in the future we can help this species along with all the other threatened species that visit or live on our place.
Painted Honeyeater - a very special bird Victorian Natives 2017-11-01 | Painted HoneyeaterThis uncommon and very special bird is classified as Vulnerable in Victoria and is listed under the FFG act. We are very privileged to have it visiting and hopefully breeding at our property. The first video is at the SW Pond and is a lovely close-up of a female on the 22nd of October (the female is greyer on the upper-parts and has less streaking on the flanks). The second (low quality) video is from our old exclusion area or NE Pond on the 2nd October. These ponds are at opposite sides of our 142 hectare (350 acre) property so we hope they are different birds and part of different breeding pairs.The Painted Honeyeater occurs at few localities in Victoria, it is an uncommon breeding migrant from further north. They arrive in October (coinciding with ripening of mistletoe fruits) and leave in January or February. We have noticed that our many eucalypt mistletoes have good quantities of fruit at present. We have only once before had a visit at a pond from a Painted Honeyeater and this was at the NW pond on the 25th Feb 2015.Because Painted Honeyeater feed on moisture containing fruit their requirement to visit our ponds is greatly reduced. If the birds in the videos do represent breeding pairs we hope they will visit again as the summer heats up but this may not happen.Painted Honeyeaters are associated with woodlands that contain abundant mistletoe which is their primary food source. Painted Honeyeaters help spread mistletoe fruit which is usually very helpful as mistletoes provide nesting spots and flowers for nectar over a long period. They also have nutrient rich leaves which are relied on by many species and give a high quality leaf litter with many more invertebrates and beetles living in it.Populations of Painted Honeyeaters have declined throughout their range since mid-20th century. For example in the Bendigo area, the Painted Honeyeater was an annual visitor until the mid-1950s. This is when outbreaks of a cup moth, Doratifera sp., in the local forests resulted in defoliated eucalypts and the widespread death of mistletoes. Since then, the Painted Honeyeater has continued to decline in abundance in the Bendigo area. Clearance and fragmentation of habitat for agricultural purposes, and the lack of regeneration due to continued grazing of remnant habitats by sheep and rabbits, are also threats. The historic decline of mistletoe in timber-production forests and continuing loss of old, mistletoe-bearing trees on farmland has also contributed to the Painted Honeyeater’s decline. Painted Honeyeaters need the protection and enhancement of native vegetation remnants on private land. This is what we are trying to do.Painted Honeyeaters form pair bonds for the duration of the breeding season. In some areas, the same nest or tree may be re-used over several years. Breeding males vigorously defend a breeding territory from other males and occasionally other species such as the Mistletoebird. Both sexes build the thin, cup-shaped nest from grass and fine roots bound with spider web which may be see-through in places.The eggs and young are tended by both sexes, and fledglings may be fed for some time before they disperse. Two broods may be raised in the same breeding season.
Australasian Darter or Snake-bird Victorian Natives 2017-10-07 | Australasian Darter This magnificent bird, with a snake like neck, was picked up by one of our cameras (for the first time) at our small dam on the 30th August.We know this one is a female because it has a white breast; male Darters are brown-black on their front.We are very excited because we now have 113 species of birds on video or photo from our motion sensing cameras on our property.Darters are superficially like cormorants in body shape but are actually significantly different. They have a very long, thin, kinked neck and a straight, finely pointed bill without a hook at the end. They swim very low in the water, often with just head and upper neck visible. You can see this Darter perch ‘cormorant like’ on a waterside rock. It shakes its wings and tail then spreads its wings to dry for a short time before flying away. Darters look like a flying cross in flight because their neck and tail are about the same length as their wings.Darters fly strong and high and like to ride the thermals.The plumage of Darters is even more permeable and less buoyant than in cormorants, this allows them to dive for longer periods and to catch fish by underwater stalking rather than pursuit.Darters are mostly solitary or in small groups. They nest in trees over water.
Yellow-footed Antechinus – nesting Victorian Natives 2017-09-29 | Yellow-footed Antechinus – read amazing info re mating This footage is from the 1st and 2nd of September and shows a female Yellow-footed Antechinus collecting leaves to build a nest. The videos are in their actual order and are slowed down to a half or quarter speed. The female returns with a leaf or leaves twelve times and departs 7 times. The Antechinus moves so fast that the camera would not always capture it.The camera and pond are in front of a big stump which contains many hollows and crevices which would make great nesting sites.After about a month’s gestation, the female gives birth to as many as 14 young which are carried in an open pouch for up to five weeks and weaned after 3 to 4 months. The young share a spherical leafy nest until the following winter when they begin to become territorial and more intolerant of each other’s company. They mate during a two week period in August, after which the males die. Dying after only a single reproductive event is known as semelparity, among mammals, it is only known to occur in insect-eating marsupialsDr Fisher studied the mating habits and paternity of brown antechinus (A. stuartii), whose females usually only breed once, and found that sperm competition is the driving force behind their extreme breeding synchronisation and mating effort. "Although each mating typically takes about twelve hours, females aren't particularly fussy and will have sex with multiple partners if they can, avoiding only those males that are picked on by other males, and perceived to be weak," she says. "Fertilisation doesn't take place immediately, with females storing sperm for up to two weeks in their oviducts. Sperm from only the strongest males then go on to fertilise her eggs. "When the babies are born a month later, they may have up to four different fathers, and the offspring sired by fathers whose sperm competed with others were stronger, and had a better start in life than those who didn't."Competition continues after birth. Like all marsupials, babies are born at an embryonic stage. Antechinus have the biggest litters of any Australian marsupial, averaging eight to ten babies, although Yellow-footed Antechinus can have 14. There is no pouch, with babies attaching to a teat on the mother's underside, then travelling slung under her belly in an open pouch, and clinging on for dear life."Strangely, they have about 20 per cent more babies than nipples," says Fisher, meaning that several babies die at birth. "But they're pretty cheap to produce, at least in the early stages. By the time of weaning at about 100 days old, the litter weighs four times as much as the mother, who exhausts herself and loses weight trying to feed her growing brood."Because antechinus rely so heavily on insect population peaks coinciding with their breeding season, they are extremely vulnerable to climate change."For these animals change is only possible on an evolutionary scale. ”If the climate uncouples the food supply from the breeding cycle, they are in big trouble," she says. If you have Yellow-footed Antechinus then you can help them by leaving as much leaf litter, logs and stumps as possible.
Sacred Kingfishers arrive in Spring Victorian Natives 2017-09-19 | These birds are brilliantly coloured in green, turquoise, blue, cinnamon and white, they migrate from further north and are seen and heard on our property in the warmer months. They are often solitary; kingfishers perch silently and still on a small exposed branch before diving onto prey. The return of the Sacred Kingfisher to south-eastern Australia is a sign of the onset of spring and it’s characteristic, strident ‘kek-kek-kek-kek’ call indicates that a pair is setting up a breeding territory. It is usual for Sacred Kingfishers to raise two broods in a season and we have not had a juvenile bird visit our ponds. You can see on this video that these beautiful birds have visited 5 of our ponds and our birdbath. For the last 3 summers they have arrived in spring and stayed till March, April or May. It is interesting that there are no visits in December and two years also had a break in February. We wonder if they do not visit when they are feeding a juvenile or juveniles.Their main food source is land based prey such as insects and their larvae, reptiles and crustaceans. Large prey is often beaten vigorously against a branch before being swallowed. Sacred Kingfishers lay their eggs in tree hollows, tree termite nests or in a tunnel excavated in a bank. Sacred Kingfishers have a heavy, narrow sharp pointed bill. To begin the hole in a bank or mound the kingfisher takes flying plunges and makes repeated tiny punctures with its sharp beak. After penetrating the surface first one and then the other will cling to the opening and enlarge the hole. Digging is carried out with the bill as a pick and the feet as shovels.Tunnels can be excavated in soft and rotting tree trunks, Sacred Kingfishers have been seen flying repeatedly at the dead limb of a tree. They strike the branch with their beak and produce a resounding “thawack”.The Sacred Kingfisher is one of a few primary excavators of tree hollows in Australia where most hole dwelling species depend on time, termites and fungi to provide suitable cavities. Kingfishers, swifts, parrots, and owls lay white eggs; this may be because they nest in dark holes where camouflage is not necessary.Extra layers of fat are apparently put on to provide the energy for the northward journey after the breeding season. The birds fly swiftly and directly, and young individuals are frequently killed by colliding with windows.
Striated Pardalote – the small jewels of the bird world Victorian Natives 2017-09-05 | Striated Pardalotes are tiny colourful birds with stubby bills and short tails that feed mainly on insects in eucalypt foliage. There are 3 subspecies found at our property in Northern Victoria and they can all be seen on this video. The video starts with P.s. ornatus which has a red spot followed by a narrow white wing stripe. Next you can see P.s. substriatus which has the red spot and a wide white wing stripe. Both these subspecies could be breeding residents but P.s. ornatus are mostly recorded in winter as they disperse from moist forests further south. You can see immature birds of both these subspecies, they have an olive-grey cap, sometimes with pale stripes.P.s. striatus has a yellow wing spot followed by a narrow white wing stripe and can be seen just after the 3 minute point of this video. This is an uncommon, non-breeding, autumn-winter migrant from Tasmania to Victoria.Striated Pardalotes are seen singly or in pairs during the breeding season; during the non-breeding season (autumn to winter), they are often in flocks, sometimes of hundreds. You can see flocks of 8, 10 and 14 near the end of this video.During the videos you can see the Striated Pardalotes raise their head feathers and open their beaks in aggression and also lift their wings in both aggression and display. At the 9.04 minute point of the video you can see two Pardalotes, in the background top-left corner, do a very short display where they take it in turns to raise their wings.Striated Pardalotes are particularly fond of psyllid insects and their sugary coatings called lerps, which cause extensive foliage damage to eucalypt trees. Striated Pardalotes nest in tree hollows or tunnels excavated in earthen banks. They also nest in man-made objects such as brick walls and power poles. The ‘chip chip’ call is often heard before the bird is seen as it gleans insects from leaves in the tree canopy.
Hooded Robins Breed Successfully at 5 Ponds Victorian Natives 2017-08-31 | Hooded Robins Breed SuccessfullyThese very special birds are declining in numbers all over mainland Australia and they are a particular focus of our re-vegetation work.The Hooded Robin is listed as threatened under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act and as near threatened in Victoria. We are very lucky that this bird is a breeding resident on our property and we see it all year round.Hooded Robins prefer sites with a mixture of shrubs, trees and open spaces. Studies suggest open spaces should be at least 20m wide.We are careful when we plant, to increase diversity, to add to areas that already have shrubs and trees. We leave the clear areas and if necessary we thin some of the natural regeneration so clear areas are always present.We now have 6 ponds and a birdbath on our 350 acre property with cameras and these allow us to follow the progress of many family groups of Hooded Robins.When we first set up ponds in 2014 we had three different pairs visiting 3 ponds (two pairs came every month and the third was there for spring). During breeding time Hooded Robins have quite a small territory (about 2 hectares in Victoria). By the end of September 2015 the numbers had increased to a consistent 10 birds regularly visiting 4 ponds. In 2016 the numbers increased again, they reached 16 and settled at a fairly consistent 13. In 2017 the Hooded Robins now have at least five different breeding groups at 5 different ponds and the numbers are regularly at 14.The video shows the 4 ponds that have close-up cameras. We are totally confident that we have five groups because we can follow the individual groups and see the juvenile and immature birds appear and gradually mature.Successful breeding occurred in Dec 2014 and in three areas between March and May 2015.This was followed by five breeding events between Sept and Dec 2015 in four different areas and one in March 2016.Lastly Sept to Nov 2016 gave us another five successful breeding efforts in three areas followed by two more in January.It is not always possible to follow juvenile birds through to maturity so no doubt they do not all make it through all the stages.These shy and quiet birds are usually seen in pairs or small groups, which are mostly family parties or co-operatively breeding groups.With a handsome black hood extending down to its white breast the males look like they are off to a dinner party. The female has grey-brown colouring, where the male is black, and is much less distinctive. The juveniles are fluffy with course white streaking.The video starts with Hooded Robins at the SW Pond, next you see the Pond in the Curlew Area, this is followed by the Birdbath and the final footage is the Pond in the Old Exclusion Area.For the past 12 months Hooded Robins have been at no less than three ponds in every month and numbers do not drop below 7 in any month. In March to May 2017 they are found at all 6 ponds and at the birdbath and total number for all ponds stays at 14.
Yellow-billed Spoonbill eats yabbie Victorian Natives 2017-08-19 | Yellow-billed SpoonbillHow long does it take a Spoonbill to catch and eat one Yabby?This video is from the 8th August at 5.30 pm and it captures the whole process of catching, crushing and finally swallowing a yabby.This Yellow-billed Spoonbill is feeding in a wetland we created. You can see its distinctive yellow ‘spoon’ bill which is flattened and wide-tipped. Their body is creamy white except for black lace plumes on inner secondary feathers. This magnificent and imposing Spoonbill sweeps its wide bill from side to side, creating swirls that flush prey from the water and mud. They feed on water insects, crustaceans and molluscs. Spoonbills wade in the water and sift these creatures from the mud. The tactile detection of food by the wide spatulate bill allows the Spoonbill to feed during both day and night. The Spoonbill appears to be crushing the yabby as it repeatedly drops and picks it up. It takes three and a half minutes to crush the Yabby after it is caught and before it is swallowed!
Ice skating Grey Fantail on frozen pond Victorian Natives 2017-08-14 | Ice Skating Grey FantailDo you remember how cold it was in early JulyHeadlines on 3rd July said: Winter Freeze hits south eastern AustraliaThis video is from the 2nd of July and it shows a lovely grey Fantail trying to have a dip in a pond that is still frozen at 10am!Next you see two cute little Weebills briefly dip in an opening in the ice and then having a good swim in the extremely cold temps before the freeze.On 2nd July temperatures in Goulburn, in the NSW Southern Tablelands, plummeted to minus 13.1.Much of south eastern Australia was held in winter’s icy grip.In the Border region, Albury recorded -2.7 and Wodonga -3.5 but the July record was Rutherglen, less than an hour from this pond, which reached -6.9.This was the Coldest July morning in Rutherglen on record for 101 years.I do not have the temperatures for closer areas like Shepparton and Benalla but Canberra dropped to -8 at 6:30am.In other areas in Victoria it was a similar story with Swan Hill dropping to minus four at 7am, Avalon dropped to -3.6 at 6:30am and Bendigo dropped to -1.2.Mean minimum temperature records were also set in some parts of southern inland New South Wales and northern Victoria in June.Several stations in Victoria's Northern Country recorded a record high number of nights below zero for June, including Rutherglen with 24 nights below 0°C.Minimum temperatures across large regions of western Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and southern Queensland were more than 4°C below average for the entire first week of June.For Victoria as a whole it was also the driest June on recordPersistent high pressure and an associated lack of cold fronts crossing southern Australia gave cold, cloudless nights and the absence of rainfall.The overnight minimum temperatures were below average across much of southern mainland Australia
Diamond Firetails - 23 visit together! Victorian Natives 2017-08-05 | Diamond Firetails We are very excited by the significant increase in Diamond Firetails visiting our SW Pond.Previously the greatest number was 8 birds at one time in September last year when our Chickweed was covered in seed. Very recently (in late June and early July) the numbers have increased to 23 birds at once on the 2nd July 2017.The video starts with footage from the close-up camera on the 23rd of June and continues in correct time order and finishes with the 23 birds taken by the more distant camera.These stunning birds are delightful to watch as they move around on the ground, feeding and showing flashes of their crimson beaks and scarlet rumps.Diamond Firetails are listed as ‘threatened’ under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act and as ‘near threatened’ in Victoria. They need to drink several times a day and we have been fascinated by the many times they have visited all our Ponds. They use our ponds in every month of the year.Overgrazing of native grasses (including by kangaroos) has had a very negative effect on seed eating birds like Diamond Firetails. We now have 4 kangaroo exclusion areas that are between 5 and 10 hectares in size. These areas have to be managed, with grass slashing after seed production, but the difference in increased quantities of native grass seed is extremely significant.Diamond Firetails are usually seen in pairs or small groups so we are particularly rapt to see such big numbers; we are also pleased to see some immature birds in the group. You can see an immature bird near the end of the close-up footage. This video shows why it is very helpful to have both a close-up and a more distant camera.Female Diamond Firetails have a narrower breastband and have more white flank spots than males.We found a very interesting scientific article (Crowhurst et al) which shows that the flank spot number signals dominance in food contests in Diamond Firetail females (but not males). Females with high spot numbers feed before females with low spot numbers.More information on the spot patterns of these beautiful birds and how our ponds are set-up can be read at http://www.victoriannativeseed.com.au/using-small-ponds-to…/
Wedge-tailed Eagles are being poisoned and shot Victorian Natives 2017-07-12 | Wedge-tailed Eagles are still being killed.This video tells a very sad story, we have good reason to believe that all the eagles shown in this video are probably dead.The video starts with an immature eagle from Dec 2013 (ends at 0.33 seconds) next you see a juvenile and then 2 immature eagles from Dec 2014 (ends at 3.08).This is followed by short footage of a single immature bird from Feb 2015 (ends at 3.16) and a juvenile at our big dam from July 2015 (ends at 3.28). Lastly is a single immature bird at the little dam from March 2016. This is all our Wedge-tailed Eagles footage of visits from these majestic birds.In spite of all this successful breeding we almost never see one of these magnificent birds soar overhead and we (and our neighbours) have found many dead young Wedge-tailed Eagles. Ours appear to be poisoned but neighbours have found shot ones. It seems that when new birds come into the area they do not last long.We have been told that there is a local family who routinely both poison and shoot Wedge-tailed Eagles and other birds of prey. The authorities are aware of this behaviour and have a great deal of anecdotal evidence but cannot get first hand evidence that is strong enough to take to court. Our video finishes with a dying and then dead young magpie from Feb 2017. The magpie looks sick for an hour and a half and is seen dead at 9.35pm another hour and a half later. We found another dead magpie on our property at this time. We also have photos of a dead fledgling Wedge-tailed Eagle which we found under a substantial eagles nest on our property. They were taken on 30th March 2015.We have been told that members of this farming family regularly put strychnine on carcasses in order to kill Wedge-tailed Eagles and do this even though other creatures like magpies and endangered Lace Monitors could also be killed. We have had the wonderful sight and sounds of Whistling Kites for short periods but now they are gone as well.Wedge-tailed Eagles eat both live prey and carrion. Their diet reflects the available prey, but the most important live items are rabbits and hares. Rabbits usually comprise about 30-70% of the diet, but may comprise up to 92%. Wedge-tailed Eagles will kill small or sick lambs, but these make up only a small percentage of their total prey. Many of the reports of predation on lambs result from birds scavenging already dead animals. In the mid-1900s, farmers believed that Wedge-tailed Eagles killed sheep and lambs. A bounty was paid for their destruction, leading to the death of tens of thousands of eagles. It’s now understood that eagles only attack sick or dead lambs, and have little real effect on the sheep industry.In WA in a 41 year period to 1968 a total of 147,237 five shilling bounties were paid by that state. Bounties ceased in Nov 1968. In one year almost 10,000 ten shilling bounties were paid in Queensland.With a wingspan reaching more than two meters, the Wedge-tailed Eagle is Australia’s largest bird of prey and one of the biggest eagles in the world.
Ringtail Possum Victorian Natives 2017-07-08 | Ringtail PossumThese delightful marsupials visit 5 of our 6 ponds and are gradually increasing in numbers. The first part of the video shows one and then two Possums in January 2017. The end of the video is from October 2015 and the tail of a baby Ringtail Possum can be seen hanging from the pouch.Ringtail Possums are very well adapted to nocturnal life and cause fewer problems in urban areas, compared to Brushtails, as they usually do not live in buildings. If no hollows are available Ringtail Possums make a large leafy nest called a Drey, they are the only possums to build a nest.Dreys are tightly woven orbs of grass, bark and twigs that are about the size of a soccer ball tucked out of sight in leafy trees like Golden Wattle. One Ringtail family may have as many as five Dreys spread across their territory. Both male and female Possums help with building the Drey and they use their white-tipped prehensile tail to carry the nesting material to the site of the Drey. The prehensile tail is also very useful when clambering about in the outer twigs of the branches to feed on the nutritious young leaves and buds. Ringtails have well adapted front foot with two ‘thumbs’ which gives them greatly improved gripping ability. Young Ringtail and Brushtailed Possums are carried on their mother’s back once they leave the pouch. With Ringtailed Possums the father Possum will also take a turn of carrying the young (also called joeys). Ringtails communicate with a delicate twittering call that sounds like the sort of call that a bat or bird might make.Unfortunately the smaller size and inoffensive nature of Ringtailed Possums makes them easy prey for many predators, including domestic cats. Home-owners are sometimes confronted with the sad sight of the distinctive white-tipped, ringed tails left in the garden or on the back step when the cat has eaten the rest.Ringtailed Possums have a very bright eye shine making them easy to find by torchlight and they usually produce two young but sometimes up to three.
Beautiful Birds seen at the SW Pond under the Grey Box Victorian Natives 2017-06-09 | Beautiful Birds seen under the Grey BoxYou can test and improve your bird identification skills as you watch this footage of fascinating birds.You can also set up your own pond and camera and get to know your local bird and animal species. See how to do it at this website:www.victoriannativeseed.com.au/using-small-ponds-to-survey-wildlife/This video shows close-up footage from a single pond over an eight month period. It shows thirty six species of diverse and interesting birds; these are not all the species that visited because many species either do not fit in the picture or chose not to go in front of the close-up camera.1. 00:00 Brown-headed Honeyeater – adult and immature (with dull colours and pale blue eye ring) 2. 00:39 Buff-rumped Thornbill 3. 01:20 Brown Goshawk 4. 01:55 Superb Fairy-wren – blue males and brown females5. 03:32 Common Bronzewing - female6. 03:56 White-winged Chough – adults with red eyes and immature without 7. 05:02 Diamond Firetail 8. 06:15 Eastern Rosella – adults splashing followed by immature bird9. 07:08 Eastern Spinebill – adult followed by juvenile and immature and adult again10. 08:08 Fuscous Honeyeater11. 08:58 Brown Treecreeper 12. 09:26 Flame Robin – red breasted male and brown females13. 10:43 Grey Butcherbird 14. 11:22 Grey Fantail15. 12:10 Grey Shrike-thrush female then quivering juvenile followed by female again and male with black bill16. Golden Whistler female then immature with rufous in wing and yellow male17. Hooded Robin female then streaked juvenile with female followed by black hooded male 18. Jacky Winter 19. Little Friabird20. Australian Magpie 21. Mistletoebird male22. Noisy Friarbird 23. Pied Currawong juvenile24. Red-capped Robin brown female then juvenile followed by red breasted and capped male 25. Rufous Whistler females followed by male with white throat and rufous underparts separated by black breast band26. Red Wattlebird adults followed by juvenile without red wattles27. Silvereye 28. Striated Pardalote adult from Tasmania with yellow spot then inland subspecies with the red spot with juvenile then by itself29. Scarlet Robin brown and grey female and then black male with the brighter red breast30. Southern Whiteface 31. Weebill 32. White-plumed Honeyeater 33. Willie Wagtail adult followed by juvenile with buff circle on the head34. Yellow-faced Honeyeater 35. Yellow-rumped Thornbill 36. Yellow Thornbill
Red-capped Robin Victorian Natives 2017-05-24 | Red-capped RobinThe Red-capped Robin is one of the most strikingly beautiful birds you can see.Red-capped Robins are seen in small numbers on our property in every month of the year. They only visit two of our ponds which are in areas where there is good protection, with dense understorey vegetation, as well as open areas with many perches.The Red-capped Robin is part of the threatened ‘Temperate Woodland Bird Community’. We have regular visits from 16 of the 24 species that make up this community and 15 of these have been captured on video (many are resident on our property). We are establishing patches of Bulokes, Sheoaks and Cypress Pine in order the add diversity and to encourage more Red-capped Robins.The video shows the bright red males, the dainty females with their less obvious red caps and an immature bird which looks like a female without the red cap.Red-capped Robins are a great example of the term Jizz. This is a term used by birdwatchers to describe the overall impression or appearance of a bird. I can always identify Red-capped Robin because of the way they move. You can see on the video how they flick their tail up and wings down. This habitual movement, which is part of their Jizz, makes it possible to identify these beautiful birds even in silhouette.
Lace Monitor – Tiny and Very Vulnerable Victorian Natives 2017-02-21 | Lace Monitor – Tiny and Very VulnerableThese fascinating creatures are endangered in Victoria because so few young ones are now seen. This is a long lived species (15 to 20 years on average) so the concern is that numbers will continue to plummet because there is so little successful breeding, this is called an extinction debt. We have been baiting for foxes constantly for four years and we have been rapt by the numbers of Lace Monitors we now see at all our ponds and this has included many young ones, as shown in this video. It is possible to identify different individual Lace Monitors as their markings are distinctive and appear to stay the same even though they do fade with age. Lace Monitors lay six to twelve eggs; usually in a termite’s mound (they favour those at the base of a tree). The female digs a hole in the side of the mound, lays the eggs and then leaves the termites to reseal the nest. The temperature inside the mound incubates the eggs and the young have an easy meal of termites after they hatch. The eggs are incubated over winter, which can take up to 10 months, and hatch in spring.The videos shown in this compilation are taken at 3 of our ponds in Nov, Jan, Feb, March and April from 2014 to 2017. They start with the most recent 12/2/2017 and finish with the only ‘Bells’ variety tiny Lace Monitor from 8/11/14. They seem to depict about 10 different specimens over the years. Motion sensing cameras are not easily set off by small reptiles – most of these are started by birds – so hopefully many more have visited and not been captured on film.The young Monitors shelter in tree hollows or fallen logs and are thought to utilise trees more than the adults, they can have a secretive life in the shelter of trees feeding on insects. It is very important to protect termite mounds as breeding sites for this species. This means leaving logs, stumps and dead trees so that termites can use them for food and to form mounds. You can see how we set up our ponds at this link: http://www.victoriannativeseed.com.au/using-small-ponds-to-survey-wildlife/
Wonderful White-browed Woodswallows Victorian Natives 2017-01-26 | Wonderful White-browed WoodswallowsWhat a delight is was when large numbers of these striking birds, with their distinctive white eyebrows, turned up at our pond in December 2016.This video shows first some close-up footage of these charming characters. It starts with the immature birds with their spotty backs and distinctive striking scallop marking on their wings, at the back, when they are closed.Next you see the soft grey females with their lighter ochre breasts. Lastly we show the males with their very prominent white eyebrows and deep rusty red breasts. One male has a good wing stretch.Lastly you can see whole flocks of White-browed Woodswallows, first close-up and then from a distance. You will notice the variation in eye colour and a male bird feeds a female late in the footage. Eye colour varies from dark brown to orange-brown or orange-yellow for males and females. It is brownish yellow or olive-green in juveniles. The basis for this variation is not known.The White-browed Woodswallows in this footage visited from the 15th December 2016 to the 13th January 2017. The maximum number seen at one time is 15 and 10 of these are immature birds.It is wonderful that they obviously had such a good breeding season.You might notice a couple of Masked Woodswallows are mixed in with this flock of White-browed Woodswallows. They have black faces and no white eyebrow; you can see one at the very end of the video and in the close-up with many immature birds. It is common to have mixed flocks of Woodswallows.White-browed Woodswallows are nomadic and are seen in large flocks from late spring through to summer. They feed on insects, catching them in flight, on the ground, or in the tree canopy. They also feed on nectar from flowers and on lerp. In spring 2015 we saw a female sitting on its loose nest made from twigs and grasses which was placed in a fork in a small tree.
Little Lorikeet - red faced but not embarrassed Victorian Natives 2017-01-07 | Little Lorikeet - red faced but not embarrassedThis small Lorikeet may look embarrassed, with its red face, but it is just very shy.The Little Lorikeet is part of the threatened 'Temperate Woodland Bird Community'. If Little Lorikeets are disturbed they fly fast like a bullet, showing their pale green under-wings. Little Lorikeets are inconspicuous in foliage and we would not have known that they were at our property without the NW Pond. We have never seen them anywhere else on our property.They visited the NW Pond (1 to 3 at a time) a few times in December 2014, January & March 2015 and on the 8th November 2016.Little Lorikeets often feed with other Lorikeets and when a single bird first visited, multiple times, it came with Purple-crowned Lorikeets.This video starts with the two Little Lorikeets that visit it 2016 and then shows some of the older footage from 2014/2015. The video finishes with the mixed flock with the Purple-crowned Lorikeets which includes two juvenile birds that keep flapping their wings and looking for attention!The whole video is taken at the NW Pond with 3 different cameras.Little Lorikeets are usually in small flocks, they forage in the upper canopy of Eucalypts. They are arboreal, active and agile when feeding on nectar and pollen they are usually in pairs or in small groups of 3 to 8.Little Lorikeets are difficult to observe because they are small and their green plumage blends in well with foliage as they forage quietly in the upper canopy. They are mostly seen flying quickly overhead. Calls are often unnoticed; the thin, sharp, high-pitched, ‘tsit-tsit’ is often mistaken for Purple-crowned Lorikeet.Little Lorikeets nest in hollow branches or spouts, usually high above ground but sometimes down to 4 to 5 meters.
Australian Wood Ducks with Ducklings Victorian Natives 2017-01-03 | Australian Wood Ducks with DucklingsThis handsome duck often breeds near our dams. This video shows first a male and female Australian Wood Duck with 10 ducklings on our large dam. The start shows the family on the east side, next you see the same group on the west side from a different camera.Lastly you can see another Wood Duck family which is on our small dam. All footage, from both dams, is from early December 2016. The males can be distinguished from the females by their red/brown head and necks.Australian Wood Ducks are a common sight around dams and in lower paddocks; they are more grazers than water-feeders. They feed on grass, other green herbage, grain and insects on the ground. Wood Ducks sometimes form post-breeding flocks of 10 to 50 or more.The Australian Wood Duck has benefited from farm clearing and provision of dams. They nest in large, shallow tree-hollows, often far from water. The very young ducklings often have to travel a long distance to reach water.
Bush Stone-curlews have another Happy Christmas Victorian Natives 2016-12-23 | Bush Stone-curlews have another Happy ChristmasFor the fourth year running our Bush Stone-curlews have successfully bred.We are extra excited because they have also finally visited our ‘Block of Bush’ pond for the first time. It was set up almost 3 years ago with the main purpose of monitoring our Bush Stone-curlews. We knew they lived in the area and we thought that they might visit regularly for a drink and give us a chance to monitor their progress. The ponds have been fantastic for monitoring many species (see www.victoriannativeseed.com.au/using-small-ponds-to-survey-wildlife) but we had given up any hope of a Curlew visit to a pond. This video shows first one adult bird visit the pond without drinking and then the second one visits and has a drink (see slightly different markings - bigger white spot on second bird).Next the video shows this year’s immature bird at our big dam at night (note the shorter neck and tail and slightly different wing markings). You can compare this immature bird with adults calling at the dam, this footage is from previous years.We share our breeding pair of Bush Stone-curlews with our southern neighbour and she kindly let us know that she has had many sightings of a smaller immature bird in recent weeks.Lastly the video shows again the chicks from October 2015, note that you can also see the difference in the white spot size, on the adults, in this footage.You may remember earlier videos showing these fascinating birds. On October 31st 2015 we found the nest of our Bush Stone-curlews for the first time. We are very excited because we have baited continuously for foxes since we have owned the property (now 4 years) in order to help these birds breed and they have succeeded every year. We did not find their nest this year (they are very well camouflaged). Bush Stone-curlews are Endangered in Victoria and Listed under FFG act and are resident on our property, they nest on the ground.
Antechinus baby goes jump! Victorian Natives 2016-12-13 | Antechinus baby goes jump!All Antechinus species are renowned for the fact that all males die after a short mating season in Autumn/winter, leaving a population of pregnant females.The young of the Yellow-footed Antechinus are not weaned for 3 or 4 months, the longest time recorded for a carnivorous mammal.These videos from the first half of November 2016 show some lovely baby Yellow-footed Antechinus. They only appear very briefly so every video is shown first at normal speed and then at one quarter the speed. The last video show an adult and then shows a baby take a big jump as if it is avoiding the adult. Perhaps the weaning has finished or it could be female that is not the mother.All our ponds have Yellow-footed Antechinus in the area all year round.These videos are from the pond in the Curlew protection area which has resident Yellow-footed Antechinus at all times.
Rufous Song Lark – the difference between males and females Victorian Natives 2016-12-10 | The Rufous Songlark – the difference between males and females.I was wrong in the previous YouTube upload, it turns out that the Rufous Songlark had not stopped coming and during breeding time it is possible to tell females from males. The male which featured in the previous video returned on the 24th November (after two weeks absence) with much more calling. The female started to come (for the first time) on the 25th November.The Handbook of Australian, NZ and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB) explains that for adult males the colour of bill and gape and inside of mouth varies seasonally, and this distinguishes them from adult females in the breeding season.When breeding, bill, gape and inside of mouth (often visible when singing) is entirely black for the males.Adult females are smaller and bare parts are much as adult males in the non-breeding season: bill pinkish brown, inside of mouth is pink and claws are dark pinkish.This video shows a male calling and you can see the black gape, the first call is repeated and slowed down to see the gape better. The next footage shows more of the male calling. Rufous Songlark males sing constantly while making flights from tree to tree, vigorously and almost continuously throughout the day for the duration of the mating and nesting period. The males are strongly territorial during the breeding season, defending and remaining within territory throughout breeding season.The video then shows a male arrive as a female leaves. Lastly are a number of short videos of the female. You can see the pinkish colour of the feet and the pinkish brown bill. The female comes and goes by walking through the scrub. You can see her disappear through the undergrowth at the end.When the female is off the nest, she usually forages under cover. Female Rufous Songlarks are known for being rather quiet and keeping concealed, they are very wary at the nest, making observation difficult.Rufous Songlark males are apparently polygynous but there are no studies of the mating system. Near Bendigo a single male was observed courting and nesting simultaneously with three females on territory; another male nearby mated with two females.Incubation is by the female only; brooding and feeding of nestlings also apparently by female only; both members of the pair have been seen to feed fledglings.
Rufous Song Lark Victorian Natives 2016-12-09 | Rufous SonglarkThis bird is a lovely character and a bit of a mystery. A Rufous Songlark turned up at the NW Pond in September 2014. It then visited on 8 different days in October and 2 in November and then disappeared again. We did not see it again anywhere right through 2015 and for most of 2016.We thought it had gone for good so we were delighted to see it return to the NW pond in October 2016 and visit on 6 different days (as shown on this video). A single bird continued to visit for 7 days in November and stopped on the 10th (it stopped coming on the 8th in 2014).The Rufous Songlark is a breeding migrant to our Box-Ironbark and Woodland areas from inland and northern Australia. It arrives in late August or September and leaves in late December or January. It is difficult to tell the females and males apart, so perhaps our bird is actually a breeding pair visiting the NW Pond separately. There were often 2 or 3 visits in the same day.The Rufous Songlark feeds in low foliage and on the ground. It also nests on the ground and needs tussocks and fallen logs for protection of its nest. A loud ringing song usually announces the presence of this otherwise inconspicuous bird. We have however not heard or seen it anywhere and would not know it was present if it was not for the camera on the NW Pond.Rufous Songlark has an unusual ‘splintered’ song which is a distinctive sound in some areas. It favours open grassland, grassy open woodland and farmed land. Its food source is insects and small arthropods.
