Sun Orchids

Trim Sun Orchid Thalymitra peniculata 

The current warm and sunny Spring seems to be suiting the local orchids as there are thousands of them in flower in the woodlands around Canberra at the moment. The shy Sun Orchids are the species that I have particularly noticed this year on Black Mountain. This is a great place for orchids in number and variety with about sixty orchid species recorded in the woodlands there. I don't go out looking for them especially, I simply notice them while in the woods looking for Tawny Frogmouths, my main study species here in Australia.

Trim Sun Orchid in woodland habitat

Some orchids grow in small colonies, however the Sun Orchids are usually found singly and as they are slow to open their flowers every day, and only if the sun is bright, they can be easily missed. The tallest of these plants was the Trim Sun Orchid which stood erect at about 40cm, which was just about the same as the surrounding grasses so it was well concealed until it opened up and displayed its bright purple-blue petals.

Large-spotted Sun Orchid Thelymitra juncifolia

The most difficult to find species of those shown here was the Large-spotted Sun Orchid as they were growing in partially shadowed woodland, where the dappled light hid them in the partial shadows - always tricky conditions for our eyes to detect anything due to the loss of detail in the contrasting light.

Large-spotted Sun Orchid on forest floor

The one species I found out in the open grassland on the edge of the forest was the Slender Sun Orchid, the smallest of those here with a flower only 15mm wide. They were growing in quite tight flower spikes and reminded me in their form and soft hue of alpine gentian species.

Slender Sun Orchid Thelymitra pauciflora 

I might have found these orchids difficult to find but the local herbivores seemed to find them alright. There are Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Swamp wallabies and  rabbits all in there munching away. When I passed through the area a few days later, the flowers were gone, the plants were gone. So they weren't just not open or gone to form seed and even more tricky to find, they had been eaten. What a beautiful meal.

Slender Sun Orchid plant in grassland

I thank Dennis Wilson for help with identifying these orchids, he is always so patient with me.

Noisy Miners

Two Noisy Miners - a pest or a successful adaptable species?

As a woodland species that favours clear ground with not much shrubbery, Noisy Miners Manorina melanocephala have adapted well to the human-cleared woodlands around Canberra. They nest in loose colonies with their nests about a hundred metres apart, and as they as very demonstrative against intruders they fit their name. Although we can tolerate their mobbing and chasing, smaller birds can't and many parts of the woods which hold Noisy Miners lack some of the usually more common bird species.

A typical clutch of three Noisy Miner eggs lying on a lining of kangaroo hair

A secondary factor which also helps the miners dominate parts the woodland is the grazing of the understorey and grasses by Eastern Grey Kangaroos Macropus giganteus. These large herbivores have grazed the ground cover down to very short swards and bare ground in some places. And in the absence of a predator, the kangaroos numbers are abnormally high. The local authorities do cull some animals but the population was allowed to build up to such a high level previous to this that it will take many years before the vegetation is restored to a more balanced composition of ground cover and shrubbery, which in turn will support a wider range of animal life including those missing species of birds.

But the Noisy Miners are happy and they further benefit from the kangaroos by using their cast fur as a lining for their nests. So, can these two species be regarded as pest native species, due to their abundance and effect on the woodlands and other bird species, or are they simply successful adaptable species that can thrive in a human-created landscape.

A group of Eastern Grey Kangaroos in Canberra woodland with little understorey

Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Zipped up the back

Here is my humble entry and semi-finalist photograph in this year's Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. I never thought it would win, but it is good fun to take part and when we view the winners, there is lots of inspiration on what to shoot, or a good simple, 'I like that'.

Another shot I entered was a close up of a Tawny Frogmouth perched on a branch, showing how the plumage merges so well with the bark.Only the claw gives the game away, which I deliberately captured. I also kept a bit of bird shape to show the similar form of a branch, part of the bird's camouflage.

Bird and bark

I was tempted to crop in even closer, but even if I had I would not have caught such a powerful image as that by Jess Findlay, 'Pauraque study'.  His subject and lighting give a much more striking image - well done Jess. I won't submit any more 'brown' images in future.

Once again, the overall winning shot was of a top favourite animal species, in this case lions. The competition is linked and promoted by the BBC Wildlife Magazine and as any editor knows, competitions are partly run to promote the magazine and increase sales. So they would like popular animal subjects wouldn't they. The winning shot is a nice shot, but would it have won if the subjects were slugs? However, the important points are, the Museum gets publicity, which I agree with, the magazine gets a wider readership which is all good for the wildlife and conservation issues it promotes, and the photographers get media coverage. So we are all winners and what can I say but thank you to the promoters for inspiring we photographers and making us keep improving.

My pick of the shots are the arty ones by Andrew Lee, 'Edge of creation'. and Herfried Marek, 'Golden birch'.

Lunar eclipse

What I like about a red moon is how, when viewed through binoculars, we can see it in a three dimensional effect with the stars beyond - much better than that through a telescope, or when the moon is too bright.

Last night, October 8th, at about 2150 hrs, I photographed the Lunar Eclipse as the blood red colour began to wash off the lunar surface. A night with a  full moon is usually a good time to watch Tawny Frogmouths, or any other nocturnally active animal as they can be seen without artificial light or night-vision equipment. Not under a red moon though, it was too dark. I don't normally take flash photographs of frogmouths, but I took this one to see if there was a chick beneath the adult bird sitting on the nest. I just couldn't see for sure. However, the camera didn't help. Yet there was one, as I saw a little later when the bird's mate, the female, came in with some prey and passed it to a tiny chick hidden by the nest rim. The adults red eye-shine reminded me of the red moon.

Grey Butcherbird

A Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus arrives at its nest with food for its young

The bird breeding season around Canberra is a protracted affair, with some birds like the Wedge-tailed Eagles and Superb Lyrebirds laying their eggs in winter, as well as a few small birds such as, for example some Buff-rumped Thornbills. At the moment a White-browed Scrubwren is incubating eggs in a nest in our garden - due to hatch any day now. However, Spring is the main breeding season and for most species; whether building nests, laying eggs, incubating them, feeding nestlings or caring for fledglings, some part of their breeding programme usually occurs then. It simply makes sense, timing their offspring's fledging and dispersal into the population to fit the period of the year when most of their food is abundant. Depending on species, the birds' food can be flower nectar, fruit, insects or other smaller animals such as, well, young birds. And each species times its breeding period to fit their young fledging when their food is most abundant

I often find these birds in the woodlands when I am monitoring the Tawny Frogmouths,
and this pair were nesting in a small tree next to a Frogmouth nest tree

Insects are becoming more abundant every day as the weather warms up, although flying insects can be difficult to catch and often it is their larvae that are bigger and more nutritious than the adult forms, such as moth caterpillars. Butcherbirds catch most of their prey on the ground, like the big fat grub that this one caught.

All butcherbirds have hooked tips to their bills - for catching and holding prey efficiently

There is a reason for all bird behaviour and all bird anatomy. Evolution if driven by efficiency

But birds' bills are sensitive organs and the butcherbird thrust the food
deep into its chick's throat without the slightest bit of harm

Double-pink

Double-pink sitting quietly in her roost 

Double-pink, a female Tawny Frogmouth that has been breeding within my frogmouth study area in Canberra now for three years. She was released by the RSPCA after a road accident and subsequent treatment, and it was they who put the two pink colour-rings/bands on her legs. These are obviously not having any effect on her as she and her partner reared two chicks two years ago, then another last year.

Now she is back in the same home range and the pair again have eggs in their nest.

One of her pink rings - she has one on each leg

The eggs were probably laid last week, and incubation takes about a month. So it might be a while before I post any updates on their progress, but keep in touch. Last time I posted on their breeding there were lots of viewers.

Her partner sits on the nest all day

Buff-rumped Thornbill fledglings

A brrood of three fledglings is typical of Buff-rumped thornbills.

It is always worth paying attention to the numerous calls of the bush, as they all mean something to someone, and they can lead to a little bit of wildlife action. Yesterday, I heard a busy series of thin squeaking coming from an acacia shrub. It could have been almost any small bird creating a fuss at my approach, but I stopped and listening more closely. Then with experience of bird calls gathered over my lifetime, I knew that it was a begging call, although more complicated. A bit more time soon broke the calls into the same type from more than one individual, and I could also now make out an alarm call, so that clinched it. There was a brood of small young birds close by, and after a minute or so watching for movement, I found a brood of Buff-rumped Thornbills Acanthiza reguloides.

There were three fledglings huddled together on a branch making begging calls for their parents to feed them. I stepped back a few metres and soon an adult bird came in and fed them. They were quick, I barely saw a flick in the back of the shrub, then a bird was popping food down into a chick's throat. And then it was gone. The whole procedure only took seconds. Then the other parent came in and repeated the process. I took some optimistic shots and managed to capture a couple of food passes by holding the camera with the chicks in frame and focus. I watched their behaviour and when I saw them become excited and focused on something out of frame I pressed the shutter release which was set on high speed continuous shooting  mode.

The adults were soon foraging farther for food and the impatient chicks began to fidget and eventually could not wait any longer. They jumped from their perch and followed their parents into the next clump of foliage. In a few minutes they were well away as the family worked their way through the wood. Only their calls told they were there.

A parent bird thrusts food down into a fledgling's throat

Cockatoo Sunset

I was out yesterday sunset watching the sun go down over the Brindabellas, our local hill range, when I saw this pair of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos Cacatua galerita come in to display and call in an old dead tree. Dusk is a wonderful time of day, with so much wildlife activity going on. And these birds certainly drew one's attention with their raucous calls - they don't sing too well.

They looked so splendid with their crests erect against the pink sky - terrific birds. I like them despite their reputation for wanton vandalism and noisy neighbourly behaviour.

And now, if you have a song in your head click here and sing along ........

Echidna

Echidna spines - quills - there is a layer of soft fur between the quills for insulation

The warming weather has brought out all sorts of animals and this echidna was busy grubbing for food yesterday. She was a big one, about 4-5 kilos and probably hungry after the lean months in the cold Canberra winter when she would likely have spent much of the time in torpor hidden in a burrow. I found her by following up the alarm calls from an Eastern Rosella and a mob of Noisy Miners, not that she was a threat to them.

She was slowly working her through the undergrowth

I could see that she was busy with her head down and a she was walking in my direction I knelt down to lean the camera on a fallen branch, then watched as she came closer and closer, to a few metres away, still quite undisturbed by my presence.

Echidnas spend spend much of their time tearing open old fallen branches in search of termites

It was such a treat to be able to watch this echidna from front on, so often they see or hear us first and either scuttle away offering a rear-view, or they quickly dig themselves down into the ground, curl up and hide. I could see just how powerful those limbs are as she dug around. The limbs are shortened for more strength and the bones in the feet are fused into tight pads. Only the extreme digital bones protrude and they are sheathed in thick claws - pretty tough finger nails.

The thick strong claws and highly adapted snout

Their eyesight is not poor, but not much more than adequate for detecting potential predators or recognising their way around their home range. They do have a wonderful nose though, with finely tuned touch, smell and electrical receptors. The whole modified mouth parts including the nose are covered in a leathery skin and I watched as she poked this snout into the soil, surprisingly firmly for such a delicate organ. Every now and then i caught a glimpse of her long sticky tongue which whipped in and out to catch termites or any other insect which I could not see as they were all out of view down in the holes.

The hind claws point backwards with long curling outer claws.
These are used for grooming between those long quills

With so many quills and as they use the evasive action of curling into a ball for protection, any large external ears structure would be a disadvantage. So echidnas have simple ear-holes hidden within the fur and quills. I had good views of these as this one stretched and bent at my feet. They hear most people approach, as people are generally noisy, and they go quiet and still til the threat passes. Yet, I can recognise the distinctive shuffling sounds which echidnas make, and I turn the tables to stop still and watch them. That is usually from a distance, though, not as close as with this one.

The echidna's ear is hidden below  the quills

After about twenty minutes of undisturbed behaviour watching, I shuffled off myself. The echidna stopped still as I stood up, but I was gone before she felt any need to dig for safety. She then walked off unconcerned.

 An undisturbed echidna carries on with its own business

A Bzzzy Spring day

Apricot blossom in full flower

Today is the the first calendar day of Spring and Canberra is full of blossom-bearing trees; almond, cherry, plum and apricot. These images are of apricot blossom in our orchard and while I was taking a few photographs of the spectacle I thought I would try to capture some shots of the honey bees that were busy collecting their nectar.

The flowers have a cluster of stamens and a single style with a stigma at the tip. One can be clearly distinguished
 in the right-hand flower as a grey stem with a simple round stigma at the tip, compared
 with the white stems and double head on the anthers,

Honey bees are feral animals in Australia and can cause harm to native species by such action as taking over tree cavities which denies other animals shelter and nest sites. However, they are here and are considered economically important for their pollination of flowers which leads to fruit, nut and seed production. Last year, our blossom flowered during a cold period and there were very few bees or other insects flying. The result was very few fruits on our trees. This year, the blossom is out during a warm sunny spell and insect life is busy around the trees, but mostly honey bees and a few hoverflies.

A honey bee approaches a cluster of apricot flowers

I was using a 60mm macro lens on my camera for the blossom shots and when I turned this towards the bees in flight I met a considerable challenge to freeze them in flight. Most of these shots were taken at about 1/8000th of a second at F9. This was fast enough to grab detail in the insects' body, but not enough to freeze their wings. Honey bees only travel at about 15 miles per hour, but when close up, only centimetres away, they are in and out of frame in no time at all. To catch a bee in frame was difficult, to catch one in focus more so. I took over three hundred shots and only came a away with about twenty good ones. My camera was a Nikon D700 set at 4000 iso, on high speed continuous shooting, and the battery ran down pretty quickly. I don't use flash for wildlife shots.

This bee's hind legs hang low under the weight of nectar stored in her nectar pouches.

Honey bees flap their wings at 240 beats per second and twist /rotate them for directional control.

They really are very maneuverable; hovering, flitting and zooming about from one flower to the next

I sat at the base of a tree and waited for the bees to come within range as any sudden movement would alarm them and they would fly off to the far side of the tree, or another tree nearby. Once I had determined what film speed to use, all I needed was patience, and quick reflexes when one did come into frame. But just sitting amongst the blossom was an experience itself as the scent was amazing. I wonder how its smells to a bee.

The blossom is well adapted for pollination by hairy-bodied bees.

Once they bees landed on a flower they had to clamber through the tangle of stamens to reach deep into the heart of the flower where the nectar is stored in a receptacle around the base of the style. In doing so, they become covered in pollen and when they fly to another flower they offload pollen onto that plant's stigma, and pollination ensues.

The bees have to reach deep into the flower to reach the nectar.

I could see what was happening at the time, but it was only when I downloaded and catalogued the images that I could see and appreciate the detail of such everyday animal behaviour.

And when they leave the flower, their face, eyes, legs and body are all coated with sticky pollen.

Sign of Spring

A male Shingleback follows a female - slowly

Yesterday I came across this pair of Shinglebacks Tiliqua rugosa in the local bush. They are considered to pair, as they remain in the same partnership for years. They can live for over ten years and they probably share overlapping home ranges, which in turn probably leads them to more likely mate together in spring, rather than with individuals from farther afield. I have only ever seen them this close together in spring when they are about to mate. So, are they a pair or simply in a loose partnership.

The female was longer, and had a fatter tail - probably important for her to be in good breeding condition

The male was creeping along behind the female, following her scent, which contains pheromones, signalling that she will soon be ready to mate. The male would want to be close by all that time to ensure that he is there when she is ready and to ward off any intruding males in the meantime.

The male was following in her tracks, tracing her scent trail

Most skinks are quick to run off as soon as approached and we seldom have time for a decent look at them. Shinglebacks however remain still and rely on that to conceal them - they just look like sticks lying in the shadows, and they are usually under grasses or shrubs.

The scales or scutes of a reptile's skin are perfectly arranged with exquisite detail around the mouth, nose and eyes

I took these photographs from less than two metres, more than close enough to capture the detail of their scale patterns without making them feel insecure and want to run (shuffle) off as a last minute defense.

Shinglebacks are quiet and unobtrusive, they allow  close approach, but I never pick them up - that would be obtrusive

Footprints in the snow

A snow-covered track through the forest

It is now Spring down on the plains and winter seems long ago. Yet it was only a week or so since I was up monitoring Superb Lyrebirds on the high slopes of the Brindabella range west of Canberra, and it was snowing. Fresh snow always adds another dimension to a day out and also a quick and easy method of determining what animals are about as any that walk must leave prints behind.

Lyrebird footprints on the left, fox on the right

Unfortunately the first species I found tracks of was Red Fox, an introduced pest species. I am familiar with these from years spent in Scotland where I have seen countless such tracks while exploring the Highlands in winter. Fox prints are easily recognised by the straight line followed, often along a track as with most predators which patrol large areas in search of prey. They like us, probably use these routes for quick direct access to and from their dens. Local foxes would be familiar with all such features in their territories. The prints are small prints, with four pointed toes tightly set and the hind paws fall neatly into the mark of the front paws, leaving only a single set of paw marks per stride.

Fox prints fall on top of one another when trotting like this one was

There were a few prints from unidentifiable small birds, but none from any other mammals or marsupials. The next obvious trail I found was of a lyrebird. Again, set in a straight line as it had walked along the road, but not for far. The fox had walked for over a kilometre along the path, the lyrebird only for several metres as it had stepped out of the thick scrub on one side of the track, along the line, then down into the scrub on the other side.

Lyrebirds take long strides when walking quickly

The lyrebird's stride was short initially as it left the cover, it lengthened as it entered open ground, then its steps shortened as it pecked for food on the edge before disappearing into thick cover again. As a bird of dense forest it would likely feel exposed and vulnerable to predators while in the open, so was likely in a hurry to regain shelter from the thick scrub.

Prints tell more than just who made them.

The distinctive outline of a lyrebird footprint - three long toes forward, one backward