Community News & Cockatoos

Last weekend we had some fantastic 'out of the ashes' good news regarding nesting Ngolyenoks or Carnaby's Cockatoos. Yesterday the Hills Gazette newspaper published these headlines, and it was so uplifting to see a positive fire-related story making the news. Click these images to enlarge and read the article.

I'd like to express my thanks to the ABC's Alex Hyman for producing a wonderful story and podcast about the morning's events.

Ngolyenok Nestling

When the 2014 Parkerville-Stoneville-Mt Helena bushfire blazed into the forest canopy and left a landscape charred and a community in deep shock, no one could have guessed that less than two years later, a wonderful good-news story would rise from the ashes. But when one of the nest boxes installed in the burned area was found to be occupied by a pair of Endangered Ngolyenoks (Carnaby's Cockatoos) in September this year, and a second pair was discovered nesting in a nearby hollow Marri tree in November, I could feel some very positive headlines on their way! Yesterday, the air was indeed filled with positive energy as representatives from the Mundaring Shire, Friends Groups, World Wildlife Fund, Parks and Wildlife and ABC Radio tagged along with Ron Johnstone and Tony Kirkby from the WA Museum to participate in a morning of black cockatoo research. The aim was to check both cockatoo nests, and if possible, remove and fit nestlings with numbered metal leg-bands (rings) as part of the Museum's ongoing research into the movements and survival of these wonderful birds.

As our excited group gathered below the nesting box, I had a strange feeling we were being watched, and peered up to see this stunning sight:

 
While it was wonderful to observe the female Ngolyenok emerge and peer down from her nest, this vision also created a sense of bewilderment. Based on the incubation period of 28 days, and given we knew the approximate date that eggs were laid in this box, the expectation was that a large, 5-6 week-old chick would be inside. At this age cockatoo chicks are fed twice a day (early morning and late evening), but are left by themselves for most of the day and not brooded by an adult, hence our surprise when one emerged from inside the box about 10 am, well after feeding time. When I climbed the nest to see what was happening, I was extremely surprised to find a clutch of 2 eggs!

This discovery, along with a strong difference in behaviour of the incubating female cockatoo above (very tolerant), and that of the one observed 6 weeks ago (very flighty), meant that the first nesting event had obviously failed. Ron, the Curator of Ornithology at the Museum and a person who helped inspire me as a teenager to pursue my bird-researching career, and Tony, one of the states leading experts in black cockatoo ecology, suggested that the first pair's chick was possibly predated, perhaps by a Common Brushtail Possum, or may even have been killed by the 'new' female cockatoo if competition for nest hollows was strong.

Despite the unexpected start to the day, our spirits remained high because the box was still in use, and even though the first nesting attempt had failed, there was a second chance for a Ngolyenok chick to fledge from the same nest box. And the tree-climbing and cockatoo nest-checking was not yet over. Since the installation of nest boxes in May and June this year, which aimed to replace existing tree-hollows lost in the fire, and under the WA Museum's ongoing research on black cockatoos, Emily and I have been closely monitoring the behaviour of Carnaby's Cockatoos at this site. After an investigative tree-climb in mid November, I discovered that our second nest (in a nearby hollow Marri trunk) contained a chick aged about 5-6 weeks old:

Leaving the nest-box female to return and resume her incubation, we headed to the natural nest tree and I began to set up climbing ropes. I was very excited to be in the bush with two mentors who had inspired me so much!

Once I had secured the main line high over a sturdy limb, I began to ascend the rope, leaving the burned lower storey behind as I entered the wonderful canopy of this enormous forest giant. All around me I could see a thriving, living forest, and the charred canopy once so obvious just after the fire was now well hidden beneath a new wave of new, green growth.

Using a long pole with a hoop bag fixed to the end (specialist cockatoo-wrangling equipment from the Museum!), it took some fiddling around to stretch deep down inside the hollow tree-trunk and reach the Ngolyenok nestling. I then secured it inside a calico bag and (very nervously) lowered this precious cargo down to Ron and Tony.

Ron Johnstone and Tony Kirkby have studied black cockatoos in south-west WA for several decades.

I was delighted when Ron asked if I would like to band the chick, and I of course agreed! Tony passed a small metal ring to me, which I fitted to the cockatoo chick's right leg using special banding pliers. These rings do not harm the bird, and have a unique identification number which allow the bird to be recognised when it is re-sighted elsewhere. Once sexually mature, Carnaby's Cockatoos have been known to return to the same area to breed, so banding this chick now may give us some useful information on nest site fidelity, and perhaps emphasise the importance of this Mundaring Shire bush reserve for future cockatoo conservation.

Banding complete, it was time to climb the lofty Marri tree again, hoist the chick back up and return it to the safety of its hollow home. As soon as I watched it roll out of the calico bag and only the floor of the nest chamber, I was overcome with an immense feeling of happiness. What an AMAZING experience! A real piece of magic to emerge from the wondrous environment in the Perth Hills.




The presence of at least two breeding pairs at this site almost certainly means Ngolyenoks had nested here previously. Perhaps one of their hollows was burnt in the 2014 bushfires... and perhaps our nest box was the perfect replacement. This is a heartwarming good-news story to come out of what was initially a local disaster for the community, and one which thrills me with excitement to know that nest boxes can and DO work!

Spinebills: a Pin-sharp Probe

Western Australia is home to a huge variety of amazing wildlife. In our unique south-west region, we are lucky enough to have 14 species of birds that are endemic - that is, they are found nowhere else on the planet. Recently, one of these species, perhaps one of the most beautiful of all Australian birds, has been visiting my garden regularly, and I've had the pleasure of being able to photograph it at close quarters.

The female Booldjit has a stunning rufous collar and red iris.

'Booldjit' (Noongar for what most people know as the Western Spinebill, Acanthorhynchus superciliosus), is truly a gem of a bird. Both sexes have a stunning buff-coloured belly, a rufous collar and a striking red eye. And the male's black mask, white eyebrow (hence the species name superciliosus - 'supercilium' refers to a line above the eye), black cheek and black-and-white bib make him an especially eye-catching decoration in any garden. Their colour difference is the result of a phenomenon called 'sexual selection', where evolutionary pressures have caused males to develop striking feather patterns that attract females, and allow the brightest individuals the right to pass on their genes. By contrast, duller individuals are less attractive and as a consequence do not get the right to contribute to the next generation, so over time the sexes become more and more different. Sexual colour dimorphism, the result of sexual selection, is a common feature of many Australian songbirds, especially those in the wren and honeyeater families, the latter being the group to which spinebills belong.

On the topic of evolution, another feature of this brilliant bird is its aptly named bill, which has the very fine, curved shape of a spine on a plant. This bill is itself the result of millions of years of constant competition between bird and plant - the bird has evolved a longer, finer beak, the same shape as those belonging to kangaroo paws, grevilleas and other local native flora on which it feeds. Here are two successive photos of a male Booldjit probing his delicate beak into the flowers of a Tall Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos flavidus):

While drinking his fill of nectar, the spinebill is also performing an important pollination task, which is the benefit the 'roo paw is seeking for offering a sugar-rich reward. Carefully positioned anthers, which bear the plant's pollen, probe from the front of the flower and with every feed, give the spinebill a fine dusting of pollen on its forehead. These images showing the yellow pollen grains, like a tiny dusting of talcum powder, being passed to the spinebill's forehead, with some falling along the length of its bill as it withdraws from the first flower.

Once sugar-tube is empty, the Booldjit then flutters rapidly to the next flower, and to the next, carrying out more probing and pollinating, as it clutches the stems delicately with intricate feet. What is fascinating about observing this activity is the rapidity with which the bird forages. In less than 90 seconds it can have visited all of the 20+ flower heads on the two kangaroo paw clumps outside my kitchen window, and with several individual flower tubes on each arrangement, that's less than 2 seconds per forage!

Probing for nectar: A few pollen grans can be seen floating away to the top left of the bird's head as it forages.

I've noticed the male spinebill is in to feed at least 3-4 times each day, whereas the female only comes about twice - once in the morning, and once in the evening. Perhaps this is because the male expends more energy defending its territory and protecting its female(s)? She is noticeably less active than him, and has often perched in a nearby shrub, resting and looking around. The more abundant Brown Honeyeaters are also more dominant, and I've seen them chase off their smaller rivals on several occasions when the two species arrive to feed simultaneously. This might explain why the spinebills are so rapid - drink your fill before someone else does!

It is a thrill to observe the intricacies of the natural world, which are constantly going on around us, on every level whether big or small.

Kookaburra Rescue

Today I received a phonecall from one of my neighbours with news of a Kookaburra chick, which she had discovered in her backyard, apparently fallen from a nest. As her house was literally within a stone's throw of mine, I grabbed my ladder and went to investigate. This chick (pictured above) was about 18 days old, with feathers well developed. Although this species is feral in WA's south-west, I have a soft spot for it because I reared a young kookaburra ('Jack') just like this when I was 16, so I decided the best thing to do was return it to the nest and let nature take its course. The problem was, where was the nest?

The tree above, which is a mature Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus), was the only tree from which the chick could have come, but there were no obvious hollows. The neighbour kindly pointed out to me where she thought the birds had a nest - the clump of bark strips, which appeared to be several years of shed bark accumulated on two branches, about three-quarters of the way up the tree. Closer inspection indeed revealed there was a small hole beneath the accumulate bark.

The entrance to the Kookaburras' 'nest hollow' is visible beneath the accumulated bark, just right of centre.

When I climbed my ladder to have a look inside, I was met by a loud squawking noise, and I came face to face with the orphaned chick's sibling! And what was even more interesting was noticing that the nest 'hollow' was not a true tree-hollow at all! The chamber's ceiling was composed of accumulated bark strips, which had formed quite a dense cover, and the nest floor was merely a makeshift platform on top of a bulge in the trunk where a thin limb was protruding (as seen in the centre of the above picture). This was by far the most unusual Kookaburra nest site I had seen, and with such a small and convex floor, and a severe slope and overhang at the nest's entrance, it was no surprise that one chick had fallen out!

Before I reunited the Kookaburra chick with his family, I decided to capitalise on the situation for an educational lesson. You might not realise that this species has a very unusual toe arrangement, with its two inner toes fused together for half their length, a phenomenon known as 'syndactyly'. I'm not sure what the purpose is, but like everything in our wonderful natural world, there must be a reason explicable by the birds role in its environment. Perhaps it helps the bird grip to the front of the arboreal termite mounds in which it traditionally nests? (the Kookaburra's natural range is in south-eastern Australia where such termites are common). If anyone out there knows more on this, I would welcome their feedback :)

The syndactyl toe arrangement is an unusual anatomical feature.

A quick clamber up the ladder saw me replacing the chick inside the nest 'hollow'. While I took a few photos, one of the adults waited patiently with the next morsel for its young: a tasty-looking cricket!

I would be most interested to hear from others who have found Kookaburras nesting in such 'hollows'. Please post your comments below :)

Sibling reunited. The orphaned chick gives a final wink goodbye!

Morning Kaaraks

This morning I woke to the sound of a young Kaarak (Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoo) calling outside my window. I was half asleep, but the closeness of the characteristic soft wheezing drew me further out of my slumber and urged me to go and investigate. Camera in hand, I ventured outside and saw a juvenile cockatoo perched quite low in a Marri tree just near the house, its parents foraging on 'honkey nuts' just above its head. Normally family groups of this species which visit my bush garden are quite wary and not particularly tolerant of a photographer stalking them! On this occasion, however, this family trio didn't' seem worried, and from my verandah I managed to sneak closer and snap away just as the female descended to her beautiful baby and gave her some breakfast.

An adult female Kaarak feeds her offspring some 'Marri muesli' for breakfast.

Despite a few mouthfuls of 'marri muesli', the young Kaarak still wasn't happy, and she kept wheezing and climbed higher towards her father. Young cockatoos spend several years with their parents, learning the art of foraging, and also gaining practice at navigating their way around the canopy. Even if they aren't giving the unmistakable contact call of a juvenile, observing their climbing method can be a dead giveaway to their age. This young one took a little negotiating to make her way around a clump of new foliage growing out of the Marri limb on which she was clambering - a funny sight! Eventually she reached 'dad' and was given a second helping.

Knowing the cockatoos were outside enjoying the natural habitat this bush block provides was a wonderful feeling, and a brilliant way to start the day. Now time for my breakfast!

The female Kaarak (left) with her offspring, who is busy nibbling her perch!

Colour-ringing Wedgies

Setting off towards a speck in the distance that is a giant Wedge-tailed Eagle nest always evokes a feeling of excitement, especially when you have visited it two months prior and know the chick you saw then will now be fully-grown and nearly ready to fly. With my mum and sister leading the way, I began the descent into the rugged Perth Hills valley, clutching the straps of my backpack to ease the load of heavy climbing gear, ropes, cameras, lenses and eagle-banding equipment on my shoulders.

 

An hour later, the three of us stopped in the shade of the Wandoo nest tree, which was now quite a bit taller than when I first climbed this particular eagle nest 16 years ago. The nest, too, had increased substantially in size, being more than 2 m deep and just as wide, making me look like a midget as I ascended my rope to just below the nest, and peered over the edge. I was delighted to see not one but two eagle chicks, an indicator that food supply in this territory had been ample this season, and that the adult eagles were probably experienced breeders. It was an extra special feeling after making a similar discovery at Matuwa (Lorna Glen) just a few weeks prior – 2015 must be a lucky year for ‘twins’!).

  

Before: The two eaglets aged about 1 week in early September. One chick normally dies in the first few weeks on the nest.

After: The same two eaglets, now large juveniles, 10 weeks later. One is very well camouflaged among the nest cavity.

I managed to capture both juvenile eagles - one female (left) and the other a male (right) - and lower them to the ground in a handling bag, before they were ready for processing.

As part of a long-term study on Wedge-tailed Eagle ecology in the Perth region, I have this year obtained the relevant State and Federal licenses to commence marking individual fledgling (juvenile) eagles with leg-rings (bands). A stainless steel ring from the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme (ABBBS) is placed on the right leg, and a yellow colour-ring (custom made by IO Mekaniska in Sweden) with a 3-digit number is placed on the birds’ left leg. The only other colour rings being used on Wedge-tailed Eagles in Australia are the blue ones at Matuwa in the WA Arid Zone, where I have also been researching wedge-tail movements. The idea is that the colour-rings are highly visible and will allow any marked eagles, if they are re-sighted in the future, to be identified as a juvenile from one of the two study areas: Perth (yellow) or Matuwa (blue). If the number can be read, we can then tell exactly which nest site the eagle came from. And yes, you are right: I have chosen these two colours to match those of the Aussie Rules football team whose mascot is the majestic eagle from the West Coast ;-)

The yellow colour rings are unique to the Perth Region study area and are designed to be easily visible.

While mum held onto one eagle, my sister and I recorded measurements from the other, then we swapped over. Apart from standard morphometrics like weight, wing length, tarsal (lower leg) length and head-bill length, another measurement being taken is the length of the rear talon, and it was amazing to record the female eagle had a rear talon of just over 40mm, quite a weapon! Imagine being a small animal on the receiving end of that one day!

When both eagles had been ringed and processed, I ascended my ropes again to return them to their nest. With such well-developed wings, one has to be careful that eagles do not 'fledge early' and fly from their nest in an escape manoeuvre prompted by a person releasing them. My trick is to hang from my climbing rope just below the rim of the eagle nest, remove each bird, one at a time, from the handling bag, then release them upwards onto their nest. I find as soon as the birds' wings are out, they hold them up and flap slightly, and when their legs are released, the birds basically flap themselves back onto the eyrie. By hanging below the nest one is effectively out of sight, and not causing the looming threat that a person would if they were hanging level with or above the nest and towering over the eaglets.

It was wonderful to look back across the valley and see both juvenile eagles standing on their eyrie, exercising their very well-developed wings and peering out across the valley, and probably watching my every footstep, just as they had been earlier in the afternoon. The adult birds, highly alert to every movement in the vicinity of their nest site, were also watching with piercing eyes as three small specks of human ascended the opposite hill and climbed into their car. What an exciting afternoon - for all seven of us.

Kite Family

It is that time of year when I visit a certain gully in the Perth hills to check the breeding progress of the family of Square-tailed Kites I've been monitoring for the past few years. This species, known as Mararl or Djedurnmalak in the Noongar language, is one of my favourite raptors, so I was very excited to reach the nest and find a female kite sitting, a good sign it was active again! When I ascended the nest tree, I found the female had something to be very proud of...

The first thing that went through my mind was the voice of my good friend Ewan, a raptor biologist from Scotland, saying "It's a Red Kite chick you little bloody ripper!!" (This came from our visit to the nest of a Red Kite, a species very similar to the Australian Square-tailed Kite but one in a different genus, during my time in Scotland last year). The second thing I thought was - "W-O-W!!". These two exceptionally beautiful and well-grown kite chicks are about a month old, their wing feathers well emerged and body feathers gradually covering up their natal down. It will take about a three more weeks before they are ready to fledge.

The younger kite chick has slightly more natal down still showing.

The older kite chick with its very flash 'mohawk'!

As I was about to leave the tree, the female kite's behaviour changed, as though she seemed to want to tell me something. I sat for a few more minutes, and the goosebumps spread across me as she walked to the edge of the nest, flapped towards me and landed on a perch less than a metre away! She then proceeded to perch and look at me, as gentle and placid as ever, as though jogging her memories of previous time we've spent in the canopy together, and scan around the bush, perhaps in anticipation of her mate returning with food.

It was wonderful to find the kites have nested again, and that everything is on track for successful fledging. They still remain one of my most favourite birds.

Quenda in the Media

I'm always keen to help educate others about our unique flora and fauna, especially through wildlife photography, which has been a passion of mine for some time now. Several years ago I donated a few pictures (mostly of the Baudin's Cockatoo and the Quenda or Southern Brown Bandicoot) to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia, to use in any media pertaining to these two beautiful native animals. Recently these images have been used in some online articles about the Quenda, which, despite being listened as a priority fauna species in south-west Western Australia, has been increasing in abundance in some parts of its range. Its capability to adapt to and take advantage of habitat in urban areas and backyards which is not necessarily composed of native vegetation seems to have allowed it to do well. Right here in the Mundaring Shire where I've spent most of my life, there has been a noticeable increase in Quenda sightings in the past 20 years, both of live animals and  road-killed ones, which, despite being a sad sight, are often an indicator of abundance. Check out this article in The Guardian and another one on WWF's website to see the images and read more about how you can get involved in the 'Quenda Count, an initiative to gather important information on these wonderful native marsupials!

Breaking News

The chew-marks on the sacrificial hardwood planks around the rim of the nest box were suspicious, but after whacking the base of the tree-trunk several times in the hope to rouse any occupants, it seemed to be empty. Eager to gain a look inside for more clues, I began pulling a climbing rope over a sturdy fork in the beautiful Marri tree in which the large nest box hung. Suddenly, as the rope neared the box, I heard claws grapple the metal ladder inside, glanced upward, and in a black-grey blur, glimpsed a bird's wing and head poke upwards. The bird paused just long enough for me to focus on an off-white cheek patch, then burst forwards and spread its wings, the glorious white panels on the fanned-out tail catching the morning sun. A CARNABY'S COCKATOO!

Today I had the privilege of spending the day in Parkerville and Stoneville with a team of Friends Groups and Mundaring Shire staff, inspecting nest boxes that I installed in burnt reserves earlier this year. Overall we found a high occupancy rate with 19 of the 34 boxes checked (56%) being occupied or showed signs of being used this year. Two boxes had been vandalised so were taken for repair/replacement. There were mixed results with the occupancy of different designed boxes - none of the bat or pardalote boxes were occupied, probably owing to the fact these species require smaller hollows and have many alternative breeding/roosting sites. Eight boxes had clutches of Australian Ringneck Parrots (Barnadius zonarius) inside, three had Galahs (Eolophus roseicapillus), and several others had evidence of Brushtail Possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) denning inside, although we didn't see any possums on the day. Keeping in mind that checking one box on one day doesn't mean it has never been used - the tenants may have simply been sleeping elsewhere! It was so pleasing to see local wildlife clearly benefiting from these artificial hollows... and for one species, the benefit is just the sort of thing it needs to perhaps save it from extinction...

I cannot find words for the feeling inside me when I watched the beautiful and magic Carnaby's Cockatoo (known as 'Ngolyenok' in the Noongar language) emerge from the cockatoo box! This species normally breeds much further inland in Wandoo Woodland of the Wheatbelt region, and although there is a recent increase in breeding records closer to the Swan Coastal Plain (thought to be due to habitat loss and a drying climate), I didn't imagine finding a nest box that was only installed a few months ago to be so quickly occupied by a bird that has previously only used artificial hollows placed within 1km of existing nests!

A quick tree-climb revealed she was sitting on a clutch of 2 eggs, laid on the bed of woodchips my friend Emily had so diligently collected on the day of installation. I can't reveal too much more at this stage... but I will be back to follow up on this story with great enthusiasm!

Djeran Jarrah Wildflowers

Western Australia's 'wildflower region' is normally described as being the inland area north-east of Perth, known as the Mid West. Many families plan holiday trips to see the wildflowers, which is a wonderful thing to do and the carpets of pinks, whites and yellows are truly breathtaking. But often this focus on one particular part of the state takes attention away from patches of bush right here in the Perth Hills with just as much wildflower diversity.

Lately I've been noticing the various local understorey plants come into bloom. In the Jarrah forest at the moment you can see carpets of the pea flower Bossaiea pulchella, commonly known as 'Bacon-and-Eggs'. These gorgeous yellow decorations bring the forest floor to life, and have beautifully detailed petals when viewed up close.

The colours of pea flowers like this Bossiaea give rise to the common name 'Bacon-and-Eggs'

Another pea flower, but one whose owner makes a living creeping over shrubs and climbing up trees (what a great way to live!), is the Native Wisteria (Hardenbergia comptoniana). This plant really becomes visible when its vivid purple blossoms burst open. It is often surprising to spot them high up in the canopy and suddenly notice the vine's stem winding its way down tree-trunks and through foliage back to its source on the ground.

An even smaller plant but one whose cream-coloured and very delicate blooms (about 2 cm long) stand out amongst the leafy forest floor is the Catkin Grevillea (Grevillea synapheae). The 'flower' one sees is actually a collection of flowers (an 'inflorescence') which grow in an arrangement known as a 'raceme' - a long cluster with separate flowers attached by short stalks.

Catkin Grevillea flowers have beautiful detail when viewed under macro.

Having a sharp macro lens allows one to photograph then observe features otherwise invisible to the human eye, like the grevillea petals shown above. If you spend enough time with such a lens, you begin to look for photography subjects that you know will reveal hidden details once enlarged. With this in mind, I decided to snap some pictures of a tiny Sundew (Drosera sp., probably D. stolonifera) with a very pretty leaf arrangement (below left). The beautiful sticky beads of mucilage (a sticky, sugary substance), which are used to capture insects that cater for the plants' nitrogen requirements, are clearly visible. I also noticed a Clustered Heath (Leucopogon capitellatus) plant, a species which has minute flowers (below right). When enlarged, the flower's tiny bearded petals are visible, and the genus name Leucopogon then makes sense: it comes from two Greek words: leucos = white; pogon = bearded. Click these images to see the details even more clearly.

   

When walking on gravelly ground in more open parts of the forest, it's hard to miss the stunning arrangements of conspicuous yellow flowers in the genus Hibbertia, known as buttercups. The most common species is the Yellow Buttercup (H. hypericoides), whose flowers are arranged in beautiful, dense layers across the shrub. 

Yellow Buttercup is one of the most common wildflowers in the bushland near Mundaring.

The aptly (some might say state-the-bl**dy-obviously!!) named Large Buttercup (H. lasiopus) has fewer flowers but compensates with the sheer size of its blooms. This plant has a very prostrate growth habit, and its scientific name is derived from it having a hairy seed pod (lasio = hairy; pus = foot).

All these species were observed in just a 15 minute walk around a local Mundaring Shire bush reserve. You can view more photos of local Jarrah and Marri forest wildflowers on my Flickr Photostream here. As the weather warms and we head into Kambarang (spring) over the coming months, keep your eyes out in your local patch of bushland. What flowers do you have blooming near you?