tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68894011809610720042024-03-01T15:39:31.843+10:00Wild BNEChristian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.comBlogger147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-51820076561275309092022-05-24T23:01:00.003+10:002022-05-24T23:44:48.988+10:00Wild Queensland: Photos and stories from my roadtrip north<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4Bj613Eo9gZjvVP5iUuNXkwEVgCtkKV8_f54tRbhn0wPtAVRhMXCSJeK8-SPNlp_00dOrmUJETKkrtQAetnlbrERLCmmDh8UD9N4H1VCMthAml8oR_nEghZ4EB1FL8xjRiDwU4mG78VXoEteT5vSZPbX3PJHDLkHhOrcJYGuDGdHX7fYxVxQmx7Bcw/s1920/Fungi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4Bj613Eo9gZjvVP5iUuNXkwEVgCtkKV8_f54tRbhn0wPtAVRhMXCSJeK8-SPNlp_00dOrmUJETKkrtQAetnlbrERLCmmDh8UD9N4H1VCMthAml8oR_nEghZ4EB1FL8xjRiDwU4mG78VXoEteT5vSZPbX3PJHDLkHhOrcJYGuDGdHX7fYxVxQmx7Bcw/w640-h640/Fungi.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;">Earlier this month, I drove up to Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday Region to celebrate the 40th birthday of my close friend, Kat.</span><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzi3soO_18wATKh_F-4Ql9mncbETGEqtJwKO9BtvtcatZHCm8hpuxOT2VwZk4_AwR7WJQguwzxtqruhXVBBCG8zDx1hxaNPZ_aop14mLXc28WUOYwBpD6oEz7Q3XpEKGwimC-n_lq27ibzJ1PqqJkqRFkKVb54606LeZWUzoV08OT8xVGiwLInXkGv8w/s800/IMG_8003.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzi3soO_18wATKh_F-4Ql9mncbETGEqtJwKO9BtvtcatZHCm8hpuxOT2VwZk4_AwR7WJQguwzxtqruhXVBBCG8zDx1hxaNPZ_aop14mLXc28WUOYwBpD6oEz7Q3XpEKGwimC-n_lq27ibzJ1PqqJkqRFkKVb54606LeZWUzoV08OT8xVGiwLInXkGv8w/w640-h480/IMG_8003.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Luke Martin.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Our time there overlapped for one weekend, in which we enjoyed swims, drinks, hearty dinners and a sailing adventure around the islands.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7EbjJmdS3vIxutGXTl8WIfB9F51mKgki_EDVhOaaO9Tj7dc-PdPjmtVkN2_orAowOAX6GshhW20bxTXe1c_ktaPKu_gKJIDseBQNOYteawb71sqjz-iLtr5Bjt27_J8gcA5Okh_sZ9uARzhfSe4soX0sFOld7K_sN1j-s8csRKmASuApFc0F2R95ZYA/s2048/IMG_1969.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7EbjJmdS3vIxutGXTl8WIfB9F51mKgki_EDVhOaaO9Tj7dc-PdPjmtVkN2_orAowOAX6GshhW20bxTXe1c_ktaPKu_gKJIDseBQNOYteawb71sqjz-iLtr5Bjt27_J8gcA5Okh_sZ9uARzhfSe4soX0sFOld7K_sN1j-s8csRKmASuApFc0F2R95ZYA/w640-h426/IMG_1969.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;">The celebrations and wonderful catch-ups flew by quickly, but when Kat and her husband Luke flew back down south on Sunday, I still had a week's worth of time at my disposal to explore the nature of Queensland's coast.</span><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I started with a journey into the forests of Conway National Park, just a ten minute drive east of Airlie Beach. I spent a sunny, humid morning walking up to the peak of Mount Rooper, through vine scrub and eucalypt forest.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbO8LgOjmU22Gn5mfa-KI1BU0gcMa214sJGlw0_Idy5bL6jVgd1YXWb8SBh-IXhfhu3lEgm_wgFqz_Mim_XtdWxKjqXr2OcRrzxQH7YgjHYyzE4XfRN5QDofZt4A-ma39Ln8Lsw0CIGYHlskWTyc4KMwa7UqHQvM6C6qAhVVZMKsXJmSBcTji-MLjUJQ/s2048/Mount%20Rooper%20&%20Cape%20Conway%20022.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1151" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbO8LgOjmU22Gn5mfa-KI1BU0gcMa214sJGlw0_Idy5bL6jVgd1YXWb8SBh-IXhfhu3lEgm_wgFqz_Mim_XtdWxKjqXr2OcRrzxQH7YgjHYyzE4XfRN5QDofZt4A-ma39Ln8Lsw0CIGYHlskWTyc4KMwa7UqHQvM6C6qAhVVZMKsXJmSBcTji-MLjUJQ/w360-h640/Mount%20Rooper%20&%20Cape%20Conway%20022.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;">It was exhilarating! </span><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I immediately saw a new species of bird for me in the carpark there, a female olive-backed sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis). After so much rain earlier in the week, the forest floor was also teeming with amazing fungi!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">After lunch back in town, I returned to the national park, this time to Cape Conway's lowland tropical rainforest. Here I had an up-close encounter with a gentle collared whipsnake (Demansia torquata), as well as green-spotted triangles (Graphium agamemnon) and yet more beautiful fungi.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dPCfFoCfZWtfXHXJMoPQOt68VVuiuDJZpwpML2bxqa6nGKnZ7Ung4ZQ_Go6JTUCIEEgPLF3hIwJJjJfLl5unXMYTpc2rTmX7Xd1GkBUGStP6JQs8lPK58p9FmPzPjr9Bea1K8ccclRo85oM73ll162VmFSG7jklOVvco0HWWlmC3eglkShUmwEm5CQ/s2048/IMG_1993.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dPCfFoCfZWtfXHXJMoPQOt68VVuiuDJZpwpML2bxqa6nGKnZ7Ung4ZQ_Go6JTUCIEEgPLF3hIwJJjJfLl5unXMYTpc2rTmX7Xd1GkBUGStP6JQs8lPK58p9FmPzPjr9Bea1K8ccclRo85oM73ll162VmFSG7jklOVvco0HWWlmC3eglkShUmwEm5CQ/w640-h426/IMG_1993.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;">Having had such a fantastic time with my friends and in the wilderness, I was sad to leave Airlie Beach the next day—which, I should mention, is the friendliest Australian town I have been to!</span><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">My next destination was Yeppoon on the Capricorn Coast, and after a day of driving, I arrived at my <a href="https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/24679016" target="_blank">lovely AirBNB accommodation</a> in Adelaide Park. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Because of the rain Queensland has been drenched with this year, I decided to forego murky marine adventures for more mainland exploration. I began the next day walking down gravel roads through the fog in Bungundarra, where I had my favourite sighting of the whole trip: a blue-winged kookaburra (Dacelo leachii)!</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwW63sLVwYoI0GaCK5UkYztv1ayT7C-BnO-qDXt4QKTX-btSAKAU1Q416g9q4Y5R7iacQa9Vfyex3xOp7jfaLNrtKOv-ughDXv0bbFn4rl-Mm1d0ZnOUN6UR_qHT7Y4NdVonEyMdhHZqPF0-LtrR83HDsbQmpdyLZe1_e1GshP6ZPAFZWjFit6473bw/s2048/Dacelo%20leachii.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwW63sLVwYoI0GaCK5UkYztv1ayT7C-BnO-qDXt4QKTX-btSAKAU1Q416g9q4Y5R7iacQa9Vfyex3xOp7jfaLNrtKOv-ughDXv0bbFn4rl-Mm1d0ZnOUN6UR_qHT7Y4NdVonEyMdhHZqPF0-LtrR83HDsbQmpdyLZe1_e1GshP6ZPAFZWjFit6473bw/w640-h480/Dacelo%20leachii.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;">I have wanted to see this tropical species ever since I was a little boy! The bird I saw (a male, as told by his blue tail) allowed for wonderful views, and later I heard more of his kind uttering their strange shouting call from some paperbarks across a field. </span><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The day offered delights in many other forms too, gifting me with my first sightings of the bar-breasted honeyeater (Ramsayornis fasciatus) and frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii) at Lammemoor, and then flocks of brolga (Grus rubicunda) at Emu Park. I finished the day by watching the full moon from Fan Rock Lookout, as it slid out from the sea to shine over the Great Barrier Reef. Truly magical!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">After such a big day, I kept the next one simple, with a trip out to a tropical woodland at Lake Mary, followed by a dip in Yeppoon Lagoon, a man-made infinity pool by the shore.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80fTfDk3CKEnoBsQ9svGK0Ain1q-ZCcNGH_ra-e_kaXWSMoYYeizJU3sJXD509OAjLMaS4Ks7Yza5vnjz17G-tL21wsqtSL339HLJF3QlNAzAAsw1BCWkxqyXjdbHBvlVNGih6A6rJscLxVsgNQLCI1bz22MmKFMnrgpIt4o_1O-TZWX83XKTxiCEUg/s2048/Carlia%20vivax.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80fTfDk3CKEnoBsQ9svGK0Ain1q-ZCcNGH_ra-e_kaXWSMoYYeizJU3sJXD509OAjLMaS4Ks7Yza5vnjz17G-tL21wsqtSL339HLJF3QlNAzAAsw1BCWkxqyXjdbHBvlVNGih6A6rJscLxVsgNQLCI1bz22MmKFMnrgpIt4o_1O-TZWX83XKTxiCEUg/w640-h400/Carlia%20vivax.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;">My next port of call on the way home was Urangan at Hervey Bay, where I stayed two nights at my <a href="https://www.shellybeachmotel.com.au/" target="_blank">favourite little hotel</a>. The weather started to turn here though, cloudy at first, before becoming persistent rain. I still enjoyed Hervey Bay though because I made the most of my time before the worst of the weather took hold, studying trees in a beautiful vine forest at Dundowran Beach. Here I got to know new species for me like the canary beech (Huberantha nitidissima) and pleurostylia (Pleurostylia opposita).</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFd3qagnMnj951EdlDzZygkXpzoyPb6YWx8OkkB6xwLSIQZmbYZKe7K8kfWIiDTYBPpxt-LyBKARc1CD5P3xfgXRMc74wp22Lj30uwZ6gceZRqw7-9DJ8rqj92NJDtU0jqMvYoH_23Jj6R7dKbLUu53MXu3zbbvT8_c_wA3cZkyBVmhq0UT4iO2BEgcQ/s2048/Pittosporum%20revolutum.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1638" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFd3qagnMnj951EdlDzZygkXpzoyPb6YWx8OkkB6xwLSIQZmbYZKe7K8kfWIiDTYBPpxt-LyBKARc1CD5P3xfgXRMc74wp22Lj30uwZ6gceZRqw7-9DJ8rqj92NJDtU0jqMvYoH_23Jj6R7dKbLUu53MXu3zbbvT8_c_wA3cZkyBVmhq0UT4iO2BEgcQ/w512-h640/Pittosporum%20revolutum.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Finishing up in the forest, I went for a walk on the adjacent beach and found a magnificent osprey (Pandion haliaetus) perched regally on a bare branch in the dunes. It was surveying a landscape I would've liked to have studied also, but alas, that was when the rain began. The outdoors portion of my holiday was over.<br /></span></div><div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGdIylxa6z6EaUNI8htW9eHzxT-OE4r6vj7zS9RTF3yyxuHqkHS-AvkYyDW-KvXdOhqmr8h5UIU9qqnR8fvZXad4vZhAMTuvYxinIi8bpK2J_R2JRfGZiSLsPXZNA2bodrtrWTgPSB9csOxTKuPg-bkxGb9umwNQy8pufoFUDUntyPtmUwzMtdbqwDA/s2048/Dundowan%20Beach%20013.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGdIylxa6z6EaUNI8htW9eHzxT-OE4r6vj7zS9RTF3yyxuHqkHS-AvkYyDW-KvXdOhqmr8h5UIU9qqnR8fvZXad4vZhAMTuvYxinIi8bpK2J_R2JRfGZiSLsPXZNA2bodrtrWTgPSB9csOxTKuPg-bkxGb9umwNQy8pufoFUDUntyPtmUwzMtdbqwDA/w640-h452/Dundowan%20Beach%20013.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div></div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-27104255853710519212022-03-16T10:50:00.000+10:002022-03-16T10:53:42.830+10:00When family fights: a drama on the mudflats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zCDrzN0by9nla-6yo6koeRk6Z9LLYioUJTprPDa0TRVjj_UZCMQEhUs4vPcepT8TWczQMwf-ClPXsAxyGiTXhWRWwk_AsJH56Iuc8BoeUw317Ty5MjFBu9k2n_ltRkP3ldLarVqM02lh/w640-h453/1647391036180090-0.png" width="640">
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</div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">At Victoria Point on Sunday, the tide was out and I watched an interesting interaction between two bird species.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">One of them was a white-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) that had been foraging on the mudflats for quite some time already.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy34bdXAvTFDJMxMkNe1v4bcKukBmsIrVbHmAiO_-AjAtnTB5il5o3QDBSod4Om_9_yAMuG49XKkCsgfjK3wegNfCWPJQ3fCCCwx86nhA-RGLPXSbL2LsFJgWaCpHhEZBv96MzBBlpWXx1/w640-h458/1647391029071641-1.png" width="640">
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</div><span style="font-size: medium;">It was eventually joined by a little egret (Egretta garzetta). As you can tell from the genus of both species, they are closely related - essentially, you could call the heron a grey egret, and the egret a white heron if you wanted to.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOwrzjjdEBMRUI4ROjCtZ0Q5zXX0CtFMOiD8B7nz1CYuH945Bz5SZ2Q4PLHCCA-9Qhpl0IEjCmqe2sezNRfpiuEFnCMxFmcVlJpRa4YXfX-rESRr51yfDFVohst6UWzhsuWkpooO2NLS1m/w503-h640/1647391023177994-2.png" width="503">
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</div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The egret began to forage by trailing the heron quite closely. Graham Pizzey in his excellent field guide notes that this behaviour by the egret allows it to capture prey items escaping unnoticed by the other bird.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">There was a certain invisible ring of comfort/discomfort around the heron, however, and whenever the egret crossed that barrier, the heron would become visibly bothered and rebuke the space invader (see the photo at the top of this page also).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><span style="font-size: medium;">After several confrontations, the egret learned its lesson and backed off, opting to forage by itself. Interestingly, both birds utilised a 'mud-puddling' technique to find prey, where they stir up murky water with one foot to see what will swim out. Below is a photo of the heron doing this - you can see its body weight is supported by one leg as the other is swirled around in the water.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-57770617714325826042021-11-23T19:58:00.000+10:002021-11-23T19:58:22.855+10:00Meet 'Blepharotes', the giant Aussie fly with a killer lifestyle<p>Last week, while exploring a patch of forest near Caboolture Airport, I disturbed an enormous flying insect that whirred past my head and landed a short distance away in the undergrowth. My first impression was that of a large, dark metallic blue wasp which was carrying something. Raising my binoculars to my eyes, however, revealed that I was looking at a huge, predatory fly—the giant blue robber fly (Blepharotes splendidissimus). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDjOBNKRe4vR9a_mP8XOSfb3HDdO8SM71y9Eqpid3pNftctDS7c9AklOtbyCfmlS8ttrqELgHjqMKXthILWRlYbXRRYI0xyOvecK-NjHsJIlT3WCV23XtPVPyAdingvratx8UEKT-vjkY/s2048/Caboolture+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDjOBNKRe4vR9a_mP8XOSfb3HDdO8SM71y9Eqpid3pNftctDS7c9AklOtbyCfmlS8ttrqELgHjqMKXthILWRlYbXRRYI0xyOvecK-NjHsJIlT3WCV23XtPVPyAdingvratx8UEKT-vjkY/w640-h494/Caboolture+001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>What it was carrying was a poor, unfortunate scarab beetle, the spotted flower chafer (Neorrhina punctatum). It had been stabbed between its hardened wing cases by the fly’s mouthparts, receiving a dose of toxic, protein-destroying saliva in the process. With the beetle’s insides liquidized, the fly was slurping up the contents like some kind of entomological milkshake. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTcy9-0PTnIYQij9wquT6JHZR1PpxXnyzTn_y2q8-qL4dR4nWQhJktn3FJ6IWCTed5py_bRdsxBSatq8Ag3V3stS7-ZesLS7lXlJ4NmoHm2bW1PJnF7N-G60_FCCWcS-GsiaMWQ-6m4jZ/s2048/Caboolture+002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTcy9-0PTnIYQij9wquT6JHZR1PpxXnyzTn_y2q8-qL4dR4nWQhJktn3FJ6IWCTed5py_bRdsxBSatq8Ag3V3stS7-ZesLS7lXlJ4NmoHm2bW1PJnF7N-G60_FCCWcS-GsiaMWQ-6m4jZ/w640-h480/Caboolture+002.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The beetle is no shrinking violet itself and is only a little smaller than your average Christmas beetle in the same family. Hopefully that puts the size of the fly into perspective! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6P_w4RU7dMRG86v6h-Wuh6dJcQFD6cH6isVq19kAsLNDPPh3bhwCLild9qZ7HjzSseSSjjMg0ZVI1hYkeayiHwSytJ3mzr9EhA0_2FDDOGJyXSrGPmJCRrUjkhucoz4v9ZxcrOnnn-dH5/s2048/Caboolture+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6P_w4RU7dMRG86v6h-Wuh6dJcQFD6cH6isVq19kAsLNDPPh3bhwCLild9qZ7HjzSseSSjjMg0ZVI1hYkeayiHwSytJ3mzr9EhA0_2FDDOGJyXSrGPmJCRrUjkhucoz4v9ZxcrOnnn-dH5/w640-h480/Caboolture+003.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Robber flies must be the stuff of nightmares for scarab beetles, because even as immature maggots living in the soil, many robber flies will still target scarab beetles, only in their grub form instead. The poor things can’t catch a break! Too many beetles, however, and the plants and trees begin to suffer, so in this regard, robber flies are true friends of the forest. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60kvEmTmoML38CmkyL0UcbyLuEWwHU9xJNyIGb_0iZA95T-Eq6D7bXGRwmso-FchxZIg0lMPvQ7KbZMQGVAQ2JuT0dLrbm22KJ21Lv3rTGoWlokKPLlTeRc97i0lgns4UpVQkrTVQ_arU/s2048/IMG_1516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60kvEmTmoML38CmkyL0UcbyLuEWwHU9xJNyIGb_0iZA95T-Eq6D7bXGRwmso-FchxZIg0lMPvQ7KbZMQGVAQ2JuT0dLrbm22KJ21Lv3rTGoWlokKPLlTeRc97i0lgns4UpVQkrTVQ_arU/w640-h426/IMG_1516.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Speaking of the forest, this particular one was in its regrowth stage, featuring lots of nitrogen-fixing casuarinas and wattles amongst the occasional bloodwood. At the zone where the forest transitioned into paperbark wetland, I found the robber fly. Purported to inhabit rainforest and scrub, perhaps the dense vegetation at Caboolture replicates those environments in some way.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>References:</p><p>Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera, Stephen A. Marshall, 2012, Firefly Books</p><p>Wildlife of Greater Brisbane, 2020, Chris Burwell, Christine Lambkin et al, Queensland Museum</p><div><br /></div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-17875057082512777382021-10-29T21:09:00.000+10:002021-10-29T21:09:31.264+10:00The night I saw a zombie in South Brisbane Cemetery <p>I visited South Brisbane Cemetery recently, hoping to photograph nocturnal creepy-crawlies for a Halloween-themed blog post.</p><p>And boy, did I find something creepy. I found a zombie! </p><p>Now I know what you might be thinking: “That man has watched too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and on that point, you are actually correct, but I swear that I did find a zombie, only I didn’t know it at the time. To me, it was just a spider. A spider with a small, white grub on its back.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnl0DKKerZ7o9hENk9jh0zDyzEaTfoPcmusQduy7fleRHWI3-HjP00bw_Y7HjSVoESFJQ9YaYFfZlaVGSz4K_CQSHDJuzr5OF5i9q2dPm6hklyF90G0JLy89SIX-vbapmG6J23E13Y9QCi/s2048/Dutton+Park+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnl0DKKerZ7o9hENk9jh0zDyzEaTfoPcmusQduy7fleRHWI3-HjP00bw_Y7HjSVoESFJQ9YaYFfZlaVGSz4K_CQSHDJuzr5OF5i9q2dPm6hklyF90G0JLy89SIX-vbapmG6J23E13Y9QCi/w640-h480/Dutton+Park+004.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The spider belongs to the cobweb spider family Theridiidae, whose best known member in Australia is the red-back spider. This particular spider was pea-sized and had a messy web in the foliage of a weeping fig. I never figured out which species it is because learning about the grub became my focus, but if anyone reading this can enlighten me, please let me know.<p></p><p>As for the grub, it’s the larval form of a wasp in the Ichneumonidae family, which are perhaps nature’s most famous parasitoids. * Within this family are a small group of closely-related genera that target cobweb spiders, and unlike most spider-hungry grubs, they don’t feed on the host from the inside, nor is the host paralysed. The spider just keeps living its life as normal, except that as the grub attached to its body grows, the behaviour of the spider begins to change.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiianyW3FSx1CSrP0_rS_EFDE-e2SQBZWNdfFTxQUwV08tI26SJTT9lcBQ3qLJFwZZY9lKJUdBLLhAu0dOH0cmiOpUl73LByFEc7aS2Q52d17Sr8XH7kvkKnj6RigGohADgnNDJZVIAy4ue/s2048/Dutton+Park+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiianyW3FSx1CSrP0_rS_EFDE-e2SQBZWNdfFTxQUwV08tI26SJTT9lcBQ3qLJFwZZY9lKJUdBLLhAu0dOH0cmiOpUl73LByFEc7aS2Q52d17Sr8XH7kvkKnj6RigGohADgnNDJZVIAy4ue/w640-h480/Dutton+Park+003.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Scientists discovered a few years ago that wasp larvae in the Zatypota genus are seemingly able to control the behaviour of their spider hosts through mind-control. The mechanism for this is not completely understood, but hypothesised to involve tapping into the spider’s hormonal system, then switching certain behaviours on and off. The most striking example of this is when the wasp larvae induces its host to construct a specially-made silken shelter to pupate inside of—the spider’s final act before being killed and consumed.<p></p><p>Research conducted here in Brisbane’s suburbs has determined that Zatypota kauros is our common local species in this genus-group of wasps, and also that this species can occasionally target hosts outside of the cobweb spider family. Such as humans. **</p><p>So how’s that for a Halloween graveyard story?! Zombie mind-control and cold-blooded murder… enough excitement for one night I think!</p><p>* A parasitoid is a parasite which kills its host.</p><p>** Just kidding. Though they are big meanies to our delightful golden orb-weavers.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Further Reading:</b></p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wasp-turns-social-spiders-zombies-build-their-cocoons-real-life-horror-story-180970919/" target="_blank">Smithsonian Magazine (related species)</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zatypota_percontatoria" target="_blank">Zatypota percontatoria (related species with detailed info)</a></p><p><a href="https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_2b3dff5/UQ2b3dff5_OA.pdf?dsi_version=7f73bc9a2bca04908fec970721ad0606&Expires=1635501358&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJKNBJ4MJBJNC6NLQ&Signature=DKu3cJlLqK9W9KMKu2iGBBVLk5FYE1SiAMFxS0wY9XTBZ~IeYjWhOmyuI2nkragmQcjQBf62KHAENJlzupTYdhtCSZZVhmWldwELxUBTIgOA7tiRNRSzovHRY-DCp~bDrBq3MJUya4y~2~7SZ3fOE4qgGeyyNWBkfLOqPbSsqX9p671OeUjhRPkjmKLzzbmdCE2ro1o0UDrQTTpC5y6zOdUyj4mp11rWOcBe8RTH94KinuLHxfBmQ7Fpp-YBe9a6OPU4Kq7s0w~Ol0gq0t1D0eM9zWC8QVNjRgFKM7w~iABD-EK1oZ4RLobmjFjF1euoJTiYIK06Us1Qz2407TpjGg__" target="_blank">Brisbane Zatypota research paper (PDF file)</a></p>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-34066498110479943112021-09-28T22:32:00.000+10:002021-09-28T22:32:25.725+10:00Some stories and pictures from Hervey Bay<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIzz7GNOKmNYMVLFDSfMp6uAtJfO0fvkG9gu36H67lJZiGENf9sB4pAkh5pjirvDrgGG8prjBsLzX56vwrRVJfgo2uBqGDX5pszcj5iiIY4dry4q1hDo5lcHMlCQ8NDuafmyfC_S8fxf7/s2048/Point+Vernon+031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIzz7GNOKmNYMVLFDSfMp6uAtJfO0fvkG9gu36H67lJZiGENf9sB4pAkh5pjirvDrgGG8prjBsLzX56vwrRVJfgo2uBqGDX5pszcj5iiIY4dry4q1hDo5lcHMlCQ8NDuafmyfC_S8fxf7/w640-h400/Point+Vernon+031.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I recently spent five nights at the delightful <a href="http://www.shellybeachmotel.com.au/" target="_blank">Shelly Beach Motel</a> in Urangan, Hervey Bay. A large portion of each day was spent photographing insects and spiders, some of which I’ve shared on the Wild BNE Facebook page. It wasn’t all invertebrate study though, and I thought I’d share some of my other experiences here. <p></p><p>On my first day, I headed into Vernon Conservation Park, halfway between Hervey Bay and Maryborough. When I arrived, I saw that the tracks were heavily degraded by dirt bikes and illegal 4WD use, and being the school holidays, I knew it wouldn’t be long before such vehicles arrived that day too. I decided to follow some very faint wallaby trails deeper into the park, and I did so just in time, as the roaring dirt bikes showed up just ten minutes later. I appreciated the stringybark woodland that the trails led through, weaving my way through a shrub layer composed of hakeas, she-oaks and grevilleas. The bike noise became distant enough to no longer intrude on my senses, but audible enough to tell me where the main track was. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CihKZFd3DfejJtHtxvr3OwvGnOLS8VhUVB26KvpsMlNv3JZ228iI_GJezI3j14of5Hy2pTNui6iWSSoenmzBDSWSgyQshUzogemD8XmkrVnW6lWgbrRz4g0rr9akAxecW5FJtsxOh9sO/s2048/Point+Vernon+sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CihKZFd3DfejJtHtxvr3OwvGnOLS8VhUVB26KvpsMlNv3JZ228iI_GJezI3j14of5Hy2pTNui6iWSSoenmzBDSWSgyQshUzogemD8XmkrVnW6lWgbrRz4g0rr9akAxecW5FJtsxOh9sO/w480-h640/Point+Vernon+sunset.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />That afternoon, I went to watch the sunset at Point Vernon. I marched out onto a rocky promontory adjacent to the Gatakers Bay boat ramp, plonked down my camp chair and listened to music as the sun sank lower and the tide came in. I had my binoculars too, but no camera, and gazed admiringly at the pelicans and distant terns. To my great surprise, suddenly a huge, balding old-man head appeared before me in the little inlet—a magnificent green turtle! I held my breath, hoping the giant would resurface, when a different one appeared a little further away. Then another one, and another one, until I realised this inlet was full of turtles. They became a lot more active as the evening crept closer, and when shells appeared at the surface and flippers began to flail around, I realised this was a mating site for them. The whole experience was so wonderful that I returned for an encore the next evening, this time with my camera.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9T6av6Oedwpni3lSmTJb1tRLvKXiCfaxHpE2fMFBKVw1J8xaU5KHVKlYOI4gTew4lZVxwICTf1XKYJMsBI7EtjGYY7BiXY7rkv9jIg2z9hPHHZiNJs_AR7K33nR_CdLf9DvTI-TxOt5g/s2048/Point+Vernon+010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9T6av6Oedwpni3lSmTJb1tRLvKXiCfaxHpE2fMFBKVw1J8xaU5KHVKlYOI4gTew4lZVxwICTf1XKYJMsBI7EtjGYY7BiXY7rkv9jIg2z9hPHHZiNJs_AR7K33nR_CdLf9DvTI-TxOt5g/w640-h480/Point+Vernon+010.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />On another day, I headed out to beautiful Dundowran Beach. The tide was in, and the urge to swim and laze in the shade of the wooded foreshore was strong, but I fought it to explore the vine forest there instead. It was a wonderful place, home to sweet yellow robins and bordered rustic butterflies, but I found the bleached, empty snail shells strewn through the leaf litter particularly evocative of this rare habitat’s beauty. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib69TiJwoT1YDIk3XVsYkW8YYACW1gh_B_heNGoZ-8lfBgDEsX_lxxNqOqmoT_ntKDdsd3XIs3lkSnBINC_zLvntLEpW3CfOgagqPMIsmTYKUxpG-dP0xX4pHx6dDgHGnV0Jqn4_S0q9ER/s2048/Vine+forest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib69TiJwoT1YDIk3XVsYkW8YYACW1gh_B_heNGoZ-8lfBgDEsX_lxxNqOqmoT_ntKDdsd3XIs3lkSnBINC_zLvntLEpW3CfOgagqPMIsmTYKUxpG-dP0xX4pHx6dDgHGnV0Jqn4_S0q9ER/w640-h426/Vine+forest.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />From there, I drove to Burrum Heads and had my breath taken away by the low-tide vista that awaited me. Hervey Bay has one of the biggest tidal ranges I’ve ever seen, and the sandflats that appear during the low tide extend for many miles. This kind of environment can actually be very dangerous if one loses track of the time or the tide’s turn, so I asked the locals for some cautionary advice, then headed out to explore. I had a very relaxing time on my wanderings, until I turned around and saw a bushfire roaring to life just outside of town, possibly stranding me there if the one road in and out was affected. I hurried back to my car and checked the road in question, to find that it was indeed closed. Luckily, thanks to the effort of the local Rural Fire Service, it was only a temporary problem and I was able to leave later that afternoon. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM66s-WUUrqH6k0L9m4stLQVJnB9g5NFMVbp7rqhX9tRtSvMesyyX4YeTn1Xeul4QEls7kRL5V05pNYo5rMpVBipQMyQGfop6MLz6mpPfcGvoNrq94GOoZTxwqK83njRadbQ7GOPvn9Zaw/s2048/Burrum+Heads+fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM66s-WUUrqH6k0L9m4stLQVJnB9g5NFMVbp7rqhX9tRtSvMesyyX4YeTn1Xeul4QEls7kRL5V05pNYo5rMpVBipQMyQGfop6MLz6mpPfcGvoNrq94GOoZTxwqK83njRadbQ7GOPvn9Zaw/w640-h480/Burrum+Heads+fire.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The next day, I headed out into Hervey Bay for an <a href="https://www.herveybayecomarinetours.com.au/" target="_blank">eco-tour with a local company</a>. I chose the tour for its offer of snorkelling amongst coral in the bay, and luckily, I got to fulfil this wish. The tide and visibility wasn’t perfect, but I appreciated the chance to see impressive coral mounds and pretty fish, including a large fringe-eye flathead. We also saw Australian humpback dolphins and a green turtle elsewhere in the bay, and gained an insight into the cultural and historical traditions of the Butchulla people thanks to our indigenous guide. It felt very special to visit the Great Sandy Strait right at the time it was announced that Fraser Island would henceforth be officially known by its Butchulla name of K’Gari. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51IpOQQOXlONX_Xvnngox4DlCbveCUp4j-Bbd_PLDIN1LLkOUFxHycxSLPlzeScx1BY66N8e0csnNT4lPBQHxpkoNY20rT0A6hY0assVfnthEAtnNp29V3OVnjOqSdZ-Ouo_pBE56Sh-Y/s2048/Coral+reef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51IpOQQOXlONX_Xvnngox4DlCbveCUp4j-Bbd_PLDIN1LLkOUFxHycxSLPlzeScx1BY66N8e0csnNT4lPBQHxpkoNY20rT0A6hY0assVfnthEAtnNp29V3OVnjOqSdZ-Ouo_pBE56Sh-Y/w640-h480/Coral+reef.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />And speaking of K’Gari! On my last night there, I found myself a spot on a dark, quiet beach at the eastern end of Urangan, and watched the moon rise over the island. It was spectacular! The higher the moon climbed, the more the waters of the strait became etched in silver ripples. I felt a kind of euphoria, much the same way I did whenever I strolled the remarkable Urangan Pier. My grandparents used to love Urangan and Hervey Bay, and I think it’s in my DNA to adore it too. I will definitely return soon. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsdeTqe7eUrDupiDotK61K0cSvBEe1qBm-Xrzq5oeeT_csWPdLsnkm08wSywWKuA7zvvraet6EXeIP3fv-_RVTe-H8bgSUiwJavYpL8kHkKOSTzff4UM2hoQKIYNg5GhDqU8EiHp5xHf5/s2048/Point+Vernon+017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsdeTqe7eUrDupiDotK61K0cSvBEe1qBm-Xrzq5oeeT_csWPdLsnkm08wSywWKuA7zvvraet6EXeIP3fv-_RVTe-H8bgSUiwJavYpL8kHkKOSTzff4UM2hoQKIYNg5GhDqU8EiHp5xHf5/w640-h400/Point+Vernon+017.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div><br /></div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-43352444398632613392021-07-08T14:57:00.000+10:002021-07-08T14:57:52.118+10:00Reflections on the Cooloola BioBlitz<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HklAAzXvcpJihEHGTJVwhqTqf9wlqNSv7wNx7RFBLQPgnxBWAdPnYCg_q_hEuIDuWYeOeqehyFhLWdinbYNWcFbUFSWeMM-uz27nag5fEzHxu6-JcAGX2Vy0u78hyphenhyphenvtQLazikrVeTBTN/s2048/Cooloola+BioBlitz+69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HklAAzXvcpJihEHGTJVwhqTqf9wlqNSv7wNx7RFBLQPgnxBWAdPnYCg_q_hEuIDuWYeOeqehyFhLWdinbYNWcFbUFSWeMM-uz27nag5fEzHxu6-JcAGX2Vy0u78hyphenhyphenvtQLazikrVeTBTN/w640-h494/Cooloola+BioBlitz+69.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />In May earlier this year, I had the honour of being invited to participate in the <a href="https://www.cooloolacoastcare.org.au/projects/bioblitz" target="_blank">Cooloola BioBlitz</a> as a Team Leader. Over the course of a weekend, I led two groups of lovely people around various sites near Rainbow Beach, searching for and identifying as many life forms as we could find. These sightings were then uploaded to iNaturalist in order to paint a full picture of the biodiversity occurring on the Cooloola Coast. Here I will share some of the highlights from the weekend! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_rGWx2PkwKkEt1UbtDaA6fpmzL9nlPGYsnLwa65wt2aldhP_SMNBd2aJWBvnSzstbIZxf1TnWMgq0h86yf49Meh3XteWo9fSuLriFUtgMGL7ImiIya04cLzIxZRsNWdBPxrLFbFWBDZF/s1920/InShot_20210706_194344476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_rGWx2PkwKkEt1UbtDaA6fpmzL9nlPGYsnLwa65wt2aldhP_SMNBd2aJWBvnSzstbIZxf1TnWMgq0h86yf49Meh3XteWo9fSuLriFUtgMGL7ImiIya04cLzIxZRsNWdBPxrLFbFWBDZF/w640-h640/InShot_20210706_194344476.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />MISTLETOES<p></p><p>Both groups I took out into the bush found amazing mistletoes! The most stunning of them all was a long-flowered mistletoe (Dendrophthoe vitellina) parasitising a paperbark, which then had two other species of mistletoe on it—a layer cake of parasitism! With the help of LaTrobe Natural History lecturer Gregg Müller, those two species were identified as the leafless jointed mistletoe (Viscum articulatum) and the golden mistletoe (Notothixos subaureus). It was such a fascinating find that I returned with the next day’s group as well, but we also found a beautiful mistletoe at Inskip Point which targets the grey mangrove. Called Amyema mackayensis, it is an uncommon species in South-east Queensland. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILEh726uX9q9t_Lq_uzkyvd3hQHvTdgcg6SZJF9b7pXfH_dgIE50wU1ckYdyXUBs_tIk_9uFIOu51Dmt404GrcoD_obzQRdMXtpL7dc_DD4o9V2-wrEopyHdcUQt7nSXajSOqzGrTzFms/s2048/1621125252735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILEh726uX9q9t_Lq_uzkyvd3hQHvTdgcg6SZJF9b7pXfH_dgIE50wU1ckYdyXUBs_tIk_9uFIOu51Dmt404GrcoD_obzQRdMXtpL7dc_DD4o9V2-wrEopyHdcUQt7nSXajSOqzGrTzFms/w480-h640/1621125252735.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />MARINE WETLANDS<p></p><p>Having been one of the last Team Leaders brought on to the project, I looked at what the other groups would and wouldn’t be surveying and decided to “fill a gap” by taking my group to the sheltered marine shores nearby.</p><p>On Saturday, we found a population of mudskippers at Bullock Point, risking their lives on the mudflats under the watchful eye of a kingfisher. At the time, I thought they were silverlined mudskippers (Periophthalmus argentilineatus), but a careful review of my photographs later indicated they were actually slender mudskippers (P. gracilis). As mudskippers are essentially tropical creatures, keeping track of their southernmost distribution limits in Australia may be informative for climate change purposes. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTN5mNRIYDvz-yA5YeASWn5I-b3DrwWRQ1WoTMb3SOPrXAGx_LCqNRZVEklYs4XpKCwKdRNpJPBhU4czru01YQoLHD_RwPmmSXSsqcKZTiNOt_qfvMjk29uFCBoYI3AuOeicOskU3WnTH/s2048/Cooloola+BioBlitz+78.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1583" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTN5mNRIYDvz-yA5YeASWn5I-b3DrwWRQ1WoTMb3SOPrXAGx_LCqNRZVEklYs4XpKCwKdRNpJPBhU4czru01YQoLHD_RwPmmSXSsqcKZTiNOt_qfvMjk29uFCBoYI3AuOeicOskU3WnTH/w640-h494/Cooloola+BioBlitz+78.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Sunday’s group of naturalists were treated to a ramble along the shores of Inskip Point. One of my favourite sightings there was of a beautiful shrub growing amongst the mangroves. It too was a mangrove, just one that I’d never seen before, called the myrtle mangrove (Osbornia octodonta). As the name suggests, it is more closely related to the eucalypts than it is to other more familiar mangroves, but it is adapted to a semi-aquatic marine lifestyle nevertheless. The Cooloola coast forms the southernmost limit of its distribution in Australia. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFC-0sCinaYRBs3-NWXO_1JqdKp3TGiobMBBMFe6rLFfijgYVCSXRsK1Pu6R6k8aQ_YIhACW8OhzMLLmkE95tbbuWkxftawAuH5M2k0jQ6bO3Uoto_ADrNlX9JlrvJFnTOoJLP6SIKJIcF/s2048/1621124193084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFC-0sCinaYRBs3-NWXO_1JqdKp3TGiobMBBMFe6rLFfijgYVCSXRsK1Pu6R6k8aQ_YIhACW8OhzMLLmkE95tbbuWkxftawAuH5M2k0jQ6bO3Uoto_ADrNlX9JlrvJFnTOoJLP6SIKJIcF/w480-h640/1621124193084.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />GOPRO SURVEYING<p></p><p>One activity which both groups really seemed to enjoy was surveying the underwater life at Seary’s Creek using a GoPro. Lowering the camera into the tannin-stained waters below the viewing decks, I obtained video of the different fish and invertebrate species present at the site, and then reviewed the footage with the group after. Highlights from this are in the video below. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kZGv8Hfvees" width="320" youtube-src-id="kZGv8Hfvees"></iframe></div><br />INSECTS<p></p><p>After arriving at the BioBlitz on Friday afternoon, I headed out with a nocturnal frog survey team as a guest participant. In between searching for frogs, I scoured the sandy wallum tracks for other small creatures and found an inland ringtail (Austrolestes aridus). This small arid-country damselfly has not been recorded from Gympie and the surrounding regions before, at least according to the iNaturalist and ALA websites anyway. Damian White, Narelle Power and Chris Burwell comment in their <a href="http://ddwfauna.com.au/index.php/publications/" target="_blank">excellent dragonfly publication</a> that while previously considered a rare vagrant to South-east Queensland, this species appears to be establishing permanent populations. This story is one that has played out before with various bird species as well—there was a time when crested pigeons and galahs were not a common sight east of the Great Dividing Range either. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8yFCsk_9bYPorLC6-C6N0W5U5PgeWRVcrrva4bNav-gjgEaaJb_edccE2T15BkG-heqkFTprLrSrTP7GU3DRJ-iOwaQFdy23khlo-SRNE0_CgQg7fIR7xZ9I1Z6WT5QmLUemUFUXR1MX4/s2048/Cooloola+BioBlitz+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1463" data-original-width="2048" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8yFCsk_9bYPorLC6-C6N0W5U5PgeWRVcrrva4bNav-gjgEaaJb_edccE2T15BkG-heqkFTprLrSrTP7GU3DRJ-iOwaQFdy23khlo-SRNE0_CgQg7fIR7xZ9I1Z6WT5QmLUemUFUXR1MX4/w640-h458/Cooloola+BioBlitz+003.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Another interesting insect was seen with Saturday’s survey group. It was a leaf beetle called Eurispa vittata, and it was found at Seary’s Creek on its food plant, the red-fruited saw-sedge (Gahnia sieberiana). Fellow BioBlitz participant Tony Eales and I have both noticed that SEQ populations of this beetle lack the white-bordered pronotum trim that southern populations seem to show. It is possible then that this is a different, undescribed species of beetle occurring in the region, and future surveys in the area should ideally capture and preserve specimens for expert examination. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZR9yHuFK2Q3DkzMHejTFl8eO91aUc16HVJKTozr0poXTT2KIPQSJAowehg0R5N7zYa5PFs6uaQ7vyRaMS1XH1B9sEysbmqx5M21D6D6H4WqiJwBjYpK1R73NfhyphenhyphenzPrydwI4YvLTKtTZwS/s2048/Cooloola+BioBlitz+14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1638" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZR9yHuFK2Q3DkzMHejTFl8eO91aUc16HVJKTozr0poXTT2KIPQSJAowehg0R5N7zYa5PFs6uaQ7vyRaMS1XH1B9sEysbmqx5M21D6D6H4WqiJwBjYpK1R73NfhyphenhyphenzPrydwI4YvLTKtTZwS/w512-h640/Cooloola+BioBlitz+14.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br />BIRDS<p></p><p>Although the focus of a BioBlitz is usually on smaller, more cryptic forms of life, as a more ‘generalist’ survey group, I knew that people would also appreciate some good quality bird sightings. On the first day, we encountered large numbers of scarlet honeyeaters (Myzomela sanguinolenta) at Seary’s Creek that were taking advantage of flowering paperbarks. They allowed a fairly close approach and therefore some great photographic opportunities also. Interestingly, they were almost completely absent at the same location the next day, perhaps due to windier conditions. That day’s group was nevertheless treated to the spectacle of witnessing topknot pigeon (Lopholaimus antarcticus) flocks traverse the coastal waters off Inskip Point. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfv-yiwjsZPiAguac6X3z4LBx5v1ZV37qz8310RlpCJ1R54NstpIK5_XrECGgNFT7UDU1JIIkeNLkZ7RxDZ3vNGKD6BEdM_mN69hwBj-PdAfAq3kEk0wPuUb7VQUseKXKIi3l91ZIq4Ek/s2048/Cooloola+BioBlitz+12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1638" data-original-width="2048" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfv-yiwjsZPiAguac6X3z4LBx5v1ZV37qz8310RlpCJ1R54NstpIK5_XrECGgNFT7UDU1JIIkeNLkZ7RxDZ3vNGKD6BEdM_mN69hwBj-PdAfAq3kEk0wPuUb7VQUseKXKIi3l91ZIq4Ek/w640-h512/Cooloola+BioBlitz+12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />ACKNOWLEDGMENTS<p></p><p>I would sincerely like to thank the Cooloola BioBlitz, including all organisers, sponsors and associated organisations, for hosting such a wonderful event. I am very honoured to have been invited to take part in it and extend a massive thank you to Maria Miller and Lindy Orwin for the opportunity. To each of the people that I met there, especially all the lovely people I spent my days out in the bush with, thank you for your wonderful company, and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as I did! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMKxBL9vFUTAzy0I_h1h3OFWJRE7ZjAvT4TawFkrfvJaSD9RPkXboj3qWWBLg4AGXeDSD7fax6IEeTvp5q_J0p9480d8xROlWOEPLQwOOwt2Sdz6o0MWmkDg9k03v7O36x-_hBLih7hAX/s2048/Cooloola+BioBlitz+3+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1639" data-original-width="2048" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMKxBL9vFUTAzy0I_h1h3OFWJRE7ZjAvT4TawFkrfvJaSD9RPkXboj3qWWBLg4AGXeDSD7fax6IEeTvp5q_J0p9480d8xROlWOEPLQwOOwt2Sdz6o0MWmkDg9k03v7O36x-_hBLih7hAX/w640-h512/Cooloola+BioBlitz+3+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-72894374640718973132021-04-05T07:12:00.000+10:002021-04-05T07:12:49.944+10:00Stunning fungi and other delightful sights seen on Redlands forest walk<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxazSGonVWatgyVSybTikl0LqH0LyC26vQcR8wTl5UCwq0sg1b35ZPNeYt66dj-jFsCP-VtLhwZNOQy5XAdxN6WOBk74d2tE_XZgszubksR4COXkxzsKgvasos_lGqRshkha_uDHz8fViR/s2048/Alexandra+Hills+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1638" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxazSGonVWatgyVSybTikl0LqH0LyC26vQcR8wTl5UCwq0sg1b35ZPNeYt66dj-jFsCP-VtLhwZNOQy5XAdxN6WOBk74d2tE_XZgszubksR4COXkxzsKgvasos_lGqRshkha_uDHz8fViR/w512-h640/Alexandra+Hills+004.jpg" width="512" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Having spent the three days prior in pandemic lockdown, I was keen to kick off my Easter weekend with a few hours spent in a forest. I also wanted to be able to sleep in a little on Good Friday, so I picked a place less than half an hour’s drive away to visit: Redlands Track Park in Alexandra Hills. Also known by the much better name of Scribbly Gums Conservation Area, this place is large and its trails are many! Though there were also many mountain-bikers, dog-walkers and other users of the park there during my visit, there were hour-long stretches where I didn’t see another soul, which is just how I like my forest time!</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwZEnzHWDJAMCByxPIAmvlpMlow0hBIJFCUr4M94gb4nrMMLoLfUxwSOKuuPZu0vxTQgym3cGyrTGsUJeFZmdXsEeIV1f6FsZf-Rj_2SE4ZO1bVQm3FG5G_inFlZIgm97mkfUSkISxx6IH/s2048/Alexandra+Hills+018_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1609" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwZEnzHWDJAMCByxPIAmvlpMlow0hBIJFCUr4M94gb4nrMMLoLfUxwSOKuuPZu0vxTQgym3cGyrTGsUJeFZmdXsEeIV1f6FsZf-Rj_2SE4ZO1bVQm3FG5G_inFlZIgm97mkfUSkISxx6IH/w502-h640/Alexandra+Hills+018_01.jpg" width="502" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />It was that kind of day where the forest washes over me, lulling me into a mood so tranquil that I don’t so much as walk among the trees, but rather glide through them. I see so much when I feel this way. There is treasure everywhere.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">On this walk, it came in the form of a gorgeous pair of shaggy caps (Boletellus emodensis), emerging from the base of a dead goliath near a flowing stream. This and other Boletellus species are very common in the Redlands. Although they are purported to by mycorrhizal (which refers to them having a symbiotic relationship with trees), I only ever see them either growing out of the base of tree trunks, or amongst dead timber, implying saprophytic tendencies.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Later, treasure appeared as large, concerned eyes staring at me from a she-oak thicket. I had paused beneath a scribbly gum (Eucalyptus racemosa) to photograph some skinks when I noticed a brown bird fly from above into nearby trees. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXeVi_jfNTWSH3QpSCS2sFd_tgwMFFoD_SG0WaW9kfkciOPJhEkf4L8oC2tnCxeNnUXI7kEp2tCp1N98jwWJVFHAEExRoEfV4gDe4HnUx-gybcZmshzI4FcjyG_e2yMBFtmKd8tZsHQbs/s2048/Alexandra+Hills+022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1583" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXeVi_jfNTWSH3QpSCS2sFd_tgwMFFoD_SG0WaW9kfkciOPJhEkf4L8oC2tnCxeNnUXI7kEp2tCp1N98jwWJVFHAEExRoEfV4gDe4HnUx-gybcZmshzI4FcjyG_e2yMBFtmKd8tZsHQbs/w640-h494/Alexandra+Hills+022.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />It was a boobook owl (Ninox boobook) and it had probably been in one of the hollows so numerous in all the mature scribbly gums until I had disturbed it. I spent a few minutes taking photographs and admiring the gorgeous bird with my binoculars, then left the area so it could return to its roost.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">There was even treasure hidden away in the sedges! Plants have to get creative to thrive in the sandy, nutrient-free soils by the coast; while some get by with a little help from their fungal friends as mentioned above, others develop more sinister survival techniques. This plant is a tall sundew (Drosera lunata) and it is carnivorous!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHsw3W4sKpXF-UdBJakkmGgntBWzrj8c3kqcrCYPTALKXB7H3s5AgqSX-Y9Z6SvViCLPVVfkI0ogQM_b_FvwdmN7jYtwMJU2t5SbzgSQDRWd8AVomBDJC2_HmJ9Dvkm87gHn96wECM33G/s2048/Alexandra+Hills+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHsw3W4sKpXF-UdBJakkmGgntBWzrj8c3kqcrCYPTALKXB7H3s5AgqSX-Y9Z6SvViCLPVVfkI0ogQM_b_FvwdmN7jYtwMJU2t5SbzgSQDRWd8AVomBDJC2_HmJ9Dvkm87gHn96wECM33G/w480-h640/Alexandra+Hills+009.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />If you look closely at the little disc-shaped leaves, you’ll see they are covered in gel-tipped stalks. These create a sticky trap for tiny insects that land on them, which are then digested by the plant’s powerful enzymes. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I had such a great time in this wonderful place that four hours passed by before I even knew it. My best days in the bush are when it feels like every butterfly, every bird and every tree has a tale to tell, and I have all the time in the world to listen.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgM8UFK9hyphenhyphenqhw0NevQ8SvLD3O6pbMJ4n0dM_0v_6fp0tVXjhVaIRV9gaYPTwJJgjrYgOxpvWUZPgqXa1uF2hArnUZlid4yUSgyzjcpQ_gqJwyMVfqjceUL6GvOHl-1sHu0-YbRpc9_v3Wg/s2048/Alexandra+Hills+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1639" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgM8UFK9hyphenhyphenqhw0NevQ8SvLD3O6pbMJ4n0dM_0v_6fp0tVXjhVaIRV9gaYPTwJJgjrYgOxpvWUZPgqXa1uF2hArnUZlid4yUSgyzjcpQ_gqJwyMVfqjceUL6GvOHl-1sHu0-YbRpc9_v3Wg/w512-h640/Alexandra+Hills+003.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><p></p>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-45020868027361047312021-03-16T18:03:00.000+10:002021-03-16T18:03:04.445+10:00Bayside light sheet survey: beautiful moths dazzle onlookers in suburban bushland<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70KIamP9yO-_e_EMBm4sUXqn2eAnEAroHhW_qa46lTrCHz5qVI5djuyL-8ttGCVXNDLCX9Ka_WtnZd3sA5RIPj8IML5MT5qEHqFcB4s44r3qgVDsudrp_dmLYatxfujEyNNA_0eI4NO6J/s2048/Lota+038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70KIamP9yO-_e_EMBm4sUXqn2eAnEAroHhW_qa46lTrCHz5qVI5djuyL-8ttGCVXNDLCX9Ka_WtnZd3sA5RIPj8IML5MT5qEHqFcB4s44r3qgVDsudrp_dmLYatxfujEyNNA_0eI4NO6J/w640-h494/Lota+038.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I had the best experience on Saturday night! <a href="https://www.baysidecreeks.org.au/" target="_blank">Bayside Creeks Catchment Group</a> held a nocturnal foray into Melaleuca Environmental Park at Lota to survey moths at a light sheet, and we saw so many interesting creatures!</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRnbcibsgQyL_QxsgZj2syCrvBPObAb7NM8BcRmydhImJUrXeNP2D_ykLdNuD2S83X8UYcMWwDfKRQOeLYy8xdqcFGWk4Zh1FC9y-Q9B7gFh1H2BZjwIpIZDNQE7FUMMYm1ihaYwevMF4/s2048/Lota+031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1532" data-original-width="2048" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRnbcibsgQyL_QxsgZj2syCrvBPObAb7NM8BcRmydhImJUrXeNP2D_ykLdNuD2S83X8UYcMWwDfKRQOeLYy8xdqcFGWk4Zh1FC9y-Q9B7gFh1H2BZjwIpIZDNQE7FUMMYm1ihaYwevMF4/w640-h478/Lota+031.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />The survey was conducted as part of <a href="https://brisbanecatchments.org.au/brisbanes-big-butterfly-count/" target="_blank">Brisbane's Big Butterfly Count</a>, a community engagement and citizen science project being run through March to gather butterfly records across the city. Someone had the bright idea to not leave out the nocturnal cousins of butterflies, and to them I am very grateful!</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmL3YLzp6u2-tSfHTwZ7nVQR2UWK2QpcaOt4rRcrMQlJIVq6RaXBcjgyKjxUGQAS8qcG9xpH9AUcCgPsRYV1cvSayqfA2xA8ks58wwnFyJLYSDyv6pXijK7WMAFxwm_5ttQMgoTUYiw0c/s1000/Lota+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1000" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmL3YLzp6u2-tSfHTwZ7nVQR2UWK2QpcaOt4rRcrMQlJIVq6RaXBcjgyKjxUGQAS8qcG9xpH9AUcCgPsRYV1cvSayqfA2xA8ks58wwnFyJLYSDyv6pXijK7WMAFxwm_5ttQMgoTUYiw0c/w640-h478/Lota+004.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />The evening was hosted by the friendly Keith Brown from Bayside Creeks Catchment Group, and the participants gathered around the light sheet set-up to hear expert commentary from John Moss and Wes Jenkinson, who both have many years of experience with lepidopterans.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">For those interested in the set-up, there was a metal frame tied upright with rope and pegs, over which a white sheet was draped. A bracket holding two bulbs was placed over the top, with one side illuminating the sheet with a black light, and the other doing so with a mercury vapour light. These were powered by a generator placed nearby. The lights attracted insects onto the sheet, where they were then studied and admired.</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmPKm7or9DnzxRJ2W1rZ6wvI0d3nIaXVTIVSB_iwxZTbKHR1WaHoW2RuBCJ4f_tCMcnZcHek0pFxOuxOAFCsvvLD6e42psEdJyBZwYNENzeVdxZxQ0MA7pyzIginuHtvkIq0NPCMsisswZ/s2048/Lota+016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1639" data-original-width="2048" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmPKm7or9DnzxRJ2W1rZ6wvI0d3nIaXVTIVSB_iwxZTbKHR1WaHoW2RuBCJ4f_tCMcnZcHek0pFxOuxOAFCsvvLD6e42psEdJyBZwYNENzeVdxZxQ0MA7pyzIginuHtvkIq0NPCMsisswZ/w640-h512/Lota+016.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The moth highlight of the night was a stunning emerald geometrid called Protuliocnemis partita (see photo at the top of this page). It was beautiful enough to capture the hearts of us amateurs, and uncommon enough to excite the experts as well.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">There were plenty of other insects to see besides moths, with one of my favourites being a vivid-green katydid, shown below with some fuzzy Panacela moths. The katydid belongs to a genus called Polichne, but many of the species in that genus are undescribed and unnamed by scientists. It is truly indicative of the mystery of the invertebrate world that one can potentially find unnamed insects even in our suburbs.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaxomq2UgjMbx2Kl0g7Ur72Wx8FgoKMrAqQqZ2yl16tES6ZSSFEc6G2hPaK7JxoogOgAnO25NcN8TyAVrjUodz1uxTXLp_YzSkHo1cJePqCOAmD-SvCJNuURW0_W7CIKvocZ0yr6to-Gh/s2048/Lota+024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1532" data-original-width="2048" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaxomq2UgjMbx2Kl0g7Ur72Wx8FgoKMrAqQqZ2yl16tES6ZSSFEc6G2hPaK7JxoogOgAnO25NcN8TyAVrjUodz1uxTXLp_YzSkHo1cJePqCOAmD-SvCJNuURW0_W7CIKvocZ0yr6to-Gh/w640-h478/Lota+024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">There are an estimated twenty to thirty-thousand moth species living in Australia, many of which are also unnamed or entirely unknown. Even when a species is named and rather common, its caterpillar form and larval food plant can still remain a mystery, which is exactly the case for the white-banded owl moth (Donuca rubropicta).</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFZoX5vgMNx8gc4-4tBky74B3I0G2kU-ysuafUQBpUhYydhmHvnZw92tG7ReW8WQZJ5dBsg3dS7UfVJQVOtTHPiYxH5nM2mOiq1suqPlACOAhe-5BhzlCF1dtoEZSJWOx7DHT8VYC3f2o/s2048/Lota+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFZoX5vgMNx8gc4-4tBky74B3I0G2kU-ysuafUQBpUhYydhmHvnZw92tG7ReW8WQZJ5dBsg3dS7UfVJQVOtTHPiYxH5nM2mOiq1suqPlACOAhe-5BhzlCF1dtoEZSJWOx7DHT8VYC3f2o/w640-h494/Lota+001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">As the evening progressed and the light sheet became full with moths of all sizes, predatory insects started to arrive as well. The mantid lacewings (Mantispidae) made a particularly strong impression on many of us, as we saw them hunt down prey right before our very eyes on the sheet. These creatures are a type of lacewing that have strong, grasping arms and claws reminiscent of a praying mantis. I had never seen any until this night, so it was a real treat to see so many up close and personal. The photo below shows a mantid lacewing attacking a Panacela moth that is quite a bit bulkier than itself, as other moths take flight nearby.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fIwRtt8aFWANqvKG3C4mZgy7XXwuyI1mD2vZo7CMlNeZsY23Oz7l3twRx2mE1xhMSvw9YXwnTuVEXpnN5SCZH8-vK6VDp6DMyxuWc-MZB2PAmCCuEbL3DhG-ZKubWtrmPmCT-dtSlwiv/s2048/Lota+014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1638" data-original-width="2048" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fIwRtt8aFWANqvKG3C4mZgy7XXwuyI1mD2vZo7CMlNeZsY23Oz7l3twRx2mE1xhMSvw9YXwnTuVEXpnN5SCZH8-vK6VDp6DMyxuWc-MZB2PAmCCuEbL3DhG-ZKubWtrmPmCT-dtSlwiv/w640-h512/Lota+014.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Beetles from a variety of families were also present at the light. The Eucalyptus longhorn (Phoracantha semipunctata) was the most attention-grabbing of them all with its outrageously long antennae, but I also noticed a ground beetle (Carabidae), click beetle (Elateridae), some soldier beetles (Cantharidae) and many scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae) visiting as well.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBEKhE8yKfElUqLYGA7HtfrsJrV40NI4Czyt0xwlLrPLV-qGkdU6c3YlbfuNDy82vHNc_RFMwD0C9dVJ2vp3tCO8ZzAVHZZDpCmPQFoqRtqjbCCEVZQwwhBnRasQ9gwIA6ovSdwTqdLop7/s2048/Lota+021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1702" data-original-width="2048" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBEKhE8yKfElUqLYGA7HtfrsJrV40NI4Czyt0xwlLrPLV-qGkdU6c3YlbfuNDy82vHNc_RFMwD0C9dVJ2vp3tCO8ZzAVHZZDpCmPQFoqRtqjbCCEVZQwwhBnRasQ9gwIA6ovSdwTqdLop7/w640-h532/Lota+021.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">With so much insect activity in one place, it was easy to overlook smaller species. Some of these happened to be vividly patterned, however, and I documented a few with my camera. The two spotty moths below are from different families; the one on the left is Atteva niphocosma (Yponomeutidae) and the one on the right is Ethmia clytodoxa (Depressariidae). </span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDu6lKc_bI6O5wIVloyN0v2_PTZItP0rxdw2zGIyooHgNYqFXD7kOy6PhEPFBhY7-m_kVvbW26UvblyeNpChlLtWyE3oTnPVHb0HMJfQZrAmpgXZqOEfVsTjqe9zJtgR19-TyQtIJosI2e/s1920/spotty+moths.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDu6lKc_bI6O5wIVloyN0v2_PTZItP0rxdw2zGIyooHgNYqFXD7kOy6PhEPFBhY7-m_kVvbW26UvblyeNpChlLtWyE3oTnPVHb0HMJfQZrAmpgXZqOEfVsTjqe9zJtgR19-TyQtIJosI2e/w640-h640/spotty+moths.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I had such a wonderful night, and the experience really opened my eyes to not just the incredible invertebrate diversity in our midst, but a new way to find, appreciate and record these creatures. I am very grateful to John and Wes for all the information they were able to impart about moths; I learned about the itchy caterpillars of the white cedar moth (Leptocneria reducta), heard tales of a wood moth so big it was mistaken for a bat, and obtained practical tips on setting up and taking down a light sheet of my own. </span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMeckdbmmTlaxQLGdLSsEdZ6g77gYDnA-bH_sr7JzKb4eDTcgxKUfWNvPclTmIKoz0Lbv1C09q8vk-AdFDsUKKiMD5CSFwP6eDqj5biBBplvwT933MP5SGpbOAsVK6jERASdkNzM7FJeg/s2048/Lota+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1639" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMeckdbmmTlaxQLGdLSsEdZ6g77gYDnA-bH_sr7JzKb4eDTcgxKUfWNvPclTmIKoz0Lbv1C09q8vk-AdFDsUKKiMD5CSFwP6eDqj5biBBplvwT933MP5SGpbOAsVK6jERASdkNzM7FJeg/w512-h640/Lota+003.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Thank you John, Wes, Keith, the teams at Bayside Creeks Catchment Group and Brisbane’s Big Butterfly Count, and all the friendly moth enthusiasts I met that made the night so enjoyable! </span><p></p>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0Lota, Queensland, Australia-27.466667 153.183333-57.602702038235591 118.027083 2.6693680382355893 -171.660417tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-19025869583638497612021-02-09T07:40:00.000+10:002021-02-09T07:40:11.019+10:00Endangered and ignored: The sad plight of migratory waders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP_Pr006vYKAP2md7TVC2zofeWgYSmocASYZIFtxO6ZSOS9wy1njqlXvokDfyCjPou1PEH5SSuczYfR9klklkgtCfTn1LTy5T9bny1gSgooHs0frgcNknQD4M17KBeUGoUDLyhyphenhyphenS-KiQqK/s2048/Wynnum+Cleveland+Thorneside+008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1449" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP_Pr006vYKAP2md7TVC2zofeWgYSmocASYZIFtxO6ZSOS9wy1njqlXvokDfyCjPou1PEH5SSuczYfR9klklkgtCfTn1LTy5T9bny1gSgooHs0frgcNknQD4M17KBeUGoUDLyhyphenhyphenS-KiQqK/w452-h640/Wynnum+Cleveland+Thorneside+008.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><p>If only waders had gaudy colours like a rainbow lorikeet, or baby-sized proportions like a koala. If only they had a cheery song like the butcherbird, or icon status like the kangaroo.</p><p>But no.</p><p>To most, they are distant brown specks on a humble mud flat, not worth a second glance nor thought.</p><p>The reality is that they are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/13/jet-fighter-godwit-breaks-world-record-for-non-stop-bird-flight" target="_blank">the best travellers on the entire planet</a>. The birds right here in these photos taken at Wynnum on the weekend are great knots, and in four months time, these exact same birds will be nesting on upland tundra in north-east Russia.</p><p>If they're lucky, that is.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDX26RUSSXM-58SzpRxVmuJLSVNef553PaSAZrg0yEpL7lHPEnbOJ1mCE2pDYpC-iKdFlFDlmFgMIjVUu7OMzjGN4iSDnQpvgD-WPw8Fz_ywvapgI1UzElSvmJqoCmOfQ-5n_LBuw50Y4/s2048/Wynnum+Cleveland+Thorneside+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDX26RUSSXM-58SzpRxVmuJLSVNef553PaSAZrg0yEpL7lHPEnbOJ1mCE2pDYpC-iKdFlFDlmFgMIjVUu7OMzjGN4iSDnQpvgD-WPw8Fz_ywvapgI1UzElSvmJqoCmOfQ-5n_LBuw50Y4/w640-h480/Wynnum+Cleveland+Thorneside+005.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Because in the meantime, offleash dogs and beach walkers disturb them everyday, wasting the energy these birds need for a very long flight. The journey itself is perilous too: <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/asia/news/reclamation-yellow-sea-causing-serious-declines-migratory-shorebirds" target="_blank">land reclamation in China</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-korea-environment/south-korea-builds-city-from-sea-at-wetlands-expense-idUKTRE4AN04M20081124" target="_blank">Korea</a> is destroying the refuelling stops for these marathon athletes, and we have <a href="https://www.edo.org.au/protecting-toondah/" target="_blank">similar development plans here in Queensland</a>.</p><p>The unfortunate truth is that waders have climbed up endangered species lists very rapidly in the past two decades. I don't know what is worse: a future where their absence is sorely felt, or not noticed at all.</p>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-57194873120850812962021-02-02T10:01:00.000+10:002021-02-02T10:01:23.942+10:00Check mate: Mysterious Moreton Bay periwinkle identified<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6Y6KXk0J9iW_QJWadPqkU897V9T2ART8Ly8FYFIYLhSplsVdgycDfMILa_sGfZLWIVHoA9IuljvMzSnreUObBCQtG5EJl-pxYU1SQ1LRehcCwYpKp2j3S6UpbzxyO4XYPuK7_x0xpQ00/s2048/Murarrie+016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1639" data-original-width="2048" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6Y6KXk0J9iW_QJWadPqkU897V9T2ART8Ly8FYFIYLhSplsVdgycDfMILa_sGfZLWIVHoA9IuljvMzSnreUObBCQtG5EJl-pxYU1SQ1LRehcCwYpKp2j3S6UpbzxyO4XYPuK7_x0xpQ00/w640-h512/Murarrie+016.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>On Sunday afternoon, I paid a visit to the Brisbane River at Murarrie for an hour. There, I poked about the rocks and stalked the shoreline to see if I could find some periwinkles to identify, and caught up with a species that has puzzled me ever since I found it at Lamb Island (below) a few weeks ago.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9EctJ2p4P1nE4QEV0iVC350ThV4LrEAFF2Bs3cpvapdSb6v4IbsJPRrc-Iim5V0aFOt6CNzU-EMHJLvggEE_b7OJ_IbBRRJoksDnNzZmSBNuAaQbpIZCIReYxUdriBz4jYW2FyJojcbv/s2048/IMG_0864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9EctJ2p4P1nE4QEV0iVC350ThV4LrEAFF2Bs3cpvapdSb6v4IbsJPRrc-Iim5V0aFOt6CNzU-EMHJLvggEE_b7OJ_IbBRRJoksDnNzZmSBNuAaQbpIZCIReYxUdriBz4jYW2FyJojcbv/w640-h452/IMG_0864.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>It is small, with a pointed apex and distinctive, bold patterning on its shell, and at both localities was found on hard substrates near mangroves. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMJ1N3KTixBj4y6Wh9neL_crfS1duxOzeuafd-KG0ZaK7-HNPREKUNskdxvCMNzqhIp4CknDflGtLLN-7hYfwyJfIb0SS5TwbvFD9q15chxXpx-20Vxgt-nZCvChn91WLco3MVwfVICz1/s2048/Murarrie+008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1638" data-original-width="2048" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMJ1N3KTixBj4y6Wh9neL_crfS1duxOzeuafd-KG0ZaK7-HNPREKUNskdxvCMNzqhIp4CknDflGtLLN-7hYfwyJfIb0SS5TwbvFD9q15chxXpx-20Vxgt-nZCvChn91WLco3MVwfVICz1/w640-h512/Murarrie+008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><p>It reminded me of <i>Littoraria luteola</i> in general shape and colour scheme, but was the wrong size and patterning and utilised a different microhabitat, with luteola being arboreal on mangrove trunks and branches. Below is a <i>luteola</i> that I found at Jacobs Well last year.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_-yG0sHoqhyCfW4dEhyKlxiFboMiGQpRRmTbZkRIeJFqG_Lc5cxLZmP9_o6ZOSp-gRaDYEM64ycbEfG5SxjC7utJ5U5L32ltlLMHzvrcCwNlzfW0VOh4lLOGpBIOA3E09eY-NHx5iDPF/s2048/Littoraria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1583" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_-yG0sHoqhyCfW4dEhyKlxiFboMiGQpRRmTbZkRIeJFqG_Lc5cxLZmP9_o6ZOSp-gRaDYEM64ycbEfG5SxjC7utJ5U5L32ltlLMHzvrcCwNlzfW0VOh4lLOGpBIOA3E09eY-NHx5iDPF/w640-h494/Littoraria.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Studying my books at home, I realised the answer had been staring me in the face the whole time as <i>Littoraria articulata</i>, the checkerboard periwinkle. The book to solve this for me was Graham Edgar's <a href="https://www.thereallygoodbookshop.com.au/product/7379/Tropical-Marine-Life-of-Australia--Plants-and-animals-of-the-central-Indo-Pacific-Graham-Edgar">'Tropical Marine Life of Australia' (2019)</a>, which has quickly become one of my most treasured resources.</div><p>Also found was the empty shell of a gold-mouthed conniwink (<i>Bembicium auratum</i>). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzuzEvQicdNT0Wrk8mn-f31SDpQG5bzcyC6LSIL_7laVFg_rFMPDEUsQvvyQYkkidB_SH63kKC6UumCMLAcp_hiwLrePFrAzzDZx0s9j-LUgJ17paPV5MIbU1IE5XGDpelj7JZNgd1GnDA/s2048/Murarrie+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzuzEvQicdNT0Wrk8mn-f31SDpQG5bzcyC6LSIL_7laVFg_rFMPDEUsQvvyQYkkidB_SH63kKC6UumCMLAcp_hiwLrePFrAzzDZx0s9j-LUgJ17paPV5MIbU1IE5XGDpelj7JZNgd1GnDA/w640-h494/Murarrie+003.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Whereas the checkerboard periwinkle is found throughout the Indo-Pacific, from India down to Moreton Bay and all the way up to Japan, the conniwink is an Australian endemic, calling our southern estuaries home. These two species co-occurring in the Brisbane River is an example of how in the subtropics, we get the best of both worlds as far as tropical and temperate ecosystems are concerned.</p></div></div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0Colmslie Beach Reserve, 152 Colmslie Rd, Murarrie QLD 4172, Australia-27.4499813 153.0922351-55.760215136178843 117.93598510000001 0.86025253617884445 -171.75151489999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-88374894714103726502021-01-21T13:37:00.015+10:002021-01-21T13:53:25.305+10:00Colourful beetle's strange egg-laying habits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LLmKJofjHW5s-nO4dbpb98Vj3QB-RimdBXZCy8bHhKBcgplAJFczCH7dYk3wvW4W5hmLzvmI4ky9Oe0jabYFuDF7M2UIgq0eOdsj7C21wEzhFp2Yk1aSh5A4Dj-KMiPVmqQNQCkKjLjR/s2048/Mount+Coot-tha+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1463" data-original-width="2048" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LLmKJofjHW5s-nO4dbpb98Vj3QB-RimdBXZCy8bHhKBcgplAJFczCH7dYk3wvW4W5hmLzvmI4ky9Oe0jabYFuDF7M2UIgq0eOdsj7C21wEzhFp2Yk1aSh5A4Dj-KMiPVmqQNQCkKjLjR/w640-h458/Mount+Coot-tha+005.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Near the summit of Mount Coot-tha earlier this week, I found a beautiful orange beetle with black spots. My first impression was that it was a leaf beetle in the Chrysomelidae family, and looking up the Brisbane Insects website later confirmed not only this, but its membership to the Cryptocephalinae subfamily, with a tentative genus placement of Cadmus.</div><div><br /></div><div>I often find it more helpful to learn about insect families, subfamilies and tribes than it is to have a narrow focus on genus and species, and that was the case with this beetle. Reading the Hangay and Zborowski (2010) field guide to Australian beetle families, I was informed that when the female cryptocephalinid beetle lays eggs, she coats them in faeces which then become a shelter-providing case that each larvae lives inside of. This caught my attention because when I examined the photos I had taken of the beetle I had seen, I could see it was depositing large droppings onto the dead stump, and it turns out these may have actually contained eggs. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXz_N8q7y74vn7VLnSLolni04wMZLOmlf74ULW6bKTAw5jbRzVc8q4-6G-xHHpZ7PRJ_aWR5U5lrvQYnP-rbPs-UTj5j1smVl1hgXum3YVNeyVTGJloCgRX-s3dfRm7Z6nPV9vuloSuRvK/s1200/Mount+Coot-tha+002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="1200" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXz_N8q7y74vn7VLnSLolni04wMZLOmlf74ULW6bKTAw5jbRzVc8q4-6G-xHHpZ7PRJ_aWR5U5lrvQYnP-rbPs-UTj5j1smVl1hgXum3YVNeyVTGJloCgRX-s3dfRm7Z6nPV9vuloSuRvK/w640-h458/Mount+Coot-tha+002.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>In Australia, adult cryptocephalinids feed mostly on eucalypts and acacias, but the larvae eat dead plant material on the forest floor, so seeing the adult beetle so close to the ground is perhaps another sign of egg laying activity. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;">When I uploaded this sighting to my iNaturalist Australia account (@christianperrin), another helpful user provided a link to a fascinating series of observations on the larvae of a British cryptocephalinid beetle. If you care to learn more, <a href="http://www.eakringbirds.com/eakringbirds6/insectinfocuscryptocephaluscorylilarva.htm">just click here</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XtV8QjH6q8Ueak4VUlqleFQ9LnwI2jgOSEZg42jkrnff_QB9cbN9bVNhOyJUVVCyI4qZfnZ1hD5pW5xbiUnG0E9rFau1cL1-6ZEeIKlJMroMjfFc6dlhxwtSi8aK5HYtGDhs-A-98Vms/s2048/Mount+Coot-tha+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XtV8QjH6q8Ueak4VUlqleFQ9LnwI2jgOSEZg42jkrnff_QB9cbN9bVNhOyJUVVCyI4qZfnZ1hD5pW5xbiUnG0E9rFau1cL1-6ZEeIKlJMroMjfFc6dlhxwtSi8aK5HYtGDhs-A-98Vms/w640-h480/Mount+Coot-tha+001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></div></div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-41285014863465179662020-10-10T21:58:00.001+10:002020-10-10T21:58:22.010+10:00Dingo sighted in Wacol bushland<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwe0aNazUaOnaoaRcbZRuG_24GbKcNAW_WEvtIBvX7BjZr4GukOkUvC9xY4RLOAVAuFLHiTNGDy51cz7w7o6bnMJAvl2DsF2RfnHGBxE7ZBniOKx2yGJ_ZluYJnZggRLdDFEg5AC-T7KpM/s2048/Wacol+007_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwe0aNazUaOnaoaRcbZRuG_24GbKcNAW_WEvtIBvX7BjZr4GukOkUvC9xY4RLOAVAuFLHiTNGDy51cz7w7o6bnMJAvl2DsF2RfnHGBxE7ZBniOKx2yGJ_ZluYJnZggRLdDFEg5AC-T7KpM/w640-h494/Wacol+007_01.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p>Of all the animals I thought I might see today during my first visit to Pooh Corner Bushland Reserve, a dingo wasn’t one of them! </p><p>I had just passed a woman walking with two offleash dogs when I saw a third dog following at a distance behind them. Only, the dog ran off the track and into the bush when it saw me, and I realised it was a wild animal!</p><p>It was wary without being particularly afraid; it never took its eyes off me, but it also seemed fairly content to stay put in the dry grass just twenty-five to thirty metres away.</p><p>Wacol is famous for its abundant eastern grey kangaroo population, some of which I saw today on the fields surrounding the nearby jail. Perhaps the lure of prey and access to water during these dry times has lured this creature down from the nearby ranges, where dingos are known to occur according to the Queensland Museum.</p><p>Although most likely not a purebred individual, I believe there is a lot of dingo in this animal’s genetic make-up regardless, and this also seems to be the consensus of a Facebook group that I shared my images in. While nobody can ascertain an animal’s DNA from a simple visual inspection, recent research has shown that the genetic purity of mainland dingo populations is not as watered down as farmers and governments would have us believe. When the University of NSW conducted DNA tests on 783 ‘wild dogs’ killed in the state over a 16-year period, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-14/are-we-culling-dingoes-thinking-they-are-just-wild-dogs/11701018" target="_blank">the results were surprising</a>: 25 per cent were pure-bred dingos, and the majority of the rest were mostly dingo. Just five animals were domestic dogs lacking any trace of dingo DNA.</p><p>Dingos are nevertheless a controversial topic in Australia. Fossil evidence and genetic research suggests that dingos are human-assisted immigrants to our country that have been here for about 5000 years, and there are almost identical dogs in Papua New Guinea and Thailand. With this in mind, they can be viewed as an introduced animal that displaces, destroys and competes with our native fauna. Other studies highlight that dingos are beneficial to our ecosystems, however, by suppressing and controlling mid-tier predators like cats and foxes, improving outcomes for small animals in the process. It’s possible that dingos are not just introduced, but naturalised, occupying an important and necessary apex predator role, albeit one they took from the mainland thylacine.</p><p>Politics and contentious opinions aside, I feel so lucky to have seen this animal within Brisbane’s city limits. When I started this blog, my aim was to show people that amazing, thrilling and surprising wildlife encounters are entirely possible within our own proverbial backyards. This dingo certainly puts the ‘wild’ in ‘Wild Brisbane’.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCyWeRyCNEZNtEM2tIpdDX34kpYSA36KpIC_dxZPvocKhQsf_KanubQXi18mIX-V4_dF_vDVPMnW-SSHRtHQgMZ-vZioOiuxgsoaLdhHiVl_IiIXv2KOqEvj1oZGPhh4FGD4wLVMt3uJM/s2048/Wacol+006_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCyWeRyCNEZNtEM2tIpdDX34kpYSA36KpIC_dxZPvocKhQsf_KanubQXi18mIX-V4_dF_vDVPMnW-SSHRtHQgMZ-vZioOiuxgsoaLdhHiVl_IiIXv2KOqEvj1oZGPhh4FGD4wLVMt3uJM/w640-h494/Wacol+006_02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-86049337260705054022020-09-28T20:30:00.004+10:002020-09-29T09:06:08.612+10:00Parasites and Trapezites: Strange and rare insects at Daisy Hill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQ2193yn4IaUAqLfOHRJkTyqAfQVebRkyFnr80cmlabq2PlHWXZP9S-hCZ7lRN1uHqEhdJH9ODwjSU0bgRwT7iM04GGab-ap7luCOvuHTdn_-JJ9pouRZ0CbBQ0aBnmWFqxUB3wWYjc8p/s2048/Daisy+Hill+068_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1594" data-original-width="2048" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQ2193yn4IaUAqLfOHRJkTyqAfQVebRkyFnr80cmlabq2PlHWXZP9S-hCZ7lRN1uHqEhdJH9ODwjSU0bgRwT7iM04GGab-ap7luCOvuHTdn_-JJ9pouRZ0CbBQ0aBnmWFqxUB3wWYjc8p/w640-h498/Daisy+Hill+068_01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I had a great day searching for insects in Daisy Hill Conservation Park today. I found some rare and unusual critters too. The most visually spectacular of them all was a beetle from the Rhipiphoridae family, which are also known as wedge-shaped beetles. The one I found was a male, as told by his extravagant antennae, and he was perched at the tip of a small wattle. Rhipiphorids have a surprising lifecycle for a beetle, with their grubs being internal parasitoids of other insects, including other beetles.</div><div><br /></div><div>The strangest of all the insects I found was actually one that found me! I was standing at the track edge on the Buhot Creek Circuit examining something that I can’t quite remember now, when I felt a fly land on my leg. When I looked down, I saw a fly like no other I had seen before. It had a flattened shape with a strange, hawk-like face, complete with hooked mouthparts, and I didn’t trust its intentions! I tried to shake it off, but it kept landing back on my leg repeatedly, and I realised I should probably try and get a photo of such a strange creature anyway. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Jvj8ZX1QNmxJYsR4SfJX-iaUbBM-gYhoIiAjv3LP-bVAlONW7EpUtevj07Jy003V6F5wVzGdTA6QORXj83sLDeYoB90mQct3dXOcE05OmVCqtRshrvmcXuibrQ2akxItBF1ooQuujimW/s2048/Daisy+Hill+030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1582" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Jvj8ZX1QNmxJYsR4SfJX-iaUbBM-gYhoIiAjv3LP-bVAlONW7EpUtevj07Jy003V6F5wVzGdTA6QORXj83sLDeYoB90mQct3dXOcE05OmVCqtRshrvmcXuibrQ2akxItBF1ooQuujimW/w494-h640/Daisy+Hill+030.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div>I had a feeling it was a bird fly, a creature I’d seen mentioned in the Queensland Museum’s 'Wildlife of Greater Brisbane' which sucks the blood of large birds like kookaburras and currawongs. Further research at home proved my ID correct, and the fly was indeed a member of the Hippoboscidae family of louse flies, probably Ornithomya fuscipennis as mentioned in ‘Wildlife…’. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hippoboscids are bizarre flies to say the least; some members of the group are flightless and live as external parasites on mammals like bats, wallabies and sheep, while flying members of the group choose birds as hosts. Instead of laying eggs, Hippoboscid offspring develop one at a time inside their mother, and she essentially gives birth to a pupa, because it’s the adult fly rather than a maggot that emerges from the casing. For Ornithomya species, this would all occur inside a bird’s nest. </div><div><br /></div><div>While taking photos of the strange but fascinating critter that had landed on me, I noticed it made no attempt to bite me, and later learned that louse flies are obligate parasites, which means they can only live on the one type of host. Because the bird-targetting species can fly, and can therefore move from individual host to host, they are a vector for spreading disease in avian populations.</div><div><br /></div><div>The last insect I want to write about is neither spectacular, nor all that fascinating, but it does seem to be rarely observed in South-east Queensland. It was a medium-to-large-sized skipper that I observed twice in the forest at Daisy Hill, which turned out to be Trapezites phigalia, also known as the heath ochre.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-O-63hPlnYiURs25Y-g33D-90UXWwbYEh2PUY5aq_Ygfeajk1Qso7lpClHoxpdShmHxe4bg_x1CvyaRL_eMt4dOuhIcW9LGwc_yomzFpULIN6S2Q9iKxHZ6YBRT8J6Xg1V5qfqcpTAbi9/s2048/Daisy+Hill+028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-O-63hPlnYiURs25Y-g33D-90UXWwbYEh2PUY5aq_Ygfeajk1Qso7lpClHoxpdShmHxe4bg_x1CvyaRL_eMt4dOuhIcW9LGwc_yomzFpULIN6S2Q9iKxHZ6YBRT8J6Xg1V5qfqcpTAbi9/w640-h494/Daisy+Hill+028.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>This small butterfly has a lifecycle based around Lomandra plants, of which there are an abundance of multiple species along Buhot Creek. There are no iNaturalist records for this species in Queensland, and the nearest Atlas of Living Australia record is from North Stradbroke Island. The two individuals I saw were both presumably male, as they were perched in classic skipper territorial pose, on or beside the track.</div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-80130257713499593242020-08-19T21:31:00.000+10:002020-08-19T21:31:13.560+10:00Tales from the suburbs: Why new housing developments give me the blues.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC0hVrAfmtvVOP3l_PcZBHAJGX-T20y2r3oFE3YjeBoHO4MpNimbluUMI9BEcvzz0wxQzz6_CTZSSufBazGNMfTIemh0Hhd5ytpuYuna-mUZttQYxsMvJsojwZRSPuCG3QArpxfLhNkWDg/s2048/IMG_8018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1535" height="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC0hVrAfmtvVOP3l_PcZBHAJGX-T20y2r3oFE3YjeBoHO4MpNimbluUMI9BEcvzz0wxQzz6_CTZSSufBazGNMfTIemh0Hhd5ytpuYuna-mUZttQYxsMvJsojwZRSPuCG3QArpxfLhNkWDg/w600-h800/IMG_8018.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><p>New housing developments are strange places. They feel like the scene of a disaster that unfolded just moments before you got there. You have to look past the new houses and clean cul-de-sacs, the fresh paint on the streetlamps. Start with the trees. See the lone survivor from the forest now no more? Exposed and alone, the wind blows it out of shape. See the native flower, in amongst the grass? A natural relic from an obliterated habitat.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqFLfB-5F6EgSUt8aZSAvfI5NoHYyf18ry60OuyXJusO6tTUsUArrQI09SPGkS4cWOvn9v0moQwnoM3zXoE_xK7iH79LQzmnsJXiRxE7xEynjchAU3cr4xh_YqzrFtSLlyKk1sJlL3zDs/s2048/IMG_8019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1532" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqFLfB-5F6EgSUt8aZSAvfI5NoHYyf18ry60OuyXJusO6tTUsUArrQI09SPGkS4cWOvn9v0moQwnoM3zXoE_xK7iH79LQzmnsJXiRxE7xEynjchAU3cr4xh_YqzrFtSLlyKk1sJlL3zDs/s640/IMG_8019.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>But these are not lifeless places—quite the opposite, in fact. There are all sorts of creatures wandering about, homeless trauma victims suddenly finding themselves on the edge of survival. It might be a koala up a power pole, where months earlier stood a red gum. It might be a <a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickWilliams/status/1056297422429708288">brolga named Bruce</a>, who wanders a floodplain now paved. Some animals do alright at first, like the kangaroos that are gifted with fresh lawns to graze, or the rainbow bee-eaters that enjoy the open space. It’s only later that their fortunes fade, when the landscape is given over to the cars and the pets.</p><p>At Agnes Water, I step out into the front yard of my weekend accommodation (am I part of the problem?) and hear an almighty yelping overhead: a noisy friarbird is in panicked pursuit of a crow that has something small in its beak. At a certain distance, the friarbird gives up and turns back towards an isolated moreton bay ash in the empty lot next door. I think that’s where it must have a nest, from which the crow has snatched a baby. I wonder how long ago it was that the ash was surrounded by other trees that afforded more protection. Does the friarbird remember this landscape as a woodland?</p><div>Inside my holiday rental is a large eastern striped skink that wanders from room to room. There are no hollow logs in this place anymore, but empty wardrobes and the space beneath the sofa suffice as lizard living quarters. I hope that future guests will be kind to it. I hope they see that it is just trying to live its life, the way we all are.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwbkEyTlaIVaL3ORY146p6e9Pgsa9EhTgyFNvWHcIGK-EIJIcSnyArFtcMWvXqYh9gPPTenX7LuQKac3U4lXp3xewDCEHDK-R3BJQS0hDDclFmQU5r36wE7RzvX0agTMB_kRWT1t584J5/s2048/IMG_8121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1265" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwbkEyTlaIVaL3ORY146p6e9Pgsa9EhTgyFNvWHcIGK-EIJIcSnyArFtcMWvXqYh9gPPTenX7LuQKac3U4lXp3xewDCEHDK-R3BJQS0hDDclFmQU5r36wE7RzvX0agTMB_kRWT1t584J5/s640/IMG_8121.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-45621352142347018492020-08-09T21:54:00.005+10:002020-08-11T22:13:38.025+10:00Butcherbirds kick off breeding season with morning duets<p>Today I woke to the sound of a butcherbird duet, a sign of life on an otherwise cold and still winter’s morning. Thinking they would make a good photography subject, I decided to see if I could follow my ears to track them down.</p><p>Emerging onto the street outside my apartment block, I realised the singing was echoing off the tall buildings around me and that try as I might, I couldn’t quite pinpoint the direction it was coming from. In my room, I had felt like the sounds were coming from the direction of the main road, so I headed that way.</p><p>The song was that of the pied butcherbird <i>(Cracticus nigrogularis)</i> specifically, a beautiful, full-bodied fluting sound, rich in melody and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0OwLY9ICqM">sung by the male and female together</a>. At the main road, however, there were already cars passing by, and it made it hard to hear the still somewhat distant birds.</p><p>After wandering a few blocks fruitlessly, I ended up walking away from the main road, towards houses and parkland. There, at the top of a Norfolk pine, I saw a pied butcherbird singing out into the suburb, its partner now nowhere to be seen. When a Torresian crow joined the butcherbird near the top of the tree, the smaller bird left its perch, and the show—of which I’d only seen a few seconds—was over.</p><p>Later that afternoon, I went back to the park hoping that I would see the same bird lower down in the trees, hunting ground-dwelling invertebrates during the warmest part of the day. Instead, I saw it again perched at the top of a tree, this time a eucalypt, and preening instead of singing. As I moved around the tree base to get the best photography view, I saw a messy clump of sticks about eight metres above my head in the next tree over. It was a butcherbird nest!</p><p>Sure enough, the partner of the preening bird suddenly appeared with a twig in its mouth and proceeded to forcefully insert it into the nest. I watched it make several of these trips, with the bird disappearing each time into the backyards adjacent to the park, and returning with more twigs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVui5BvHnGR-ZZw6HWccJldhFlxNecCBp2pWLN60ChWyqcuEJujOVDyAzHhxjFceoN2nJIgfCNf2zJKaOMKGD9etCwCe5P-Kc7gMj8lhwP4RM3vnytkZ7hCiBYl77KntrM8LLccsABlsS/s2048/Cracticus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVui5BvHnGR-ZZw6HWccJldhFlxNecCBp2pWLN60ChWyqcuEJujOVDyAzHhxjFceoN2nJIgfCNf2zJKaOMKGD9etCwCe5P-Kc7gMj8lhwP4RM3vnytkZ7hCiBYl77KntrM8LLccsABlsS/w640-h480/Cracticus.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I was struck by how the nest-building was the endeavour of one bird solely, with its partner remaining high on its perch the entire time, showing no interest. I suspected it was the female undertaking the nest labour, and the male who was perched up above, perhaps where he could keep a casual eye on their breeding territory. Later, the <a href="https://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Cracticus-nigrogularis">Birds in Backyards website</a> confirmed these thoughts, noting that females build the nest and incubate the eggs all by themselves.</p><p>It was also interesting to read that pied butcherbirds breed at different times of the year depending on whether they are in the northern or southern half of the continent. With these local birds having just started their breeding season now in August, it would appear that according to butcherbirds, Brisbane is a southern location that has more in common with Sydney and Melbourne than the tropical north. The chill in the air today has me agreeing with them!</p>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0Wembley Park, Coorparoo QLD 4151, Australia-27.4890953 153.0607526-57.563909780283126 117.9045026 2.5857191802831281 -171.7829974tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-90844761528673791792020-07-26T12:49:00.000+10:002020-07-26T12:49:42.245+10:00Leafy hideaways: night time is the right time to see these shy tree spiders.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yE9bWPoJG93BaVhUXAU3mBYPbJoXPZcbKTSceN6YvB1pDM_FqOdsGy7liuIzX-_cw6Ey9IzDyX_nQcfQ0FjiGTlmaXIXXtiDKUw0wSxRif2KAIuYG-Vdxn-rQbt_QsFM9X1rvTSQlHod/s2048/albidus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yE9bWPoJG93BaVhUXAU3mBYPbJoXPZcbKTSceN6YvB1pDM_FqOdsGy7liuIzX-_cw6Ey9IzDyX_nQcfQ0FjiGTlmaXIXXtiDKUw0wSxRif2KAIuYG-Vdxn-rQbt_QsFM9X1rvTSQlHod/w625-h469/albidus1.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Near the edge of bushland in Coopers Plains one night last week, I found a lovely, shy pale-backed orbweaver <i>(Araneus albidus)</i> in a bloodwood tree. It had a beautifully constructed retreat inside the curled-up but living leaves of the tree. Adjacent to this dwelling was its prey capture web, a small, well-made orb amongst the foliage. I imagine that when the bloodwood flowers profusely (and it’s always profusely when it comes to bloodwoods), the web must offer a huge bounty of nectivorous insects as food.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLb9zacahMliRb5fCK0tEI7U_BtHCqtw-1MrjdJKXJZty0nosmhezoc7dZ00kCUDPMl1LQHVKJMuB9LlokAoE-tQJZHfqSbVhFyNIpAiD8G5Vp7lljGTXpKZQojBHZq_zKlMFEqZ5pzmm/s2048/albidus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1609" data-original-width="2048" height="491" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLb9zacahMliRb5fCK0tEI7U_BtHCqtw-1MrjdJKXJZty0nosmhezoc7dZ00kCUDPMl1LQHVKJMuB9LlokAoE-tQJZHfqSbVhFyNIpAiD8G5Vp7lljGTXpKZQojBHZq_zKlMFEqZ5pzmm/w625-h491/albidus2.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>To my eye, this spider is virtually indistinguishable from another orb-weaver, the <a href="http://www.findaspider.org.au/find/spiders/195.htm">leaf-curling <i>Araneus dimidiatus</i></a>. That spider, however, only ever seems to use a dead leaf as its retreat, unlike A. albidus. Reading various resources about these two spiders confirms this observation, and it appears to be the easiest way to tell them apart.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7mqsS48T7tpn9dIH3IePIYfZi4H-50zhSraOqn6yKKlenmUZBkDqMHIeutaNH0WSf-xVfs6Vn-s5UFM8RQq-o-K-TSeZn0U-s2O7EOkxc_n81QYTez1cD0CKtxucUkZBt-_-ubgzdFMbx/s2048/albidus3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1609" data-original-width="2048" height="491" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7mqsS48T7tpn9dIH3IePIYfZi4H-50zhSraOqn6yKKlenmUZBkDqMHIeutaNH0WSf-xVfs6Vn-s5UFM8RQq-o-K-TSeZn0U-s2O7EOkxc_n81QYTez1cD0CKtxucUkZBt-_-ubgzdFMbx/w625-h491/albidus3.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>On the finer branch ends of many shrubs in the bushland were messy webs with tiny spiders in them. They all had a similar hunched shape, and when I found a slightly bigger example of one of them (around 5 or 6mm), I took a decent enough photo. Identifying it later in my field guide, I found it to be a spider from the Uloboridae family, which are unusual in the spider world for being totally venomless.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeY5uOMRT3qc7tek4xEBb5Nydw53YpG_MTpX6FfCPpUs_tmQSbaXA485MZQakmncmQgjja1s_jAIkuajgwBxxNq10yp-W9ki7UTZk_JCdFliXA08J2ZkzdBDHGGzRHfQ1gW1XCt020z-Us/s2048/Philoponella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeY5uOMRT3qc7tek4xEBb5Nydw53YpG_MTpX6FfCPpUs_tmQSbaXA485MZQakmncmQgjja1s_jAIkuajgwBxxNq10yp-W9ki7UTZk_JCdFliXA08J2ZkzdBDHGGzRHfQ1gW1XCt020z-Us/w625-h469/Philoponella.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The species is likely to be <i>Philoponella variabilis</i>, a common but overlooked spider throughout Brisbane according to <a href="http://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=1648">Robert Whyte’s website</a>.</div>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com2Beryl Roberts Park, Coopers Plains QLD 4108, Australia-27.566255 153.0438254-55.876488836178851 117.8875754 0.74397883617884375 -171.7999246tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-42825959209568822012019-12-20T08:54:00.000+10:002019-12-20T08:54:41.635+10:00Top Ten Wildlife Encounters of 2019<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve had such a good year exploring for wildlife! I really pushed myself into new territory, both figuratively as far as my nocturnal and underwater adventures went, and literally as I travelled to the USA. For this list of my favourite encounters, I have only included species that I’ve come across here in South-east Queensland, though rest assured that my time spent amongst black bears, alligators and hummingbirds made a huge impression on me!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. <b>Giant panda snail</b> <i>(Hedleyella falconeri)</i>, Tamborine Mountain </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I went searching for snails in the rainforest one night earlier this year, and my jaw was left hanging open when I saw my first apple-sized panda snail gliding along a log. Who knew snails could be majestic?! These are the largest snails in Australia, and they are unique to the rainforests of South-east Queensland and Northern New South Wales.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. <b>Imperial hairstreak</b> <i>(Jalmenus evagoras)</i>, Alderley</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Many butterflies in the Lycaenidae family have a strange lifecycle that involves ants providing a security service to the caterpillars. To read about this is one thing, but to see it with my own eyes gave me such a thrill back in April! In fact, I basically got to see the whole lifecycle of this species play out before my very eyes, from spiky egg stage, through to the adult, all on one wattle sapling at Banks Street Reserve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. <b>Southern leaf-tailed gecko</b> <i>(Saltuarius swainii)</i>, Tamborine Mountain</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This species is also known as the Border Ranges leaf-tailed gecko, and as such, it is an icon of our local rainforests and an oft-photographed creature. When I saw one for the first time, however, it didn't seem familiar at all, just truly wonderful and exotic! It is larger than any other native or introduced gecko that I’ve seen, and its dimensions, camouflage and overall charisma are truly captivating!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. <b>Starry moray</b> <i>(Echidna nebulosa)</i>, Alexandra Headland</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Let me set the scene for you: it’s my first snorkelling adventure in a long time, and I’m by myself on a mostly-deserted beach at the base of Alexandra Headland on a weekday. The tide is coming in and it is early morning, so the water is a little turbulent and grey, when I suddenly spy my first ever moray eel moving from boulder to boulder! This brief glimpse was enough to kick-start me into a fantastic day of underwater adventure, and I later caught up with a much more photogenic individual of that same species at Caloundra.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">5. <b>Goliath stick-insect</b> <i>(Eurycnema goliath)</i>, Loganlea</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They say stick-insects are the masters of camouflage in the insect world, but I saw this behemoth from a good six or seven metres away in November! If you look at the last appendage on this lady, you can see the boat-shaped protuberance that her eggs roll out onto before she flicks them to the ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">6. <b>Eastern small-eyed snake</b> <i>(Cryptophis nigrescens)</i>, Mount Coot-tha</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I have no fear towards snakes and find them fascinating and beautiful, so it always frustrates me that I hardly ever see them. My luck turned around one weekend this spring, however, as not only did I see a delicate little small-eyed snake at Mount Coot-tha, I also saw my first red-bellied black-snake on a trail out near Lake Manchester—a true showstopper!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">7. <b>Highfin moray</b> <i>(Gymnothorax pseudothyrsoideus)</i>, Buddina</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Two morays in the one list—but how could I not? This highfin was seen the same day as the starry moray, and helped me realise just what a diverse underwater paradise we are blessed with on our South-east Queensland coastlines.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">8. <b>Golden-crowned snake</b> <i>(Cacophis squamulosus)</i>, Tamborine Mountain</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Another beauty from my night at Tamborine Mountain, this golden-crowned snake illustrates just how pretty snakes can be. I had been looking at my very first giant panda snail, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a movement on a tree buttress, and there this lovely creature was!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">9. <b>Digger wasp</b> <i>(Prionyx globosus)</i>, Boondall</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I’m always amused when an insect has the type of extroverted personality we tend to associate with larger vertebrates, and that was certainly the case with this fearless, industrious and hot-tempered wasp I found at the Boondall Wetlands in February.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">10. <b>Red swampdragon</b> <i>(Agrionoptera insignis)</i>, Mansfield</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This beautiful dragonfly was a new species for me, and I loved how vigorously he was guarding his little puddle in the forest.</span>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-48255539654981795662019-10-16T19:08:00.000+10:002019-10-16T19:08:36.229+10:00Gull lover's travels<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1NjgdOlq7MJ8ZEXD6O6aaR1f2qRKEC0d0CzcxGAh2rum5jTo2vKoudTwZZd-ECJmynVsEX6oGbx_zCVts0yfu-98JY8SWPUXVYE1AXwuvGXfHUhioXde0Jm5lcbsuLbl-TAr-OV8U-wtk/s1600/ring-billed+gull.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="1600" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1NjgdOlq7MJ8ZEXD6O6aaR1f2qRKEC0d0CzcxGAh2rum5jTo2vKoudTwZZd-ECJmynVsEX6oGbx_zCVts0yfu-98JY8SWPUXVYE1AXwuvGXfHUhioXde0Jm5lcbsuLbl-TAr-OV8U-wtk/s640/ring-billed+gull.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ring-billed gull, Corolla, North Carolina.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Gulls have always interested me, perhaps because despite there being over fifty different species of them around the world, only one is familiar to me as a Queensland resident.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It is the <b>silver gull</b> <i>(Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)</i> alone that chooses to call our sunny state its home, meaning that we can refer to it simply as ‘the seagull’ and not get it mixed up with other species.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It has adapted well to human settlement, and in the capital cities of our southern states, it is even an urban bird; I remember being surprised when I lived in Sydney that the gulls could be found right through the city, waddling up and down train station platforms and city footpaths the way we are used to seeing ibis do in Brisbane. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">While not quite as abundant here, the silver gull is still very common in South-east Queensland. One thing I’ve noticed about our local birds is that a lot of them are quite young, being immatures that have smudgy bills and dark eyes. Silver gulls mostly breed on small rocky islands, of which there are plenty down south but little of up here, so many of our local birds are young wanderers learning the ropes of life. One banding study documented these gulls <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/CW/CWR9570116">travelling almost 1300 kilometres once they left the nest</a>, which means that the birds stealing your chips at Redcliffe may have started life on a desolate island in New South Wales or Victoria.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">When you do spot an adult silver gull, note its immaculate white and pale grey plumage, and blood-red bill and eye-ring. It’s actually quite a pretty bird, its beauty diminished by over-familiarity perhaps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Gulls are most successful in temperate climates where highly-productive cold water ecosystems allow them to be generalists with a varied diet. This means that when us tropical Queenslanders travel around the world to Northern Hemisphere tourist destinations, one of the first ‘wildlife moments’ we may have there are with an unusual gull or two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Many of my friends and family who travel to England, including those venturing no further than the London city centre, will remark on the enormous <b>herring gulls</b> <i>(Larus argentatus)</i> that live there. It turns out that as far as gulls go, our local silver friend is just a little one!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">When I visited the United States of America earlier this year, getting to know the local gulls was high on my list of priorities. Even though most of my stay occurred by the Atlantic out on the east coast, a full day’s layover in Los Angeles allowed me to see the gulls of the North Pacific also.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The first species I saw was the <b>western gull</b> <i>(L. occidentalis)</i>, a large species like the afore-mentioned herring gull.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHJkq30sAlyKDgs30pTUDnoYq1XGS_hTAtYoxhKiLAUr7NwD3yww63INe1gH5r8sIZZKVpkBoL7rLy7er7EKYRWVJiUe8r7YnrYVHGgBwS3wXYmpxI01V_ZgChZM54qBCe7WpQUcF6oFV/s1600/western+gull.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1131" data-original-width="1600" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHJkq30sAlyKDgs30pTUDnoYq1XGS_hTAtYoxhKiLAUr7NwD3yww63INe1gH5r8sIZZKVpkBoL7rLy7er7EKYRWVJiUe8r7YnrYVHGgBwS3wXYmpxI01V_ZgChZM54qBCe7WpQUcF6oFV/s640/western+gull.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Western gull, Marina Del Rey, California.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">As you can see from the photo above, its bill is a more robust weapon than the one owned by our local silver gull, which almost seems dainty in comparison!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It was the most common gull along LA’s beaches, and its yelping calls filled the air the way they do in the beach and harbour scenes of so many Hollywood films. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Also present on the beaches were a few <b>Heermann’s gulls</b> <i>(L. heermanni)</i>. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfiNyJ21T6mhtouZczQqlkkAd6B8t0Fb0OIgyKc_KloXrFHBtUp_AV31NJvu_NmHA5SeDW7Jpcfa8ftKqFEQvDDcaHpQNzdW5PvVeT9QUaC7ddVZFWWfMmpSbKNF-yfFnIRpzjRwYZB4n/s1600/Heerman%2527s+gull.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1600" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfiNyJ21T6mhtouZczQqlkkAd6B8t0Fb0OIgyKc_KloXrFHBtUp_AV31NJvu_NmHA5SeDW7Jpcfa8ftKqFEQvDDcaHpQNzdW5PvVeT9QUaC7ddVZFWWfMmpSbKNF-yfFnIRpzjRwYZB4n/s640/Heerman%2527s+gull.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Heermann's gull, Playa Del Rey, California.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">These were very unusual gulls because they are mostly dark in plumage, even as adults.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Almost the entire population of this species nests on one island in the Gulf of California, so while they are common for the time being, they are vulnerable to catastrophes like disease and climate change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Over on the east coast of the USA, I got to know the Atlantic coast by way of the Outer Banks, a chain of sandy barrier islands off North Carolina. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The most common gull there was the <b>laughing gull</b> <i>(Leucophaeus atricilla)</i>, a black-headed species that, truth be told, has a noisy cackle rather than a laugh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I also saw the gull considered to be the most common and widespread one in North America, the <b>ring-billed gull</b> <i>(L. delawarensis)</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My favourite Atlantic gull sighting though was of a <b>great black-backed gull</b> <i>(L. marinus)</i> on the beautiful shoreline of Cape Hatteras. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtl2arQ6FKCGoRu0GoQgFVw8ybNiwWqg6TPmurP2xY95tIWrainQFWgB4jb40paULdZzWUEW3q_Vtd4NDg_ED63xG87jKQ8GCmoE89mXoJlYcbu-kHHbv5nxglcpFAVR4XP4WUYJiFMnFp/s1600/great+black-backed+gull.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1288" data-original-width="1600" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtl2arQ6FKCGoRu0GoQgFVw8ybNiwWqg6TPmurP2xY95tIWrainQFWgB4jb40paULdZzWUEW3q_Vtd4NDg_ED63xG87jKQ8GCmoE89mXoJlYcbu-kHHbv5nxglcpFAVR4XP4WUYJiFMnFp/s640/great+black-backed+gull.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Great black-backed gull, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It is the largest gull species in the world, and it is not merely a scavenger or gleaner of small beach creatures, but a formidable apex predator in its own right, with a diet that includes other birds and even rats!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It reminded me of a hefty and uncommon gull we have here in Australia around the southern coastline, called the <b>Pacific gull</b> <i>(L. pacifica)</i>. It and a related species called the <b>kelp gull</b> <i>(L. dominicensis)</i> are very rare strays in Queensland, and I’ve never had the fortune of seeing either of them. I suppose then that if I want more gull adventures in the near future, I don’t need to cross oceans to do so—just a state border or two!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSOUSLNBHCpAOMaaiol-6wEFvkz0gHFrocqNFo7bnNusl3OlSnW6EiZecWNVGMP_u3SRYJCVFU6jBlolhyphenhyphenil4YO4_z_krfBQdv5wwIX7UwDCF4iTvMJzpF0L4SMzRFKZB6m99RhZ_rwPy/s1600/laughing+gull.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSOUSLNBHCpAOMaaiol-6wEFvkz0gHFrocqNFo7bnNusl3OlSnW6EiZecWNVGMP_u3SRYJCVFU6jBlolhyphenhyphenil4YO4_z_krfBQdv5wwIX7UwDCF4iTvMJzpF0L4SMzRFKZB6m99RhZ_rwPy/s640/laughing+gull.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Laughing gull, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.</span></td></tr>
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Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-82682565479044137432019-05-22T20:12:00.001+10:002019-05-23T08:17:45.522+10:00A night on Mount Tamborine—in pictures<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGZW08cNvJSh_Mq-Kh_oYlGsQW83jniNo1F3cuxYhYAWATuBe43rO2CwyYzOAizG5QakR4yx2A_d4wZKyOgOGF67S7WkT1xGExc4RQYCP-h8j5S94Yxq7PARJ2gbjvW7E2RgUxip3Hdy8/s1600/great+barred+frog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1188" data-original-width="1600" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGZW08cNvJSh_Mq-Kh_oYlGsQW83jniNo1F3cuxYhYAWATuBe43rO2CwyYzOAizG5QakR4yx2A_d4wZKyOgOGF67S7WkT1xGExc4RQYCP-h8j5S94Yxq7PARJ2gbjvW7E2RgUxip3Hdy8/s640/great+barred+frog.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A great barred frog and leech in Tamborine National Park. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Last Friday, I headed up to Mount Tamborine so that I could visit the <a href="http://www.tamborinemtnlandcare.org.au/information_bookshop.php">Piccabeen Bookshop</a> run by the local Landcare group, and find some rainforest snails to photograph after dark. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The trip was a great success, as not only did I find beautiful books and snails, I also found a menagerie of other amazing creatures, most of which I’d never seen before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here is a gallery of some of those finds, including notes on each.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfyIHPJW-XTmVb_cE61So-Mz0AIJWcLJrZij-aMWF-ug36CYDvrIRplv2bg_J0zGpgDsVFlzgyE4TRD1cZQaql9f51SLcOpDfznCOAlXglrktO3WNkRN5_EsTIAXp3Yc7Ivk8qaIZDLG4/s1600/leaf+tailed+gecko.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1118" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfyIHPJW-XTmVb_cE61So-Mz0AIJWcLJrZij-aMWF-ug36CYDvrIRplv2bg_J0zGpgDsVFlzgyE4TRD1cZQaql9f51SLcOpDfznCOAlXglrktO3WNkRN5_EsTIAXp3Yc7Ivk8qaIZDLG4/s640/leaf+tailed+gecko.JPG" width="446" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This southern leaf-tailed gecko <i>(Saltuarias swaini)</i> </span><span style="font-size: large;">was </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">honestly one </span><span style="font-size: large;">of the most spectacular things </span><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve ever </span><span style="font-size: large;">seen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is a very big </span><span style="font-size: large;">gecko compared to </span><span style="font-size: large;">the introduced </span><span style="font-size: large;">house </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">gecko I am most familiar </span><span style="font-size: large;">with, </span><span style="font-size: large;">and its camouflage </span><span style="font-size: large;">is</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">excellent—I just </span><span style="font-size: large;">happened to look in the right direction </span><span style="font-size: large;">at </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5GhaqEXjvQ7oNAYNZdSbVlYCC7uPAAtZ92pxXIEuPmuvFYZsCJvRFg67d885nKlLs6WbxpcsTJiiWX4gzCrHGQ0t9rw9u-5dyhzmC0yX88I83vmoC7H933sp2r_0rKysJPcwxvLwfOVj/s1600/golden+crowned+snake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1600" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5GhaqEXjvQ7oNAYNZdSbVlYCC7uPAAtZ92pxXIEuPmuvFYZsCJvRFg67d885nKlLs6WbxpcsTJiiWX4gzCrHGQ0t9rw9u-5dyhzmC0yX88I83vmoC7H933sp2r_0rKysJPcwxvLwfOVj/s640/golden+crowned+snake.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was crouching down and observing my first giant panda snail, when I saw a movement from the corner of my eye: a snake crawling slowly over a tree buttress. It turned out to be a golden-crowned snake <i>(Cacophis squamulosa)</i>, a mildly venomous hunter of sleeping lizards. I had read that crowned snakes do a threat display before they bite, where they rear up and almost headbutt an attacker, so I knew I’d get a warning if this snake felt like I was invading its space. It turned out to be a very placid animal, and I thanked it by not outstaying my welcome.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpvaBv6WMHopSPo0KJd-fBNi-5CNoTwiRRrMIYvA4jnkpWu1e_Hx_UidXXsYULv45exwixRSQjTISC1-zTz21ZzBusYrDbIqbWHhEBSbYfYgK6XHGnjJdZgKHl0qX2rE_fb4kkgSTvZO-/s1600/shadeskink.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpvaBv6WMHopSPo0KJd-fBNi-5CNoTwiRRrMIYvA4jnkpWu1e_Hx_UidXXsYULv45exwixRSQjTISC1-zTz21ZzBusYrDbIqbWHhEBSbYfYgK6XHGnjJdZgKHl0qX2rE_fb4kkgSTvZO-/s640/shadeskink.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I thought of the snake again when I later found this orange-tailed shadeskink <i>(Saproscincus challengeri)</i> spending the night not in the leaf litter, but elevated on a palm frond. Clever skink!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjc_pfEvXGg5eeuge1bA8TxAGIA9X4GWjOwxPWWMiyvcE9d0Mg0ngQFmhgla_cnxvGUAF2NeYnNxk_rHT5oUQGJoVWVVvd6NMKoJUErrtsJ6p-FsTNvUTpXqXN07Crpogj33sJOmkwtaGM/s1600/pill+millipede.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1600" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjc_pfEvXGg5eeuge1bA8TxAGIA9X4GWjOwxPWWMiyvcE9d0Mg0ngQFmhgla_cnxvGUAF2NeYnNxk_rHT5oUQGJoVWVVvd6NMKoJUErrtsJ6p-FsTNvUTpXqXN07Crpogj33sJOmkwtaGM/s640/pill+millipede.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">My first pill millipede! Unlike other millipedes, Sphaerotheriids have no chemical defences, and protect themselves by curling tightly into a ball. I was caught off-guard by the size and robustness of this creature, as I had expected it to be small like a slater.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnn_2eup4_806Cnfi462a7dgvagPlDdOGLQXGaiktORJnaaUhY3YVd22W5nxOiZ4r0auniNqxUk966BwTZfWtA9eTOGKSmdUoyGA34Rt74d6ci9yVUNM1dBIBb9eYm7LgoNZAvxR-YePI6/s1600/tusked+frog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1206" data-original-width="1600" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnn_2eup4_806Cnfi462a7dgvagPlDdOGLQXGaiktORJnaaUhY3YVd22W5nxOiZ4r0auniNqxUk966BwTZfWtA9eTOGKSmdUoyGA34Rt74d6ci9yVUNM1dBIBb9eYm7LgoNZAvxR-YePI6/s640/tusked+frog.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was surprised by the amount of frog activity given that it is almost winter! One of my first finds for the evening was a tusked frog <i>(Adelotus brevis)</i> on the boardwalk at the Tamborine Mountain Landcare Centre. I also heard whistling treefrogs <i>(Litoria verreauxii)</i> and great barred frogs <i>(Mixophyes fasciolatus)</i> at this site, with the latter species being seen again at one of the nearby National Parks.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2dpRI5ofIPqEjYD_fWdZ5NGQPjXzbzUPCowiov64nF3nl0eFQ0qXVd2fHWqeZMoud_CBpiH-RiCpW8z6YfnY7B5NNib4Bn_dBJH7Sd90lMkql43PBqbETMHEIhmzqiCWmDqt85M73GEH/s1600/tube+spider.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1267" data-original-width="1600" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2dpRI5ofIPqEjYD_fWdZ5NGQPjXzbzUPCowiov64nF3nl0eFQ0qXVd2fHWqeZMoud_CBpiH-RiCpW8z6YfnY7B5NNib4Bn_dBJH7Sd90lMkql43PBqbETMHEIhmzqiCWmDqt85M73GEH/s640/tube+spider.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There were plenty of spiders in the rainforest and probably the most fascinating were the Brisbane tube spiders <i>(Arbanitis longipes)</i>. A type of trapdoor spider that neglects to build the trapdoor, small colonies of this species dotted the soil between many of the buttress roots.</span></td></tr>
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<br />Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-11701792084531723992018-12-08T17:06:00.000+10:002018-12-08T17:06:33.520+10:00A holiday to remember on Bundaberg's Coral Coast<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofJ79RiSnu0BSiRHei1Z3KrKMzbyCXtAmIT3xR26ArDLbmcq2VeW_Ps1VU3igPUrZiksOS4YVATL1MLe-tR-kwUXdDG8c0AwCzcru8DhiFd8jJDtEcASuM3ae5FAb9tFc1bGWmVEz5KyG/s1600/flatback.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="1600" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofJ79RiSnu0BSiRHei1Z3KrKMzbyCXtAmIT3xR26ArDLbmcq2VeW_Ps1VU3igPUrZiksOS4YVATL1MLe-tR-kwUXdDG8c0AwCzcru8DhiFd8jJDtEcASuM3ae5FAb9tFc1bGWmVEz5KyG/s640/flatback.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A female flatback turtle, covering her nest chamber with sand on Mon Repos Beach.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I kicked off the start of this summer with a short break up at Bargara, where I had a fantastic time! I’ll get to all the interesting animals and plants I saw in a minute, but first, let me just say how much I liked the actual region. Bundaberg struck me as a city with the perfect mix of old and new; lovely heritage buildings and structures and a laid-back attitude are complemented by the modern conveniences of good roads, internet access and seven-days-a-week shopping. And while I can see new suburbs popping up here and there, the region isn’t suffering the same intense overcrowding that Brisbane is at present. I loved it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And now back to the wildlife! Here are some of the creatures and places that will be living in my heart for much longer than my holiday lasted. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Sea turtles</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If there’s one animal that Bundaberg's Coral Coast is particularly famous for, it’s the <b>loggerhead turtle</b> <i>(Caretta caretta)</i>. Researchers estimate that approximately half of the South Pacific Ocean’s loggerheads nest on the stretch of coastline centred on stunning Mon Repos Beach, and late spring and early summer is when the females can be seen coming ashore. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7U3CpeMvGmgR9DgYqK_QUpmQy1TBbinsdCvD9FJd10B_hQUDO-dDS7jBlPhF23FB7s-b0ThKIES8mw58_0KHr2AcmtMTb4VVz2BBqIpJeR9LJ3ojB7vSEaPI36kUHlAD9sqlyZWBdtWot/s1600/loggerhead.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1336" data-original-width="1600" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7U3CpeMvGmgR9DgYqK_QUpmQy1TBbinsdCvD9FJd10B_hQUDO-dDS7jBlPhF23FB7s-b0ThKIES8mw58_0KHr2AcmtMTb4VVz2BBqIpJeR9LJ3ojB7vSEaPI36kUHlAD9sqlyZWBdtWot/s400/loggerhead.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Loggerhead turtle, potentially in her first nesting season.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The best way to experience the turtles is to book a tour with the <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/mon-repos/turtle-centre.html">Mon Repos Turtle Centre</a> rangers and volunteers. For the incredibly cheap price of $12.80 per adult, you will head out onto the beach after dark and—with the guidance of a ranger—witness the magnificent moment a female turtle lays her eggs in the sand. Alternatively, if you visit later in the season, you may be present when the baby turtles hatch and make a dash for the wide blue yonder out to sea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I loved the tour so much that I did it two nights in a row. On the first night, we met a 48-year old female loggerhead that has spent her adult life living off Heron Reef, and who has nested on Mon Repos since the year 2000. On the second night, our groups watched over two untagged, presumed first-time nesters, one of whose clutch of eggs we helped move to a higher location in the dunes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mon Repos Beach is closed to the public between 6am and 6pm to protect the turtles from disturbance, but at 5pm on an afternoon with a very high tide, I was also fortunate to witness them coming ashore in the daylight. There were researchers on the beach gathered around one turtle in particular, and it was a gorgeous <b>flatback turtle</b> <i>(Natator depressus)</i>, a small minority of which also nest on this beach with the loggerheads. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKi8WjXMpUAs3qfO0zMgRYqFUU4PFd4aHVK6QjvU_hFcw6ze4-1nEDklWpEtElZD-MhGDpxhl3_Mgy5J3OnxgJHAJbll1B-CYvm1m5XHS-MU-C1m6OkQqfbLJEbPOI_CukB7GEuB27xcj/s1600/digging.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1251" data-original-width="1600" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKi8WjXMpUAs3qfO0zMgRYqFUU4PFd4aHVK6QjvU_hFcw6ze4-1nEDklWpEtElZD-MhGDpxhl3_Mgy5J3OnxgJHAJbll1B-CYvm1m5XHS-MU-C1m6OkQqfbLJEbPOI_CukB7GEuB27xcj/s640/digging.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unlike other sea turtles with large distributions, flatbacks nest only in Australia.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It’s hard to explain, but there was something about the turtles that kept making me feel quite emotional. Each of them were around my age or older, and it felt like they and I were two equal beings whose paths were crossing at a unique and special point in time, before we returned to our respective ordinary lives, me in the suburbs of Brisbane, and them on a remote outer reef shelf somewhere.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYWpwNB-Kv6ejH1F6M2r3NDxurbjNtGevzVhHrnfrE_xfrz_jKwEMXubqu1kZZUA6TJbS-hNkuZm9kvQpFl19H4W_g7j9mpgqQTlNzQKLWFlVWlFE4uYYeCl-6TXHvwZbWb92vLWhW7hH/s1600/noddies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1249" data-original-width="1600" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYWpwNB-Kv6ejH1F6M2r3NDxurbjNtGevzVhHrnfrE_xfrz_jKwEMXubqu1kZZUA6TJbS-hNkuZm9kvQpFl19H4W_g7j9mpgqQTlNzQKLWFlVWlFE4uYYeCl-6TXHvwZbWb92vLWhW7hH/s640/noddies.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A mixed group of noddies resting on casuarina trees at Elliot Heads.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Noddies</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The coast off Bundaberg is where the Great Barrier Reef starts at its southern end, and for me, there was no better reminder of this than seeing my first flock of noddies, a quintessential reef bird. Mostly they were <b>black noddies</b> <i>(Anous minutus)</i>, but a few birds in the group were the browner-toned <b>common noddies</b> <i>(A. stolidus)</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I encounter an animal for the first time, I love learning about its personality, and I found the noddies to be very curious and friendly birds. The first day I saw them at Elliot Heads, one came and landed a short distance from me as I sat in a rock pool, and on the second day, they danced in the wind all around me as they approached from a distant sandbar. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIkjJEltNmYK_AES734ZhvlTHsvh_wPEHZfF8UB-AS12E_h8ddpN_uDIPBK3OUcwdJCeA45uIKq5ex8f6v8kNd2rOsX1N4CbH6hFxxRoWU2jIhoPuXzp0ISSLd-Czc6sW1MFOqa9fHL_m/s1600/mon+repos.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIkjJEltNmYK_AES734ZhvlTHsvh_wPEHZfF8UB-AS12E_h8ddpN_uDIPBK3OUcwdJCeA45uIKq5ex8f6v8kNd2rOsX1N4CbH6hFxxRoWU2jIhoPuXzp0ISSLd-Czc6sW1MFOqa9fHL_m/s640/mon+repos.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mon Repos Beach is surrounded by reserves through which a variety of tracks exist.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Mon Repos Beach</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It’s a big call, but I’m going to make it: Mon Repos is the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen. When I first laid eyes on it the afternoon of my arrival, I instantly understood why the turtles of the South Pacific have this location saved in their biological GPS as a favourite place. It’s not just the turtles that travel far and wide to get to Mon Repos though, as on each of my daylight visits, a <b>whimbrel</b> <i>(Numenius phaeopus)</i> patrolled the creek mouth at the southern end of the beach, and this bird would have flown here from Siberia. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">You can be sure that this human from Brisbane will make the pilgrimage back to Mon Repos sometime as well. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOZrf651NuQespygClF9ExuqJudiwARAcrTkA2vOLhDRNjL4k21U6qmomQKKF6Yj-MbFFVBq3zLK2MOnVTcm_UDfMhPYeHK4uRnPgRjDaWGYOx-m2dSRZ4VlqUP5EQ__S6Lh_y-JaO-O4/s1600/elliot+heads.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1600" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOZrf651NuQespygClF9ExuqJudiwARAcrTkA2vOLhDRNjL4k21U6qmomQKKF6Yj-MbFFVBq3zLK2MOnVTcm_UDfMhPYeHK4uRnPgRjDaWGYOx-m2dSRZ4VlqUP5EQ__S6Lh_y-JaO-O4/s640/elliot+heads.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The vegetated sand dunes at the Elliot Heads were recently islands, and are off limits to visitors.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Elliot Heads</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I had never heard of or planned to visit Elliot Heads before my trip to Bundaberg—one morning after snorkelling, I just decided to jump in the car and explore a little further, subsequently stumbling across this wonderful place. It’s main feature is a river mouth that in recent times has undergone a huge infilling of sand, and strolling out onto the shimmering, vast emptiness made me feel like I was exploring a beautiful desert. A particularly breath-taking sight were many thousands of <b>common terns</b> <i>(Sterna hirundo)</i> resting on a sandbar in the river, especially when the incoming tide required them to take flight like some distant, silent white cloud.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2l3aQ2tfPmJFQ1yjwWlnbMaA7sH6QXcsV6pocOwCQSVsVJlTAkvco2_G19uY4ZYxiTySfZHFBSq6qSg6B2xYHiue5nq63pW3KZQvug0yjnZeH4y3R5mrcP6ROMtR3nAVyeevXXF0DuSl/s1600/moth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1600" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2l3aQ2tfPmJFQ1yjwWlnbMaA7sH6QXcsV6pocOwCQSVsVJlTAkvco2_G19uY4ZYxiTySfZHFBSq6qSg6B2xYHiue5nq63pW3KZQvug0yjnZeH4y3R5mrcP6ROMtR3nAVyeevXXF0DuSl/s640/moth.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wood moth adults do not eat and live only for a few days</span>—<span style="font-size: small;">or even shorter, in this case.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Moths</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In the coastal woodland behind Mon Repos beach one morning, I heard a squeaking noise coming from a dead tree to my left and turned to see what looked like a <b>grey butcherbird</b> <i>(Cracticus torquatus)</i> attacking a small bird. Except it wasn’t a small bird, it was an enormous moth! On one hand, I was horrified to see the poor <b>wood moth </b><i>(Endoxyla</i> sp.<i>)</i> get torn apart while still alive, but I was also fascinated to watch how the butcherbird prevented its escape by methodically removing its wings and wedging the still-wriggling body into a bark crevice. Another beautiful moth seen while spotlighting was the <b>fruit-piercing moth</b> <i>(Eudocima fullonia)</i>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyVHn6SbcIIRKFfTjrkDdzNavK-I6lnAVcuvQY67XSe4yso1wzVjAT7vrMMGE98V4ZwvIwiYqOyORA_WKfbOBKXZoNcPFaLdkIR9RBsqGyyhfjBwRnQtGgy-eBgCF7sAI4jav8d_ZZByyK/s1600/butterflies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1600" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyVHn6SbcIIRKFfTjrkDdzNavK-I6lnAVcuvQY67XSe4yso1wzVjAT7vrMMGE98V4ZwvIwiYqOyORA_WKfbOBKXZoNcPFaLdkIR9RBsqGyyhfjBwRnQtGgy-eBgCF7sAI4jav8d_ZZByyK/s640/butterflies.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A painted lady sunning herself on Mon Repos Beach. INSET: blue tigers.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Butterflies</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Every bit of bush around Bundaberg is alive with butterflies at the moment! Abundant <b>blue tigers</b> <i>(Tirumala hamata)</i>, <b>common crows</b> <i>(Euploea core)</i> and <b>blue moon butterflies</b> <i>(Hypolimnas bolina)</i> all offered ample beauty during my visit there, but my favourite encounter was with a <b>painted lady</b> <i>(Vanessa kershawi)</i> on Mon Repos beach one morning. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqRzkHaUOTZPZnG6c1dQsINR6Mj_vM-AzmI_Rh-IP9LZhjsp97fqJzc_TSRRNRFeVvBtijuq2uhiEunA-vLMV9bOLeScCKjdBfPNiqqbdFJvIYz4uGC-FeKI_6bstbIZWqB5h6yZHN0MNT/s1600/heliotropium.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1263" data-original-width="1600" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqRzkHaUOTZPZnG6c1dQsINR6Mj_vM-AzmI_Rh-IP9LZhjsp97fqJzc_TSRRNRFeVvBtijuq2uhiEunA-vLMV9bOLeScCKjdBfPNiqqbdFJvIYz4uGC-FeKI_6bstbIZWqB5h6yZHN0MNT/s640/heliotropium.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tree heliotropes occur as far south as the Fraser Coast, on some islands in the Great Sandy Strait.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Plants</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">One thing that really amazed me on my visit to Bundaberg was how I could drive a few hours away from my home in Brisbane and suddenly find myself in a totally different climate. A good example of this were the <b>tree heliotropes</b> <i>(Heliotropium foetherianum)</i> growing on Mon Repos Beach, as this species is typical of coral cays and tropical shores. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjUlJdxAmIhsN-1Z65vpF8kT_bUrUSnAkOwSP83SjFwwPbpDuRdBkjnHj52eEP0_IgmH5RvHUFsg5mHY6FUDptf3jzb6A1iHnICV_MhJFrMcOK6vZiDtMzAFW4E41s8VLLOWjjbfkcOrLf/s1600/soft+corals.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1055" data-original-width="1600" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjUlJdxAmIhsN-1Z65vpF8kT_bUrUSnAkOwSP83SjFwwPbpDuRdBkjnHj52eEP0_IgmH5RvHUFsg5mHY6FUDptf3jzb6A1iHnICV_MhJFrMcOK6vZiDtMzAFW4E41s8VLLOWjjbfkcOrLf/s320/soft+corals.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Sarcophyton</i> soft corals are an outstanding feature<br />of the rockpools along the Bundaberg coastline.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Barolin Rocks</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I had hoped to go snorkelling off the coast here one morning, but the water visibility during my stay was shocking. That didn’t stop me from jumping into several beautiful rock pools for a closer look however, where I was surrounded by gorgeous <b>soft corals</b> (Alcyonacea) and tropical fish such as the <b>Ward’s damsel</b> <i>(Pomacentrus wardi)</i> and <b>bubblefin wrasse</b> <i>(Halichoeres nigrescens)</i>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtHx40pH_Jp2pYAn3cOlZ3peSoS_laa_CAFTB59iK1K_9nrwkz39NOkQjEHJUjkk_JxUUH0RbpYMyWj8ruIasXpRUVnwSDZ-R_NfQGLRMIvnl7YeRPu7sPwOs0se3-MSV_kmY_99DaRAu/s1600/tracks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtHx40pH_Jp2pYAn3cOlZ3peSoS_laa_CAFTB59iK1K_9nrwkz39NOkQjEHJUjkk_JxUUH0RbpYMyWj8ruIasXpRUVnwSDZ-R_NfQGLRMIvnl7YeRPu7sPwOs0se3-MSV_kmY_99DaRAu/s640/tracks.JPG" width="558" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The turtles nesting at Mon Repos come from as far away as Indonesia.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-51152877609946569892018-10-15T19:39:00.000+10:002018-10-16T21:05:40.548+10:00Lamington National Park shines bright on a grey morning<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqqyluk7gyPdKqu_NqBhTjSkAoq8tlKr8OWHcFLu52eF7uC45LfADpN_orYPe7c89Wlph3ASmpiQJgiiCik-WQ0ZdaIKZhPnSyMRLw071gSODFqrje8J-vyzJZCT9-fDW-82Be87J4pPz/s1600/creek.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1600" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqqyluk7gyPdKqu_NqBhTjSkAoq8tlKr8OWHcFLu52eF7uC45LfADpN_orYPe7c89Wlph3ASmpiQJgiiCik-WQ0ZdaIKZhPnSyMRLw071gSODFqrje8J-vyzJZCT9-fDW-82Be87J4pPz/s640/creek.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Morans Creek, O'Reilly.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On a cool and overcast morning last Friday, I headed down to Lamington National Park and walked two tracks in the Green Mountains section near O’Reilly’s.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The main purpose of my visit was to search for a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653506009404">particular fern I had been learning about</a>, but my curious mind soon enough found other things to focus on as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXmNEOFCzdxcw55xUBuGwJSEU0rW88tfl_180VX1Mq0S2O1uu15jWjhiPo14qP9VLZpzYmv7y622QNnxXQwkVxGGyGVOLtk-Zmu6eDKgD5a8eFDI0oCEGzB-6YxwNx4gFjQhVYnKHPYLx/s1600/Coprinellus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="1600" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXmNEOFCzdxcw55xUBuGwJSEU0rW88tfl_180VX1Mq0S2O1uu15jWjhiPo14qP9VLZpzYmv7y622QNnxXQwkVxGGyGVOLtk-Zmu6eDKgD5a8eFDI0oCEGzB-6YxwNx4gFjQhVYnKHPYLx/s640/Coprinellus.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fairy bonnets <i>(Coprinellus disseminatus)</i>, O'Reilly.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">One of my favourite moments of the day occurred on the Python Rock track, when I took a closer look at a pool of rainwater that had collected inside a tree trunk. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYW4siya5cC1PIfT_HSPefw8IhtJUyhjEU3S8R8gQUpQBxBWZl6lRJvd5asRkea14dn2E9s564vyP9UzDWYbhOYLNt6B_pDUg3OUSzJIdR0hoEkXn3-RUzRK9Gto3EjxA10RXoRHtuw5ho/s1600/moth+trunk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1273" data-original-width="1600" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYW4siya5cC1PIfT_HSPefw8IhtJUyhjEU3S8R8gQUpQBxBWZl6lRJvd5asRkea14dn2E9s564vyP9UzDWYbhOYLNt6B_pDUg3OUSzJIdR0hoEkXn3-RUzRK9Gto3EjxA10RXoRHtuw5ho/s640/moth+trunk.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tree pool, O'Reilly.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Nothing of note was in the water, but on the dappled green trunk adjacent to it, I found a gorgeous <b>mossy prominent</b> <i>(Cascera muscosa)</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfP7b41wSJc9U3ZNF2Chu1CGDiRbh-olKKltsY-2yvZFWDh9YeIPuMNp6MkCR25r3YNbT_Dll_eyQO7iucXuAiDK3ZmRjrMXkMP3FUoLyXkivTsazRC5LIWwsPjKEOQL2rZmEZ1puWR36R/s1600/cascera+moth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1600" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfP7b41wSJc9U3ZNF2Chu1CGDiRbh-olKKltsY-2yvZFWDh9YeIPuMNp6MkCR25r3YNbT_Dll_eyQO7iucXuAiDK3ZmRjrMXkMP3FUoLyXkivTsazRC5LIWwsPjKEOQL2rZmEZ1puWR36R/s640/cascera+moth.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mossy prominent, O'Reilly.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The moth is just faintly visible in the tree trunk photo above, so if you wish to re-examine it, you can then check to see if your spotting was accurate using the image at the end of this post. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As I didn’t find the fern I was looking for on the Python Rock track, I decided to walk to Morans Falls after and try my luck where the track criss-crossed various gullies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I did indeed end up finding the fern at this location, and while I was becoming acquainted with it, the beating of wings above my head made me look up.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8hQMIDGG79qQ9C5a9vzRyHnHl-eEYsw3PlAxZEwXRRMOR9wqW8jqWY2lsnocWHc2Jh7zMyw5HpP_pc5ml0qBHAj0OEZ23jJNpN_6X7zav_geEmX-dC9lyAI0sWiKgvzAMbkjVzKQ65AK/s1600/cuckoo-dove.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1600" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8hQMIDGG79qQ9C5a9vzRyHnHl-eEYsw3PlAxZEwXRRMOR9wqW8jqWY2lsnocWHc2Jh7zMyw5HpP_pc5ml0qBHAj0OEZ23jJNpN_6X7zav_geEmX-dC9lyAI0sWiKgvzAMbkjVzKQ65AK/s400/cuckoo-dove.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brown cuckoo-dove, O'Reilly.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the air above me, two <b>brown cuckoo-doves</b> <i>(Macropygia phasianella)</i> were fighting over access to a feed of <b>brown beech</b> <i>(Pennantia cunninghamii)</i> fruit.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">By the time I walked back a few steps for a better photography angle, a victor had emerged between the two birds, and the loser was hurtling off into the forest. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Other birds a</span><span style="font-size: large;">long this track included the <b>brown gerygone</b> <i>(Gerygone mouki)</i>, <b>wompoo fruit-dove</b> <i>(Ptilinopus magnificus)</i> and <b>Australian logrunner</b> <i>(Orthonyx temminckii)</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9h-w4xuIt9SannygFm5f7HF6rnKtwGstbFHQG2VJ1nXleFceFWaLyD05BqEc3NuZRiDZppA1CsssWvndZ_z2t47IXzOehuNlhPDija18RaVzkotBjbTUih4eTuUVcm8HOjEeHYcDDQRh/s1600/epiphyte.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9h-w4xuIt9SannygFm5f7HF6rnKtwGstbFHQG2VJ1nXleFceFWaLyD05BqEc3NuZRiDZppA1CsssWvndZ_z2t47IXzOehuNlhPDija18RaVzkotBjbTUih4eTuUVcm8HOjEeHYcDDQRh/s640/epiphyte.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Elkhorn <i>(Platycerium bifurcatum)</i>, O'Reilly.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve come to find that a weekday morning with less-than-perfect weather is the best time to enjoy some peace in our most heavily-visited National Parks, and I encountered no more than a dozen other walkers on the tracks.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For those planning on visiting the Green Mountains section of Lamington National Park anytime soon, however, keep in mind that extensive roadworks on the road up and down from the plateau may cause significant delays to your journey.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg64aMAt0-qW546ISPLdc2LM3zf2Bcv1m3QJStK_FidMmBJKz3SF3aWlXAcuwAwUYSEnHm-pxUgevK59Hi1JGr2lg5Z_VTgNhayjP0diU_mAon62jt4-xzg4P7AwGZf34qomB_LdyFYEoS/s1600/trunk+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1273" data-original-width="1600" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg64aMAt0-qW546ISPLdc2LM3zf2Bcv1m3QJStK_FidMmBJKz3SF3aWlXAcuwAwUYSEnHm-pxUgevK59Hi1JGr2lg5Z_VTgNhayjP0diU_mAon62jt4-xzg4P7AwGZf34qomB_LdyFYEoS/s640/trunk+2.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moth location--did you find it?!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-9279094664116539092018-09-16T07:58:00.000+10:002018-09-16T07:58:53.746+10:00Sea anemones plentiful in Sunshine Coast rockpools<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pUizFxVdrFPAASVo3Q0Ipu-EEWf8TXyQ3_8gRo0KcXibyfoYYlpeaq9aOBVx6x1kykm5avT7kT056WA_fExUncM5h92W4yzPIhjwP7dmSl2HoPKmcxOkusu6U1x82xGhAp5Qxe1dE53U/s1600/decorated+green.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pUizFxVdrFPAASVo3Q0Ipu-EEWf8TXyQ3_8gRo0KcXibyfoYYlpeaq9aOBVx6x1kykm5avT7kT056WA_fExUncM5h92W4yzPIhjwP7dmSl2HoPKmcxOkusu6U1x82xGhAp5Qxe1dE53U/s640/decorated+green.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">LEFT: decorated anemone, RIGHT: green anemone.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Last Wednesday I went searching for sea anemones on a rocky shoreline south of Coolum Beach, and found five different species in the rock pools there.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My first sighting </span><span style="font-size: large;">was of a <b>decorated anemone</b> <i>(Oulactis muscosa)</i> in a sandy, wave-exposed pool, which is a typical microhabitat for this species.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This animal has greyish-white tentacles and a dark red section inside its oral disc, and gets its name from the way it decorates its margins with sand and pebbles in order to better camouflage itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This species can often appear almost entirely buried by sand, but I found one specimen in a calmer rock pool that allowed for the good view shown above.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Next up was a <b>green anemone </b><i>(Aulactinia veratra)</i>, and this proved to be a common and variable species at this location.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It was most frequently found deep inside crevices, including some narrow and shallow ones that barely held any water at low tide.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The colour of this creature was not always the vivid green shown in the photo here, and it was quite often a muddy brown hue instead.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Encountering the decorated and green anemones at the start of my search made my eyes grow accustomed to typical anemone shapes and hiding spots, so much so that seeing the next wildly atypical species came as quite a surprise: I suddenly realised that stretching out over the rocks and pools before me lay a vast colony of tiny anemones that I had read about in the Queensland Museum’s <a href="http://www.shop.qm.qld.gov.au/default/wild-guide-to-moreton-bay.html">Wild Guide to Moreton Bay</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">These creatures were green and grey in colour, and the ones that were exposed to the air had retracted their tentacles into compact little stubs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAIp6GBAKCZQt1tC3XXkz64p52OktfL_YWzcoQ3HJh0t6nrmhChyphenhyphenf0IWlOe-sN_GsAEiRHv0lcSxkY9IxQ_Rj9LNA2X3rofLSGD7vWx3QN1WM54jH2mpo0KMl1hYnYBjn0SaRY3oNJUvl/s1600/Anthopleura.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAIp6GBAKCZQt1tC3XXkz64p52OktfL_YWzcoQ3HJh0t6nrmhChyphenhyphenf0IWlOe-sN_GsAEiRHv0lcSxkY9IxQ_Rj9LNA2X3rofLSGD7vWx3QN1WM54jH2mpo0KMl1hYnYBjn0SaRY3oNJUvl/s640/Anthopleura.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">MAIN: unidentified <i>Anthopleura</i> species, INSET: <i>Anthopleura handi.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the first edition of the museum’s Wild Guide, these animals were considered to be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoantharia">zoanthids</a>, relatives of anemones and coral that are often found together in large aggregations.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The second edition in 2011 updated their ID to being an unidentified species of <i>Anthopleura</i> anemone, however, and no information beyond that seems to be available.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Their green body columns and unmarked grey oral discs and tentacles are quite different to the related anemones found elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region, and it is possible that they are unique to South-east Queensland and Northern New South Wales.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There was a second species of <i>Anthopleura</i> that I found at this location as well, albeit in much smaller numbers. It is called <i>Anthopleura handi</i>, and it has white banding on its tentacles.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">One Australian anemone ‘superstar’ that I had been hoping to locate in the rock pools was the <b>waratah anemone </b><i>(Actinia tenebrosa)</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Being a brilliant red colour, I originally thought it would prove easier to spot than its more camouflaged relatives, but I found otherwise.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It turns out that I was initially looking for this species in the wrong microhabitat; it actually grows not in the cracks and crevices like the other anemones, but midway up on the boulders where the surf crashes on an incoming tide.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQwAXr7RypLkniwiCDyK17jxKZo3WOvJ0uKYzlo0qxmqw3r4OVMP56pDw0FUUHlSkwx-8ICh009GT2VSBVf4efy94UNntiDCDh5hNOLHjXULHX-qXS6cZ_efh3p1OINoM0m_2t8jdvIFU/s1600/Waratah+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="1600" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQwAXr7RypLkniwiCDyK17jxKZo3WOvJ0uKYzlo0qxmqw3r4OVMP56pDw0FUUHlSkwx-8ICh009GT2VSBVf4efy94UNntiDCDh5hNOLHjXULHX-qXS6cZ_efh3p1OINoM0m_2t8jdvIFU/s640/Waratah+view.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">MAIN: anemone survey area, INSET: waratah anemones.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, as I was visiting during a low tide, all I could see were the blobby body columns that the tentacles are withdrawn into when exposed to the air. Once I knew where to look, however, I could see that it was a very numerous species, and I will remember this information should I visit again on a higher tide.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For those of you who are as fascinated by these beautiful animals as I am, the Queensland Museum has published a helpful paper on all the various anemones found in our local waters (minus the undescribed colonial one), available in a <a href="http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/~/media/Documents/QM/About%20Us/Publications/Memoirs%20-%20Nature/N54-1/n-54-1-fautin-et-al.pdf">free PDF format here</a>.</span>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-57144545071737651702018-09-06T09:00:00.000+10:002018-09-06T09:00:09.498+10:00Wild BNE meet-up: Oxley Creek Common<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvx_2172pKj2bhCPwDw4JJRyslsZcMakOJ_yVIaYPl-fOneo1hriVHqX1XD42RKndMpcgbcdB57xALEWC_gpACsc0OoHAvKY47rlf_WTiY25ifKqmgfOCTKwDcpi1PVB440ZeS6Sv9TwWU/s1600/finches.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1600" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvx_2172pKj2bhCPwDw4JJRyslsZcMakOJ_yVIaYPl-fOneo1hriVHqX1XD42RKndMpcgbcdB57xALEWC_gpACsc0OoHAvKY47rlf_WTiY25ifKqmgfOCTKwDcpi1PVB440ZeS6Sv9TwWU/s640/finches.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Double-barred finches <i>(Taeniopygia bichenovii).</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Oxley Creek Common is regarded as one of Brisbane’s premier birdwatching locations, with over 200 species recorded at the site. On Saturday 22nd September, I am offering to host a walk for a group of people who would like to spend the afternoon at this beautiful reserve, exploring the wetlands, farm margins and wooded areas for as many fascinating birds, animals and plants as we can find. The pace will be leisurely and along a flat gravel path, but the total distance walked may be as much as five kilometres.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On my recent visits to the Common,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> I’ve been fortunate to see a variety of raptors, including <b>black kites</b> <i>(Milvus migrans)</i>, <b>white-bellied sea-eagles</b> <i>(Haliaeetus leucogaster)</i> and <b>black-shouldered kites</b> <i>(Elanus axillaris)</i>, and hopefully some of these will be present on the day. Flocks of <b>brown quail</b> <i>(Coturnix ypsilophora)</i> are also easily seen now that the grass is so dry and sparse, especially as the day turns to dusk. There will also be interesting trees and insects that I can point out to those who are interested. For more examples of what we might see on this walk, visit Wild BNE’s Facebook page and view the posts I’ve shared in the past month.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPviyl3PmNM5XXDvBm1dUd4fzQ6Lnc8i5oBxFVsj1pIbXxcfRF0LG5p1IN5d62AFmT1blis8fmvzGDW1pvmACaq0BCsa0JYvm409nhgOe9pUSGbYQlyxhKE86raHA08z52jpxawUYL7VJ/s1600/Lesser+Monarch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="1600" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPviyl3PmNM5XXDvBm1dUd4fzQ6Lnc8i5oBxFVsj1pIbXxcfRF0LG5p1IN5d62AFmT1blis8fmvzGDW1pvmACaq0BCsa0JYvm409nhgOe9pUSGbYQlyxhKE86raHA08z52jpxawUYL7VJ/s400/Lesser+Monarch.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Plain tiger <i>(Danaus chrysippus).</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Situated just past the Brisbane Markets on Rocklea’s Sherwood Road, Oxley Creek Common is about a 20-25 minute drive south-west of the Brisbane CBD. The walk will be held in the late afternoon to allow for good photography light on the fields and lagoons, and numbers will be capped to about a dozen people at most. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Date</b>: Saturday 22nd September 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Time</b>: 3:30pm – 5:30pm</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Distance</b>: 5km on a flat, gravel surface</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Whether you’ve visited the reserve a hundred times before or if it’s something new to you entirely, whether you’re passionate and knowledgeable about particular organisms or whether you’re coming along to learn something, shoot me an email at <span style="background-color: yellow;">wildbne@gmail.com</span> to register your interest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hope to hear from you soon!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cheers,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Christian</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw-HHfHKtFhRkUq0avqIn9stOsXvS92fiG8KTJqFKeHX2ps3VT1La85O31Rws-753bS5G3B1fHJ8HkBzaPLAmhLIa-W9ZsHxvgxXNZamKW38dAUcA5iI0z8DDfHEc1poienAbJ5-zHCmN2/s1600/Pelican+Island.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1600" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw-HHfHKtFhRkUq0avqIn9stOsXvS92fiG8KTJqFKeHX2ps3VT1La85O31Rws-753bS5G3B1fHJ8HkBzaPLAmhLIa-W9ZsHxvgxXNZamKW38dAUcA5iI0z8DDfHEc1poienAbJ5-zHCmN2/s640/Pelican+Island.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Australian pelicans <i>(Pelecanus conspicillatus)</i> on the appropriately named Pelican Island.</span></td></tr>
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Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-28171205877373616862018-08-28T19:26:00.000+10:002018-08-28T19:26:57.835+10:00Mangroves of Toondah Harbour<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMXUEnuGrnADtz8ZBy5ep1jfqUsuKOOAld10clRrGeKslH06qaJOE9bQmezaKjQDRw9vz6zi5jpTq4rSNnlzIqyTXvK-z1v1DEeanLF5a-72hAZGgS2wIeCkDBI0bHiknsQ6oiopd2Lc7/s1600/Avicennia.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="1600" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMXUEnuGrnADtz8ZBy5ep1jfqUsuKOOAld10clRrGeKslH06qaJOE9bQmezaKjQDRw9vz6zi5jpTq4rSNnlzIqyTXvK-z1v1DEeanLF5a-72hAZGgS2wIeCkDBI0bHiknsQ6oiopd2Lc7/s640/Avicennia.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Grey mangroves at the edge of Cassim Island.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I love mangroves. I find them to be fascinating examples of adaptation, and admire the way they shape and influence entire coastlines and ecosystems. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBhtrMMAZIGV2K9NXiyFsVRDutlwFXZT_6je0fSIr6I03EG9ZKySSRABJi5545haX7gEkX9CVA_FY5i_KSe4eUdQHCONzzPDWb9DM-JUhp9bnLw0pe_97sQ4V0S8YOtMkoWsD4_KZwSZBF/s1600/Salt+crystals.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1255" data-original-width="1600" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBhtrMMAZIGV2K9NXiyFsVRDutlwFXZT_6je0fSIr6I03EG9ZKySSRABJi5545haX7gEkX9CVA_FY5i_KSe4eUdQHCONzzPDWb9DM-JUhp9bnLw0pe_97sQ4V0S8YOtMkoWsD4_KZwSZBF/s320/Salt+crystals.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Salt crystals on a yellow mangrove leaf.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here in South-east Queensland, we have seven species of them (eight, if you count a species of fern), so I also appreciate how beginner-friendly they are when it comes to plant identification, as there are not too many to sort through.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, despite their <a href="https://redlands2030.net/reflections-mangroves-toondah/">immense environmental and economic value</a>, mangroves are sadly not championed by the general public in the same way that rainforests, coral reefs and other ecosystems are. Governments and developers use this to their advantage, feeling comfortable in destroying coastal wetlands for the sake of marinas, canal estates and the like. A situation just like this is currently playing out in Cleveland, where a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/12/developer-criticised-for-plan-to-dredge-queensland-wetland-and-build-3600-homes">proposed development threatens Toondah Harbour and surrounds</a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiax26Apt6F3ChlFgU8w0IdLinWv_0TINae7FXveH-4GtrqoBbjErvmlKJvl009MmsthkVKmiSEV6zmhTwnZWSqyzBwHjlxx1zSh3-b2270S84ZOEzE0dQw67lySrgGyn-di1kB3qoWXa8W/s1600/Butterfly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiax26Apt6F3ChlFgU8w0IdLinWv_0TINae7FXveH-4GtrqoBbjErvmlKJvl009MmsthkVKmiSEV6zmhTwnZWSqyzBwHjlxx1zSh3-b2270S84ZOEzE0dQw67lySrgGyn-di1kB3qoWXa8W/s640/Butterfly.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Swamp tiger <i>(Danaus affinis)</i> on a river mangrove.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This blog post examines the different mangrove species that can be seen in the Toondah Harbour area, and <span style="background-color: yellow;">provides tips on how to tell them apart</span>, but may also be useful for other mangrove communities in South-east Queensland. </span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Grey mangrove</b> <i>(Avicennia marina)</i></u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This is the most common local mangrove, a <span style="background-color: yellow;">beautiful, spreading tree with olive-green leaves and pale, whitish-grey bark</span>. Like many mangroves, it has special above-ground roots that increase the amount of surface area exposed to essential atmospheric gases. For this particular species, these roots look like a <span style="background-color: yellow;">dense carpet of little grey fingers</span>; next time you see the roots out on a mudflat, look at the distance between them and the tree they belong to—it can be quite considerable!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgj5NArdThI9dbb8RYc4NAFDr9kPOM0MAHrAxvhmBQP7_GlXPbBDy69OKruOQL7S0-s2pAky4n7sMlMUXNCxVpZS10hku54ME73S5IP1MRfh1cjaeWGswWogbaxg6IdHMDgUtV8ymW0gp/s1600/Avicennia+detail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1545" data-original-width="1600" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgj5NArdThI9dbb8RYc4NAFDr9kPOM0MAHrAxvhmBQP7_GlXPbBDy69OKruOQL7S0-s2pAky4n7sMlMUXNCxVpZS10hku54ME73S5IP1MRfh1cjaeWGswWogbaxg6IdHMDgUtV8ymW0gp/s320/Avicennia+detail.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Grey mangrove leaves; INSET: above-ground roots</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The fruit of this species is a <span style="background-color: yellow;">walnut-sized, green capsule</span> that can be seen floating throughout Moreton Bay. The tree itself is abundant at Toondah Harbour and grows around all the bay islands, including Cassim Island. It provides shelter for roosting birds, and acts as a nursery for fish species around which multi-million dollar industries are based.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Red mangrove</b> <i>(Rhizophora stylosa)</i></u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This is my favourite mangrove, thanks to the <span style="background-color: yellow;">amazing stilt roots that arch out from the tree trunk</span>! No other local species of mangrove has roots quite like it, but if you want to double check that you’ve got the ID correct, <span style="background-color: yellow;">look under the thick fleshy leaves and you should see lots of tiny little spots</span>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIVz4ed3qt0oq0dNtB2vSK5fHdL50rTnaxrh2qzBPELfbEYM2NAD_uol9V9qwMe8-5DtAwf0AZ0NFHAK0WHaILQGE7IAMEmqQPM_3WmbCd-1pesaGI0Vt8qm8wPt-rCnpurrY3QJxGIGd/s1600/Rhizophora+detail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1381" data-original-width="1600" height="552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIVz4ed3qt0oq0dNtB2vSK5fHdL50rTnaxrh2qzBPELfbEYM2NAD_uol9V9qwMe8-5DtAwf0AZ0NFHAK0WHaILQGE7IAMEmqQPM_3WmbCd-1pesaGI0Vt8qm8wPt-rCnpurrY3QJxGIGd/s640/Rhizophora+detail.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Red mangrove, Oyster Point; INSET: leaf detail.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To my mind, this is the quintessential ‘tropical’ mangrove, and when the tide is in around those beautiful roots, I almost half expect to see a box jellyfish or saltwater crocodile swimming amongst them!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">At Toondah Harbour, this species mixes in with the grey mangrove and is fairly common, even growing on the side of the vehicle ferry ramp. Elsewhere in our local area, the red mangrove frequents sandy river banks in places like Noosa and Tweed Heads.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>River mangrove</b> <i>(Aegiceras corniculatum)</i></u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As the name implies, this species is common along the tidal reaches of rivers, but at Toondah Harbour, it also grows in dense thickets on the claypan behind Nandeebie Park. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxYoIyS7zsXns54r8s5xKEnUX2hdURK87LWL_9-OeJSHWIqXxtnOyHESd0d7KMYRcp6nACkdQ5iaN8QzU5RABVp3hlC_7c0q21zBCVcCYFKN18nU1vWjihc3BGvV8LIrwP4HsH5mE7qWt/s1600/Aegiceras.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1600" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxYoIyS7zsXns54r8s5xKEnUX2hdURK87LWL_9-OeJSHWIqXxtnOyHESd0d7KMYRcp6nACkdQ5iaN8QzU5RABVp3hlC_7c0q21zBCVcCYFKN18nU1vWjihc3BGvV8LIrwP4HsH5mE7qWt/s640/Aegiceras.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">River mangrove flowers allegedly smell like rotting bananas!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">River mangroves can be recognised by their <span style="background-color: yellow;">thick and shrubby growth form and oval leaves</span>, as well as by their <span style="background-color: yellow;">abundant white flowers</span> that appear in spring and summer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Orange mangrove</b> <i>(Bruguiera gymnorhiza)</i></u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This is a beautiful and strange mangrove, because its appearance makes it seem as though someone has planted a <span style="background-color: yellow;">lush rainforest tree in the wrong environment</span>. In fact, one of my first encounters with this tree along the Maroochy River led me to believe I was seeing a fig, thanks to the thick green leaves, stipules and scarred branches. This tree can also be recognised by its <span style="background-color: yellow;">peculiar, red, ‘plastic-looking’ flowers</span>. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirIdk297mCwznsqlw104GwstuE7FGh04EmW1-GPhb7BgLWLG_icIZuRD0TAaQpX8cPaGcxHW9K-u1ocbQlWFN2Nc_KlLMs_-juYxC_tJkdsC3jlnbyBdIuKSkC04D5xHXXFWfOMllaU1K4/s1600/Bruguiera+detail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1248" data-original-width="1600" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirIdk297mCwznsqlw104GwstuE7FGh04EmW1-GPhb7BgLWLG_icIZuRD0TAaQpX8cPaGcxHW9K-u1ocbQlWFN2Nc_KlLMs_-juYxC_tJkdsC3jlnbyBdIuKSkC04D5xHXXFWfOMllaU1K4/s640/Bruguiera+detail.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Orange mangrove leaf and flower close-up.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At Toondah Harbour, I found only a small example of this tree near the edge of the saltmarsh, but larger specimens grow out on bay islands like Karragarra.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzaXeYK0FzBstff28WWxPpYknV3Qzyz9LxN6Pq7hMiCFcqS_21gErProt7mpr8mQbVZwSJE4cY-w1J3ReypKmOjdcQXNDVMqms5Phz-rXn_u1by5yb4gwVIvnx9GpAobg8U5NLsNuG1Lsb/s1600/Bruguiera.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzaXeYK0FzBstff28WWxPpYknV3Qzyz9LxN6Pq7hMiCFcqS_21gErProt7mpr8mQbVZwSJE4cY-w1J3ReypKmOjdcQXNDVMqms5Phz-rXn_u1by5yb4gwVIvnx9GpAobg8U5NLsNuG1Lsb/s640/Bruguiera.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Orange mangrove growing at the edge of the saltmarsh near Nandeebie Park.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBxbAnkFTjm89bM-ZsQULKk2S08eZd7JGF9h-vVvWEmXTaeZxn_0iE91__vM0oydbW4_8Dt1qM0FiNBPHLRN81RPkUPVmcyPx1Qyw0L5e1Pd45gJAOBA8RRUPMz-mWdgibAGk7RLNa8_iF/s1600/Fern.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1168" data-original-width="1600" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBxbAnkFTjm89bM-ZsQULKk2S08eZd7JGF9h-vVvWEmXTaeZxn_0iE91__vM0oydbW4_8Dt1qM0FiNBPHLRN81RPkUPVmcyPx1Qyw0L5e1Pd45gJAOBA8RRUPMz-mWdgibAGk7RLNa8_iF/s640/Fern.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">An interesting fact that changed the way I thought of mangroves is that few of the trees are closely related, and the word ‘mangrove’ is simply an ecological term in much the same way that rainforest is. With this in mind, the beautiful fern <i>(Acrostichum speciosum)</i> that grows in tidal wetlands can also be referred to as a mangrove, and it too can be found at Toondah Harbour.</span></td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Yellow mangrove</b> <i>(Ceriops tagal)</i></span></u><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There is an <span style="background-color: yellow;">area around the margin of most mangrove wetlands</span> where sedges and grasses can grow thanks to the slightly less salty conditions, and this is where the yellow mangrove is found. It is usually a <span style="background-color: yellow;">small shrub, with yellowish-green leaves that point upwards</span>. The base of the plant flanges out in a <span style="background-color: yellow;">chunky little buttress</span> shape.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRZDsN8pytJsuXBbBfDFgxLQyzjSJ68cIb0VWRdjBDGn8CeO34cpR6T5E3eOycQ2__TcwTa-XtAupSaZmTwEq_3FV9pLCgEtQC7tyvz_-wfh_BOiGfTQAmreu2qTYE5i2VawUxzqYQxHl/s1600/Ceriops.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="1600" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRZDsN8pytJsuXBbBfDFgxLQyzjSJ68cIb0VWRdjBDGn8CeO34cpR6T5E3eOycQ2__TcwTa-XtAupSaZmTwEq_3FV9pLCgEtQC7tyvz_-wfh_BOiGfTQAmreu2qTYE5i2VawUxzqYQxHl/s640/Ceriops.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yellow mangrove at the bottom right, with grey mangroves behind and to the left.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Milky mangrove</b> <i>(Excoecaria agallocha)</i></u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The mangrove which seems to tolerate tidal inundation the least in South-east Queensland is the milky mangrove. It grows in <span style="background-color: yellow;">dry sand</span>, often in the company of trees not considered to be mangroves, such as the <b>beach hibiscus</b> <i>(Hibiscus tiliaceus)</i> and <b>tuckeroo</b> <i>(Cupaniopsis anacardioides)</i>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkVCr3oWU13czM1VwFuNrKCpEfyoN0PWl52Im5cyT70xu9xWy4CsT5qBH7CF6dwzpi3MtPJkqq4ZLjWGHr3r9DRK86pF_tEPXxbCpwFQAGW5mmB_dVqK8BAZwNPZ1oVOVREUtLy_oBGXlw/s1600/Excoecaria.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1286" data-original-width="1600" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkVCr3oWU13czM1VwFuNrKCpEfyoN0PWl52Im5cyT70xu9xWy4CsT5qBH7CF6dwzpi3MtPJkqq4ZLjWGHr3r9DRK86pF_tEPXxbCpwFQAGW5mmB_dVqK8BAZwNPZ1oVOVREUtLy_oBGXlw/s400/Excoecaria.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milky mangrove leaf detail.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The milky mangrove can grow fairly tall, and the specimens at Toondah Harbour (adjacent to the footpath near Oyster Point) are about six or seven metres in height. </span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <span style="background-color: yellow;">leaves seem to point in all directions</span> off the stem, and the ID can be confirmed by plucking a leaf to see a <span style="background-color: yellow;">milky-white poison</span> form where the tissue has broken. Take care around this tree: Aboriginal people have a name for it that translates as ‘blind-your-eye’, and it can blister sensitive skin.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0w1AE4DqQGQev45MbWsN0-O9fJzRufIkW_v5DFBRCa-2_30l19Xgs1rrpPeUNzvd4zNGq8pcVAvISylxHtjlO6MI96xliqdQ8ksBj63hFkCgK1lGd1TgfQqQvz3OLwmJHc5aKD97H1dJs/s1600/Excoecaria+detail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1241" data-original-width="1600" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0w1AE4DqQGQev45MbWsN0-O9fJzRufIkW_v5DFBRCa-2_30l19Xgs1rrpPeUNzvd4zNGq8pcVAvISylxHtjlO6MI96xliqdQ8ksBj63hFkCgK1lGd1TgfQqQvz3OLwmJHc5aKD97H1dJs/s640/Excoecaria+detail.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Close-up of the poisonous white latex on a milky mangrove leaf.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There is one other mangrove species found in South-east Queensland called the </span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>black mangrove</b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><i>(Lumnitzera racemosa)</i></span><span style="font-size: large;">. It is at the southern limit of its distribution in the Redlands and I have never seen it for myself, but it may occur at Toondah Harbour. It grows as a </span><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: large;">small shrub with leaves that have a distinctive notched tip</span><span style="font-size: large;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once the different varieties of mangroves can be told apart, their ecosystem suddenly has much more character and nuance. The next time you find yourself at Toondah Harbour, or at one of South-east Queensland’s other coastal wetlands, I hope you take a second look at these remarkable plants and let your newfound knowledge form a connection to them.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fDo37Rp8BS2DL1M_2L1jhnsyyJWjojbXQ1Gb5ot6w12N0-7Dn6JbR45fMqi3z0x8TyGs9oJZp0sjhSQyXFyLoQPxqXwQhPIv-53wnwq9TzSvli9Gm-mys0Vs7iHC8Z_j1LIm1QC_8oUj/s1600/Rhizophora.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fDo37Rp8BS2DL1M_2L1jhnsyyJWjojbXQ1Gb5ot6w12N0-7Dn6JbR45fMqi3z0x8TyGs9oJZp0sjhSQyXFyLoQPxqXwQhPIv-53wnwq9TzSvli9Gm-mys0Vs7iHC8Z_j1LIm1QC_8oUj/s640/Rhizophora.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Red mangrove, growing beside the ferry terminal at Toondah Harbour.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889401180961072004.post-26291375005129912782018-07-30T21:36:00.000+10:002018-08-02T14:18:25.800+10:00Inland birds make a dash for survival towards the coast<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-LOAwZUMeLdZ1GiI9Ep8RRR00hVk9XW3l2C94bB9HM4cozv7Z7DHTAbNJFc1SiSJd7vOHrSwwrCpCy45cAH1VKEfGnHWekQBZu-Fu0wIjhqdd6FJBr67z2PDUXGt5ovsjNrLegjUd4x8/s1600/Cockatiel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1600" height="558" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-LOAwZUMeLdZ1GiI9Ep8RRR00hVk9XW3l2C94bB9HM4cozv7Z7DHTAbNJFc1SiSJd7vOHrSwwrCpCy45cAH1VKEfGnHWekQBZu-Fu0wIjhqdd6FJBr67z2PDUXGt5ovsjNrLegjUd4x8/s640/Cockatiel.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cockatiel, Gatton. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A visit out to Gatton last Wednesday brought into sharp relief how badly drought-stricken our inland communities currently are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Below average rainfall and warm daily temperatures are baking rural regions of NSW and Queensland even through the winter, with <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-07-29/the-big-dry-see-us-hear-us-help-us/10030010">some farmers describing it as “the worst drought in living memory.”</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My first stop of the day was Lake Apex, where I wanted to see if waterbirds from further inland were seeking refuge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Before I could even park the car, however, I noticed a different group of inland birds wheeling around the lake environs: <b>cockatiels</b> <i>(Nymphicus hollandicus)</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This was my first ever sighting of these birds in the wild, and I was awestruck by their grace and beauty—a completely different experience to seeing them caged.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A dry, grain-based diet means that cockatiels need daily access to water, so to overcome their vulnerability to drought, they live a nomadic lifestyle where they move around according to regional conditions.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQw7vixga1tHTlFAcE1i1EWetPJSpUeW3tH2sxg85HJMa8GOmomG5j1XxpQEeIPRd20chzWOut-dkGFtnNOts2VqK1wfCXRB5-F7iLo-d4JolfsGiGhdc8c_wMQpipP7pl-IuGUlMijcBl/s1600/Whistling-Ducks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1600" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQw7vixga1tHTlFAcE1i1EWetPJSpUeW3tH2sxg85HJMa8GOmomG5j1XxpQEeIPRd20chzWOut-dkGFtnNOts2VqK1wfCXRB5-F7iLo-d4JolfsGiGhdc8c_wMQpipP7pl-IuGUlMijcBl/s640/Whistling-Ducks.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Plumed whistling-ducks, Gatton.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On Lake Apex, hundreds of densely-packed <b>plumed whistling-ducks</b> <i>(Dendrocygna eytoni)</i> were camped out on muddy island margins, filling the air with their peeping calls.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxWHHAnTxCPLaczZBxx976td5kLwijBab2PhHPWJar2m6zPgtswc4Lrb-e8OtH6zqW0NJJSEqF1kZ03L3di0X15cWMKrmwVickfRMyvjtWcdT4uYcKVWvqPSdZYQP9iLnMTKmxywPYPPH1/s1600/Pink-eared+ducks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="859" data-original-width="1600" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxWHHAnTxCPLaczZBxx976td5kLwijBab2PhHPWJar2m6zPgtswc4Lrb-e8OtH6zqW0NJJSEqF1kZ03L3di0X15cWMKrmwVickfRMyvjtWcdT4uYcKVWvqPSdZYQP9iLnMTKmxywPYPPH1/s640/Pink-eared+ducks.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pink-eared ducks, Australian pelicans <i>(Pelecanus conspicillatus)</i> and Eurasian coots <i>(Fulica atra)</i>, Gatton.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2m9oaSFchGCf5yow5Yb9Re_JbWFFhyphenhypheniP9HrGBRuDTJiLG0d3ta5l9zH_LQrOSCODWOPtXwoeY17xgdGTU0zjRuX_4QBqARZ4H2-nP_C4ua6Mipl5F9Emqq9-E4gV0Gskx8MX4fZWSVSQf/s1600/ducks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2m9oaSFchGCf5yow5Yb9Re_JbWFFhyphenhypheniP9HrGBRuDTJiLG0d3ta5l9zH_LQrOSCODWOPtXwoeY17xgdGTU0zjRuX_4QBqARZ4H2-nP_C4ua6Mipl5F9Emqq9-E4gV0Gskx8MX4fZWSVSQf/s400/ducks.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Australasian shoveler and pink-eared ducks, Gatton.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was the adjoining waterbody of Lake Freeman that held a greater bevy of regionally uncommon birds however, with <b>pink-eared ducks</b> <i>(Malacorhynchus membranaceus)</i> being the most numerous species.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I would have to say these are my favourite species of duck: their zebra stripes, highly-specialised filter-feeding bill, vortexing behaviour and trumpeting call are all thoroughly lovable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Also on this lake were a group of five <b>Australasian shovelers</b> <i>(Spatula rhynchotis)</i>, a species that, <a href="https://ebird.org/australia/hotspot/L959048">according to the E-bird website</a>, hasn’t been recorded at this site for four years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the same website, there are reports of inland birds such as the <b>red-backed kingfisher</b> <i>(Todiramphus pyrrhopygius)</i>, <b>western gerygone</b> <i>(Gerygone fusca)</i> and <b>freckled duck</b> <i>(Stictonetta naevosa)</i> appearing in South-east Queensland, so it seems like an exodus out of the very driest regions is occuring.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I also wanted to explore the smaller creeks and waterbodies in the area to see how they were faring in the drought, so I drove twenty minutes away into the Ropeley hills.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWKvfcyf5PfdJU5cQOll8jlIDbRoikPHtm6AbGj0lLQwTij6GY99yQLo8v5-M8erFl22TN6WCR5RB6uVXvJoIzxLC6ZcFQr7ofLQmOj_4kJkm-5VJMyasd92pbR-juTcxRIx3Qu5sw4NA8/s1600/Farm+dam.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="1600" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWKvfcyf5PfdJU5cQOll8jlIDbRoikPHtm6AbGj0lLQwTij6GY99yQLo8v5-M8erFl22TN6WCR5RB6uVXvJoIzxLC6ZcFQr7ofLQmOj_4kJkm-5VJMyasd92pbR-juTcxRIx3Qu5sw4NA8/s640/Farm+dam.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dry farm dam, Ropeley.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here I noticed almost every farm dam was completely dry, and my heart sank for the local graziers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The narrow, winding channel known as Deep Gully cut a desolate and dusty figure between properties, but when I explored a thickly-vegetated road verge, I found a pool in the gully that held standing water.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO0H9OkKIyMQ8_OUbvnuib698FSqDCuJmMR8OjbJiS82loBazDPwhj3sWrC0VbJZHPj8Ptd0hX8WUzGMiqw7y_VSDO9zOdGbzt_yN9-b3ZbbVEcWGtK5igbZX9J_t_Hf_1lzLyaEt43FLz/s1600/Waterhole.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1127" data-original-width="1600" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO0H9OkKIyMQ8_OUbvnuib698FSqDCuJmMR8OjbJiS82loBazDPwhj3sWrC0VbJZHPj8Ptd0hX8WUzGMiqw7y_VSDO9zOdGbzt_yN9-b3ZbbVEcWGtK5igbZX9J_t_Hf_1lzLyaEt43FLz/s640/Waterhole.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Waterhole, Ropeley. INSET: Black-striped wallaby.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This waterhole had become the focal point for local wildlife, and its muddy margins were criss-crossed with all kinds of tracks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Black-striped wallabies</b> <i>(Macropus dorsalis)</i> and <b>European hares</b> <i>(Lepus europaeus)</i> watched me nervously from their dead grass hideaways, bounding away explosively if I unknowingly approached too close. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Their numerous droppings were interspersed with those belonging to feral predators; I imagine that while times might be tough for the herbivores, the carnivores are doing just fine, with their prey weakened and unable to move too far from the waterhole. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I finished the day at Lake Clarendon, and though I had never been there before, I could tell from the lay of the land that the lake was much reduced in size. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">With the waterbirds just distant specks on the shimmering waterbody, I decided to walk a grassy trail behind the dam wall to enjoy the country scenery, and was subsequently astounded by a handful of birds on a small farm lagoon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A solitary <b>red-necked avocet</b> <i>(Recurvirostra novaehollandiae)</i> waded in the mud at one end, and at the other end, a <b>glossy ibis</b> <i>(Plegadis falcinellis)</i> and <b>yellow-billed spoonbill</b> <i>(Platalea flavipes)</i> did the same. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12WTD06ALd_1ssoag6gfjfC8r6At10iSimLnxzd6QErRCazJBC40PS8IXVS60bWbe8kUfRYAO6wPJJrqIdxaGqJF3UWolH2ZTnETif6hW-ykUv7Hk3gpLN4uIKDm5yS0T81ij9NLPHqEC/s1600/stork.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1600" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12WTD06ALd_1ssoag6gfjfC8r6At10iSimLnxzd6QErRCazJBC40PS8IXVS60bWbe8kUfRYAO6wPJJrqIdxaGqJF3UWolH2ZTnETif6hW-ykUv7Hk3gpLN4uIKDm5yS0T81ij9NLPHqEC/s640/stork.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Black-necked stork and galah <i>(Eolophus roseicapilla)</i>, Lake Clarendon.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the centre of the lagoon, however, was a magnificent <b>black-necked stork</b> <i>(Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus)</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Being my favourite bird—actually, make that <u>lifeform</u>—on the planet, I felt compelled to stay and watch it for a while, and was treated to one of the most memorable sunsets I’ve ever experienced, resplendent with golden jabiru.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As evening descended and a bright moon rose, I walked back to my car feeling grateful for some of the sights I'd seen that day, and concerned about others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Let’s hope some rain fills those farm dams soon.</span></div>
Christian Perrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835955663432829705noreply@blogger.com2