Queensland's Channel Country#2: some animals

Last time I offered an introduction to south-west Queensland's Channel Country, one of our (many) favourite destinations, a vast arid and semi-arid area of wide plains and braided stream channels that ultimately empty into Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre. Today, as promised, I'm going to complete this little series by introducing some of the animals we've come across in our various visits. It's not entirely representative as we tend to go there in the cooler months (except for one April stay in Bladensburg NP, south of Winton and close to the northern edge of the Channel Country), so reptiles for instance feature here far less than they should. The mammals are largely nocturnal so we tend to miss those too but I offer a few here. So it's mostly birds and invertebrates this time, hope you keep reading anyway! It's turned out to be longer than I'd anticipated, my regular readers will not be at all surprised to learn.

We'll start with three different plovers, all of them inland specialists though one extends to the coast as well.

Black-fronted Dotterel Charadrius melanops on one of the Diamantina Channels.
This little wader can be found on any inland water body but also sometimes comes to
the coast. For a long time it was placed in its own genus, but very recently it was
reinstated in the 'general' dotterel genus Charadrius. It seems that this species
and the next evolved on the inland waterways as Australia dried out.

Red-kneed Dotterel Erythrogonys cinctus, on the same channel as the previous one.
This very pretty dotterel is definitely a bird of the inland, and retains its
single-species-genus status.

 

Banded Lapwing Vanellus tricolor west of Windorah. This lapwing is essentially
a dry-country bird, though it sometimes irrupts into the south-east. It is closely
related to the other Australian lapwing, the familiar Masked Lapwing V. miles.
I reckon this one's more attractive though!

There are some impressive pigeons and doves too.

Diamond Dove Geopelia cuneata, Morney Creek, 150k west of Windorah.
A common little dove across most of the inland, and near the coast in the tropics.

Spinifex Pigeon Geophaps plumifera, also at our Morney Creek camp.
These delightful little desert pigeons are among our favourites. Their main
needs appear to be spinifex (of course), rocks and not to be too far from
water (like other pigeons and seed-eating birds).

 

Flock Bronzewing Phaps histrionica just west of Windorah. This was an
unexpected treat. Their core range is the vast Mitchell Grass plains of northern
Australia, though they used to extend far beyond that. However they are
highly nomadic and they can still turn up unexpectedly elsewhere in good seasons.
Indeed I've only seen them five times and three of those have been
in the Channel Country. They were superabundant before the sheep arrived
but even as recently as 1968 the great Australian ornithologist Harry Frith reported
from near Katherine in the Northern Territory a flock "a kilometre long and
10-20 metres thick, flying on a front of 100m". What a sight!

Of course the channels support water birds, sometimes in huge numbers. Last post contained an image of part of a big flock of Little Black Cormorants by the road bridge over Cooper Creek near Windorah; often this species accompanies Pelican feeding flocks. Here are a couple more, and arguably another..

White-necked Heron Ardea pacifica at Bladensburg NP.
We can see this handsome heron anywhere in Australia, but it is always a pleasure.

Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus in an ephemeral wetland west of Windorah. This
attractive little ibis (they were rather distant here) is found across Australia,
though it is much commoner in the tropics, and Africa. It also has populations
scattered across Asia and around the Caribbean.

Brolgas however are a bit harder to categorise; cranes are often thought of as waterbirds, and Brolgas nest and sometimes feed in wetlands, but they are equally at home foraging and display 'dancing' on the plains. It's not important how we classify them, they are truly magnificent birds either way. They are present throughout the Channel Country and you'd be unlucky to pass a day there without seeing or hearing them.

Brolga Antigone rubicunda by the road to the Noccundra Pub and Waterhole.
The latter, an excellent camp site, is on the Wilson River and the two are
within perfect walking distance of each other.

Brolgas displaying in grasslands near the Diamantina Channels.

And while we're on it, there's also another Big B Bird that you'll almost certainly encounter in a trip to the region.

Male Australian Bustard Ardeotis australis, Farrans Creek west of Windorah.
He stands about 120cm tall and weighs up to 8kg, which I think
makes him Australia's most massive flying terrestrial bird.
It's always a thrill to see them.

There are of course parrots and cockatoos; here are just a couple of them that you're unlikely to see in less arid areas.

Flock of Cockatiels Nymphicus hollandicus, Bladensburg NP.
Australia's smallest cockatoo, chattery flocks of them can turn up
anywhere in the Channel Country.

Bourke's Parrot Neopsephotus bourkii west of Windorah.
I'd not normally inflict quite such an ordinary photo on you, but I've
always found these very hard to approach and photograph, so it's a case
of something hopefully being better than nothing.
They're found across central Australia west from the Channel Country,
not really rare but shy and quite cryptic, though when seen well their
softly pink undersides and blue rump are truly lovely.

There are lots of birds of prey, especially the ubiquitous Black Kites and Whistling Kites along the waterways, but here's one that not nearly as common, though it can turn up across most of the country.

Black Falcon Falco subniger, Bladensburg NP. Other than the semi-mythical (😀)
Grey Falcon this is the least-known of Australian falcons.

And any small lizard or grasshopper would agree that a Red-backed Kingfisher is a predator!

A Red-backed Kingfisher Todiramphus pyrrhopygius at Welford NP, just showing off
its red rump. It is found across much of Australia but is an arid land specialist.
It belongs to a large genus of non-fishing 'tree kingfishers' found from the Philippines
to Australia and across much of the Pacific.

And finally for the birds, a small selection of passerines. The woodswallows are among my favourite bird groups. (Though aerial insect eaters, they are not at all related to swallows and in fact are closest to the magpies and butcherbirds.) In Australia most of the six species are nomads across the dry country, and beyond it during droughts. They often appear in large flocks near water in the evenings, and will arrive in big numbers when the eucalypts are flowering, when they feed on the nectar..

A very small part of a mixed flock of White-browed and Masked Woodswallows
in front of storm clouds west of Windorah.

White-browed Woodswallows Artamus superciliosus;
female above south of Jundah and
male below at our Morney Creek camp.
He in particular is a most striking bird.

Black-faced Woodswallow Artamus cinereus, Bladensburg NP.
This one is the most sedentary of Australian woodswallows, so rarely
forms large flocks but is commonly seen along the wires by inland roads.

Of the true swallows the most commonly seen is the pretty little Fairy Martin Petrochelidon ariel. Almost any road culvert, especially when water is present, is likely to host a nesting colony of them, such as this one west of Windorah. 

The mud nests are bottle-shaped when separate, but when the colony is crowded
the nests may merge into each other.

Here's another colony, at Farrans Creek, in a situation that I'd never seen before.

The flood monitoring equipment sits on a platform a few metres above the ground
(and the flood waters) by the creek. The Fairy Martins found the underside of
the platform to be an eminently suitable nesting site.

The Spotted Bowerbird Chlamydera maculata is one of three closely related
arid land bowerbirds, but the only one restricted to eastern Australia.
This one was inspecting our creek-side camp at Bladensburg NP.

One of the delights of arid Australia, including the Channel Country, are the tootling
little flocks of Zebra Finches Taeniopygia castanotis which come to drink at any water
at any time of day. I keep meaning to dedicate a whole blog post to them one day; I just
need one more photo... :-) The most suprising thing about this photo is that there
is just one Zebra Finch in it!

Finally, a fascinating little visitor that came hopping around our feet at the
Morney Creek camp. She is a normally shy female Black Honeyeater Sugomel nigrum,
though only he is actually black (and white). They are tiny, not much more than 10cm long.

Finally she revealed her purpose, by taking ash from our (now cold) fire. This has been
reported before but it's only the second time I've seen it. It is suggested that they are
seeking calcium to assist in egg shell formation (only females have been reported
doing so) but it's so far just speculation. A fascinating behaviour to watch anyway!

Reptiles are diverse and abundant in the Channel Country, but as I mentioned earlier we're usually there in the colder months. Accordingly most of the following reptiles were encountered on our April visit to Bladensburg NP near Winton.

Gilbert's Dragon or Ta Ta Lizard Amphibolurus gilberti, Bladensburg NP.
They 'wave' to other males to indicate territoriality. This young lizard, even if
it were a male, would not dare bring trouble on itself by such effrontery.

Yellow-spotted Monitor Varanus panoptes, Bladensburg NP, visiting camp,
doubtless based on previous positive outcomes. This large goanna is found widely
across northern and western Australia, but has suffered badly from the arrival
of Cane Toads.

Eyrean Earless Dragon Tympanocryptis tetraporophora, Bladensburg NP.
This blunt-faced little dragon is found widely across the Lake Eyre Basin.
(I, with no expertise in this genus, had previously identified it as Gibber Earless
Dragon T. intima, but on further investigation I've changed my mind. Any
assistance gratefully received!)

Central Bearded Dragon Pogona vitticeps, west of Windorah, with head comfortably pillowed on
a dry cow pat! It had braved a day that was far too cold for it, and was unable to flee from us.

Here are some obvious large mammals, for the record.

Dingo Canis lupus or C. familiaris (it really still isn't clear which, ie wolf or ancient
domestic dog) west of Windorah. Despite constant persecution, they can still be
seen or heard across most of the arid inland.

Red Kangaroos Osphranter rufus, mother and semi-independent young,
Welford NP. The largest living marsupial and Australian land mammal,
superbly adapted to life on the open plains.

Euro Osphranter robustus (and bonus Spinifex Pigeons) Bladensburg NP.
This stocky kangaroo is found across most of the continent but is especially
associated with rocky hills.

And finally some invertebrates, a pretty random selection! I'll start with an event that I've only seen once, on a trip to the Channel Country 15 years ago when it had been wet but we were able to drive west from Winton into the Diamantina Channels on a bitumen road. The event was a remarkable mass movement of slaters (or 'flood bugs' as they're also known) along the edge of the road in cracking black soil Mitchell Grass country. The thing is it only seems to happen following rain, and you don't drive in that country then, unless you have the luxury of bitumen.

Slaters Australiodillo bifrons, on the move! They are not insects but crustaceans, and
specifically isopods (like many marine and shoreline animals), and are very ancient. You'll find
some by looking in your compost heap or under rocks or wood in your garden.

More of the massed slaters on the road verge. I did a post on them many years
ago, which has a lot more information if you're interested.

And of course there are spiders, especially orb weavers near water where there are lots of flying insects.

Orbweb spider Family Araneidae, Morney Creek 115k west of Windorah.
She has a row of neatly packaged lunches above her.

The rest are insects.

Grasshopper (sorry I can't do better) and tracks on a dune west of Windorah.

Under certain conditions (which I wrote about here quite briefly long ago, at the very start of my blogging career) four Australian grasshopper species suddenly increase dramatically in number and start to move, causing great alarm in agricultural communities but a providing a massive food source to many other animals too.

Spur-throated Locusts Austracris guttulosa south-west of Quilpie,
above and below.

Moths and butterflies are of course everywhere; here are just a couple of Channel Country species. The same rain event that spurred the flood bugs into action also produced a major breeding flurry west of Windorah among very beautiful White-lined Hawk Moths Hyles livornicoides.

White-lined Hawk Moths mating, and caterpillar (below) travelling
presumably to find a suitable patch of sand for pupating. This was
an impressive event to witness.

Chequered Swallowtail Papilio demoleus, Morney Creek. I have seen this
butterfly referred to as 'perhaps the most widely distributed swallowtail in the world',
so not at all limited to the Channel Country, but I'm happy to see them anywhere.

And to end, another encounter that was due to the rains, a great gathering of water striders in an ephemeral pond between the dunes west of Windorah.

Water striders are bugs (ie members of the insect order Hemiptera, not just
'creepy crawlies'!), with very long middle and hind legs to distribute their
weight enough to walk on the water surface, where they hunt smaller animals.
We can see the long legs in this somewhat muddy closeup.

And that's probably a bit more than enough from me this time! I hope you can experience the wonders of the Channel Country and enjoy them as we have. And you only have to walk on the dunes in the morning to realise how much else goes on at night! Thanks for reading.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 6 MARCH

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Life at Home; a busy little garden

The year is winding down and so am I, so for the last 'normal' post of the year I'm doing something low-key and a bit indulgent. (My actual last post of the year is always the New Years Eve 'Farewell to the Year'.) We live in a nice little duplex in the south-western Canberra suburb of Duffy. We moved in here in January 2011; Lou had lived here with her two children previously but had moved out for a while, so when we moved back in it was a blank slate, including the garden. She had done some nice native plantings, mostly out the back and especially after the horrific fires of 2003 which burned much of her back yard (and ironically brought us together, but that's another story). She gave me carte blanche with the garden, so I set out to convert it into an all-natives space (except for a camellia which had survived the fires, and some herbs and salad greens in pots). Here is the front as it looked when we moved in, courtesy of Google Maps street view. (Bear with me as I set the scene, as I would for a post about a national park for instance - the post really is eventually about the yard wildlife.)

The only plants in this 2010 photo that are still there are the big paperbark
(back right), the bottlebrushes on the side along the laneway, and an inconspicuous
grevillea (to the left of the light pole). Removing the huge snarky roses by the
driveway was a battle of Tolkienesque proportions!

It took time; here's the front yard taken from in front of the garage three years after we moved in. 

The 'dwarf' wattle in the foreground now towers over us and has to be cut back
regularly to allow us to access the front door!

And here's the same view today as the Google view above, though Google had the advantage of extra height.

The paperbarks and the bottlebrushes have grown enormously and,
with the teatree by the front corner of the driveway, give us a lot of privacy
and the wildlife a lot of shelter. The grevillea has been forced to grow out
over the footpath in search of sunlight. The 'dwarf' wattle shows as the bright
green foliage at the end of the driveway and the overhang in front of the garage door.

The laneway bottlebrushes provide a massive attraction for birds and insects
in October-November (though I see that in 2015 above they were flowering
in December - definitely a sign of the times since!).

You might think that our lounge room would be dark and a bit claustrophobic as a result, but it's not so (even though this photo was taken on a rather dreary afternoon).

We can sit inside and watch the birds coming to the bath and preening on
the convenient paperbark branch.

Out the back we got rid of the 'lawn' and the rotary clothesline and planted grassland herbs and had a bit of paving done to support the table and chairs. The plantings on the mound outside the fence again give us privacy and provide home and food for our wild neighbours.

Looking down on the back garden from the balcony; this was taken nearly six years ago
and it's filled in quite a bit since then, but it gives an idea.

And this is the view from the kitchen window; the pot plants on the table are because we've basically run out of garden space for more plantings!

OK, that's quite enough scene-setting, let's get to the animals.

When I left my previous abode, after 27 years, to move across town and start my new life here, I was very tempted to catch some of the skinks that lived in the back yard and transplant them, partly because I had reason to suppose that the house and yard would be bulldozed. In the end I didn't have time, and to my relief the house is still standing, but when I got here I discovered that we have our own skink population! They are Delicate Skinks Lampropholis delicata, a common local species. However they are very flighty (with reason, as I once saw one taken from the back yard by a Sacred Kingfisher, the only one I've seen here). With some hesitation here's a terrible photo, taken in a hurry in the late afternoon when I was moving concrete tiles in the garden.

The Delicate Skink is on the right, but its friend was even more of a surprise.
Fortunately I have better photos of it.

Southern Marbled Gecko Christinus marmoratus, by the front door
when we came home one night. They are not too uncommon in Canberra gardens,
especially where there are rocks, but it is unclear whether they have arrived
unaided or have been accidentally transported. We don't have a rocky reserve
anywhere nearby so I suspect the latter explanation in our case. They are established
here now and our neighbours also report them from time to time.

Over the years we've recorded 63 species of birds in, from and over our little yard, which has been very gratifying. The habitat values that we've provided here are well complemented by a lovely little park, planted with eucalypts and other native species, just outside our back gate. (Unfortunately a few years ago someone misguidedly planted a mess of exotics in the corner of the park just over the back fence from us, which clashes completely with the rest of the park. Fortunately it hasn't detracted from the overall habitat values of the park, but is aesthetically wince-making.)

The view across the park from our back gate; the eucalypt on the right gives us great
pleasure, as it appears above the big paperbarks along our back fence and attracts lots of
birds. Fortunately it and the paperbarks seem to be growing at about the same rate!
(The exotics are to the right of it.)

OK, back to the birds! There a couple of bottlebrushes (Callistemon spp.) facing the balcony, which flower intermittently from spring to autumn and regularly attract the birds, with the balcony an excellent vantage point.

Crimson Rosellas Platycercus elegans are abundant Canberra birds, but I remind
myself often that if they only lived in a remote corner of Australia people
would pay good money to go and see them. We are very fortunate.

Eastern Spinebills Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris are small long-billed honeyeaters
which are attracted especially to tubular flowers (a bottlebrush 'flower' is
composed of numerous such flowers). They also like the Eremophila by the
front window.

The Yellow-faced Honeyeater Caligavis chrysops is a seasonal migrant,
breeding in suburban hill reserves or the ranges; this one stopped off for a
day or so one spring.     

Nor is the bottlebrush's food value lost when the flowering finishes. Many smaller birds search through the yard's shrubbery for insect prey.

Silvereye Zosterops lateralis gleaning the underside of the leaves for small animals.

Another major attraction is the big banksia which is actually just outside our boundary but which overhangs the garden and the end of the balcony by our bedroom window. It attracts an array of birds, though the Red Wattlebirds Anthochaera carunculata, big aggressive honeyeaters, tend to monopolise it when it's in full flower.

Immature Red Wattlebird at a nearly spent banksia flower; its parents would
have known not to bother with it, but it will learn.

At night in spring and summer the Grey-headed Fruit Bats Pteropus poliocephalus come at night to squabble and feast on the banksia nectar from their regular summer camp by Lake Burley Griffin, some 10km away. However even after the flowering has finished the banksia still attracts visitors, including probably the most dramatic birds to visit the yard.

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos Zanda funerea are big birds, some 60cm long,
which wander widely in search of food, banksia seeds being favoured.

The beak is hugely powerful; they nip off the cone and clutch it in a claw, then
crush it and extract the seeds, dropping the pulp. Our balcony is littered with
their food scraps on a good day!

Other less anticipated food sources are present too - House Sparrows have featured a couple of times! This fierce little Collared Sparrowhawk Tachyspiza cirrocephala took its lunch into the shelter of the back fence paperbarks to eat in peace.

Though I tried not to disturb it, I really wanted to record this event, and eventually
the sparrowhawk took its meal elsewhere for more privacy.

More surprising was the time I saw this Magpie just over the road killing a sparrow! I'm sure it's not a unique event, but I'd never seen it.

Others come by more in the hope being fed; we used to put out seed from time to time on the balcony rail, but when one particular Sulphur-crested Cockatoo started destroying our rail when no food was available, and even the neighbours' roof gable end, the final straw, we had to stop. It only takes one to spoil it for everybody!

Australian King-Parrots Alisterus scapularis (male above, female below)
stop drop by from time to time, just to check. (Photos taken through the glass.)

A Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae also turned up expectantly for a while - we'd never fed them but someone else obviously did - but gave up after a while. We can still hear them out in the park though.

Australia's (and probably the world's) largest kingfisher will always be welcome here,
but we don't pay them for the privilege.

Water is always an attraction and we keep bird baths topped up in front and back, all year round. We might think that it wouldn't be attractive in the depths of winter, but we'd be wrong!

You'll have to take my word for it that this is a female Superb Fairywren Malurus cyaneus
completely submerged in the bath in June; and yes, that's ice on the water surface!

Sprinklers can be attractive too.

Crested Pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes, having a nice shower under the sprinkler
(perched on a mesh covering we used to use to protect the salad vegie seedlings)
making sure that the armpits aren't neglected!

And of course birds were bathing long before we helped out!

This Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita, leaf-bathing in the big eucalypt
in the park, as seen from our balcony. This means opening wings and feathers and
flapping to allow water from wet leaves to penetrate to the skin.

Some come to loaf.

Red Wattlebird sunning on the balcony rail, feathers fully fluffed up. It seems that
this behaviour, widespread in birds, allows sun access to the skin, to discourage
skin parasites, especially lice.

Quite a few larger birds take advantage of the high ridgeline of the steeply sloped roof, which presumably gives a good all-round view. Here are a couple of pigeons availing themselves of it.

Common Bronzewing Phaps chalcoptera.

Crested Pigeon; they're often up there. I really think this is one of the
world's most attractive pigeons.

Others just pop by to check, I suspect.

Immature Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus. We often hear their strong melodious
calls from the park or even over near the shops, but this is the only one I recall seeing
actually in the yard.

Finally, with regard to birds, the cuckoo known as the Pacific Koel has become something of a celebrity, both famous and infamous, in Canberra over the past decade or so. There was a time when they were a very rare visitor here indeed. They migrate from the tropics each year to breed, and in past times didn't come much further south than Sydney. Since then they have become a very common summer visitor, laying eggs in the nests of hapless local Red Wattlebirds, who'd never encountered the threat before. Additionally we've discovered that Canberrans are divided into camps over this - those like us who welcome the wild, almost manic, ringing calls as a sure sign of spring, and, well, the rest of us...

Male Pacific Koel - a very handsome bird - on the line across the road.

Female Koel, striking too in a different way, in the excellent eucalypt out the back.

And some seriously weird koel behaviour that I've not seen before or since. Here's my account
of it at the time. "There were two males sitting in the big paperbark out the front, unusually
oblivious to us. Mostly silent, other than an occasional single call, and one brief 'wirra',
facing each other only 60cm apart, one slightly higher. Alternately they flicked their wings
at each other but no other movement. Of course I don't know how long they'd been doing it
when we got home, but they seemed to accept after about 15 minutes that they weren't
achieving much and just sat and stared at each other. An hour and a half later they're
still doing so; fascinating beasts which constantly surprise me."
And it's great that nature can even surprise us in our own garden!

And some smaller animals to finish with. The post is already longer than I'd envisaged (not for the first time!), so I'll just offer you some labelled photos; it's that time of year.

BEETLES

Golden Stag Beetle female Lamprima aurata; sadly yes, an ex-beetle, but we
were honoured that she opted to expired on our balcony rail

Long-nosed Lycid Porrostoma rhipidum on the Kunzea ambigua by our driveway
(as were the subjects of the next two photos). This beetle is highly toxic, and
various other beetles, plus other insects, mimic its colouring to gain protection.

Nectar Scarabs Phyllotocus rufipennis enjoying a romantic lunch.
They are among the mimics of the Long-nosed Lycid.

Longicorn beetle Syllitus rectus.

FLIES

Bristle Fly Family Tachinidae.

Bee Fly Comptosia apicalis on a paper daisy.

Hoverfly Melangyna sp., Family Sryphidae on teatree Leptospermum multicaule.

 DRAGONFLIES

 

Wandering Ringtail female Austrolestes leda. It's not so much that we don't see
damselflies and dragonflies in the yard, but they rarely stop to be photographed!

 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

Australian Painted Lady Vanessa kershawi, also on the kunzea.

The Southern Old Lady Moth (I didn't name it) Dasypodia selenophora,
tends to lurk in dark corners but in the light it's really quite striking.

Magpie Moth Nyctemera amicus.

Greenish Grass-dart Ocybadistes walkeri also on a paper daisy.

WASPS AND ALLIES

Paper Wasps Family Vespidae, with their beautiful cellular nest on our balcony.
We've coexisted with them peacefully for years.

Bottlebrush Sawfly larva Pterygophorus cinctus - yes, feeding on our bottlebrush!

And here is one of its parents or aunts or uncles.... Perhaps. But it is the adult of the
Bottlebrush Sawfly larvae above - thanks Harvey! (I didn't recongnise it, I'm
hopeless at distinguishing sawflies from the related wasps, and I'm sure
I've seen more than I've realised.)

And here and below are a couple of species of unidentified (by me at
least) wasps, of which there are vast numbers of species, many
as yet unnamed.

SPIDERS

Golden Orb Spider Nephila sp., wrapping up some lunch just off our balcony.

Huntsman spider Family Sparassidae - this one was actually indoors rather than
in the garden.

And I'm not sure about this one at all, including what it was doing in the open on the
balcony rail.

And that, I'm sure, will surely be enough! But isn't it amazing how much wildlife we live with once we really start to look? We are very privileged indeed. Join me again once more this year for the traditional New Years Eve wrap-up of the year.

NEXT POSTING TUESDAY 31 DECEMBER

I love to receive your comments and in future will be notifying you personally by email when a new posting appears, if you'd like me to. All current subscribers have been added to this mailing list and have already been contacted. This will mean one email every three weeks at the current rate of posting. I promise never to use the list for any other purpose and will never share it.
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