GEELONG NATURALIST
MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE GEELONG FIELD NATURALISTS CLUB INC
In this issue...
Club Notices (Next speaker, Excursions, Program, etc.) President's report
Crazy about migrating birds—Marcel Klaasen
Excursion report—Werribee Open Range Zoo
Out and about—Staying home
What's up
Mammal report
Mammal trapping
Stony Rises project
Plant Group
Pixcontroller cameras
Mid-week Bird Group excursion—Nortons Rd, Paraparap This Month
Drama at dusk
Tree physiology: What's killing our trees and forests—Dr Terry Blake Peron's Tree Frog at Bambra
Additions to the GFNC library
What else has been seen?
Green-blooded king of camouflage
Bellarine Peninsula Orange-bellied Parrot survey, May 2010 Bird observations—June 2010
Vol. 46 No. 03
ISSN 0726-7363
Inside front & back covers, pp 7, 8, 16
Deborah Evans Dean Hewish Peter Williams Valda Dedman Dean Hewish Trevor Pescott Trevor Pescott Trevor Pescott Dick Southcombe Trevor Pescott Polly Cutcliffe Joe Hubbard Cherree Densley Stuart McCallum Trevor Pescott Lorraine Phelan Lorraine Phelan Craig Jones Craig Morley Barry Lingham
Inside front cover
OWMWONNNODOANM —
July 2010
President's report
World Environment Day
The United Nations Association of Australia (Victorian Division) announced its World Environment Day Awards on June 4th, the eve of the UN World Environment Day, too late for inclusion in our June Naturalist. The awards were not restricted to projects in Victoria and the winners included a range of fascinating projects from around the country. The winner of the Community Award, for example, went to the Kimberley Toad Busters for their Cane Toad Control program! One of the finalists in the Department of Sustainability and Environment's Biodiversity Award was the ‘Northern Victorian Biolinks Project’ organised by Biolinking Australia and Greenfleet, a timely reminder of the importance of restoring wildlife corridors. Closer to home, the Corangamite CMA was a finalist in the Excellence in Marine and Coastal Management Award for their ‘Corangamite Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Strategy’.
Although not featuring in the WED awards, Geelong has recently received some plaudits, with two Keep Australia Beautiful Awards, one of which was the Sustainable Cities Efficient Energy Award for the City’s EcoChallenge program. One of the sustainability initiatives in that program was the wind turbine at the Limeburners Point Boat Ramp. Other initiatives within the city are expected to save 90 tonnes in COs-e per annum.
Memberships
This is the final call for those of you who have not yet renewed your subscriptions, which, judging by the renewals to-date, is far too many of you. The August Naturalist will not be sent to non-financial members, so please get those cheque books out! If you have paid, perhaps you know somebody that’s
Tonight... ... Kate Charlton will be talking about dolphins.
At the July meeting...
...Deborah Evans
interested in natural history who might be a potential new member. Encourage them to join us on an excursion or come along to a general meeting. We need to make sure that we keep our numbers increasing, not just holding steady.
Rug up and get out there
Yes | know it’s been cold, and | should be out in my garden weeding as the sun’s out today, but July and August are good months for tree planting, to get seedlings settled in for the Spring growth season. If you haven’t signed up for this year’s Grow West planting day at W. James Whyte Island Reserve near Bacchus Marsh, then perhaps you could consider the Project Hindmarsh weekend in August, a great experience as well as a chance to contribute to the work of re-building our wildlife corridors. See their website: <http:// wimmera.landcarevic.net.au/hindmarsh/activities/project- hindmarsh-landcare-weekend>
Our July excursion will be indoors as usual, but there is the mid-week Bird Group excursion, and there will be an Orange- bellied Parrot Survey this month as well. With the OBPs now on the critically endangered list, these winter surveys are vital. So dig into those drawers and cupboards for your beanies, gloves and wet weather gear, and get out and brave the cold to see what Nature is up to over winter!
For your August diary
We had a successful boneseeding day at the You Yangs in May, but the rain has prompted a lot of new seedlings to shoot up, so put a big red circle round Saturday 21 August on your calendars now. And don’t forget to come early to the August meeting for our casserole tea, which is a great chance to socialise with other Club members.
... tis a Casserole Tea and Members' Night, starting at 6.30 p.m.— please bring a hot casserole or a sweet to share. Soft drink, tea and coffee provided. Speakers: David Flanagan on using our new GFNC defribrillator.
GFNC website
Any observations (plant, mammal, bird, reptile, invertebrate etc.) can be emailed to the GFNC email address or phoned to Barry Lingham (5255 4291) so that they can be incorporated onto the site frequently.
GFNC Web page: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~gfnc/ e-mail address: gfnc@vicnet.net.au
We welcome Andrea Dennett Elissa Ashton-Smith & Steve Wickham Ros & Tim Gibson,
all from Barwon Heads,
Mailing roster
July: Peter Williams August: Jan Venters
to the club and wish them a long and happy association.
Members are encouraged to arrive early at general meetings.
The photo on the front cover, by Deborah Evans, was taken at Werribee Zoo ona
GFNC excursion. Full report on p. 2.
The room will be open at 7.15 p.m. to allow members to chat to other members
tp report p. 2. and visitors.
The photos on the back cover, by Deborah Evans, is of zebras at Werribee Zoo. Full
Crazy about migrating birds: Marcel Klaassen Bird Group Meeting, 17 June 2010
arcel Klaassen has only recently moved to Australia to
take up a position at Deakin University. He became fascinated by migrating birds at a young age while on vacation with his family in northern Sweden. More recently, he has been involved in studies of the migration process which are aimed at finding strategies for preserving populations of migrating species. GFNC members will be familiar with some of the major conservation issues affecting birds that regularly migrate to Australia. In other parts of the world, an unexpected issue affecting the conservation of migrating bird species surfaced during the recent avian influenza outbreak. Some politicians became worried that migrating birds might be spreading a dangerous virus that can infect people and migrating birds were even deliberately killed in some areas.
Studies of bird migration must take into account why birds migrate. The cold winters in the northern hemisphere make overwintering risky and migration to warmer climates more favourable. One of the main advantages of breeding in the northern Arctic during summer is that food is abundant there, predator populations are low and disease creating organisms are less abundant. These factors increase breeding efficiency and make the long distance flights worthwhile for many species. However, one major issue in the conservation of migrating bird species is environmental change, largely caused by human activity. We need to more fully understand the migration process so that we can determine how the environmental changes will affect the birds and if damaging effects can be overcome.
Marcel has undertaken scientific studies that attempt to mathematically model migration using Stochastic Dynamic Programming, aimed at increasing our understanding of: migration behaviour, the evolution of migration, the dispersal of stowaways (like influenza virus) and the impacts of habitat and climate change. The aim is to improve the management of entire flyways.
Networks of birdwatchers, including GFNC members, carry out regular counts that establish when birds migrate and provide information about their routes. An early misguided attempt by the Swedish Archbishop Olaus Magnus to explain bird migration was published in 1555 in the History and Nature of the Northern Peoples. His hypothesis was that swallows disappeared during the northern winter because they dived into the sea and remained there until spring. In contrast, modern methods of bird study are considerably more efficient than his vague guesses. Bird banding and radio tracking have revolutionised our understanding of bird migration routes and strategies. A new method that can be applied to smaller birds is to fit them with lightweight sensors that record the time and the light intensity. These data can allow calculation of day length and the actual time of midday, which can then be interpreted as a track once the sensors are recovered from trapped birds. GFNC members will be familiar with the recently discovered prodigious migration flights of Bar-tailed Godwits across the Pacific Ocean, featured in several recent Bird Group talks.
Long distance migration imposes physiological challenges on the birds. Migration consumes a large quantity of energy and migrating birds must be able to find abundant food to build up fat and protein reserves before migration. The high altitude
...Dean Hewish
flights made by migrating birds take them through very hostile high altitude environments. They have to be able to deal with low ambient temperature, very low partial oxygen pressure and extremely low humidity, while undergoing the stress of long distance flight. We still do not understand how the birds manage to survive and keep flying for long periods under such conditions. They must also time their migration to take account of distant events and climates that they have no way of knowing in advance. We still do not completely understand how birds navigate.
As an example, Marcel described his studies of the migration of Pink-footed Geese, which winter in the south of western Europe and migrate to breed on islands in the Arctic Ocean north of Norway. Behaviour-based models covering behaviour, fitness and demography took into account energetic costs and gains, distances between sites, energy expenditure, weather conditions, body energy reserves, weather conditions, food availability, predation and disturbance. The model also had to include consideration of random factors. The model needed to calculate the optimal flight path through the staging sites. Field observations provided data such as geese behaviour, the changes in their body condition during the migration cycle and details of site use throughout the year. Fitness of the geese can be readily estimated in the field by calculating the abdominal profile index of individual birds. Essentially, birds that are fatter have a greater energy reserve for migration and have been shown to have greater breeding success. Counts of numbers of offspring produced during breeding each year allow verification of the effectiveness of any mathematical model.
Recently, climate change has affected the migration of Pink- footed Geese. The geese currently leave Denmark on their northern migration 16 days earlier than they did in 1986 and show increased use of Trøndelag in Norway as a staging area. Unfortunately, Pink-footed Geese graze on farming land during their staging and there is hostility from farmers along their routes, to the extent that they can be actively chased away from the fields. This can reduce the fitness of the birds during migration and there is a program to compensate farmers along the flyway in Denmark and Norway. Modelling of the migration of Pink-footed Geese can therefore be used to manage the goose flyway at minimum cost. Flyway management currently costs 3.84 € per goose. Modelling considerations suggest that this could be reduced to 2.44— 2.70 € per goose by simply chasing birds away from Vesteralen, since compensation costs are much higher in this area and birds could more effectively stage at other sites. Overall, compensation costs are unequal and should be reconsidered along with an objective assessment of management costs
This modelling tool can in principle be widely applied to other species of migrating birds. The information gained can save money, making more money available for other nature management efforts. Current ambitions are firstly to identify the most critical sites and secondly to preserve the maximum number of birds for the least amount of money.
The members present on the night were very grateful for an interesting and thought provoking presentation.
Geelong Naturalist July 2010 1
Excursion Report Werribee Open Range Zoo, Sunday 20 June 2010
Ts club members (and one grandchild) met at the entrance to the Werribee Open Range Zoo at 10 a.m., on an overcast morning which cleared up later to a pleasant winter’s day. After purchasing our entrance tickets, we were greeted by Maarten Hulzebosch, the Zoo's Horticultural Supervisor, who had generously arranged our morning program.
Bus tour
The first part was the normal bus tour, available to the general public. While waiting for the bus, we were entertained by the antics of the African Meerkats. These are small burrowing animals, but one or two of them have the job of sitting upright with paws in front and eyes looking inquisitively all around, to ‘keep watch’, particularly on those ‘people’ watching them from the other side of the glass partition!
Our bus driver welcomed us on board and gave an informative commentary during the 50 minute tour. We drove though a number of large paddocks, stopping for close views of exotic animals, including the large North American bison, Indian antelope, Mongolian wild horses (the Zoo is taking part in a breeding program for this species, thought to be extinct in the wild due to cross-breeding), desert camels (single humped
Mongolian wild horses, thought to be extinct in the wild. Photo: Diana Primrose
2 Geelong Naturalist July 2010
...Peter Williams
Dromedaries) and African ostrich, zebra, giraffe and rhinoceros (the White Rhinoceros, with a large wide mouth for grazing).
African Serval cat
On our return to the Zoo facilities centre, Maarten had arranged for a 'special treat'. The Zoo was preparing a demonstration of the African Serval cat, which is the tallest of the 'small' cats (about 40% larger than a domestic cat), to show some of its natural behaviour in the wild. We were seated in the Savannah Function Centre, in front of a stage covered with tree branches and stumps. Paul, the keeper of small animals at the Zoo, explained that he is preparing the Zoo's three young Serval cats to become used to people, so that they will act naturally in front of an audience. He then brought out one of the cats (golden yellow colour, with spots) on a leash. After a few minutes for it to get used to us as the audience, he unleashed the animal and allowed it to roam on the stage climbing over logs and up on stumps, or pacing up and down watching us! We were privileged to be a 'guinea pig' audience for the upcoming show.
Paul trains a Serval cat to get used to an audience. Photo: Deborah Evans
African Serval cat. Photo: Diana Primrose
Werribee River revegetation
The next part of our day’s program was Maarten's pet project, the Werribee River Revegetation. We walked past the ‘African village’ and the Chirnside woolshed (more about that later) down to the Wetlands Wirribi Yaluk Walk on the banks of the Werribee River. This area was originally a rich part of aboriginal history, with trading between tribes. However it was much changed during the period from 1860 to the early 1900s, when it was part of the Chirnside Estate. The thinking at that time was to drain wetlands and cultivate or graze them, which had a disastrous effect on the natural flora and fauna while introducing exotic plants that became weeds. The drainage, combined with lower water flows in the river, has reduced the frequency of flooding, preventing the normal cycle of deposition of silt to improve the soil fertility. When the Estate was no longer used for sheep grazing, the former wetland was left to fend for itself for many years. However, now that it has become part of the land managed by the Zoo, there has been a concerted effort to re-establish it towards its original condition, including planting of indigenous rushes and grasses to replace weeds. Maarten explained that this replacement must be carried out carefully over a period of time. Removing all of the weeds initially can encourage other, more aggressive, weeds to grow prolifically, before the indigenous plantings can take hold. However, the work of the Zoo staff over the past ten years (encouraged by Maarten's enthusiasm) in planting
thousands of trees, shrubs and grasses has resulted in a very encouraging rejuvenation of the river wetland, so that it has now become a feature of the Zoo as well as a wildlife corridor along the river. Native wildlife, including wallabies and the endangered Growling Grass Frog, has since returned to the area.
On our return walk, we inspected the former Chirnside Woolshed, which was the economic powerhouse of the Chirnside family's Werribee property in the late 1800s. It is a 40 metre long by 15 metre wide bluestone building which has been well restored externally and internally, with 32 shearing pens that were once a hive of activity!
As a result of the successful rehabilitation of this habitat the Ibis have | returned to roost in the tree above this
platform. We apologise for the mess they have made.
After thanking Maarten for a very informative morning (enlivened by his good humour) it was then time for a late lunch, which was enjoyed in the picnic ground near the Zoo facilities centre.
E ee 3 S
Ibis roost in the tree above the viewing platform that overlooks the revegetated area. Photo: Deborah Evans
Pula Reserve Walking Trail
After lunch it was time for a walk around the animal habitats that were not seen during the morning bus tour. The Vervet Monkeys come from East Africa, and live in matriarchal communities. The young are looked after by female relatives, as well as the mother. Grooming takes up a large part of each day, with one monkey picking parasites off the other and then swapping over.
The lions were an impressive sight, as they quietly enjoyed the afternoon sun. The African Wild Dogs were continually pacing up and down, and quickly snapped up the meat that was tossed to them by the keepers. Next along the trail were the Hippopotamus, which are nocturnal feeders, predominantly grazers, and which are far more dangerous to people in Africa than the carnivores, both in the water and while out grazing. The hippos put on a great display for us as they ‘woke up’ ready for their late afternoon feeding session. In one pool, an adult female (Primrose) and her two daughters (Tulip and the youngster Lotus) would submerge and then pop up and roll
around together before giving an enormous 'yawn', showing their teeth and mouth made for grazing vegetation. Primrose climbed out, so we could see her great bulk, around two tonnes. The hippo in the next pool also wanted to show off to us, not only with yawns but also belly-flops, which are very impressive when made by a large hippo!
On the way back to the facilities centre we had look at a group of zebra, where we could note the different pattern of stripes on each animal, apparently as individually characteristic as human fingerprints are for us. These animals, together with African elephants, have never been able to be domesticated.
Photo: Deborah Evans
Photo: Deborah Evans
A resident of the zoo.
Volcanic Plains Walk
By this time several members (and the grandchild) felt it was time to head home before dark, after all it was the shortest day of the year! However, the rest of us decided to make full use of the remaining daylight, and to take the Volcanic Plains Walk. This area demonstrates the original basalt volcanic plains vegetation of western Victoria (Werribee is at the eastern tip of the plains) which comprised closed and open woodlands and grassland. The plains vegetation once covered a third of Victoria, but today many of its plants are endangered. The grassland plants at the Zoo are used as a seed bank for revegetation works throughout the plains region.
We left just on the Zoo's closing time, after a fascinating and full day.
Geelong Naturalist July 2010 3
Out and about Staying home
orraine Phelan and | had a lovely fungal foray recently in
the Bannockburn bush, but | had no need to leave home to find interesting species. When | arrived back my husband pointed out to me several clumps of a soft brownish fungus almost hidden among the grassy weeds on the nature strip. They were past their best and they were new to me. It is worth making a careful description of fungi, so | set about measuring height and width, noting colour and texture and looking at the gills most carefully. They were decurrent, that is, they ran down the stem, but they did not fork; instead gills of various lengths filled up the gaps between the main ‘veins’—the structural gills—to form a funnel shape. | came to the conclusion that these soft and fragile fungi were Clitocybe clitocyboides, not a Paxillus, as | might have thought. This was confirmed by the white spore print | obtained. Many Clitocybe species in Europe are highly regarded for their culinary properties, although some are highly poisonous. | had no desire to eat them.
Clitocybe clitocyboides, growing in a Highton naturestrip. Photos: Valda Dedman
4 Geelong Naturalist July 2010
... Valda Dedman
—
Where do these fungi come from? Spores blown in by the wind? | had earlier found tiny grey-brown Mycenas growing ina pot, among fertilizer and potting mix—only in this one pot, though. More caps kept appearing over a week or two, although the original batch all disintegrated together after a cold night. They started dark brown, a few millimetres wide and bell-shaped and as their | thin cream stems elongated to fam about 10 cm the caps become W pale blue-grey to fawn witha } dark little knob on top and had white slightly fringed edges and brown gills crowded inside. They were real ‘fairy’ things, definitely not for frying up.
After the first rains back in March two large fungi appeared when the sun came out. They were Macrolepiota, tall cream parasols with a ragged edge and decorated with dark brown warts. A complex frilly ring, chocolate brown above and cream below, was attached part way down the long fibre-filled stem that was bulbous below the soil. The ring was not moveable (although reference books say that Macrolepiota rings become moveable with age). The pale cream gills were ‘free’ and unforked, smooth-edged and deep and the spore-print was white. | had recognized the genus, but the species ? MV. clelandii?, procera?, rachodes? Some people consider M. rachodes a gastronomic delight.
Mycena sp., Highton Photo: Valda Dedman
Not so the Yellow Stainers Agaricus xanthdermus, which appear in the garden every year. They are easily recognised by their square-sided caps when young; at this time they also
Photo: Valda Dedman
Agaricus xanthodermus Yellow Stainer
stain yellow when bruised. They are poisonous to most people and need long cooking for those with strong stomachs, but give off a disinfectant odour which does not make for a gourmet meal. The flesh is also somewhat tough. Older specimens can be confused with edible field mushrooms, so beware.
It has been a particularly good year for Magenta Lilly Pillies Syzygium paniculatum, which are not native to Victoria but seem to flourish in suburban gardens here. The fruits have been hanging like cherries and footpaths have been littered with rich purple-red berries, which are edible, although somewhat tart and astringent and with a large seed. Captain Cook and Dr Solander found them at Botany Bay and ‘brought them home in abundance, which we eat with much pleasure tho they had little to recommend them but a slight acid' wrote Joseph Banks in his diary for 3 May 1770. Had | been smart earlier, | could have made lilly pilly jelly (the standard recipe with added lemon juice and equal parts of sugar and juice). Perhaps I'll try next year. | would hope it would look as beautiful as the berries.
But why don't the birds eat them? We have had much pleasure looking at the ripe fruits lit up by the afternoon sun, and only once have we seen a bird carry one off. It was a wily Pied Currawong but it has not returned to the feast. Belcher in his The Birds of the District of Geelong, Australia (1914) said of the currawong, that he called the Otway Forester: 'In Aireys Inlet it is not seen till the fruit ripens, and then makes regular forays upon the orchards from the hills above, in company with the Grey Magpie [currawong]. Of the two species the Otway Forester is the more audacious and cunning robber. The raids continue till the end of autumn, as long as any fruit is left on the trees. On July 21st 1902, Mr. Mulder noted several of these birds in an orchard at Highton, that being the first time he had remarked them in that district.' Belcher also wrote that they were 'the most wary of all the forest-dwelling birds'. Our local Highton Currawongs are not nearly as shy today and are perhaps discriminating in their taste for fruit.
We're fond of the lilly pilly because it has provided shelter for the wattlebirds to bring up their family. Their nest may be only a frail cup but, hidden under the dense foliage, three young
have survived. From our comfortable chairs in the living room we have watched the parents bringing in food, first insect protein, later bottlebrush nectar—a constant task over a couple of months—then the young emerging, balancing on the conveniently-situated electricity wire and finally flying off.
We don't have the same variety of small birds in the garden that we had forty years ago, when the shrubbery was less dense but there were perhaps few cats (or currawongs!) around to make a meal of them. It is many years since | saw Fairy-wrens or a Golden Whistler here. The birds are now mostly the larger species, perhaps reflecting the height of the tall eucalypts across the road; we're so lucky to have this mini- forest which attracts lorikeets in the flowering season and ravens and cockatoos at any time of the year and this year, after dark, the fruit bats.
It rained on and off and the temperature only reached 13 degrees on 9 June, but around midday there was a sudden burst of magpie song and we looked out to see a beautiful male on the grass. Was he proclaiming that it was cold, or just telling the world that the mating season is approaching and he is a new boy on the block? His back was sparkling white contrasting with the crisp blackness of his body. A male in his prime. Belcher claimed that ‘practically all the Magpies about Geelong lay in the last week of August or first fortnight in September’. Ours probably nest in the tall trees opposite. Families, Mum, Dad and one or two noisy young, have been encountered on the front lawn as early as the end of October. We notice them mostly during January and February, when the dapple-backed young are learning how to find food for themselves, but often still beg, like whining children, from their parents.
We don't even have to go outside to appreciate the natural world around us.
Stop Press! 22 June, 3 p.m. We have an invasion of Pied Currawongs, calling to each other, flying around and, yes, you've guessed it, eating the lilly pilly berries.
Photo: Valda Dedman
Geelong Naturalist July 2010 5
What's up
J une has been a busy month for Jupiter watchers even though the planet is inconveniently placed, rising after midnight. During the month, two remarkable and completely unrelated events occurred on the planet. Late in May, the planet's South Equatorial Belt suddenly disappeared. This is one of the two prominent brown cloud belts that circle the giant planet; the South Equatorial Belt just south of the equator and the matching North Equatorial Belt north of the equator. Each is twice as wide as the Earth and more than twenty Earth diameters long. On the southern edge of the South Equatorial Belt lies the Great Red Spot, a cyclonic storm larger than the Earth. It has been raging for at least 300 years. The South Equatorial Belt is particularly changeable and similar disappearances have happened in the past. In 2007, it faded but did not completely vanish, reappearing after a few months. Other recent disappearances occurred in 1986 and 1993. Jupiter's atmosphere is extremely turbulent and the return of the South Equatorial Belt after a fading episode is dramatic, with outbreaks of massive storms. It is thought that the cloud belt is currently still there, but has been hidden by a high altitude haze of ammonia cirrus cloud.
A detailed description of Jupiter's dynamic, and still poorly understood, atmosphere can be found in Wikipedia: (http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Jupiter).
..Dean Hewish
The other remarkable event was a probable collision between a small astronomical body and Jupiter on 3 June. Veteran amateur astronomers Anthony Wesley in Australia and Christopher Go in the Philippines both photographed a bright flash of light, in the (currently missing) South Equatorial Belt region of the planet, even capturing video footage which can be viewed by accessing the Spaceweather.com archives for early June. The mysterious aspect about the event is that it left no visible trace in the atmosphere, unlike the 1994 impacts of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments and also an impact in 2009, discovered by Anthony Wesley. These all created dark patches in the clouds that persisted for many weeks (What's up? September 2009). This time, not even the Hubble Space Telescope could detect any sign of debris. Current opinion is that the colliding object was a small rocky asteroid which entered Jupiter's atmosphere at a shallow angle and never reached the cloud level. This event reinforces the impression that impacts with Jupiter are not rare phenomena and will perhaps encourage more people to become dedicated Jupiter watchers.
Unfortunately, we currently have no space probes in the Jupiter system to help shed light on these two interesting events.
Mammal report
... Trevor Pescott, Fauna Survey Group
Mammal Atlas additions
Short-beaked Echidna Agile Antechinus Dusky Antechinus
13/06/10 13/05/10 19/06/10
Bird Rock carpark, Jan Juc. AQ Yaugher, photographed. PixC Koallah-Pomborneit Road, Stony Rises. GFNC
Long-nosed Bandicoot Common Wombat Koala
Eastern Grey Kangaroo Common Bentwing Bat
{ 20
2 4+
{ c20 2
50+
13/05/10 16/05/10 18/06/10 18/06/10 19/06/10 20/06/10 20/06/10 31/05/10 20/06/10 25/05/10 21/06/10 18/04/10
Yaugher, photographed. Lerderderg Gorge.
Lilydale House, Batesford.
Georges Road, Ceres. Porndon, Stony Rises.
Pomborneit, Stony Rises. Pomborneit, Stony Rises.
Marengo, photographed.
Pomborneit, Stony Rises.
On reef off Marengo.
Pomborneit, Stony Rises.
Off Point Addis.
PixC GFNC SQ SQ TP GFNC GFNC PixC GFNC JN GFNC GFNC
Observers: AQ, Andrew Quick; PixC, photographed on PixController cameras; GFNC, recorded on club excursions; SQ, Stuart Quick; TP, Trevor Pescott; JN, John Newman.
Correction from 'Mammal Atlas Additions' Geelong Naturalist June 2010: the 2 possums in Nicholas Street were Common Ringtail, not Brushtail; the nestbox in which the Common Brushtail Possum was sleeping was on the ground, not in a tree.
Dusky Antechinus: the individual was an adult male found on the side of the road adjacent to a stony rises outcrop; It showed no injuries except for minor grazing to one shoulder, and may have died after mating, as all male antechinuses do at this time of the year.
Long-nosed Bandicoot: photographed at Yaugher in an area close to the site of the club's biodiversity activity on John
6 Geelong Naturalist July 2010
Berry's property in October. We will employ the cameras there as well as doing active trapping for smaller species.
Common Bentwing Bat: the Porndon bat cave is on private property and access Is possible only with permission. It may be possible to arrange a club visit there at some later date.
Common Dolphin: the dolphins were seen during a club excursion as reported in the June issue of Geelong Naturalist. Although closer examination of photographs taken at the time were inconclusive, in Mammals of Victoria the species is noted to be 'social and largely gregarious and occur in groups
(Cont. next page)
Common Bentwing Bats, Porndon Photo: Trevor Pescott Australian Fur Seals, Marengo Photo: Trevor Pescott
and small herds of 5 to 50 throughout the year.’ The probability is they were Common Dolphins.
Bottlenose Dolphin, the other species seen regularly in our Note: the mammals and reptiles recorded during the club's region, 'are commonly seen in herds of 5 to 20 inshore and weekend in the Stony Rises, and listed above, will be more occasionally in larger aggregations of 50 to 150 or more fully discussed in the August issue of Geelong Naturalist.
further out to sea.' With our sighting of 50+ close inshore, the
Next Trapping
The following is Peter Monkhort's response to a request from Trevor to confirm his identification of deer he photographed in Inverleigh Flora and Fauna Reserve the Stony Rises.
As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been any small mammal
trapping at the reserve in recent years, although some study Nice photo, definitely Fallow Deer because of their somewhat on bats, as well as birds, has been undertaken. So the next = gracile appearance —long legs and neck—plus long rather
trapping project will be as follows: narrow ears, and the very clear rump pattern on the left hand animal. The right hand one ts likely a female. Coat colour is Wednesday 14 July: meet outside the hotel in within the range for this species. Inverleigh at 2.00 p.m. to set the Peter Menkhorst, Consultant Ecologist, Arthur Rylah traps. Institute for Environmental Research Thursday 15 July: meet outside the Inverleigh hotel at 8.30 a.m. to check the traps. Friday 16 July: 8.30 a.m. as above. Saturday 17 July: 8.30 a.m. as above to collect the traps.
Stony Rises project
The weekend project (18-21 June)—involving trapping at Pomborneit, bird-listing, moth and invertebrate surveys, and listing mammals, reptiles and frogs—was a stunning SUCCESS.
We have established some important contacts within the local community of land-owners, and can look forward to on-going research into the fauna of the Stony Rises.
A comprehensive report with details of future projects in the =i area will be published in the August Geelong Naturalist. Fallow Deer, Pomborneit Photo: Trevor Pescott
Plant group ...Dick Southcombe
8 June The interesting Wider Geelong Flora Lecture 'What's killing our trees and forests’, presented by Dr Terry Blake, prompted many questions and comments. See p. For Stuart McCallum's report. Thanks Terry and Stuart.
13 July
We will continue our hands-on workshop activities. All who attend are requested to bring specimens of weeds, local natives and garden plants. We will examine, discuss, admire their beauty or otherwise and dissect to reveal their intriguing vital parts.
Geelong Naturalist July 2010 7
Pixcontroller cameras
ollowing a report by the owner of the Marengo Caravan
Park that he thought there were potoroos there, two of the cameras were set there on 22 May and collected on 31 May.
Camera 1: 46 photographs of a stray cat (12 photos), Red Fox (6), Brown Rat (3), Eastern Yellow Robin (11), Common Blackbird (2) and mis-fires (12).
Camera 2: 18 photographs of the same stray cat (3), Red Fox (1), Brown Rat (5) and mis-fires (9).
(Subsequent discussions with the owner revealed that he had seen the animals in a different part of the park to that where the cameras were set, so we will try again later!)
The third camera was set at Yaugher as follows:
Camera 3: 89 photographs of Long-nosed Bandicoot (2), House Mouse (48 with as many as 4 mice in the photograph), Black Wallaby(1), Agile Antechinus (10), White-browed Scrubwren (1) and mis-fires (27).
The mis-fires occur when the sensor is activated, but the subject has moved out of the frame before the camera fires. The cameras also have a 30 second delay between photographs to minimise disturbance to animal, and to save battery power.
On 9 June we set the three cameras on a property at Tuxion Road near Apollo Bay, where the landowner had reported
... /revor Pescott
seeing a Spot-tailed Quoll in December. The cameras were collected on 26 June.
Camera 1: 5 photographs of House Mouse (1) and setting up (4).
Camera 2: 134 photographs of House Mouse (68), cat (30), Common Brushtail Possum (3) and setting up/mis-fires (33).
Camera 3: 59 photographs of Common Brushtail Possum (24), cat (80) and setting-up/mis-fires (3).
| don't know if the cat was from the house near where the cameras were set up but they were taken both at night and during the day.
In some of the photographs there were large black slugs on the ground beneath the bait cage and on the cage itself. They may have been attracted to the oatmeal in the bait mixture, and | hope to be able to identify the species from a later search. They are not natives, however, for the only indigenous slug species is small and purplish in colour.
The cameras didn't last the full time they were in place due to the 9V sensor batteries running flat. They had been in the units for 12 months, and although it was disappointing that they failed, we now have a good idea how they will last and will replace them every 8-9 months.
Mid-week Bird Group excursion Nortons Rd, Paraparap, 24 June 2010
he ‘early birds' were greeted at the meeting spot by the
calls of an Olive-backed Oriole foraging in the roadside vegetation. This augured well for the rest of the excursion, and we weren't disappointed. Also at the Hendy Main Road rendezvous we recorded Grey Shrike-thrush, Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Striated Pardalote, Australian Magpie and Little Raven.
With one stop in Brushfields Road and three in Nortons Road the total number of species recorded for the morning was forty-four.
Those we found the most interesting were several Eastern Spinebills taking advantage of early-opening mistletoe flowers, two Crested Shrike-tits, Golden Whistlers, clear sightings for everyone of Yellow Thornbills foraging in Black Wattles, Flame Robins in a cultivated paddock, Black-fronted Dotterels at the edge of a smidgen of water in a farm dam and a very ‘friendly’ Grey Fantail.
Thanks to our leader Kay's planning and knowledge of the area we had a most interesting morning's birdwatching with very good sightings of a surprising number of species.
...~Polly Cutcliffe
White-plumed Honeyeater Red Wattlebird
New Holland Honeyeater White-naped Honeyeater
Australian Wood Duck Common Bronzewing Crested Pigeon White-faced Heron
Nankeen Kestrel
Brown Falcon Black-fronted Dotterel Galah
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Crimson Rosella
Eastern Rosella Red-rumped Parrot Laughing Kookaburra Superb Fairy-wren White-browed Scrubwren Yellow Thornbill Yellow-rumped Thornbill Brown Thornbill
Spotted Pardalote Striated Pardalote Eastern Spinebill White-eared Honeyeater
Grow West planting day, 18 July 2010
Now in its fifth year, volunteers are helping to restore degraded landscapes and develop biodiversity links by planting 5000
Crested Shrike-tit Golden Whistler Grey Shrike-thrush Olive-backed Oriole Australian Magpie Pied Currawong Grey Currawong Grey Fantail
Willie Wagtail
Little Raven Magpie Lark
Flame Robin Eastern Yellow Robin Silvereye
Welcome Swallow Common Blackbird Common Myna Red-browed Finch
seedlings a year. This year's event is at 'Ingliston Park, Ballan—a stone's throw from Werribee Gorge State Park. Register online by Friday 9 July at www.ppwema.vic.gov.au Email: helena.lindorff@ppwcma.vic.gov.au or phone 9216 5613.
8 Geelong Naturalist July 2010
This month
B oneseeding in the You Yangs is not only hand-to-stem combat with the enemy, often in difficult terrain, but about having time for a family picnic, a chat over lunch, and even time to play the tourist.
And | might add, rather sheepishly, allows adequate time to get lost. I'll say no more about that—lessons have been learned!
Up here, even the most casual observer has to be impressed by the granite rock formations, and their uniqueness— nowhere is the same on this mountain. | was told about the huge boulders, seemingly so finely balanced one on the other, that a gentle push ..... | encountered a massive rock which was peeling apart like an onion, a miniature canyon, and tumbled masses creating random tunnels and overhangs, some obviously still used by creatures.
It's pretty obvious that the flora has been badly affected by drought, grazing animals and, of course, our friend the boneseed. You come across the occasional delicate Necklace Fern growing from its refuge on a rockface and, around the base, the more numerous Rock Fern. A few scattered colonies of Dwarf Greenhood may be allowed to flower—if the grazers don't find them. One plant, the Snowy Mintbush, has taken advantage of the existing conditions to form thickets.
aa Rob Beardsley, organiser of
GFNC boneseeding at the You Yangs. Photo: Joe Hubbard
And the boneseed? Are we winning the battle? I'm not sure. What can you do about it? If you don't know I'm not going to tell you!
Pe a ae
eo ae
Photo: Joe Hubbard
To get you going
We're going to Steiglitz. Why not make it a round trip by travelling via Anakie so that you can take in its gorge—a short return walk can be rewarding. (Flame and Scarlet Robins, frogs calling.)
..Joe Hubbard
Back to the main road, find Butchers Road on your left and keep an eye out for winter flowers, After about 3.5 km | stopped to explore the National Park on the left, In ten minutes | found Golden Grevillea, Dusty Miller, Prickly Cryptandra, Common Correa, the large leaves of Red Beak Orchids and assorted fungi.
On to the Maude-—Steiglitz Road and you'll find Bert Boardman Reserve on your left. (Lunch?) You may follow the track through
| the reserve from which several short walks can be accessed.
Back to the road, check out Steiglitz, continue on about 1.7 km to
Hut Road on the right, and drive down this to The Crossing Picnic Ground. Short walks around here. (Box Track—retrace steps!) Sometimes good for birds around this area. Check rockpool below the crossing.
=| Return home taking the Maude—Steiglitz Road. If you've a good
map you can choose other options.
Steiglitz: Melways Map611; Vicroads 77D8 Excellent visitor guides are available.
A guide for June
Escape to the coast
| A glorious winter's day with a languid sea, a reluctant fog all but
subdued by the low sun, misty blue You Yangs floating on a sea of fog and Melbourne just ghostly outlines. Where? Portarlington. (This is where we found stranded Blue Blubber jellyfish. Last month | called them Moon Jellyfish. Confused?)
When you've finished admiring the view have a walk along the beachfront. Maybe some Pied Oystercatchers—who knows?
From one headland...
Watch an albatross skimming low over the sea, turning, banking to reveal wing colours, then repeating the process. Where? Point Addis. If things are quiet, not far back up the road on your right, walk into the heathland and maybe find a Banded Greenhood | growing trackside or evena bristlebird.
..to another
Coastal views and Correa Common and White growing below the rather special lighthouse on Split Point. Walk the tracks down to the inlet. See Coastal and Golden Wattles and maybe hear the bristlebird's distinctive call. Where? Aireys Inlet.
Banded Greenhood, Anglesea Photo: Joe Hubbard
Chase, grapple and peck
Listen for the squawking of a magpie seemingly in distress. This could be the eviction of a juvenile from the family group. This is all part of their very interesting complex social system. Then again it could be an intruder being shown the error of its ways. There is more to magpies than meets the eye, or ear!
Writing this | couldn't help but think Geelong v Collingwood. Cheers!
Geelong Naturalist July 2010 9
Drama at dusk
M y covenanted bush block at Mt Clay (near Portland) continues to engage me at every level. It is beautiful at any time of the day or night, in any weather and in every season. At the time of writing, however, only Banksia marginata and Eucalyptus ovata (Swamp Gum) were providing nectar for all the insects, bats, mammals and birds. Both these plants are common on the 77 hectare block and were in full flower (late March). Early Epacris impressa (Common Heath) is budding up though. The heath is not very 'common' now, unfortunately .
| usually head to the block once a week, staying overnight in my little relocated house, so | am able to spend lots of time wandering around day and night observing and trying to discover the secrets of this special piece of bushland. Now that the days are getting a little shorter it is earlier and earlier that the evening comes when the bush comes alive. Just after the sun sets, the shy Gang Gangs and secretive Rufous Fantails come to the waterhole to drink and | get out the mosquito repellent, put on my long boots, put a torch in my pocket and head out as quietly as possible into the nearby bush. | always see and hear heaps of things happening but this walk proved something special.
THE CAST MEMBERS
This drama had thirteen players: New quarter moon, stars, mosquitoes, Swamp Wallaby, frogs, Yellow Robins, crickets, Southern Boobook owl, Wood Ducks, big black beetles, kookaburras, Sugar Gliders and bats. | was the spellbound audience.
First Quarter Moon. The evening sky was clear despite it being an overcast day earlier and the waxing moon was glowing in the northern sky. There is something about a moon isn't there? We love to see it and our ever increasing pollution in heavily populated areas robs us of one of the wonders of the sky. | try to always be aware of the current phase of the moon and an evening when the moon is full is very special (of course the skies must be clear). A walk to the top of Mt Clay (topped now by 14 communication towers and a fire spotting tower) just before the sun sets over bushland to see the full rising of moon directly opposite and over the sea is always a memorable experience. Stars. So which star appears first? | have done some quick research to find that the star to the south west which | see first is Ackanar—a ‘White Star' and ninth brightest star and, according to local astronomer Don Ward, 144 light years away. The position is pretty significant because it seems to be in direct line with the ‘glider highrise’. The tree which currently houses gliders and possums is a Swamp gum at the back of the waterhole—it has had the top blown off in a storm many years ago and appears to be hollow a fair way down into the still green and growing trunk. The top has died back but new branches have grown from numerous places in the top one third of the tree. At present it houses lots of gliders, possums, bats and wouldn't it be a tragedy if it was burnt (or its inhabitants were smoked out)? But back to the star—when it becomes dark enough to start it sparkling it seems to set off a chain of dramatic events. Mosquito droning. However pesky, these insects start the sound track for the evening. | don't admire them of course and some evenings they are much worse than others—in these dry times, however, we know of course that the worse they are, the sooner will be some rain. They love the tips of my ears, any available gap on the wrists and can bite right through jeans. They can't manage two layers of clothing however, and a jumper over a shirt confounds them. Panty hose (!!) under jeans also confounds them. This also confounds the leeches as well—there are plenty of these as well around in the damp weather.
More music. A Black Swamp Wallaby lumbers over the water hole wall and makes its way clumsily down to the ever dwindling level to start to drink. | stay super still behind a screening of
10 Geelong Naturalist July 2010
...Cherree Densley*
shrubs and tree trunks in this area to listen—by this time it is getting darker. These mammals are beautiful to look at with very sweet small faces on top of a fairly bulky body and lounge in the reeds on hot days at the other end of the waterhole. They are fairy secretive. The sound of this one drinking also adds to the sound track. They lap the water like a dog or cat—and the sound is loud and goes on for ages. | have timed one at four minutes continuously lapping. How much water is that? Lapping beats are about 120 a minute? Even at 10 mm of water per lap that makes nearly five litres.
Frogs. This evening the numerous frogs in this waterhole are fairly quiet—we are having a number of dry weeks. There are at least three different types of calls however; the Southern Toadlet calls like a plaintive creaking door; there are the one or two hopeful 'creaks' from the Rain Frogs and just one or two 'plonks' of the Golden Bell Frogs. At other times of the year the waterhole is SO noisy with frogs that it is difficult to hear anything else. If | want to hear the rustling of mammals in the bush at this time, | flash my torch across the water and the frogs shut up for a short time (they must think the sun is coming up!). So this night very few frog noises added to the sound track.
Yellow Robins. What makes this bird the last of the small birds of the bush to call? Everyone loves these engaging birds with their varying calls, sideways perching, spectacular eyesight and beautiful rich yellow breast and mostly grey upperparts to the body. They seem to take a long time to work out where they will sleep for the night and their lonely far-reaching piping calls must be their lullaby for other birds. Sometimes blue wrens are slow to settle down and one can hear them twittering low down in dense patches of bursaria and lomandra until quite late; but mostly the Yellow Robins are last.
More sounds The crickets. | don't know what these are but they sing sweetly from the grassy areas—| have never found one but this evening there was quite a lovely chorus in High C which does go on for most of the night. These are not the black crickets, which during Autumn cause farmers much grief here with their voracious appetites, invade our homes and cause factories to adjust their security lights during night shifts. (This year, at Killarney where | live, a huge flock of ravens moved into the large trees at the end of the garden for a week, and, leaving their offspring in the trees, flew down into the paddocks feeding on the black crickets until their crops were dragging on the ground to return to stuff them down the throats of their ever- complaining youngsters. As the cricket numbers decreased, the whole flock has now flown off to my friend's place on Tower Hill— her orchard is coming into production with apples, pears and figs and the ravens have moved on to desert.)
Owl. This evening | was the one being hunted, | think. As it gets dusk | often see a silent shape wheeling low down through the trees—possibly Boobook owls. This evening, as | stood beneath the swamp gum though one wheeled around my head in an almost threatening manner—I was wearing a grey cap. The large brown bird propped in mid flight and reversed when | moved— the shape and colouring of the tail feathers were superb. It did three or four passes whilst | swivelled around to face it each time—perhaps my cap looked like a possum? Maybe | need to carry an umbrella for protection? More about owls later.
Wood Ducks. By this time it was getting darker and | was startled by a loud splash as two Wood Ducks landed in the waterhole. But they took off almost at once when, even though | was very still, they became aware of my presence and took off— they did not make a sound. So, two splashes added to the sound track.
Big black beetles. There must have been a hatching of these as there were quite a few flying ponderously around and then crash landing into the bushes. Their droning sound was quite loud as they passed by but not as noisy as when they hit something.
Maybe the owl was after these? Many insects such as beetles, cicadas, butterflies and different moths seem to hatch in batches according to weather patterns and the dry autumn weather must be the time of those big black beetles. It would hurt if one flew into your head.
Kookaburras. It was almost time for the main event and the family of kookaburras which sleep in a huge old Messmate just 40 or so metres from where | was standing laughed the introduction. Some nights they are more raucous than others and this night they flew in silently and then the four or five of them burst out laughing and laughing—they must have each had a great day and heard some new jokes. This is definitely the last of the day-bird calls and sometimes | hear them coming from way down the valley calling at 4-5 minute intervals until they at last come home. This family is by no means the only family—there are at least four other families | hear in the distance as they settle in for the night.
Sugar Gliders, ring tails and other possums. The main players of the drama now emerge. Gliders dart out from the hollows—they are quick movers in short sharp bursts of energy. If the night is quiet | actually hear scratching inside the tree and then—out they pop like a cork out of a bottle. In single file (sometimes with minutes between) they dart out in jerky motions, make their way to the top of the dead stump of the Swamp Gum, pause to get their bearings and then with fluffy tail flattened and the skin between their front and back legs fully extended ‘fly’ about ten metres to the double trunk of a Messmate with a loud ‘clunk' as their claws dig in. One can see their distinctive flying motion as their 'wings' ripple to take advantage of the supporting air. There is no need for a torch or spotlight to see them clearly as it has not yet become too dark. From the top of this messmate they race to the top quickly to pause once again before launching off through the darkening bush. One of these days I'll try and measure how far this family glides—I have located (I think) one of their landing trees but | need some help. Someone will need to walk quietly into this area and wait for me to call out 'one coming in to land’. Peter Menkhorst and Frank Knight in A Field Guide to Mammals in Australia describe how Sugar Gliders can glide up to 90 metres. I'll need to recall my mathematical skills to measure the heights at which they launch and land and the distance between. Shouldn't be too hard? Of course, this family of nine gliders don't all go the same direction each night—they go south, south west and west. But they all come out of the same tree and return to the same tree about 4 a.m. Ringtails also inhabit this
tree and leap across to the Blackwood nearby just a little later than the gliders. Their tails with the white tips are used as well as their feet to grip the foliage they jump into. They silently climb down the tree trunks to feed lower down and move through the shrubs—perhaps this is safer for them.
Bats. There was just one more player for the drama this night. As the gliders made their way up the trunks of the Messmate, | became aware of bats circling them. What were they feeding on? Perhaps the gliders, in their quick jerky rush to the top, were disturbing moths, flying beetles and other insects? Whatever, it was getting too dark now to see. But there were lots of bats.
The one-act drama was over in about 20 minutes as the gliders and other mammals disappeared into the gloom. Only then, did this audience of one need a torch to return to the house and to light up that long stick across the path looking definitely just like a tiger snake.
Owl chorus
| was woken very early next morning at 5 a.m. with the loud resonant and constant call of an owl quite close in the darkness just outside the open window. The call changed to become the unmistakable noise of a Southern Boobook owl which went on for about 10 minutes. During this time, | became aware of other owls returning the call and joining in—in the end | reckoned that there were about five other birds—some deep in the bush and some down the track to the house. | was in the middle of a pre-dawn owl chorus—were they establishing territories, communicating the location of food (my sugar gliders?), genetic mixing (young males seeking a mate), or a family get-together? Whatever the reason, | didn't mind being woken and entertained by these beautiful predators. Other owls heard regularly at Mt Clay are the Powerful Owls and Frogmouths.
* Cherree Densley is past President of ASGAP (Associated Societies for Growing Australian Plants) now ANPSA (Australian Native Plants Societies of Australia), Past President of SGAP Vic and was Editor of Growing Australian, the Victorian Newsletter. She is a keen grower of Australian Plants and passionate about native flora and fauna. She used her Superannuation to purchase the 76 hectares of bushland and put a covenant on it—it can never be cleared. This article is reproduced with her permission. It was first published in Growing Australian, Vol. 53.4 No. 212 June 2010.
Tree Physiology: What's killing our trees and forests Dr Terry Blake, Wider Geelong Flora Lecture, 8 June 2010
r Blake has been Professor of Plant Physiology at the
University of Toronto. He is currently Professor Emeritus and holds appointments in the Institute of Environmental Studies at that university. He has formerly lectured at the University of Melbourne and at Griffith University, Brisbane.
Dr Blake’s talk left the audience with mixed impressions. While he helped to make links with various stressors on the world’s forests such as climate change, forestry operations, drought, plant selection, fungal diseases and insect attack, he left many looking for more detail and specific evidence. We also struggled to make the link from northern hemisphere softwood forests to Australian eucalypts.
It is clear that many of our own forests are suffering from dieback and insect attack (we have lost several gums on our own Bannockburn property); what was not so clear, was what statistical analysis had been done to identify the most likely causes and what could be done about it.
Dr Blake argued that the world’s forests have reached a tipping
... Stuart McCallum
point and explained the causes of decline, how stress can damage trees and how trees can adjust. After 250 million years of evolution, trees have some effective survival strategies in their genetic tool kits and have been able to cope well so far with droughts, disease and the ravages of insects.
So what has changed? Why are new plantings dying in Canada? Why has Russia lost 9 400 square miles of softwood? Why in the WA eucalypt forests are there areas which have lost up to 1/3 of the trees? In the west of the US and Canada the Aspen forests have been reduced by 0.5 million hectares. In Montana it is projected that as a result of the absence of beetle-killing wild fire, up to 80% of Lodgepole Pine will be dead in 50 years.
Looking at the case of the Lodgepole Pine where 53 000 square
miles had succumbed to the Mountain Pine beetle, Dr Blake
listed a range of factors including:
a. suppression of fire which would have killed the larvae
b. winter temperatures no longer low enough to kill the larvae: —30° instead of the required —40°
c. air pollution and the rising CO; levels (Cont. on p. 13)
Geelong Naturalist July 2010 11
Peron's Tree Frog at Bambra
... [revor Pescott
n Sunday 15 November 2009, the GFNC held a biodiversity field day on Hoffmanns' property on the Bambra-Aireys Inlet Road near Peters Hill, about 6 km south-
east of Bambra (see Geelong Naturalist Vol. 45 No. 08, December 2009). The last part of the property to be searched was a typical earthen farm dam in which several aquatic plants were noted.
On the bank of the dam, at the water's edge, a Lowland Copperhead was seen, and since it was unusually approachable, a number of photographs were taken by Lorraine Phelan and Valda Dedman. The snake was in the process of eating a small frog, and when the photographs were enlarged, they showed the frog had a crossed, or +-shaped, pupil. The only Victorian frog to have these is Peron's Tree Frog Litoria peroni, however Bambra is well outside the known range of the species. Several days later, we visited the site in late afternoon and night, but heard only the Common Froglet Crinia signifera calling. We also checked Lowland Copperhead eating a Peron's Tree Frog, Bambra.
a fire dam near Peter's Hill where several tadpoles were Riot borraine:Pheign found and photographed.
The snake-and-frog photographs were shown to Ray Draper of Central Highlands Environmental Consultancy, who is an acknowledged expert on frogs, and he confirmed the identification. He suggested that the frog had in all probability been accidentally transported to the site on a vehicle
or in machinery. In Melbourne's Wildlife Peron's Tree Frog is described as 'uncommon in the Melbourne area, where it is probably introduced.’
The tadpole in the photograph was tentatively identified as a Growling Grass Frog Litoria raniformis, however that needs confirmation.
Reference: Coventry, John (2006) 'Frogs' in Melbourne's Wildlife, Museum Victoria, CSIRO Publishing. Tadpole tentatively identified as a Growling Grass Frog, Bambra Photo: Lorraine Phelan Additions to the GFNC library ...Lorraine Phelan would appreciate any suggestions of books you think Abbreviations used: # = GFNC purchase, (...) = Donor's
would be useful additions to our library. Donations of new or name if known used books would be most welcome.
How many Birds is That?, Sue Taylor (Joe Hubbard) Tadpoles of South-eastern Australia: A guide with keys, [598.0723494092] Marion Anstis, # [597.809944 ANS] Moths of Victoria: Tiger Moths & Allies: Noctouidae (A), Peter A Field Guide to the Mosses & Allied Plants of Southern Marriott # [595.78 MAR] Australia, David Meagher & Bruce Fuhrer, # Ducks of the World, Janet Kear, 1991 (Joe Hubbard) [588.099423 MEA] [598.41 KEA] Wildflowers of Victoria and Adjoining Areas, Margaret Corrick Rare and Elusive Birds of North America, William Burt (Joe & Bruce Fuhrer, # [582.1309945 COR] Hubbard) [779.328097 BUR] What South East Native Plant is That? Identifying and
Hilda Murrell's Nature Diaries 1961—1983, Charles Stinker Growing Native Vegetation of South East of South (Ed.) (Joe Hubbard) [635.0924 MUR] Australia, Neville Bonney, # [581.9942 BON]
Flowers of the Mallee North West Victoria, Mallee Wildflower The Flowering of Australia's Rainforests: A plant and Committee, # [582.1 MAL] Pollination Miscellany, Geoff Williams & Paul Adam, #
Flora of Melbourne: A Guide to the Indigenous Plants of the [577.340994 WIL] Greater Melbourne Area, APS Maroondah, # [581.99451 The Mornington Peninsula: Through the Eye of a Naturalist, MEL] Tom Sault, [508.9452 SAU]
12 Geelong Naturalist July 2010
What else has been seen
| noticed a large number of caterpillars on a sheoak alongside Waurn Ponds Creek. After last month’s general meeting | contacted the council’s Conservation Reserves Team about the suspected death of a number of Drooping Sheoaks along the coastal roads. lan Rogers responded and told me that a number of the sheoaks in the area are under attack from a plague proportion number of Sheoak Moth caterpillars Pernattia pusilla. The caterpillar defoliates the sheoaks, eating all chlorophyll tissue. The severity of the attack is causing some trees to die, while it appears others are
starting to recover. (CJ)
Reference http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/lasi/pusilla.htm|
Observer: CJ, Craig Jones
...LOrraine Phelan
PT
ICM 1
Sheoak Moth caterpillar Pernattia pusilla. Photo: Craig Jones
Green-blooded king of camouflage
alking along the beach the other day | came across the king of camouflage, a green-blooded giant—a cuttlefish, most likely Sepia apama Giant cuttlefish.
Cuttlefish are an amazing genus that fit into the class Cephalopoda. Cephalopods are soft bodied molluscs (relatives of snails!). The class includes species such as cuttlefish, octopus, nautilus and squid. They are considered the most intelligent of invertebrates and possess complex eyes that are thought to provide a similar level of visual detail to that of vertebrate animals. Cephalopods have special nerve-activated pigment cells in their outer body layer, enabling them to change colour rapidly to blend in with their environment or to communicate with potential mates or enemies. To move quickly they can use a form of jet propulsion where water is ejected from the mantle cavity. They can also eject a dark ink that can help them avoid becoming dinner.
Cuttlefish have eight short arms and two long tentacular arms that they can use for hunting when stalking their prey. Cuttlefish can not only change the colour of their skin but also the texture.
(Cont. from p. 11) d. melting of the Rocky Mountain glaciers.
Dr Blake then used the examples of eucalypt plantations in Brazil and in Tasmania, Cassava plants and the Scribbly Gum in NSW to show how physiological processes could reach an imbalance under the stress of changed environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, pH and CO; levels) and how this stress, combined with disease or insect attack or overcrowded plantings could result in tree loss or significant loss of productivity in plantations.
He also explained some of the natural strategies that trees have developed to aid survival in the face of multiple threats, including the development of polyphenolic compounds to resist insect attack, protective mycorrhiza and naturally developed anti- oxidants. He stressed that biodiversity is a great protective feature—the larger the gene pool, the greater the probability of coping with stresses—and that genetic modification can be a particular concern as natural protective mechanisms may be switched off.
...Craig Jones
The most characteristic feature of this family are surfboard- shaped cuttlebones. Buoyancy of the cuttlebones can be regulated by the cuttlefish by changing the gas to liquid ratio in the chambered cuttlebone. The giant cuttlefish can move from the surface to 50 metres depth. Cuttlefish have three hearts, one each for the two gills that they possess and one to pump blood around the body. The oxygen carrier in their blood is copper based rather than iron. Their blood is a green blue shade. The copper carrier is less efficient than iron and hence the need for three hearts.
A global phenomenon occurs at Whyalla, South Australia in winter time when as many as a quarter of a million giant cuttlefish arrive to mate. Ecotourism is beginning to thrive as divers make the most of the opportunity to view this unique species.
References
Edgar, G. J. (2005) Australian Marine Life, the plants and animals of temperate waters, Reed New Holland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepiida
http://www.marinebiology.adelaide.edu.au/projects/cuttlefish.html
What can be done? How can we help forests to survive?
a. Stop interfering with the genetics of trees. Just support natural processes. b. Protect forests against changes due to altered drainage,
chemicals, road building, logging, mis-timed fire, excess CO; levels, climate change.
C. Maintain healthy root to shoot ratios. The roots take 50% of the products of photosynthesis but comprise only 20% of the biomass of the tree.
d. Learn to read the stress signals that roots and shoots produce. e. Ensure pH levels stay within a range that does not
artificially change stomatal closure. If the pH drops below a certain level (too acid) the stoma cannot close and the tree bleeds water vapour.
f. Avoid overcrowded plantings to encourage healthy root systems.
g. Allow for natural regeneration and evolutionary processes to continue.
h. Protect high value areas.
All these solutions need to be natural part of our political, economic and social processes.
Geelong Naturalist July 2010 13
Bellarine Peninsula Orange-bellied Parrot survey, May 2010
...Craig Morley
Bellarine Peninsula Orange-bellied Parrot Working Group Co-ordinator
O n the weekend of 22-23 May over 60 bird watchers volunteered to search local wetlands and salt marshes on the Bellarine Peninsula, as part of the nationally coordinated search in Victoria, NW Tasmania and SE South Australia, for the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot (OBP).
There was very exciting news with a sighting of three adults and an un-banded juvenile at Lake Connewarre in an area that has historically been a stronghold of the birds in their wintering range.
There was also a sighting, at Breamlea, of a parrot that was 'definitely different and very green' compared to the 16 Blue- winged Parrots it was associating with. Several subsequent visits to the site failed to find a bird answering this description. The positive sighting of four birds, and a possible sighting of a fifth, highlights the need for continued search effort during organised surveys and also at other times.**
A total of 236 Blue-winged Parrots were recorded, 185 in the Lake Connewarre system and 51 in the Breamlea area.
In addition to these parrots there were many other exhilarating and thoroughly enjoyable sightings on the two days in frosty but sunny and fine conditions—Australian Spotted Crake, Lewin’s Rail, Cape Barren Geese (3), White- bellied Sea-eagle, Swamp Harrier (two birds harassing a Brown Goshawk until it dropped its prey—promptly retrieved by a harrier), Shining Bronze-cuckoo, Black-shouldered Kite and many more.
The sighting of the four OBPs at Lake Connewarre coincides with a revegetation project on the east shore of the lake,
planting 300 tangled lignum later this winter. The plants have been propagated from cuttings taken on-site as part of the habitat restoration project funded by a Parks Victoria Barwon Parklands Community Grant awarded to Birds Australia in 2009.
There will be two more national surveys of suitable OBP habitat, including the Bellarine Peninsula, on 24—25 July and 11-12 September 2010.
** as a sidelight: the Working Group Co-ordinator was thrilled and very fortunate to see the four Lake Connewarre OBPs, at a distance, when they twice took flight in the morning sun. A glorious sight! An hour later confronted with two ‘greener’ Blue-winged Parrots, well-tucked into the glasswort, their blue shoulders well covered, showing just a narrow line of blue along the wing edge, and knowing that OBPs were in the vicinity, he did wonder for some time about the possibility of a much rarer find—a very good reminder to always observe carefully, with an open mind, and have a paper and pen (or recorder) and ID info in the field!
For more information about Orange-bellied Parrots visit http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au
or, for more specific information about the Bellarine Peninsula surveys, contact Craig Morley ph: 5221 4604, email: craigmorley5@bigopond.com
= ye
Bird observations, June 2010
hose intrepid birdos who brave the cold weather and
wetter conditions have been well rewarded for their efforts over the past month. On the sunnier days, the drier forests of the You Yangs and Brisbane Ranges have hosted large numbers of honeyeaters and bush birds, and the Swift Parrots have remained in the region in good numbers. There have been reports of Fan-tailed Cuckoos actively calling from many bushland sites.
On the windiest days, the best place to be is at the Point Lonsdale lighthouse, or perhaps at Point Addis if you are rugged up against the cold. The commonly seen albatross, the Shy and the Black-browed, have been noted regularly. The Shy has only a small rim of black markings around the underwing, while the Black-browed has a much larger black margin to the wing. Keep an eye out for the Yellow-nosed Albatross which also has been seen along the coast. Another large ocean bird is the Giant Petrel. The Northern species is best distinguished by the pink/orange bill-tip. The Southern species may also be brown, but has a greenish bill-tip. At this time of year, the Fluttering Shearwaters are seen flying quickly across the waves. The pirates of the skies, the jaegers, are sometimes noted out to sea where they harass other birds into disgorging a meal. Black-faced Cormorants are ocean birds—they can often be seen roosting on the reef below the light house at low tide.
14 Geelong Naturalist July 2010
... Barry Lingham
Banded Stilts can occur in large numbers around Geelong. The three reported at the Avalon Saltworks are the first records for some time as the birds have moved on to breed. The rare Little and Fairy terns were also seen there. Note that RGa has a special access permit to survey the saltworks.
Brown Treecreepers have declined in the region, with the population at Stony Creek disappearing after the fires in the Brisbane Ranges. Several sites along the Moorabool River valley have been found to contain Brown Treecreepers. Hopefully, they will eventually be able to re-colonise parts of the Brisbane Ranges National Park.
The following observations are a selection of those submitted. All observations will be published in Geelong Bird Report.
Observers: AW, Alison Watson; BAt, Bryant Attwood; BL, Barry Lingham; BML, Bernie Lingham; CMo, Craig Morley; CT, Chris Tzaros; DHe, Dean Hewish; EWt, Echidna Walkabout tours; FSm, Fred Smith; GL, Grace Lewis; HS, Hans Streefkerk; JH, Joe Hubbard; JN, John Newman; JPt, John Prytherch; LPh, Lorraine Phelan; MBi, Michael Bird; MBo, Murray Bouchier; MG, Maddie Glynn; MHe, Marilyn Hewish; PKe; PW, Philip Watson; RGa, Rob Ganley; TSc, Ton Scat; VWD, Valda Dedman
Species
Stubble Quail Black-browed Albatross Shy Albatross
Northern Giant-Petrel Fluttering Shearwater Black-faced Cormorant White-bellied Sea-Eagle Grey Goshawk
Peregrine Falcon Lewin’s Rail
Australian Spotted Crake Banded Stilt
Hooded Plover
Jaeger sp. Little Tern Fairy Tern Swift Parrot
Blue-winged Parrot Pallid Cuckoo
Fan-tailed Cuckoo
Powerful Owl Southern Boobook Brown Treecreeper
Speckled Warbler Weebill Buff-rumped Thornbill
Eastern Spinebill
Yellow-faced Honeyeater Singing Honeyeater Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Crescent Honeyeater
Black-chinned Honeyeater Brown-headed Honeyeater
White-naped Honeyeater Varied Sittella
Olive Whistler Olive-backed Oriole Australian Raven
Restless Flycatcher
Jacky Winter Red-capped Robin Flame Robin
Pink Robin Golden-headed Cisticola Mistletoebird
Zebra Finch
Diamond Firetail
Number
2+ 4+ 8+ 10+ {
— O
OO CATE E
25+ Present
4+
2 Present ~6
8+
1 Present Present Many
ha |] | 0 = U SS St St St St =| i © +
Date
23/5 17/6 30/5 17/6 30/5 17/6 17/6 23/5 25/5 25/5
10/6
22/6 26/5 16/6 26/5 15/6 25/5 31/5 16/6 16/6 24/5 10/6 16/6 10/6 30/5 26/5 28/5 23/5 16/6
22/5
Comment
OGNR on N boundary.
Pt Lonsdale lighthouse.
Pt Lonsdale,
Pt Lonsdale lighthouse.
Pt Lonsdale
Pt Lonsdale lighthouse
Pt Lonsdale lighthouse.
Lake Connewarre, over the delta.
Wye River, white morph.
Aireys Inlet, a pair on Eagle Rock.
Lake Connewarre, in saltmarsh S of the lake. Swan Bay, S of Swan Bay jetty. Avalon, Cheetham Saltworks
Aireys Inlet, Urquharts Bluff.
Lake Victoria
Pt Lonsdale. Probably an Arctic Jaeger. Avalon, Cheetham Saltworks.
Avalon, Cheetham Saltworks, feeding with Little Terns.
You Yangs, large flock near Information Centre. Ocean Grove, flying E over small park S of OGNR. Batesford-Moorabool River Reserve.
She Oaks, Sharps Rd, in mature Yellow Gums. Lethbridge, Sharp Rd, heard briefly. Steiglitz-Sheoaks Rd, heard briefly.
Lake Connewarre, in saltmarsh.
OGNR
Stewarts Reserve
Queens Park
OGNR, seen and heard regularly in May. Lethbridge, Perdrisat Rd bridge, heard.
Bellbrae. Also on 25/4.
Freshwater Creek, heard in Thompsons Creek area. Batesford-Moorabool River Reserve
Lethbridge, Sharp Rd, heard and seen at Sharps Crossing. A new location for this species?
Long Forest, Long Point and Happy Valley Tks. Lethbridge, Sharp Rd, heard in several places. She Oaks
Steiglitz, Hut Rd
Wandana Heights, suburban garden
Highton, suburban garden.
You Yangs
You Yangs, near Information Centre.
Avalon, Cheetham Saltworks.
She Oaks, Sharps Crossing. Also on 16/6.
You Yangs, eastern paddocks.
Lake Merrimu PG, active and noisy; winter visitor here.
Long Forest, Long Point, in flowering Yellow Gums. Rare winter visitor here.
You Yangs, plucking fur from a koala.
You Yangs, a few near the Information Centre. Steiglitz, Hut Rd, a noisy group.
You Yangs, near Information Centre.
She Oaks
Apollo Bay, in garden.
Balyang Sanctuary
Steiglitz, heard.
Sutherlands Creek, heard.
Stewarts Reserve
Bannockburn Bush, calling.
Lethbridge, Sharp Rd,
Long Forest, Happy Valley Track, a coloured male. Ocean Grove, N and W of OGNR. 5 red males only. OGNR, a brown bird. Also 27/5.
OGNR
Barwon River near Buckleys Falls, an immature bird. Sutherlands Creek, Geelong-Steiglitz Rd, a male pulling at a large magpie(?) nest. A new site for this species.
You Yangs, eastern paddocks, 2 males, 1 female.
Observers
PKe
CMo, GL BML, BL CMo, GL BL, BML
RGa, CT, CMo, GL TSc
MHe, DHe, MBo, JPt, FSm
MHe
EWt MBi CMo, GL MBi RGa, CT
LPh, VWD
dPt
PKe
PKe
PKe
MBi CMo, GL
TSc
Geelong Naturalist July 2010 15
GFNC Excursion Wednesday 14 July 2010 State Library of Victoria
Leader: Deborah Evans
The State Library is the next in our series of weekday indoor excursions designed to beat those mid-winter blues! The Library is an iconic heritage building, with the architecture alone making it worth a visit. However, we will have the additional benefit of a tour that will introduce us to some of the conservation techniques behind the scenes. There are a number of permanent exhibitions that we can visit afterwards, including 'The changing face of Victoria’ and the ‘Mirror of the world' which showcases many of the rare, beautiful and historically significant books held in the collections. There is also the 150-year Burke and Wills exhibition which closes in August.
As there is a limit on the size of the group they like to have down in the 'stacks', | need to know numbers in advance. Please contact me by phone or email by 9 July, if you are planning to come along.
We will go up by train, but those wishing to take their cars for other reasons can join us there.
Meet: 8.42 a.m. train from South Geelong (Geelong 8.53, North Geelong 8.56, Lara 9.06, not from Marshall unfortunately)—last carriage
OR
State Library at the desk in the main foyer (Swanston St) by 10.15 for the 10.30 tour
Concession cards, if applicable, for the train. Buy or bring lunch? There is a café at the Library, but it does not sound like a 'BYO packed Iunch' one! There is also a food court nearby which would be more flexible for BYO, and if the weather is nice, people could take their lunches onto the lawn outside.
Last off-peak train leaves Southern Cross at 3.53 p.m. N.B. Peak upgrades must be purchased before boarding.
Contact: Deborah Evans, (03) 5243 8687 or
deborah.evans@deakinprime.com Eco Book Group
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Boom and Bust: Bird Stories for a Dry Country, Libby Robin, Robert Heinsohn, Leo Joseph (Eds)
Winner of 2009 Whitley Medal. Available from CSIRO Publishing.
16 Geelong Naturalist July 2010
Mid-week Bird Group excursion Thurs 22nd July 2010
Stony Creek Picnic Ground & surrounds, Brisbane Ranges
Leader: Grace Lewis
A chance to see what interesting things are around the Brisbane Ranges In winter, and how the Stony Creek area continues to recover after the bushfire.
Meet: 8:30 a.m. at the Fyansford Common parking area, adjacent to the Fyansford Hotel, Deviation Road, Fyansford (Melway p. 451 A2)
OR
at Anakie General Store, Geelong-Ballan Rd, Anakie at 9:00 a.m.
Bring: Sturdy walking shoes, morning tea, wet weather gear.
Finish around 12 midday.
For further information, call Polly Cutcliffe on 5244 0182 or Grace Lewis on 0438 046 363
Preliminary notice
Boneseed pulling at the You Yangs
Saturday 21 August 2010
Please note this date in your diary. More details next month.
Preliminary notice Excursion 15 August 2010
Survey techniques/ habitat hectare training with Tim D'Ombrain
Please take advantage of this special activity where Tim will train us in proper botanical surveying techniques. More details next month.
GFNC COMMITTEE 2009-2010
deborah.evans@deakinprime.com
Deborah Evans 5243 8687 Vacant Vacant Grace Lewis Peter Turner
Peter Turner
President
Vice-President
Immediate Past President Secretary
Treasurer
Minute Secretary Committee Member
0438 046 363 g.e.lewis@hotmail.com 5241 2654 presturner@ozemail.com.au 5241 2654 presturner@ozemail.com.au
John Bell
David Flanagan Barry Lingham Bruce Lindsay Lorraine Phelan Peter Williams
5261 3543 5221 2427 5255 4291 5223 2394 5243 0636 5221 3503
solea1@bigpond.com jillpip6@optusnet.com.au lingham@tpg.com.au brucelindsay@aapt.net.au lphelan@bigpond.com.au peter.w@wesinet.com.au
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP CONVENERS and OTHER CLUB POSITIONS Belmont Escarpment Group Dick Southcombe 5243 3916
Bird Group
Conservation Group
Editor Sub-editor
Geelong Bird Report
Jerringot Group Librarian
Fauna Survey Group Membership Officer
Plant Group Web-master Eco Book Group
Barry Lingham Bruce Lindsay Lorraine Phelan Deborah Evans Marilyn Hewish Valda Dedman Lorraine Phelan Trevor Pescott Peter Williams Dick Southcombe Barry Lingham Lorraine Phelan
5255 4291 5223 2394 5243 0636 5243 8687 5367 3196 5243 2374 5243 0636 5243 4368 5221 3503 5243 3916 5255 4291 5243 0636
Coming events
JULY 2010 6 General Meeting: Dolphins—Kate Charlton AUGUST 2010 13 Plant Group: Workshop Meeting 3 General Meeting: Members Night and casserole 14 Excursion (Mid week): State Library tea Leader: Deborah Evans 10 Plant Group: Workshop Meeting 14-17 Mammal trapping: Inverleigh Common TBA Mammal Group: Survey 15 Bird Group: Helping injured birds—David Burrell 15 Excursion: Survey techniques / habitat hectare 22 Mid-week Bird Group Excursion—Brisbane training Leader: Tim D’Ombrain Ranges 19 Bird Group: Meeting 24-25 Orange-bellied Parrot Survey—Craig Morley 21 Boneseed pull—You Yangs Leaders: Rob Beardsley 26 Mid-week Bird Excursion 31 Eco Book Group
The closing date for the next magazine will be Monday evening 26 July 2010.
Early lodgement of articles (small & large) would be a great help—late copy may not be accepted. Hard copy or diskette (saved as a Word document or .rtf please) Photographs—digital as .jpg (100 to 250 KB approx. if sending by e-mail), slides or prints for scanning to the Editor Lorraine Phelan: Iphelan@bigpond.com.au
DISCLAIMER The responsibility for the accuracy of information and opinions expressed in this magazine rests with the author of the article. Please contact the Editor if you wish to reproduce any item (e.g. a photograph) from another source, so that copyright permission can be sought.
GFNC meetings are held at Geelong Botanic Gardens Friends Room, and start at 8.00 p.m.
Entrance is at the intersection of Holt Rd and Eastern Park
The Geelong Naturalist may be quoted without permission provided Circuit in Eastern Park. [Melway 452 G4]
that acknowledgement of the Club and the author is made.
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