Shingleback
Trachydosaurus rugosus

While on the recent trip out to western New South Wales we came across several Shingleback lizards.

A shingleback, or stumpytail as they are frequently called, throws out its tongue

 in threat display on being steered away from the roadside for its own safety.

These lizards spend much of their time resting among low ground and leaf litter, 

and when lying still their spiny scales resemble those of pine cones, even though 

there are none of those in the area.

They are quiet animals, feeding mostly on plant parts, flowers, seeds etc. 

And despite their threat display they have no real bite to be aware of.

Unique in reptiles, they live in pairs, closely in spring during the mating season, 

and still in the same general area for the rest of the time. Mark Clayton found 

these two resting under an old sheet of corrugated iron.

Round Hill trip

 Splendid Fairy-wren Malarus splendens adult male

Last weekend I went out west with a few friends, surveying birds in some National Parks in and around the mallee of New South Wales, centred around the Round Hill National Park. The trip was organised (very well) by Mark Clayton, and other members were, Suzie Bond, Steve and Pru Holliday, Kim Sebo and Jennifer Hine.


There were high numbers, thousands, of Masked Woodswallows Artamus personatus  and White-browed woodswallows A. superciliosus chattering in huge flocks above us when at most of the sites. And there were hundreds of Black Honeyeaters Certhionyx niger and Pied Honeyeaters C. variegatus feeding on the flowering trees and shrubs, especially the Eremophila. We didn't see any Malleefowl Leipoa ocellata - they are scarce due to predation by cats and foxes- but we did record most other local species, such as Gilbert's Whistler Pachycephalata inomata, Chestnut Quail-thrush Cinclosoma castanotus, Southern Scrub-robin Drymodes brunneopygia and the stunningly blue Splendid fairy-wren Malarus splendens.

 Southern Scrub-robin Drymodes brunneopygia

male singing from a low branch in the mallee scrub

The dark streak through its eye with the contrasting white flick is a diagnostic feature, 

as are the pair of off-white wing bars, and the way the bird lets its wings hang down.

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza uropygialis 

carrying food, a small moth, into its nesthole to feed chicks.

Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae feathers caught on barbed wire where a bird has jumped over a fence.

First Frogmouths have hatched

The female frogmouth comes in to the nest

The first tawny Frogmouths hatched over the 26-27th September, taking less than forty hours from the first fidgeting of the incubating adult to seeing the two chicks in the nest. All this was recorded using a remote camera, set to record on registering movement in the field of view. There is very little sound on the recording as all took place in silence: the birds did not call to one another, the chicks did not even cheep when begging for food, and the birds' flight is almost silent. This is all in defense against predators hearing them, especially powerful owls, even though there are none near the nest?. They are considerable predators in parts of the Tawny Frogmouth's range.

To see more, click on the link to a YouTube video below, it is 3m 20sec long and 7Mb.

Tawny Frogmouths feeding newly-hatched chicks

The video opens with the male sitting on the nest, as he had done for the whole previous day. The female then comes to relieve him of his duties, but brings no food for the chicks as she would not have known there were chicks in the nest - they had hatched since her last vigil on the previous night. 

The male is recognizable as the larger bird, with a broad, well striped head, bold necklace markings and stronger markings on his wing and tail feathers. She is smaller and has less markings.

He then comes in with the first food for the newly-hatched chicks. The prey they both bring in is small, linear, legless and wingless - earthworms? The chicks were fed thirteen times during the night, seven by the male and six by the female, each taking it thier turn.

The male delicately feeds the chicks with their first meal

The camera used was a Bushnell Trophycam HD, with black flash.

Follow up on the colour-banded frogmouth

Thanks to everyone who showed interest and helped track down the origins of the colour-banded Tawny Frogmouth which I found the other day. And there were lots of you!

The local ACT branch of the RSPCA came back to me with the news that she was a bird which they had nursed back to health. She was found in Ainslie, a nearby suburb, after being hit by a car, then after four months in re-hab she was released in the same area. That all happened in 2010. So since then she has fully recovered, moved a few kilometers and is now playing an active part in the local breeding population of Tawny Frogmouths.

So, well done, to the person who found her, the staff and volunteers at the RSPCA.

For more information on what to do if you come across an injured wild animal in the ACT follow this link RSPCA wildlife and if you would like to donate any money in appreciation of their part in this happy ended tale follow this link donate to RSPCA

Colour-banded Tawny Frogmouth

I was out checking tawny frogmouths today, and was glad to see this female's partner on a new nest. But she had a surprise for me - she is colour-banded. I hadn't approached her too closely on previous visits and she hadn't shown her legs, nor have I had any reason to look at them as I have not marked any of my study birds to date. She has one pink plastic band on each leg and no metal ring from the banding scheme, so I suspect that she has escaped from captivity of some form. The bands look like pigeon racing or bird-fancier type; plastic with a clip closure. They also seem to have once been red, but now faded to pink under the UV light. If anyone out there knows anything about her origin, where and when she was banded, it would be very interesting to me. How far has she traveled and how old is she?

I am glad to see her free and breeding whatever her story. She is quite a well-marked bird with lots of rusty flecking in her plumage, and she has a thick dark necklace pattern.Well done if she did escape.

Yeh!! Free!!