Bluetongue!

A little wander along Campbell’s Creek this afternoon gave me an exciting discovery - a bluetongue lizard! I found him crawling through the grass and managed to catch him for a closer look... and to show Gill’s niece and nephew who were waiting across the road. Nothing like a bit of show and tell for the children!

The Eastern Bluetongue (Tiliqua scincoides) is a common reptile, being one of the largest and more conspicuous skinks in Castlemaine. It has beautiful smooth, scaly skin, and as its name suggests, a gorgeous tongue that shines iridescent blue in the sunlight. When chanced upon during a bushwalk, bluetongues will open their mouth and hiss at you in an effort to appear larger and more threatening. I’ve experienced this many times (with Bobtail skinks in the west) and nearly died of fright - glancing down to see a reptile suddenly hissing at you is quite alarming in a land of venomous snakes.

Bluetongue lizards are ground-dwelling animals, moving around in rocky and grass areas and feeding on a variety of plant and animal life including slugs, snails and flowers. You might be interested to know that this species is a live-bearer: it gives birth to 2 or 3 young, which are deposited in a protected place like a pile of wood or rocks. There are four species in Australia: Eastern, Western, Northern and Centralian. All have smooth skin (and a blue tongue!) but the markings on each are quite different.

It was great to be able to make this discovery so close to houses and a busy main road. And even better to be able to take the opportunity to show amazing native wildlife to young children. Next time you’re out walking in the drier months, keep an eye out - you might be lucky enough to see one of these amazing creatures.

Da Eas' Side!

Last night I hopped on a plane and flew across the Nullarbor to spend a few weeks in the eastern states. The initial purpose of my visit is worked-related: I’m thrilled to be involved with Australian Geographic in a series of forums called ‘Experience the Kimberley’, where I’ve been asked to give a short but inspiring talk about Kimberley wildlife on three evenings in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. This will be the first opportunity I’ve had to spend time in any of these places other than waiting inside their airports, so I’m really looking forward to it! After my work commitments, I’m on holiday with Gill, and we’ll be traveling to Castlemaine, Canberra, back to Sydney and lastly the Blue Mountains.

This morning I managed to get out and about and explore some parts of Sydney, including the famous harbour and Botanic Gardens, snapping photos of resident Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis mollucca) and Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles). Then I caught the ferry across to Manly, and met with Kylie Piper from AG for lunch at Manly beach. I was nearly late for lunch because of my excitement to explore and search for wildlife as soon as I’d got off the ferry! After getting up close to a beautiful Golden Orb Spider just near the Manly ferry depot, I found some Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) nesting inside a small tree-hollow, right along the footpath where joggers and walkers busily filed past me. The adult lorikeets rushed in to feed their youngster, who I had seen inside the hollow through a small crack in the side of the tree, then quickly left. I lay on my belly waiting for the juvenile lorikeet to poke his head out, which he did, then an Eastern Water Skink scurried up to me for a closer look. Then it was off to lunch!

Here's a few snaps of the creatures I've seen so far. Keep watching to see what I find in the next two destinations.

Australian White Ibis near the Sydney Central train station.

Adult Masked Lapwing.

Golden Orb Spider near Manly ferry depot.

Eastern Water Skink.

The Rainbow Lorikeet nest tree, right near a footpath!

A nestling Rainbow Lorikeet peers out of his nest hollow.

Reflecting Foes

This cheeky little bird might look like he's about to kill me, staring right at the camera when I took this photo today. However, the shot was taken from behind a window of our lounge room, and the bird is not staring at me or my camera but at his reflection!

I've been working in the lounge over the last few weeks because this is the coolest room in our house during this hot weather. The room also has a nice view on 2 sides out to the garden surrounding the house, which makes it a nice working environment. Today I heard a tapping sound and a small movement caught my eye, and as I watched I noticed a bird flying into the window. Thinking it was just a one off and maybe it was injured, I kept watching, and saw the little fella repeatedly flying into the window. He would perch on the handlebars of my dad's bike, stare and weigh up his opponent for a few seconds, then ATTACK!

You're probably wondering what bird it is... well, it's a White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis), and is almost certainly a male who is defending his territory. We've had this species nesting in our garden beds for a few years now, which is very exciting as they need dense vegetation in which to live. Around this time of year they are very vocal, making harsh chirps and scolding sounds whenever an intruder comes into their domain. This is the first time I've recorded them making a physical attack on anything though - a pity he doesn't realise he's attacking himSELF!!

Garden Goshawk

At the moment Gill and I are house-sitting for some friends in Roleystone while they are away overseas. I’m well occupied each day as I’m frantically writing my Masters thesis, working long hours each day so I can (hopefully!) get it done before Christmas. Today I had a welcome guest in the garden.

I happened to glance out the front window and look up to the bird-bath which I had filled with fresh water earlier that morning. To my delight a Rufous Whistler, who had been calling merrily from a nearby Jarrah sapling, flew down for a drink. It was brief though - no sooner had he taken a sip than he fluttered away hastily... and the reason why landed next to the bath on the floor. A young Brown Goshawk!

This bird was probably an immature (2nd year) bird, distinguishable from the adult by having mottled brown plumage. The Brown Goshawk is often confused with the similar Collared Sparrowhawk - the above photo clearly shows the more prominent brow, and the thicker, stocky legs of the Goshawk. For an interesting comparison look at this photo of a Sparrowhawk:

You can see how much rounder the top of the head is, and how the Goshawk at the top has much more of a ‘glare’. The other distinguishing feature is the middle toe: in the Goshawk this is longer than the other 2 toes, but not by much; in the Sparrowhawk the middle toe is disproportionately longer than the other two.

This little appearance gave me a nice break from writing my thesis, and reminded me that even some of our most cryptic birds come into our gardens, right near our houses, if we happen to look at the right time.

Goanna Burrow

I was thrilled to discover recently that a beautiful Gould’s Goanna (Varanus gouldii) has made a burrow at the edge of the brick paving on our verandah. This local reptile is relatively common in bushland around the Perth hills but I’ve rarely seen them in modified gardens (like ours) which are not adjoining bush remnants. This animal is quite young, maybe a couple of years old, and still has very vivid markings across his back.

I suspect this goanna dispersed from his nest in nearby bush as a hatchling and found our place had lots of plant cover, so decided to stay. Now he’s grown to a reasonable size and we’ve noticed him because he’s made his home very close to ours! Not only is it exciting to see this beautiful animal, but we know he will help us in the garden by eating many pest species like insects and mice. Goanna diet also includes other small reptiles and birds’ eggs.

Young goannas such as this are very wary around their burrows, and will sit at the entrance looking for danger before emerging. The slightest movement nearby can make them dash back inside for protection! If you catch them away from a burrow, they will rush away at great speed, which is why they acquired the nickname ‘Racehorse Goanna’.

I managed to snap this first photo of our fella from inside our lounge room, which allows you to get quite close without him seeing. Later in the afternoon I saw him in the garden bed a few metres from his burrow, and snuck slowly through the rocks with my big lens to grab a nice close head shot.

How cool is it to be sharing your space with such a beautiful reptile!

PEAC Talk

 
Today I had the pleasure of giving an educational talk about Wedge-tailed Eagle ecology to a very bright group of Primary Extension and Challenge (PEAC) students at Clayton View Primary School in Koongamia. The small class was composed of students from a variety of schools in the eastern suburbs. They loved hearing about eagles and knowing that, not far away from the school, a pair of 'wedgies' were rearing a chick. We finished the day by heading outside to have a quick search for eagles, before it was time to head home. Working with and inspiring kids is a wonderfully rewarding experience and, as I'm discovering as an environmental scientist, an activity that is increasingly important for our environment.

891 ABC Adelaide

My first ‘PR’ session after winning the Australian Geographic Young Conservationist of the Year was an early morning natter to ABC Adelaide’s breakfast crew, Matthew Abraham and David Bevan. We were supposed to only have a few minutes, but this pair were so interested in eagles they ended up getting me talking for over fifteen!

My sincere thanks go to the guys for having me on and being so interested in eagles, and to the producer for allowing me to have a copy of the interview. If you’re interested in listening, click below to hear a recording of the interview.

Australian Birdfair

This weekend I’m in Leeton, New South Wales, to be a guest speaker at the 2010 Australian Birdfair. This fabulous event is organised by BOCA (Bird Observation and Conservation Australia) and I was thrilled when coordinator Mike Schultz phoned to invite me along!

On Friday I am conducting a workshop to build hides and talk about wildlife filmmaking with kids from some local primary schools. Then on Saturday the birdfair begins - lots of seminars about bird research, education programmes and other areas of interest for those liking our feathered Australians! I'm giving a talk about Wedge-tailed Eagles and filmmaking, to share some of the research I've done o the species in the past, and show some footage taken during this year for the film myself and Adam Hermans are working on, called A Wedged Tale.

The above photo of two feuding Sulphur-crested Cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) was taken on a short birding walk with Stuart Rae near the Murrumbidgee River. I love the character of cockatoos - always up for a play-fight or a game. Much like many of the keen environmental people I'm lucky to know or be friends with!