Stuck Ducks near Bucks Burn

Well I’ve been in Scotland about 2 hours and it didn’t take long for some birds to appear. Despite the very dreary conditions on landing, Spring is very much in the air and my first few moments in the country allowed me to see Jackdaws carrying nest material, Herring Gulls scavenging in the McDonald's carpark, Woodpigeons, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Pheasants and a few others. On my quest to explore the area close to my motel, I wandered down the road and found a nice Aberdeen-style pub called the Staging Post, and ducked in out of the drizzle for a beer and a hot meal.

No sooner had I sat down to tuck in to the curry than a lady called Lynne came in from outside and was pointing to the car-park looking a bit distressed. I looked out the window and saw a female Mallard with 10 newly hatched ducklings, frantically trying to get over the pub’s back fence. I rushed outside to help the lady and her daughter Cara investigate, and we found that behind the fence was a wall, below which was a gushing storm water drain. (Later I found this to be a waterway called Bucks Burn - 'burn' is the Scottish word for a small creek - and the penny dropped why the name of the suburb I was staying in was called Bucksburn!). This waterway was the mother duck’s intended destination to lead her new family to, but the urban jungle was a bit hard to navigate with her small brood!

We leapt into action and rounded up the little family, with the Mallard flapping over the fence and quacking in distress. The publican found us a cardboard box which served as nice 'duckling carrier', and Cara and I covered the top with out jackets to prevent the little quackers from hopping out. After all 10 babies were inside the box, we walked around the street to the lower side of the wall where the mother duck was waiting. A steep embankment led down to the water but I couldn't get closer because of a tall fence, so I handed the box-full of ducklings to Lynne while I scaled over, dodging blackberry spines on the other side, then took the box from Lynne as she passed it over the top. The mother duckling was following us along and calling loudly to her brood, and she eventually realised she could hop over a small stone wall near the fence and flap down to the water.

 
I peeled back a corner of 'jacket' so the ducklings could see daylight again, and the first one raced to freedom, weaving its way through tall grass, blackberry thicket and tumbling down the embankment to the water. Instantly the Mallard flew to greet the first of her clutch, continuing to quack loudly. This prompted the rest to leap from the box, filling the air with a chain of 'peep-peep-peeps' which linked me to their mother. I took the opportunity to snap a photo of a couple of two cute quackers before they too rushed to rejoin their family. It wasn't long before all 10 babies gathered around their mother and were happily dabbling alongside the gushing rapids, which led down into the nearby River Don. Below you can just make the Mallard family out from the dense drain-side vegetation.

What a welcome to Scotland!

Silent Killers

Do you have rats in your roof? Aren't they annoying! They run around making a racket at night, build nests in the ceiling, and eat the fruit from your garden produce. But before you make the all-to-popular decision of lacing your roof-space with rat poison, stop and think about the impacts.

Rat poison or 'rat-sack' comes in pellets or cubes (which usually contain strychnine) and is a silent killer. The rats eat the pellets and it causes muscular convulsions and eventually death by asphyxia (suffocation). This may temporarily alleviate your 'roof rat' problem - but it will also stink out the house once a few rats die. It is virtually impossible to get rid of rats completely, without going to great lengths to prevent them re-invading, like wiring off every hole bigger than a 50c piece with very fine mesh. The Black Rat (Rattus rattus) is a permanent resident, being most common around human dwellings and it seems, at least in the Perth Hills where I live, there is a constant population ready to re-occupy your roof.

In many cases of poisoning, rats will take a sub-lethal dose and not die for some hours, moving around very slowing in the open. They will also rush to try and find water, even if it means going against their nocturnal routine and wandering outside in broad daylight. In the past I've seen near-dead rats crawling along the ground very slowly just on dusk. This makes a poisoned rat an easy meal for a variety of other silent killers which are much more natural than poison, but which can achieve a similar outcome when it comes to rat control.

So who are these 'silent killers'?

One of them is this fella:

 
You might have read the above post several years ago - I was very excited to find a resident Gould's Goanna (Varanus gouldii) living in a burrow at my parents' place. This species has a varied diet which includes many insects and spiders, but they will also sniff our rats' nests and clean up a brood of baby rats.

Another similar animal with a slightly different lifestyle is this guy:

This is a Black-headed Monitor (Varanus tristis) - an arboreal lizard which has adapted to using peoples' roofs as a sleeping place, instead of tree-hollows. And what does it do in your roof? Well, it spends much time sleeping and hiding from predators, but no doubt it also uses its forked tongue and excellent scent-detecting ability to find itself a meal of tasty Rattus rattus.

And finally - the most silent and possibly the most beautiful of killers. This marvelous creature:

It was named thousands of years ago 'Kookomit' (pronounced 'goog-a-mit') by the Noongar people of south-western Australia. Another name more commonly used today is the Southern Boobook, or 'Mopoke' - all three names being derived from it's two-noted 'book-book' call which European settlers first thought was a cuckoo calling at night.

Like many owls in the 'hawk-owl' family (there are 4 Australia species), Boobooks roost during the day in dense vegetation. At this time of year, adults part after the breeding season and find an individual site which they return to every dawn, spending the day sleeping and resting before the next night's hunt. However, if neighbouring birds spot them their daytime sleep is rudely interrupted and the smaller birds will cause a huge commotion, flapping around, clapping their beaks and giving raucous alarm calls to warn other birds that a predator is near. About a fortnight ago my Mum was alerted to this very situation when she heard a whole bunch of wattlebirds, small honeyeaters, butcherbirds and magpies all creating a ruckus, and her clever detective work revealed a Boobook roosting in a tall, densely-leafed conifer tree in the back yard. Since finding this roost we have managed to collect a range of pellets and begun investigating this particular owl's diet. Like most birds, owls regurgitate small pellets containing the indigestible material, like bones, fur, feathers and insect shells - consumed while feeding, and these lend valuable insights into their prey.

Here's a picture of some of the pellets during analysis:

So far we have collected over 20 pellets, and found a range of insect and mammal prey. I plan to write this up in a small publication at the conclusion of the study, but in the meantime, here are some of the most interesting findings. The most prominent animals in our Boobook's diet have been Black Rats and House Mice (Mus domesticus), with the pellets so far revealing 5 individuals of each of these species. Some pellets have had clear rat evidence in, like in this pellet, which has 2 lower jawbones, one fragment of the upper jaw/skull, as well as whiskers, fur, leg bones and beetle shells:

My Dad was extremely pleased to hear about this 'rat eater'. It was very interesting to note that rat numbers (both from rats observed in the backyard and from the racket they made at night in the roof) seemed to increase at the end of summer, then decrease suddenly after regular observations of the lizards and now the owl in the last 6 weeks. Both my parents have been thrilled to see these different animals and learn that native predators can help control rats. And for the record, I totally banned them from using any sort of poison a few years ago!

My message is to think wisely before you act. I accept that not everyone has a backyard or trees which allow them to encourage native, rat-eating predators. But there are many alternative methods of rat control which do not put harmful toxins into our environment, one of which is called 'Racumin' by Bayer. You can also trap rats and mice live and kill them by hand, or if you are really opposed to this, relocate them. So many thoughtless human actions can lead to the death of wildlife, and pets, which may also fall victim to secondary poisoning via a rat meal. Imagine if, like my experience years ago, you go outside and find not a near-dead rat, but instead, another animal which has unknowingly eaten its last meal in the form of a strychnine-laden rodent? This could be your beloved pet, or a beautiful, delicate owl.

Mardo Reserve - Website Launch

In 2013 I was heavily involved with an Environmental Education Project at a local primary school in the Perth hills. Part of my work was making a website containing information about this project, and I've spent a bit of time in January and February this year working on it. Today the website was finalised and made live on the Mundaring Primary School's website for everyone to see!

To have a look at the website and read more about activities that the amazing bunch of young Mundaring Primary students have conducted, click the above picture which takes you to the Mardo Reserve Environment Project website.

Gecko Eggs

These tiny white eggs belong to a beautiful nocturnal reptile with which we share our home: the Marbled Gecko (Christinus marmoratus). I wrote a previous post about finding small fragments of eggshell belonging to geckos in a backyard nest box - this indicated one record of a smaller creature (and one which we don't anticipate moving in when we build nest boxes) breeding inside. Today's discovery is the second time this has happened in our backyard, and the first time I have found intact eggs which are 'still incubating'.

Marbled Geckos are both beautiful and useful - their stunningly marked body and delicate 'gecko-toes' are a delight to see, and the fact that these lizards prey on a range of insects which pester us humans (like moths, midges and cockroaches) makes them a welcome tenant!

Hopefully these eggs hatch soon and supplement our little gecko population. We will look forward to finding tiny baby geckos (like the one pictured below) when out and about in the backyard. Take care - if geckos live at your place, they hide in cracks in doorways, under a coiled hosepipe, inside the bristles of the house broom, beneath stored timber and bricks, and even in your shoes! It's easy to accidentally squash one of these tiny animals without being aware they are there!

Gone to Prison

Last Monday we took our nest box workshop to yet another sector of the community - residents of the Wandoo Prison. We worked with 10 young blokes to engage them with the environment through constructing nest boxes for Endangered Black-Cockatoos. When the woodwork was underway and everyone had a good idea of how to build a cockatoo nest box, we stopped for morning tea and Gill and I gave a talk about the importance of tree hollows, and re-using waste material for nest boxes. Phil Digney then showed some live cockatoos to the young guys, demonstrating their placid nature and amazing feeding capabilities. Above is a picture of the team involved.

Today we returned to the prison to find the residents had completed all 10 next boxes for which we provided materials, a fantastic outcome! I then installed one box in a tree inside the prison grounds, so the lads and staff at Wandoo are able to keep an eye on the box for birds showing interest. The location of this tree is only a few hundred metres from similar nest boxes in the Murdoch University grounds, which have had Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos successfully breeding since 2011. Fingers crossed that Wandoo's new box has similar luck!

Thanks to the staff at Wandoo Prison and Extra Edge Community Services for coordinating the event, and Phil Digney from Conservation Outcomes for including our Re-Cyc-Ology Project in this fantastic event!

Backyard Birds

I often say it - but having REMNANT BUSH on your property is fantastic! It not only provides a cooler environment for your home (studies have shown that treed suburbs are 3˚C cooler than those which are open and concreted or bitumenised), but it also suits local native wildlife seeking food and shelter. This applies especially to birds - like the Djaryl pictured above, the Noongar word for one of our most beautiful, endemic species, the Red-capped Parrot (Purpureicephalus spurius).

For the last few weeks I have been delighted to work in my home office to the sounds of Endangered Kaaraks (Forest Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos, Calyptorhynchus banksii naso), calling softly as they forage on the fruits of Marri (Corymbia calophylla) trees that adorn out backyard. There have been up to 10 individuals but most often there is one family trio (male, female and immature) who feed together. It has been interesting to observe first-hand some information recently published by cockatoo experts Ron Johnstone and Tony Kirkby, that juvenile/immature cockatoos can take about 6 minutes to open and extract seeds from inside a honkey nut (Marri fruit), whereas adults can do this in less than one third of the time! This shows how these long-lived, highly intelligent birds rely on observing their parents and having lots of practice to forage efficiently. Here are a few pictures of the cockatoos

A Male Red-tail has jet-black plumage and a darker bill.

Female Red-tails have a pale bill and are beautifully marked with yellow-orange bands and speckles on their head.

Looking carefully at these chewed Marri fruit discarded by Black-Cockatoos after feeding, you can determine which species is responsible. In the below photo, there are 2 culprits. The older fruit faded brown was dropped by a Kaarak, which leaves a 'dish-shaped' imprint with its broad lower mandible, about the width of your index finger. The freshly chewed fruit have much smaller, square-edged 'trough-shaped' imprints, only half the width of your 'pinky' finger, made by the more delicate lower mandible of one of two White-tailed Black-Cockatoo varieties. Large shredding around the top of each nut tells us the species responsible was Gnolyenok, the Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Calyphtorhynchus latirostris). Baudin's Black-Cockatoo (C. baudinii) is 'the surgeon' and only leaves a few, small 'trough-shaped' marks near the stalk and no damage to the top of the fruit. Which species can you find evidence of in your area?

A Jar in the Night

Many of my blog posts are written to emphasise the huge variety of creatures we share our land with, and especially to alert people to how they can act to conserve them. A line I often use is "take care when driving and keep a sharp eye on the road for wildlife". Tonight's story provides yet another example where this line is relevant.

I was returning from a meeting in Toodyay earlier this evening and getting close to home in Mundaring. A smashed glass bottle on a bend in the road distracted me enough to think that the shape which I saw just after the broken shards must've been a larger fragment of glass. In the split second before my car whizzed over it I realised it was a nocturnal bird sitting in the road, and my gut wrenched as I realised I had probably just killed it.

However, returning to investigate further, I found the bird still intact, still sitting in the middle of the left lane, and still very much alive. To take a closer look at the nightjar on the road and make sure he wasn't injured, I reached forward and grabbed him gently. What was it?

This moment provided an opportunity to show you one of our very secretive and (in the Perth area) quite rare birds. It is 'Yoodjyn' (pronounced 'you-chin'), as the local Aboriginal Noongar people called it. Or as many other people know it as, the Australian Owlet Nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus). This species is a nocturnal bird with a rounded face but not closely related to owls at all, much more similar to the Tawny Frogmouth. Unlike owls it has tiny feet, pretty useless for catching prey with, but like the Frogmouth, it has a large beak, an excellent tool for trapping insects. It's mouth is made extra wide by a series of bristles, rigid feathers that help divert an insect meal straight down the hatch. You can just make out these bristles in the picture below - they look a bit like long moustache hairs!

You won't see Owlet Nightjars during the daytime, unless you happen to tap on a tree with a small hollow in which one is sleeping. They require hollow-bearing trees for both roosting and nesting, yet another reason to maintain natural bushland. Anyone who has seen a nightjar can relate to the experience of hearing scratching noises inside a branch, looking up to a hollow entrance and seeing that gorgeous face peering right back down at you!

A Special Spot for a Special Species

It was only a year ago when I scaled a Karri tree on my friend's property in the Porongurup Range and hoisted into position an artificial nest box, designed to replicate a vertically oriented tree hollow. This is the favoured nest site for three charismatic birds of south-west WA: the Black Cockatoos. In 2008 we recorded a pair of one of these birds, the Carnaby's Cockatoo, nesting in a natural tree hollow, so to increase the number of nest sites, we put up a nest box. The box became occupied the following season, doubling the number of nesting pairs. Last year we put up the second box and today I installed the third, bringing the number of potential cockatoo nest sites available to four.

Here's what I found when I arrived at the block yesterday and checked the box that was installed a year ago . . . . .


What's in the Box? from Simon Cherriman on Vimeo.