Summer Break

There are no outings or meetings in December & January, although members will get together for some social events. Watch out for the February meeting/outing details. 

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Although the heat has the natters diving for shade, there is plenty of wildlife that love it. A Blue-tongued Lizard, Tiliqua scincoides, wandered through my garden last week. I live close to bushland but it is a rare visitor. My resident lizard species being the Bearded Dragon, Pargona barbata.

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Blue-tongued Lizard, Tiliqua scincoides

It didn't hang around, sliding into some mulch to hide from me rather than show it's amazing blue tongue. I haven't seen it again. 

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The largest member of the skink family, the Blue-tongue used to be despised by people and often killed on sight. Now we are more tolerant towards our native fauna, thank goodness. They are a harmless creature mainly living on native fruits, beetles and snails. They also feed on flowers and soft herbage, but their "enlarged rear teeth .... help crush hard, resistant foods"(Australian Lizards A Natural History, Steve K Wilson, 2012). They are a long-lived species and are found in every state except Tasmania. The distribution is from north-east Western Australia curving around the east coast in a wide band through to central South Australia.
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This year I've seen far more Australian Painted Lady butterflies, Vanessa kershawi, around the Darling Downs than for many, many years. They have been flying around my garden since August.

Australian Painted Lady, Vanessa kershawi

In the 1800s there used to be mass migrations of Australian Painted Ladies. So large in fact "as to darken the sky". Wouldn't it be lovely to see that again? 

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The males often rest on the ground with their wings open. Although I'm not sure how people know they are males as the sexes are so similar. Vanessa kershawi belongs to the family Nymphalidae. The species of this family have only four proper legs. The first pair are shorter and no use for walking. They are folded up on the thorax.  

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The adults suck nectar from flowers, and the host plants for caterpillars include Paper Daisy or Everlasting Daisy Ammobium alatum, Strawflower Xerochrysum bracteatum, Billy Buttons Calocephalus platycephalus, Carduus species, Yellow Buttons Chrysocephalum apiculatum, Rice Flower Chrysocephalum semipapposum, Cudweed Gamochaeta pensylvanica and other Gnaphalium species, Helichrysum species, Scotch Thistle Onopordum acanthium, Western Sunray Rhodanthe chlorocephalum, and even found on Lavender Lavendula officialis. As some of these we consider weeds, if possible, you could consider a little wild patch in a corner of your garden.

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Nature doesn't take a break for the heat, and summer is a lovely time to take advantage of the cooler mornings and evenings. Go for a leisurely walk in the morning or pack up a picnic or BBQ in the afternoon and spend some time in your favourite park. Have fun.

McEwan State Forest, May 2012

After arriving at McEwan we studied the decaying horse drawn wood and cast iron farm machinery as Rod did a “Harry Butler” and found a Narrow-nosed Planigale, Planigale tenuirostris which became an instant film star. This is its eastern limit and Al explained the details of the male Planigale’s very active life cycle and female reproduction habits. A large Narrow-leaved Ironbark hosted several Spotted Pardalotes in brilliant yellow and red and we all enjoyed the spectacle, especially the tele-lensed equipped photographers.

Lesley & Al conferring on the bird list

The track led down the slope to the grassed paddocks with many small birds in the track-side bushes where several had colourful berries, Red-olive Plum Pittosporum phylliraeoides, White Myrtle Pittosporum rhombifolium and Orangebark Maytenus bilocularis.

Something has caught their eye,
Genevieve, Rod, Lesley & Susan.

Species Lists for McEwan SF - compiled from members’ &and visitors’ sightings

Birds: Crested Pigeon, Peaceful Dove, Bar-shouldered Dove, Collared Sparrowhawk, Lorikeet sp., Laughing Kookaburra, Speckled Warbler, Weebill, Spotted Pardalote, Striated Pardalote, Lewin's Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Striped Honeyeater, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Golden Whistler, Rufous Whistler, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong, Grey Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Torresian Crow, Silvereye, Mistletoebird, Double-barred Finch.

Butterflies: Small Grass-yellow Eurema smilax, Black Jezebel Delias nigrina, Cabbage White Pieris rapae, Meadow Argus Junonia villida, Yellow Admiral Vanessa itea, Common Crow Euploea core, Lesser or Native Wanderer Danaus chrysippus, Wanderer or Monarch Danaus plexippus.

Moths: Ghost Moth sp (possibly Trictena atripalpis).

Odonata: Wandering Percher Diplacodes bipunctata, Australian Emperor Hemianax papuensis.

Spiders: Jewel Spider Austracantha minax, Golden Orb-Weaver Nephila edulis (dark brown joints).

Mammals: Narrow-nosed Planigale Planigale tenuirostris

Reptiles: Iridescent litter-skink Lygisaurus foliorum

May - Myall Reserve and Lake Broadwater

  This was the little creature that caught my eye at Lake Broadwater. It is crouching on Glenda’s finger.

A small group gathered around Glenda as we tried to photograph the spider. As you can see the profile doesn’t show the lumps and bumps as does the front view. 

 

When it is hiding it folds some of its legs over its head and looks very cryptic, almost like a damaged Casuarina cone. In the background you can see what we believe is its (her) egg sac. This was long and thin and what first attracted Glenda. It is still unidentified. Any ideas?

Bird List for Myall Reserve and Lake Broadwater:

Brown Quail, Australian Wood Duck, Crested Pigeon(MR), Australian White Ibis, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Dusky Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Galah (B), Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cockatiel (MR), Little Lorikeet, Red-rumped Parrot, Laughing Kookaburra, Variegated Fairy-wren, Weebill, White-throated Gerygone, Spotted Pardalote, Striated Pardalote, Noisy Miner(B), Striped Honeyeater, Little Friarbird, Grey-crowned Babbler, Rufous Whistler, Grey Butcherbird (MR), Australian Magpie, Grey Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Torresian Crow(B), Restless Flycatcher, Magpie-lark(B), Apostlebird, Jacky Winter, Eastern Yellow Robin, , Silvereye, Double-barred Finch.

Legend: MR = only seen at Myall Reserve, B = seen at both places

Butterfly list for Lake Broadwater:

Orchard Swallowtail Papilio aegeus, Caper or Australian gull Cepora perimale, Black Jezebel Delias nigrina, Caper White Belenois java, Striated Pearl White Elodina parthia, Grey Ringlet Hypocysta pseudirius, Varied or Common Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina, Meadow Argus Junonia villida, Common Crow Euploea core, Lesser or Native Wanderer Danaus chrysippus.

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES ….

….. or, in this case, wasps.

While we were wandering through Irongate Reserve on the February outing, Shirley brought to my attention a bird’s nest in a low scrubby bush. It was not complete and looked abandoned. We were checking this out when I noticed a Common Paper Wasps’ nest further along the branch. Here's one of their nests at my home.

Common Paper Wasp nest under my eaves

Unfortunately we were too busy looking to take a photograph at Irongate, but this is a particularly interesting association between birds and wasps. Honeyeaters, gerygones and finches have been known to purposefully build their nests near paper wasps nests. It appears the wasps keep predators away from the nest. Overseas research shows that it is only small birds that take advantage of this as wasps seem to attack the larger birds. One study in Costa Rica found that nesting attempts were significantly more likely to fledge young than nesting attempts without wasp nests. Lesley

BUTTERFLY LIST FOR IRONGATE & LINTHORPE RESERVES - 7 February 2010

A pair of Caper White Belenois java
(one underneath the other)

Striated Pearl White Elodina Parthia, Saltbush Blue Theclinesthes serpentata, Common Crow Euploea core, Lesser Wanderer Danaus chrysippus, Monarch Danaus plexippus, Caper White Belenois java, Orchard Swallowtail Papilio aegeus, Grass Yellow sp., Ringed Xenica Geitoneura acanthi, Nysa Jezebel Delias nysa. 

Compiled by Trish A.

PLANT LISTS FOR IRONGATE & LINTHORPE RESERVES, 7 February 2010

Ruby Saltbush 

Enchylaena tomentosa

Lists compiled by Trish G.

Irongate: In flower – Jasminum volubile (Jasminum simplicifolium subsp australiense), Stiff Jasmine Jasminum australe, Banana Mistletoe Lysiana subfalcata, Caltrop Tribulus terrestris (also called bulls heads, or goat heads), White Burr Daisy Calotis dentex, Yellow Burr Daisy Calotis lappulacea, Tah Vine Boerhavia dominii, Slender Bamboo Grass Austrostipa verticillata, Queensland Bluegrass Dichanthium sericium, Native Pennyroyal Mentha satureioides, Whisker Sedge Cyperus gracilis. 

In fruit – Native Cocaine Erythroxylon australe, Spiny Saltbush Raghodia spinescens (red fruits) - the commonest saltbush in the reserve, Ruby Saltbush Enchylaena tomentosa (red fruits - some unripe orange fruits). There were also two different plants which Trish G thinks are subspecies of Einadia nutans - one a low spreading shrub with bright yellow fruits, and the other a red fruited plant with a tendency to climb (rather ineffectually) on nearby vegetation.

The plants we found of interest at Linthorpe Reserve were: Flame pea Tephrosia bidwillii, Bitter Bush Adriana urticoides var urticoides (female plant in flower).