Black Mountain Moths

I was recently asked to join a team of moth enthusiasts for a night's survey. My role was to take photographs which might be used illustrate a book they are writing on the moths of the Australian Capital Territory. These were Ted Edwards, Glenn Cocking and Suzi Bond and they used lamps to attract the insects, explained to me which was which, then I tried to grab some shots. I learned a lot in a such a short time, and since when looking up background of the various species.

Entometa sp. (Lasiocampidae) - wingspan of female c 8cm

The study site was in eucalyptus forest on Black Mountain, within a few km of the city centre, and we ran the traps from dusk (1900) to about 2300 hrs. The moths came in steadily all that time, and after a while they would drift off back into the surrounding darkness. So the variety of species changed as the night progressed as different moths are active at different times. I didn't know that before then, thanks Ted and Glenn.

Wingia lambertella - wingspan c 4cm

The moths' colours were distorted by the mercury lights, casting a green tinge over them, so I concentrated on taking shots insects out on the edge of the area, where they settled on leaf litter, foliage or branches. Although focusing the cameras in the near darkness was a challenge.

Sorama bicolor - wingspan male 4 cm, female 6 cm

All the species I photographed were eucalyptus, gum-tree, specialists so it was no surprise that they were abundant as we were in the middle of 5 sq km of dry sclerophyll forest dominated by Scribbly Gum Eucalyptus rossii, Red-stringybark E. macrorhyncha. The caterpillars of all the species illustrated here feed on gum leaves,

Hypobapta sp. (Geometridae) - wingspan c 5 cm

I have always shied away from studying moths as there are so many species, but as is so often the case, if we take it in small steps we can have a fascinating journey.

Old Suit



One of the highlights of my wildlife week has been meeting this wedge-tailed eagle high on a ridge. I was out for a walk on one of the many hills in Canberra, many of which are within suburbia, like this one. The bird was quite happy to sit on its branch while I walked past less than fifty metres away, so I grabbed a few shots. Once I looked through the long lens, I saw how scruffy he was - it was a male - not only his flight feathers of his tail and wings, but even his body feathers were tatty. It was an old suit and time he grew a new one. That would probably not be long now as the eagle chicks in the area are several weeks old now and will soon be fledging. When they are about 11 or 12 weeks old. This bird has probably worn his feathers down while hunting for his family, but he will have the whole of summer to regrow a new suit, while his fledglings learn to fend for themselves.

Once he had sussed me out and judged that I was no threat to him, he carried on preening. He tried hard to straighten and smooth those feathers. First those on his back.

Then he grabbed a primary that needed a good bit of maintenance.

He gave the whole lot a good shake.

Stretched out his wings - showing the chips on the edges of the primaries and his wayward tail feathers.

Meanwhile a pied currawong was determined to make life noisy and uncomfortable for its predatory neighbour. The wedgie couldn't care. He knew what he could do if he wanted to. And I moved on leaving them to it.

First Frogmouths fledged

The first Tawny Frogmouth chicks of the year left their nest last Sunday, the 15th October. That means the first egg would have been laid about the 18th August, quite early but not the earliest I have seen in Canberra. That was the 12th August one year. The pair who breed in this territory are usually one of the earliest to lay. There is a wide spread of laying dates this year over the frogmouths that I monitor - I have been recording the breeding success of about fifty pairs for over ten years. And this year some of the birds only went down on eggs a week or so ago, seven weeks later than these early ones.

Even though they have left the nest, the chicks have not truly fledged. They are still very dependent upon their parents for food and protection. They will stay with their parents for at least another month, usually longer, living as a family group until they finally disperse at the end of the breeding season and find territories and mates of their own.



The male was the bird in close attendance of the chicks, as is usually the case. Although the adult birds both know me as I have been visiting them for several years, they were still wary of me in protection of their chicks. They did not go into full stick-pose, but did stretch up a little and watch me through half-closed eyes.

Meanwhile the female watched from the next tree. Again in part concealment pose, and watching through part-closed eyes.

How the echidna crossed the road

The Botanic Gardens in Canberra are a great place to see wildlife; birds, wallabies, snakes, water dragons, butterflies, and the other day - I heard an echidna rolling through the undergrowth, so I stopped to watch him (it was a male).


He was obviously used to people as he kept walking straight towards me and gave me excellent views of his face and claws.

Then he climbed up onto the top of the road-side wall, about a third of a metre high.

He looked down the wall and didn't seem too sure what to do. So he went for a wander about, then came back and tried a different part of the wall. He was determined to go that way, so he had to go down.

Slowly stretching...

Then a controlled flop onto the back of his head. I am sure all those spines would have cushioned the bump nicely.

A quick uncurl.

And off he went across the road. No traffic coming, all safe.

As he walked past me a few metres away, he was close enough for me to see several ticks had attached themselves to his ear. Two were well engorged with blood and would soon drop off, but I know only too well how uncomfortable they feel. He would be glad to be rid of them.

All else was well. He slipped into the bush where he was not so easily seen. I suspect that he was a male following the scent of a female as it is the mating season. Hence his determined attitude to follow that course.

Talon-grappling eagles



There was a stiff breeze yesterday so I went out to watch for displaying raptors over some hills just outside Canberra - and I saw so much more than I expected. Four Wedge-tailed Eagles Aquila audax flew along the airspace at about my elevation on the hillside and two of them began to tumble down through the air, grappling their talons as they spun around and around.

These birds were all youngsters, i.e. fledged at least last year and not yet fully adult. This can be seen in the white base to their tails. Adults have dark tail coverts.

Although these birds have wing-spans of over two metres they showed that they are very agile and seemed to be in control of where they were at all times and in all directions. They would have to be or else they could have been seriously hurt.

They always grabbed the other bird's talons, never seeming to aim for anything else, or was it that each bird always fended off any strikes by the other.

They held each other by one and two talons, and I wondered if they ever drew blood from one another. Those talons are sharp and if they grasped the flesh of the other bird's foot, surely they could draw blood if they wanted to.

Then after only several seconds, the show was over. The birds let go and drifted apart. All while the third bird was watching from a few wing lengths away. And the fourth bird had drifted on along the ridge out of sight, mobbed by a trail of Australian Ravens, Australian Magpies and a Little Eagle.