Red Bellied Black Snake

Never blinking concentration

While walking with Lachlan through Tidbinbilla Nature reserve in the Australian Capital Territory yesterday, he noticed one, then a second and even a third snake lurking in the undergrowth between the path and the waterside of a small lake. They were all Red-bellied Black Snakes Pseudechis porphyriacus, one of my favourite species of snake in Australia as they have a rich shiny black top side and a fiery red belly - and I have never seen an aggressive one.

A glimpse of the beautiful red belly of the snake as it slipped over a path

The first one glided onto and across the path to drop into a patch of marsh where it carried on hunting for frogs, lizards or whatever else it might eat. The colour on its belly was more easily seen as it crossed the open path than when it slipped through the grasses.

Hunting in the waterside grass

That one was about a metre and a half long and the others about two metres, perhaps one female and two males. But why are people obsessed with the length of snakes, their size does not make them more dangerous (unless they are very large pythons which could kill a human if given a chance). These Black Snakes are very venomous, yet they were quietly getting on with their life and as we left them alone, they left us alone. No one has been recorded as being killed from a bite by any of  this species. 

There was an appropriate visitor sign in the reserve which said 'the only good snake is a live snake' and I for one agree. We just need to be careful if they are around. 

This one would lift its head up to see, or scent for prey, but I don't know why it spread its hood as I didn't approach it.
This is usually a sign to back off, so I did anyway.

Around Eden

Humpback Whales - mother and calf

Last week I went on a trip down to Eden on the south coast of New South Wales, primarily to go out on a boat trip to see the last of the whale migration pass by, and also to see some local birds of the area - on land as well as at sea. And we had splendid close-up views of two mother and calf pairs of Humpback Whales. They were quietly cruising across the bay outside the fishing port of Eden.

Short-tailed Shearwater - note feet protruding beyond the tail

Although the boat trip was primarily aimed at whale-watching, we saw several species of seabirds including the most numerous -Short-tailed Shearwater Puffinus tenuirostris. While the whales were on their way south to the Antarctic for the southern summer, these birds were on their way back to their nesting burrows on offshore islands around Australia, having just returned from as far as the Bering Straight where they spend their non-breeding season.

A few shearwaters landed behind the boat in anticipation of bait being thrown out - as done on some birdwatching trips

I will post more detailed accounts of birds seen on the trip later, but for now I draw attention to what for me was the bird of the trip - the Southern Emu-wren Stipiturus malachurus. I like these birds because of their tiny size, generic wispy tail and overall adaptation to life in grassy heaths. They can be difficult to find in amongst the grasses, but it is well worth listening out for their thin trilling calls. A seemingly simple, yet marvelous bird.

  

The distinctive silhouette of an Emu-wren

Both form and colour are unique, as is their character.

An adult male Southern Emu-wren in full colour - a rather smart bird

Black-eared Cuckoo

It has been a rather hectic past few weeks, what with the Tawny Frogmouths fledging and doing a bit of general bird-watching around the south east of New South Wales and the ACT. I'll post as much as possible over the next few weeks, but meanwhile here are some shots of a Black-eared Cuckoo Chalcites osculans, which was caught during a regular study of birds at Charcoal Tank Nature Reserve, on the 9th November.

The trip was led by Mark Clayton as usual and in over eighteen years of study this was the first of this species caught there. The Black-eared Cuckoo is a national widespread bird, but rather uncommon and can be difficult to find by birdwatchers. So I felt it appropriate to add a few pointers on the bird's plumage to help others identify one if they do ever have the fortune to come across one.

The distinctive face of a Black-eared Cuckoo

There is no mistaking the bird as a cuckoo in Australia, but a couple of us with experience of northern hemisphere birds considered it as resembling a Northern Wheatear, due to its soft orangy plumage and dark eyestripe.

This bird had a rich pale orangy breast - a deeper colour than the expected buff

The under-tail barring is characteristic of the Bronze-cuckoo genus Chalcites.

The coverts on the wing were well worn and faded

The bird was quiet in the the field when we saw it and in the hand after it was caught, which might explain its elusiveness.

There was very little contrast between the underwing coverts and the faint wing bar across the primaries, secondaries and tertials

I did not see the underwing bar as being particularly noticeable in the field, nor in the hand. But the white tips to the tail caught my eye immediately.

The light grey rump contrasted with the back, wing and tail.
And the tail showed distinctive fault bars.

The overall glossy sheen on the back and wings was like those on other Bronze-cuckoos, although not so bright, nor green as in the other species.

Spotlighting

Male Plains Wanderer - difficult to see in grassland, even under spotlight

Last week I was out with Peter Cosgrove on a bridwatching trip organised by Philip Maher and led by his colleague Robert Duncan. We looked around for honeyeaters, chats and waders in the late afternoon before driving over some grasslands looking for Plains-wanderers Pedionomus torquatus with a spotlight. These birds are not nocturnal, but they are easier to see at night for during the day, they crouch when approached and become very difficult to see. At night they stand still when under a torchlight.

The female is brighter coloured with a distinct collar and rufous bib

Other birds seen during the night trip were Banded Plover Vanellus tricolor, Inland Dotterel Charadrius australis, Stubble Quail Coturnix pectoralis, Little Button-quail Turnix velox and Australian Pratincole Stltia isabella. 

Stubble quail - female

All in all, a very successful trip and thoroughly recommended for anyone who would like to experience a night out with the birds in the Riverina area of New south Wales.

Australian Pratincole

Frogmouths in the sun

A Tawny Frogmouth basks in sunshine

Ever wondered what tawny Frogmouths do when we aren't watching, and they don't adopt their broken branch pose? Following on from the previous post, I thought I should add some images of how frogmouths hold themselves when not in alarm, as usually seen by humans.

Typically, they sit on the sunny side of trees where they can bask in the sun. Frogmouths can go into torpor during the day when they are not active and exposure to maximum sunshine, especially in winter, helps them thermoregulate. When sitting in the sun, they hold their breast up towards and face onto the sun. And they tilt their head back and fluff out their feathers, which are held tight against the body when in branch-pose.

Well shaded eyes

Frogmouths don't hunt by day and they hold their eyes closed when their head is angled towards the sun or when approached. But at other times when they are looking around, generally watching, their eyes are well shielded from the sunshine by thickly feathered eyebrows. As their eyes are likely better tuned to night vision, this probably aids their daylight vision, by shading them from bright direct light.

Quite frequently, they will bend their head right back and over a shoulder, spreading the feathers on their neck and breast wide open. This seems to be to allow maximum sunlight or heat reach their skin. In the photograph below, the bird has tipped her head to her left and her bill tip and nasal bristles can only just be seen protruding from the fluffed up plumage.

Maximised sun basking