Welcome swallows might have moved on . . .

I have been watching our family of Welcome swallows since the adults began hanging around at the end of September and built their nest in October this year.  They built their nest in our carport and when the five young fledged on 26th October, we thought they'd be gone forever.  To our absolute delight, they have been returning to our carport and roosting either in or next to the nest almost every evening since they fledged.

Over the last week, we only had one swallow roosting in the carport.  I can't say for sure if it is an adult or one of the fledglings, but I suspect it is a fledgling.  For the last three nights, the carport has housed only a car.  I can't help but wonder if our Welcome swallows will be back.  Let's hope.          

Rats are T O U G H !

I have a confession.  I intensely dislike, no that's not quite right.  I actually hate introduced rats and mice around my home.

We have had a bit of an infestation at Casa da Ayre since we moved in - they live in the palm trees in our garden and I've had a bugger of a job getting rid of them because we have dogs and cannot risk poison. Even though the risk of secondary poisoning is very low and treatment with Vitamin K will reverse the toxin of choice, Brodifacoum we still would rather not use poison.  Brodifacoum is the poison used on Australia's most successful eradication campaign, on the world heritage sub-Antarctic territory, Macquarie Island.

Anyway, we had a rat decide to move into our garage.  I'd seen the cheeky big sod about a dozen times over the last month, and it had successfully evaded my every trap.  Until tonight.  With great satisfaction I caught the rat tonight in a trap.  Rolled oats mixed with peanut butter was the successful lure.

To my surprise, I discovered the rat was a tripod.  It only had had three legs - it was missing it's front right leg above the knee.  I had no idea it was so incapacitated, and the times I'd seen it, it was off like a rocket, without any sign of injury or mobility problem.  The injury appeared to be quite old, and perfectly healed.  So either Belmont rats are made of tough stuff indeed, or we have more than one living in our garage . . .  I suspect the latter.  

The battle continues !  

Life and death struggle at Casa da Ayre

Gotcha ! 

A Praying mantis grabs a fly on the wall of Casa da Ayre, and proceeds to devour it head-first.

Guilty pleasures 

I have to laugh - my lovely wife gets a very similar expression on her face when I catch her in the act of gobbling Lindt chocolate ! I love Praying mantises - this one was a young female and I was very happy to have her hanging around for a couple of days.  

Ahhh, Australian magpies . . .

Hey, you look interesting.  Do you have food ? ? ? 

I have a passion for wildlife, especially herpetofauna.  But I also adore Australian magpies.  I just can't help it because of their displays of intelligence.  The local subspecies here in the Hunter valley is the Black-backed magpie, Cacticus tibicen tibicen, so named for obvious reasons.

My passion for this species really began in April 2000, when my father introduced me to the local magpie, we had nicknamed "Pew" after the magpie in Murray Ball's legendary cartoon series, Footrot Flats.  Pew was a real character and immediately recognisable by his droopy right wing.  He used to terrorise any visitors to his territory.  If you were local, you were just fine and completely immune from attack.  But woe-betide any visitor for those couple of weeks when Pew and Mrs Pew had chicks that were about to fledge.

I've never forgotten the shrill screams of terror coming from the public toilet across from our office one fine Spring morning.  Dad and I bolted outside, fearing someone was being assaulted in the toilet block.  Well, actually the lady was being harassed but the crazed monster was a uber-defensive magpie, guarding his territory.  Picture the scene; there was Pew, perched on the gutter of the public amenities block, glaring with such venom into the ladies side of the public toilets that the thirty something woman was immobilized and shrieking with pure terror . . .  Looking back, I still remember the look of pure hatred in the magpie's eyes as Dad and I rescued the woman.  He was going to kill her for certain.  Luckily for Pew, the woman was not physically injured at all, and we were able to persuade her that our magpie was only like that while he had young in the nest.  No complaint was made.  I often wonder how close the old fella came that day to getting a dangerous bird complaint made against him.

Anyway, I crossed paths with another pair of magpies on Sunday that made me laugh.  They were watching me, so I laid flat on the ground and pretended to dig in the lawn.  Incredibly curious, the magpies came right up to me for a closer look.  A much closer look . . .    

Angry Birds?  Nope, just a curious magpie.   

They came really close to me to see what this weird human was doing.   

What ARE you doing down there you strange human? 

Coast is clear.  He's just plumb crazy . . . and then they left me to chase a passing Australian raven out of their territory.  

Swallows are still here

"Our" Welcome swallow family are still roosting next to their nest here at Casa da Ayre every night.  It's wonderful to see all five Welcome swallows all huddled together in a mass of fluff and down.

Gorgeous day out with the wife . . .

A curious old eel out hunting in a local creek in the middle of the day not far from Casa da Ayre  

My wife and I had PLANS for today, and like everything, it pays to be flexible.

We went beach fishing last night, chasing the elusive Mulloway from one of our secret beach gutters.  It was a lovely evening, with almost no breeze, and it clouded over about two hours before dark.  It was still and humid, and the surf was small.  I felt we had a pretty good chance of a School jewfish, as it was a very dark night thanks to the clouds.  When we both started to see things before our eyes, I thought our odds had climbed significantly.  The "things" were the "Will O' the Wisp" flashes you see when there is lightning in the distance.  There was an electrical storm way off to the west of us and we could see the odd flash of light playing on the waves.  It's an odd experience.  Your eyes are night-adapted and uber-sensitive to the slightest light source.  The ripples on the surface of the small surf were reflecting the micro-flashes of distant lightning back to us.  Amanda was almost afraid to ask if I could see it too - she thought she was going slightly mad and seeing things . . .

We ended up having a successful night, though not with the target species I had in mind.  Amanda caught all of the fish.  Again.  She caught an absolute stonking-big Yellow-finned bream, and followed it up with a whopper of a Wirrah.  The Wirrah was released unharmed, but the bream received a dinner invitation to Casa da Ayre, and will be Monday night's dinner.  Yum !

Because of the ideal conditions, we decided that we'd get up at 5:00 am the next morning (today, Sunday 16th November) and head to our local LBG fishing ledge.  The warm water is just starting to hit our coast - it's 22 degrees Celcius according to the BoM website.  Anything above 16 degrees is fishable (if you are desperate) but above 20 degrees and you are in with a solid chance.  Well, 22 degrees is almost ideal conditions to go ballooning for hard-pulling Yellowtail kingfish and Australian bonito at this time of year.

I was awake before the alarm at 5am - looked outside and promptly went back to bed.  It was blowing quite strongly from the South West, and raining hard.  A warm bed snuggling with my lovely wife was far more appealing than getting pounded on an exposed rock ledge in driving rain.

The funny thing was that the rain cleared by about 8am.  The clouds looked sensational and so we decided to go on a scouting trip for photographic locations.  We have a couple of shoots coming up for friends in the next few weeks, and we wanted some novel locations.

So we found ourselves wandering through the bush not far from home.  The day had cleared after all that rain and we had a lot of fun playing "model" in the bush.  I looked down and noticed a gorgeous old eel in the water right at my feet.  It was out hunting for earthworms and other prey brought out by the little fresh run-off into its creek.  I have a very soft spot in my heart for eels.  I kept six tiny little eels in a fish tank for years.  They were about two inches long when I caught them, and about ten inches long when I released them.  I found them under a rock, right on the edge of a fresh water stream that flowed into Lake Macquarie when I was looking for frogs.  I got the shock of my life when I turned this large rock over - "worms" went writhing everywhere !  I grabbed a couple to feed to "Billy", my pet Australian bass, when I realised they were not worms.  I managed to catch six of the little eels.  I'm not sure at what size they are considered elvers or whether a two inch eel should be called an eel.  Anyway, I popped them in my tackle box with a little water and they all survived the trip home.

They thrived for years in one of my tanks and were truly remarkable creatures.  I have never seen anything so active.  And smart.  They used to swim constantly throughout their tank, and were ALWAYS hungry.  They knew exactly where food came from too.  I fed them earth worms - initially small pieces of tiny worms were cut up and enthusiastically swallowed.  As they grew they ate larger worms.  Pieces of prawn, Gambusia, even tiny pieces of steak.  If it fit in their mouths, they'd eat it until they were too fat to swim.

One day I decided it was time to let them go, and I returned them all to the same spot I'd caught them, three or so years before.  I was sad to see them go, but it was time.  So I find eels quite endearing creatures.  This one swam right up to where my wife was standing, and even stuck it's head out of the water - I think to get a better look at her.        

Paper wasps revisited . . .

Common paper wasps Polistes humilis nesting at Casa da Ayre. Image © Gavin Ayre 2014, Post production by the Great Love of My Life, Amanda Ayre

Last Sunday I wrote about the Paper wasps we noticed nesting under our veranda.  Almost a week later and you can see there are two cells now closed off by the larvae as they are pupating.  In a few days the young wasps will emerge from their cells.    

Welcome swallows coming & goings.

As noted in a previous post, "our" Welcome swallows returned after an absence of a few days on the Friday 7th November.  They spent the night roosting alongside their nest in the carport at Casa da Ayre, and were gone in the morning.

They have been coming & going during the day, zooming around the back yard and through the car port at irregular intervals over the weekend.  But they roosted elsewhere during the evening.  Good news - they roosted in our carport again last night (Monday 10th November).

It's quite fascinating to watch this pair of Welcome swallows and their brood.  I always assumed they would fledge and we'd never see them again.  If we were super-fortunate, they might come back to breed again in the future.  But to our utter delight, "our" swallows have been returning frequently since they have fledged.  Who would have thought that an old nest might be important to them?    

Paper wasps

Common paper wasps Polistes humilis nesting at Casa da Ayre. Image © Gavin Ayre 2014 

I am always amazed at the amount of life all around us here in Lake Macquarie if you take the effort to look.  I was enjoying breakfast in the gloriously fresh morning air with my wife this morning and a small movement caught my eye.  I looked up to the roof above us and noticed these paper wasps had built a nest.  So I grabbed Amanda's camera & took a couple of quick shots.  This one was my favourite image.

What is interesting to me is that you can see most of the stages here from eggs through to larvae that are almost ready to pupate.  Unlike Honey bees, you can see how the cells are all open.  The larvae will seal itself off in its' cell when it is ready to pupate and eventually emerge as an adult wasp.

The Welcome swallows are back !

After an absence of a few days, we were utterly delighted to discover that our Welcome swallows are back roosting next to their nest again.  They are not sitting in their nest, but all five are perched within 50 cm of the nest inside the open RHS metal beams of the car port.  WIN !

Fernleigh track spiders

An unusual spider on Melaleuca tree near the Fernleigh Track, Belmont NSW, 4th November 2014.

I went for a stroll along the Fernleigh track on Tuesday night after dinner as mentioned in the previous post.  There was not much in the way of wildlife; in fact I only observed seven species in just over half an hour.

The wildlife was concentrated near the water as usual.  The track meanders through and around a couple of swamps, which are richly endowed with large, mature Melaleuca trees, that were alive with spiders.  The little spider posted on the top of the post was quite small, about as round as an Australian 20 c piece including her legs.  I will update this post if I can work out what species it is.  Do any of the readers know ?  Please comment if you know.

A large Fishing spider in head-down hunting posture on a Melaleuca trunk approx 20 cm
above the swamp edge.  Spider nearly as large as Australian 50c coin.
Fernleigh track, Belmont, NSW. 

The Melaleuca genus have loose, papery bark which gives the species its common name; "Paperbark".  They are an interesting tree, prospering in wetlands that regularly flood and also dry completely.  Melaleucas thrive where few other trees can survive.  Their scientific name loosely translates as "black and white", which is a ruddy good name for them if you have ever seen them after a fire.  Their bark burns rapidly on the outside but slowly on the inside, which insulates and shields the living tree from all but the most intense fires.

The bark peels away from the tree in great sheets, which provide homes for everything from cockroaches and tree frogs to microbats.  And Black house spiders like the big female pictured below.  She looks like she should be called a "Brown house spider", but I think the brown colour is from the intensity of the flash.  

Adult female Black house spider in her web on a Melaleuca tree, Fernleigh track, Belmont, NSW.

Same adult female Black house spider pictured above in her web
on a Melaleuca tree trunk, Fernleigh track, Belmont, NSW.

Fernleigh Track wildlife observations, 4th November 2014

Dwarf eastern tree frog, Litoria fallax, Fernleigh track Belmont NSW  

I went for a walk along the Belmont North end of the Fernleigh track last night after dinner for a little bit of gentle exercise.  I was quite surprised at the paucity of wildlife activity because it had been a fairly warm day and was still a pleasant evening.  It's warm enough for mosquitos to be active now and insect repellent is definitely needed.

It was a quiet night with not much animal activity.  I put this down to two things; the moon was quite bright in the clear sky and there was about twelve knots of breeze blowing.

The reasons for a lack of activity on moonlit evenings appear to be pretty obvious.  I believe that the increased light levels make it much easier for a predator to see, hence most animals feel more vulnerable and try to lie low for a week or so.  Perhaps they concentrate their activity periods into bursts before or after the moon rises or sets.  My anecdotal observations indicate that even if the moon is behind thick cloud and it's raining heavily, animal activity is still reduced.  
The breeze is another factor that correlates to quiet evenings in the bush.  I personally believe that animals are probably more vulnerable during windy evenings because their sense of hearing is greatly diminished by the noise of the breeze.  Even snakes, which are considered to be deaf by human standards are less common on windy evenings.  I also suspect that evaporation rates may be increased during windy evenings.  This might make conditions less than pleasant for delicate animals such as frogs or the invertebrates the frogs eat.

But these are just personal hypotheses.  I am anthropomorphising if you like.  In all seriousness, there is no way to be sure, as we are humans, and not reptiles, frogs, fish, small mammals or invertebrates etc.  I am only guessing about the reasons I observe quieter activity patterns during these times.  

It was a very pleasing evening to be in my local patch of bush again, even if it was very quiet, animal wise.  Most of the activity was in the mature Melaleuca forest that borders a small swamp.  The trees excluded the breeze, and the air was still.  I saw a few spiders, and there were only a sparse handful of frogs calling.  I picked up the eye shine of a few young striped marsh frogs foraging on the floor of the Melaleuca forest.  I was lucky enough to watch a very small species of snake, harmless to humans, forage ever so slowly across the track.

What a gorgeous little frog.  A Dwarf eastern tree frog, Litoria fallax, Fernleigh Track Belmont NSW.

Frogs 
Common eastern froglet Crinia signifera 
Dwarf eastern tree frog Litoria fallax 
Peron's tree frog Litoria peronii 
Tyler's tree frog Litoria tyleri 
Striped marsh frog Limnodynastes peronii
Tusked frog Adelotus brevis       

Reptiles 
Dwarf crowned snake Cacophis krefftii 

So there you are, only seven species of herpetofauna heard or observed in the space of half an hour right in the middle of one of Australia's largest cities.  It was a quiet night in the bush indeed.

Swallow update

It's sad to report, but we had a completely empty nest last night for the first time since the Welcome swallows nested in our car port.

Our hearts have been warmed by seeing the five remaining Welcome swallows nearly every day since the babies fledged.  They seem to be hunting in the area during the day and return every few hours to flit through the carport.  Better still, each night the whole group has been returning to roost in their nest in the carport.

Last night was the first time "our" Welcome swallows have been away from home all night.  Amanda and I both missed them.  We hope they keep dropping by from time-to-time to visit us and nest here again soon.    

One of the strangest encounters I have ever had . . .

An aptly named snake if there ever was,  a Bandy Bandy (Vermicella annulata). Photo courtesy Amanda Ayre, © 2014 all rights reserved.

I had been interstate on a business trip during the week, and felt deeply restless.  It had been a very productive trip by any measure; I had kicked some major goals professionally and networked with some legendary people in my field.  More importantly, I had some profound insights into the way we do higher-level business and that alone was invaluable.  I was able to identify a few opportunities we can pursue in my area of responsibility to improve our services.  I will be implementing changes to take full advantage of them. The trip was an opportunity to learn, to develop professionally and best of all, it was fun.

As wonderful as things went professionally, I really missed my wife.  It was great to be back home and catch up on things.  Better still, we were going to spend the weekend together, camping in the bush.  Due to a couple of unforeseen things, our planned four-wheel driving and trout fishing trip to Barrington Tops had to be postponed and we spent the weekend at home.  That's no excuse to feel sorry for yourself though and so we decided to have a day trip somewhere.  The seasons are definitely changing, and we are now charging through Spring. The weather is becoming warmer and the humidity is slowly-but-surely increasing.  Summer is approaching and on Saturday, the air felt charged.  It felt like there was a change coming.

It was mid afternoon and clouds began to build very rapidly.  The light faded quickly and the afternoon became very dull and grey.  A decent storm had arrived.  Fat droplets of rain started to land.  The intensity built quickly and it rained hard for twenty minutes. The tin roof of our verandah was deafening and the gutters of the little garage overflowed.  Just as though someone had thrown a switch, the rain slowed and then stopped. The leaden sky brightened as the clouds parted and the light returned.  The day warmed noticeably and the humidity rose.  A cold front had definitely just passed over the area.  This was going to be a perfect evening to look for wildlife.

We chose Myall Lakes National Park for our destination on this trip, as it's a beautiful spot and home to some remarkable fauna & flora.  But I don't know if we will bother going back after Saturday night's experience.

I have been visiting the Myall Lakes National Park for over forty years now, and can hardly believe how degraded the experience has become around Mungo Brush.  To me Mungo is an outstanding example of how Australians can love an area to absolute death.  When I began to visit Mungo as a child, the road was unsealed and quite rough.  This had the effect of keeping speed down and minimised the number of visitors.  Over the years, I have noticed a distinct correlation between the roughness of the access road into an area and the number of ratbags you will find there.  It's no surprise that after the road to Mungo was sealed, the number of visitors absolutely exploded . . .

So what am I complaining about? Well, I know that things change whether you want them to or not and "progress" supposedly can't be stopped.  But Mungo Brush last Saturday night was only slightly quieter than the Pacific Highway.  Yes, OK, perhaps that's a minor exaggeration.  An area where I was once lucky to see three or four cars per night, we must have seen sixty.  Worst of all, there were at least ten cars that I considered to be herpetologists based on their behaviour.  They were slowly cruising up and down the road with people spotlighting out the window.  In an area that I would hardly ever encounter another herpetologist, this broke my heart.

Despite having a perfect weather window, and nearly ideal conditions on the night, we saw very little fauna.  I hardly had reason to wonder why.  Here's the night's list;

Bandy bandy (Vermicella annulata)
Banjo frog (Limnodynastes dumerilii dumerilii)
Bleating tree frog (Litoria dentata)
Blind snake (Ramphotyphlops nigrescens)
Burtons legless lizard (Lialis burtonis) 
Common eastern froglet (Crinia signifera)
Dwarf eastern tree frog (Litoria fallax)
Long necked tortoise (Chelodina longicollis)
Perons tree frog (Litoria peroni)
Planigale (Planigale maculata)
Rocket frog (Litoria nasuta)
Striped marsh frog (Limnodynastes peronii)
Tawny frogmouth owl
Tylers tree frog (Litoria tyleri)
Uperoleia spp frog (Its nearly impossible to identify this genus to species level from calls by ear)

I can hardly believe how little we saw.  And I could hardly believe how many probable herpetologists were about either, and this is a neat segue into one of the most disturbing experiences I have ever endured in the bush . . .

My wife and I had just found the gorgeous little Bandy Bandy featured in this post.  We'd watched as she crossed the road, and photographed her as she hunted through the vegetation on the road verge.  She stopped briefly on the fallen log, which gave us an opportunity to take a few nice images. Bandy Bandys are nocturnal and have a pretty specialised ecological niche - they are an exclusive predator of blind snakes.  They are also elapid snakes; front-fanged and venomous.  They have a reputation for being very inoffensive and from the few people that have sustained a bite from one, their venom appears to be mild.  That said, I do not trust any snake, and I would prefer to avoid getting bitten by any snake - even supposedly harmless ones.  Unless there is an essential need, such as removing a snake from a dwelling, I will not ever handle a venomous snake.

The Bandy Bandy's main defence is their colouration.  The black and white banding can be difficult to track in poor light due to the phenomenon of "flicker fusion".  Have you ever seen an old black and white spaghetti-western and noticed the way the wagon wheels seem to turn backwards?  That's the same effect.  If a Bandy Bandy was cornered and unable to escape, they will position their bodies in a unique way, raising their bodies in a distinct posture of loops before trying to flee as quickly as they can.  They will try anything to escape.  If anyone was ever bitten by a Bandy Bandy, you can bet they were handling it.    

Photographing the Bandy Bandy with an iPhone - to geotag the exact spot in the image metadata.  

We finished taking voucher photos and put Amanda's Nikon D750, soft-boxes and flash units back in the car.  We were laying on the ground taking a couple of quick iPhone photos.  We often do this simply to record the exact location for the Atlas of Living Australia (see http://www.ala.org.au). This because the iPhone uses its built-in GPS to geotag the exact position in the metadata of it's photos.  A white Holden Commodore cruised past. It did a quick U-turn and raced back to park next to us.  Grrr.  I don't like this already.  Four doors slam in the darkness and suddenly my wife and I are surrounded by four blokes, shining their lights in our faces.

This is just what I really didn't want - a quiet night with the wife and now I am surrounded by four strange blokes.  I can't see them properly and their intentions are unclear.  The hair on the back of my neck is fully raised, and I am listening to my instincts.  One or two people; no problem, probably just a couple of herpos out looking to see what's about just like us.  But FOUR people piling out of an old Commodore; this is not normal for herpetologists, and is starting to smell very wrong.

The first one rushes up to me, almost into my personal space, shines his head torch right into my eyes and says "you're Gavin Ayre aren't you?  Yeah, that's you.  Gavin Ayre."

WTF?  For some unknown reason, this person I've never met thinks it is acceptable to rush up to me uninvited in the bush at night. Then invade my personal space in complete darkness, blind me with a Led Lenser head-torch and then identify me by name.  Even worse, I don't recognise this person at all.

Who is this and what in the heck do they want?  How in the heavens so they know me and recognise my face - in the dark no less?  What in the bloody hell is going on here?

By this point, I've had just about as much of this as I can tolerate.   I am readying myself to defend myself and my wife.  I'm weighing up who is the biggest to take them down first.  I shone my head torch into their eyes to disorientate them and give them dancing spots in their vision for what might be a vital ten seconds or so.

"Who is asking?" I challenged belligerently.  I hoped you hear the warning - you blokes are way too close and I'm not sure what's happening here.

Space Invader stepped back and gave his name.  Means absolutely nothing to me - never heard of him.  How in the hell do you know me?  Supposedly recognised me from Facebook - something I have not used for the best part of two years.  Bloody hell, this person clearly has been spending w-a-a-a-a-y too much time on the internet cyber-stalking other people.  

When they saw the Bandy Bandy they started speaking my language - herpetology.  I relaxed.  It was just four blokes looking to see what was out and about.  Simply four completely socially incompetent amateur herpetologists, and in their excitement had rushed up to us uninvited to see what we'd found. For a few moments I honestly thought they were up to no good and this wouldn't end well.

From their utter lack of social mores, I'm guessing they were from Sydney and were camped in the area somewhere nearby. . .  Country people would know better than to rush up to someone that they didn't know at night.  And getting into a strangers personal space at night is an incredibly stupid thing to do.  

The boys told me they'd seen three other Bandy Bandys in the last few days and a few more interesting road kills.  Apparently one of the Bandy Bandys they had found had thrown loops for them, so they were probably just photographing wildlife.  Obviously they'd been in the area for a few days.

Close-up of the Bandy Bandy, Myall Lakes National Park, 1st November 2014.
Notice the creamy tinge on the first two bands on the snake's head.  All of the other bands were snow white. 

If they ever read this, I hope they stop and think just for a moment how their behaviour appeared to me.  It was not a very clever thing you did there fellas.  FFS if you had even a little bit of courtesy, you would have stopped at your car and ASKED IF WE MINDED four complete strangers joining us in the darkness.    

Simple common courtesy goes a long way.  If I ever bump into these four blokes again, and I'd say there is a very good chance I will, I hope that things will be a lot more cordial.    

  

Large prey for a Redback spider - an unfortunate Grass skink

Such a sad sight, an adult Penny lizard, Lampropholis delicata fallen victim to a Redback spider Latrodectus hasselti.  
Photo Copyright © Gavin Ayre 2014.  

My reaction to walking through a spider's web is automatic; I stand still and wait for a few seconds to see if I can feel something crawling.  Normally there is nothing, but very occasionally I have to brush a very scared Garden orb weaver off my body.  Not an enjoyable situation, but really it's nothing to get overly excited about.  The spider is far more scared than you are, and is unlikely to bite unless it is accidentally restrained or hurt.  Typically it will try to fall off you or crawl to safety.  

When I'm in shorts & bare feet and feel my legs break through a Redback spider's web in the dark, I can't help but cringe.  And that's exactly what happened to me tonight.  I know that more than likely there is a Redback poised in that web just waiting for a small animal to blunder into it's trap.

Redback spiders are something of an occupational hazard here in Australia.  They are found pretty much everywhere in Australia from the heart of our capital cities to our smallest, blink-and-you'll-miss-it country villages.

Their bite is very painful and considered to be a serious threat to young kids and the elderly.  Fortunately there has been an effective anti-venom for over fifty years now.  While I'm neither very young or elderly, I would absolutely prefer to avoid being bitten by a Redback thanks.

Aussie folklore romanticises about Redbacks sitting on toilet seats waiting for the unwary, but that's not at all likely in people's houses.  I have seen Redbacks happily living in "pit toilets" in our local National Parks, but even there Redbacks are pretty easy to see and avoid.  About the only place they are not common in Australia is untouched bushland.  This is not to say they are absent in the bush.  They typically are associated with rubbish or disturbed areas when I've encountered them in the bush.

So how did I instantly know that I'd walked into a Redback's web in complete darkness tonight? Their webs are very strong and have a distinct tangled construction.  There are numerous strands of super-strong silk that stretch down to the ground, and they seem to be under tension.  They have sticky droplets on the end of each strand but are fastened to the ground with relatively weak bonds.  When an unfortunate animal blunders into the web it will adhere to the end of a strand of silk and start to struggle.  Chances are it will hit several other strands.  The weak anchor points break, and the unfortunate animal is hoisted into the web.  It's struggles will ensure two things; it will get entangled with more strands of super-strong silk and it will attract the attention of the spider.

One thing you do NOT want to do is attract the attention of an adult Redback spider, especially an adult female Redback spider.  In this species, the female really is more deadly than the male.  She is about 4 or 5 times larger than the male and her fangs are large & strong enough to readily penetrate human skin.

The thing that made me cringe when I walked into that Redback web tonight was you never know how keen the female is to bite.  I don't know if it's an individual temperament thing, or if it is associated with hunger.  Most of the time a Redback would run away if a large animal entered it's web.  But not always.

I'll never forget watching a very large female Redback rush out into the middle of it's web in broad daylight last summer - trying to find the animal in its web to no avail.  The "animal" was my lawn mower.  It was throwing enough dirt & vegetation particles into this spider's web that the it rushed into the web to catch the "prey" in strong sunlight in the middle of the day last summer.  The noise & vibrations of the mower seemed to stimulate rather than frighten the animal.  You've got to be tough to live in Lake Macquarie !

After my encounter tonight with the Redback's web, I waited for a few moments with baited breath, and then walked to the wall and flicked on the lights.  Nothing.  I started to breathe again.  I returned to the web and tracked down the spider.  I was very sad to see the Penny lizard, Lampropholis delicata bound in silk in the Redback's retreat.  I have had a thing for Penny lizards and Grass skinks all of my life.  They are beautiful little animals and incredibly active and alert.  Spend some time sitting quietly in your backyard and you will be almost sure to see one or two of the four common species going about their business.  They will delight you with their antics.  I don't feel much when I see an insect in a spider's web - unless it's struggling for its life.  But to see such an endearing creature  wrapped up in silk in a Redback's web . . . to me that's a sad end . . . Well, I guess I'm not such an objective biologist afterall.

**********

It can be surprising just how big a prey item a Redback can handle.  I have found Penny lizards and Grass skinks in Redback spider webs on numerous occasions.  I have found huge Funnelweb spiders and trapdoor spiders in Redback webs.  I have seen images of Redbacks that have even managed to catch and kill small snakes.

In fact, when I lived in the wilds of the Northern Territory, I'll never forget the story of a woman who was envenomated by a deadly Western brown snake in the store-room of her shop in Alice Springs. The hatchling Western brown snake was tangled in the web of a Redback spider, and understandably very, very angry.  It bit her numerous times on the foot.  The lady was hospitalised and required antivenom.  Fortunately she made a full recovery, though neither the snake nor the Redback were so lucky - the shop keeper killed both of them . . .    

Welcome swallow nesting update

And then there was one . . . this is the last baby.   

It felt quite strange to watch the swallows fledge.  One after the other they flew out of the nest, and the young birds were very closely pursued by their parents until they landed on a nearby roof.  I was amazed at how well the fledglings flew.  It was a thrilling moment.

The parents were calling with high pitched alarm when any other bird came near.  Black-backed magpies, Spotted turtle doves and Noisy miners were harassed and pursued with passion.  The Noisy miners in particular were vigorously mobbed and were literally shrieked at by the parents.  Although they are native, I have developed a slight dislike to Noisy miners over the years because of their naked aggression towards almost any other bird in our garden.

One Noisy miner is bad enough.  Get two or three of them together and almost nothing is safe from their harassment.  They are real heroes too, and love picking on smaller birds.  They would probably kill a weaker or slower bird that could not escape their attention for example, a fledgling Welcome swallow on its maiden flight.  So I stayed as long as I could to ensure the fledgling swallows survived their first flights, and headed off to work.

When I returned home, there still two baby swallows remaining in the nest.  That was a bit of a relief, as I was fully expecting that they would all be gone.  Surprisingly, the fledglings seem to be returning to the nest to spend the night with the other babies that have not fledged yet.

*************

It is Sunday 26th October as I write this, and I am very happy to report that all the Welcome swallow chicks have now fledged. Over the last couple of days, we have been a bit sad to see the nest is empty for most of the day.  But to our sheer delight, the majority of the Welcome swallow brood and their parents are returning to spend the night.  Sadly, there seems to be only three fledglings remaining, but perhaps the missing two chicks were the eldest and so were the first to become independent.

It has been an absolute delight to have shared our home with these acrobatic birds.  We have loved every moment.  It's funny how the older generation think about them; my parents visited Casa da Ayre for a BBQ lunch when the Welcome swallows were first starting to build their nest.  I pointed the nest out, and all my parents could say was, "knock it down mate, don't let them build a nest because they will make a huge mess."  Amanda & I laughed and told them we were honoured they had chosen to nest here, and will help keep down flies & mosquitoes from our house.  Our dogs tend to attract biting flies and we do get Anopheles sp mosquitoes in summer.  Anything that helps reduce these insects is most welcome.  We'd prefer not to use insect sprays if we can help it.

*************

It's funny how my parents have changed their minds about them, as they have seen our photos of the growing brood.  They have been saying how cute they are etc, etc.  Were they right?  Were the nesting Welcome swallows messy and smelly?

At first, no.  While the adults were building the nest and incubating eggs, there was no mess at all.  While the chicks were small and barely had any down, the adults used to transport droppings away from the nest and distribute them at random across our back yard.  We have a bird feeder & a bird bath and the visiting doves, lorikeets and rosellas make much more mess.

In the last week, I think the adults were overwhelmed and droppings started to accumulate under the nest.  But it wasn't a problem, because it didn't affect the house, or our cars and simply washed away with a quick squirt from the hose.  Win !  Even better - they have never been in any way smelly - even the small pile of droppings that accumulated in the last week didn't smell.  

So all-in-all, it has been a wonderful experience, and we both hope they nest here again soon, and if the chicks survive to adulthood, that they may return in years to come too.      
  

Late afternoon feed for the fledgling Welcome swallow brood, Casa da Ayre  

Beetle-mania !

There seems to be beetles feeding on flowers everywhere I look at the moment.  Spring is well and truly here.  Pictured is an unusual scarab I observed earlier this week.

The Welcome swallows are fledging !

I had the delightful experience of watching two Welcome swallow chicks fledge this morning.  I expect that when I get home tonight, they will have all left the nest.  We will both miss our little swallow family.

Amanda & I hope they choose to nest here again soon !

Spider vs Spider at Casa da Ayre

Notorious spider-hunter, a White-tailed spider (left) is attempting to catch a young Black house spider. 

 I observed this life-and-death drama playing out in slow motion on the outside of our house on Wednesday night.  White-tailed spiders do not build a web and trap unwary insects; instead they are hunters.  They slowly, ever so slowly walk around searching for other spiders to eat.  Yes, this is a spider that eats spiders.  

White-tailed spiders have a reputation for causing grievous bites.  There is debate over whether they are responsible for the hideous bites or not.  My opinion is that I'd really prefer never to be bitten by any spider, thanks very much.  I remember waking in the small hours of the morning, one sweaty summer's evening about twenty years ago.  The largest White-tailed spider I have ever seen in my life was crawling across my chest.  I was horrified, and knocked it off myself.  I caught the spider, just in case I ended up having been bitten, and it resulted in a bad outcome, I wanted to be able to provide proof that this was the spider that had bitten me.  Very fortunately for me, I had no reaction at all, and it appeared that I had not been bitten - thank goodness.  Most bites from White-tailed spiders result from the spider being inside an article of clothing, on a towel or similar.  I was very, very lucky that I did not inadvertently trap or hurt the spider while I was asleep and get bitten as a result.        
 
Unfortunately, there is not much to give a sense of scale in these photos, but both arachnids were both juveniles, with body size almost the same as a grain of rice, but a lot squishier.        

I watched the drama play out for hours, before going to bed around mid-night.  Why can't interesting wildlife interactions happen on Friday nights?  In the morning, the Black house spider was still in it's web and there was no sign of the White-tailed spider.  The Black house spider either killed the White tailed spider or more likely, the White-tailed spider simply gave up.

  

Home Invasion -  Black house spider's nightmare - a White tailed spider has entered its refuge.  

Beetling about . . .

I saw this curious beetle feeding from a flower near Mount Sugarloaf on my way to work this morning.  I just liked it's expression; it seemed serene and quite indifferent to my presence.

Cute Sulphur crested cockatoo

Sulphur-crested cockatoo enjoying Acacia seed pods 16th Oct 2014

I was passing through Barnsley this morning on my way to work, and noticed a very small flock of about 6 wild Sulphur-crested cockatoos.  They were extremely confident, perched on Acacia sp trees feasting on seed pods right on the edge of the road.  A large B-double truck roared past, and they all took off, except for this fellow.  I could have watched his antics for hours. 

The villain herself - caught in broad daylight.

Broad daylight, and a reynard dawdles across the road in Louth Park (apologies for the image quality).

I was driving home this afternoon, and stopped to let this vixen cross the road.  I could hardly believe my eyes as this animal just dawdled across the road in front of me.  I thought it was someone's tomcat as I stopped my ute.  It regarded me with disdain and wandered with nonchalance across the paddock to hunt around the dam.

I was surrounded by suburbia, and there were two houses within 100 metres and a housing estate within 300 metres.  It was broad daylight, just after 5pm,  Daylight Savings Time.  People don't believe me just how common foxes are in suburban areas.  Well, here's a little evidence for you.

The importance of this anecdote is this was within 100 metres of the dam where I observed the endangered Freckled ducks back in December 2013.  Scroll down for post below.   

I apologise for the image quality as it was taken through my windscreen while the car was running - not a very smart choice on my part.  The horizontal blurry areas at the top of the image and at the level of the vixens legs are strands of the barbed wire fence between the fox and the road.   

Progress update on our Welcome swallows

Amanda decided to make some video of our baby swallows and mounted a camera on a pole to look inside the nest.  We didn't want to disturb them too much so she only had a very quick look.  We can definitely discern four babies.  They are absolutely gorgeous, and just starting to open their eyes now!  

Cormorants and strike fighters at Merewether beach.

Oh look, it's Jonathan Livingston Hornet showing off again . . . 

My wife & I were walking along Merewether beach on Sunday morning when what I believe was an RAAF F/A-18B Hornet (the twin seat trainer variant of the F/A-18A Hornet) streaked past in a wonderful display.  The little black cormorants looked so casual, they seemed to be completely ignoring the fighter jet as it shredded the sky a few hundred metres away.

Stephens banded snake

A beautiful sub-adult Stephens banded snake, Hoplocephalus stephensi photographed in suburbia, city of Lake Macquarie, NSW Australia.  Photo copyright © Amanda Ayre Photography.   

I have been completely engrossed by the natural world for my entire life.  Much to my mother's horror, herpetology has been one of my first loves.

I found this beautiful young Stephens banded snake (Hoplocephalus stephensi) crossing a road last autumn.  Unfortunately there is nothing to give you a sense of scale in the image, but the snake was a sub-adult, not even two feet long.  

This species is regarded as "vulnerable" in NSW partly because of the environment in which they are usually found.  They are a fascinating animal; a dangerously venomous species of elapid snake that lives, hunts and breeds in trees.  They are one of the few elapid snakes in Australia that have "keeled" ventral scales; a clear adaptation for a life spent climbing in trees.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this species is much more abundant than currently thought.  I have spent a lot of time working in the field with endangered amphibians and frequently encountered this snake in some very unusual environments.  There are certain years in the Hunter Valley when we have what can best be described as breeding "explosions" for the local amphibians.  The thing is that these events are not predictable, and do not happen every year.  These pluvial events happen in late spring and early summer.

We have a species of endangered frog in the Hunter valley called the Green-thighed frog, Litoria brevipalmata.  This animal is similar to the Stephens banded snake in that they are normally extremely hard to detect in the wild.  Most of the time it is thought (science doesn't know the most basic details about this animal yet) that they live in the tops of trees and are only found on the ground during these special breeding "explosion" events - which are associated with pluvial periods.  We will have torrential rain that continues almost unbroken for three or four days.  Grasslands on the edge of rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest will flood.  Frogs of nearly all species will be breeding throughout the landscape.  The Green-thighed frog will breed frenetically and en-masse, and just as suddenly disappear again.  You have to be in these temporarily inundated areas during these three or four days of rain or you will miss them.  You'd never have a clue they were there.

It is during these periods that I routinely find Stephens banded snakes on the ground, and in what is considered unusual places for the species such as melaleuca swamps.  The little fellow pictured above was found in just such a spot right in the middle of suburbia in the City of Lake Macquarie.  I have found numerous specimens of this species at this location, so it's not an escapee or accidentally transported animal.

To me, this is more anecdotal evidence that the species is just like the Green-thighed frog; it is cryptic and likely to be far more widely distributed than currently thought.  It is rarely encountered because it doesn't need to come down to the ground very often.  Because of the stripes, most locals would think this was definitely a "Tiger snake".    

Swallows & Amazons - Part Deux

Three gorgeous baby swallows at Casa da Ayre, 10th Oct 2014.  

It's official - we have at least three gorgeous baby swallows in the nest at Casa da Ayre this afternoon.  They are still blind with their eyes closed, but their mouths open brilliant yellow and they hang over the edge of the nest at the slightest sound.  They are just helpless bundles of cuteness, in the way that only baby birds can be.  It's hard to imagine that in just a few weeks these helpless little balls of fluff will become graceful masters of pursuit.

The Masked lapwing chicks have fledged . . .

It's been six days since I mentioned the Masked lapwing chicks that were being raised in an absurd location - next to the cycleway at Warnersbay.  Good News - they have now safely fledged !  

Good luck little lapwings.  

Bad hair day . . .

Intermediate egret in breeding condition, © Gavin Ayre 2014 all rights reserved.

I have seen birds on a wire.  I have seen birds on the wing.  This is the first time I have seen an Intermediate egret sitting on a hot tin roof . . .  With all his plumes, he looks like he is in breeding condition, but he is definitely having a "bad-hair-day".

Maitland, NSW, 8th Oct 2014.  

Another migratory species arrives - Dollarbirds at Buchanan today

Driving home form work today I noticed three Dollarbirds perched together on powerlines at Buchanan.  Dollarbirds (Eurystomus orientalis) are another common but migratory species that visits the Hunter Valley to breed in Spring time every year.  They travel right down the east coast of Australia every year, and stay until Autumn.  They are thought to overwinter in Papua New Guinea and parts further north.

Dollarbirds are usually very conspicuous.  They tend to perch in high, open places such as the tops of dead trees and powerlines.  They launch swooping flights from these perches to catch insects on the wing, and are often heard before being seen because of their harsh "grackling" call.  They are quite gaudy if seen at close quarters, but are easily recognised when flying, even at a distance, by the prominent "silver dollar" marking on the underside of each wing.  

It's probably an indicator that I don't spend as much time outside as I would like to, but these are the first Dollarbirds I have observed in Spring 2014.      

New species for Casa da Ayre

My wife & I spent the day at home catching up on a couple of DIY home improvements.  I was packing up outside as darkness fell, and heard a dull repetitive call - the almost honking call of a Tawny frogmouth owl from one of the trees next door. 

That brings the species list for Casa da Ayre to 28.   

Lunch at Walka Water Works

Eurasian coot at Walka Water Works 3rd Oct 2014. 

For something different, I had lunch at Walka Water Works, just out of Maitland today.  The WWW are well known for about 300+ species of birds.  I saw about a dozen species in 30 minutes today;

Pacific black ducks,

Chestnut teal,

Grey teal,

Swamp hens,

Eurasian coots,

Little grebes,

Clamorous reed warblers,

Superb blue wrens,

Magpie-larks,

Australian ravens,

Indian mynas (introduced),

European starlings (introduced),

Domestic geese (introduced).

Rock doves (feral pigeons).

On a strange note, I observed around 8 short necked tortoises during my half hour visit.  This is quite unusual as only Long-necked tortoises are native to the area, and I didn't see a single Long-necked tortoise.  This may indicate several things; for example, perhaps the Long-necked tortoises are more cryptic.  The weather is only now starting to warm up, so perhaps they are still in aevestation etc, etc, etc.

One thing for certain - it indicates that people have probably removed the short necked tortoises from their natural range, (west of the Great Dividing range), and released them at the dam.  They have probably been happily breeding there ever since, or maybe not - our Australian tortoises are very long lived.  There is also very slim chance that they may be a naturally occurring population of short-necked tortoises, but given the centuries of heavy disturbance at this site I feel that is the least likely possibility.

Australia, like many countries has a problem with illegally imported Red-eared sliders being released in public waterways.  Typically this has happened in the inner cities, which I find a bit odd.  Maybe there are fewer predators remaining in the inner cities and so the foreign species are more likely to get a toe-hold.  The exotic disease risk is very real with imported fauna.  For example, Australia now has both IBD & OPV established in hobbyist snake collections due to the illegal importation - of all things, the "European starling" of the herpetological world - Corn snakes.  Red-eared sliders are a renowned invasive species all around the world.  I would really hate to see them become established in this country.  

It brought memories of watching half a dozen MASSIVE Silver perch brazenly cruising around a dam in broad daylight at Blackbutt Reserve near New Lambton, NSW.  I cannot help but wonder what sort of native fish may also have been deliberately translocated to the WWW.  I'll have to keep an ear out for crashing surface strikes as the spring weather warms and the cicadas begin to deafen me once again.  Watching ducks with their new brood of tiny ducklings stretched out behind them might become a rare sight.  Who knows, there might be something very interesting living here . . .    

A snotty-nosed Pacific black duck at Walka Water Works 3rd October 2014. 

Swallows & Amazons

Swallows and Amazons

I was on the way out the door this morning and decided that I could take the time to grab a shot of our beautiful Welcome swallows nesting in the carport at Casa da Ayre.  We are almost certain their eggs have hatched now and they have tiny little babies, as I am 90% sure we watched one of the adults feeding babies yesterday.  We think we _might_ have heard the faintest cheeping as the adult returned to the nest, but it was hard to be sure over the noise of panting dogs.  We are trying not to disturb them too much and keep away from the car port as much as we can.  

First Eastern koel for Spring 2014

Right now (7:25 am Friday 3rd October 2014) there is an Eastern koel calling in a tree next to Casa da Ayre.  It's the first Eastern koel I have heard in Belmont North for Spring 2014.  Like my recent Channel-billed cuckoo record (1st October 2014), it is significant only because they are a migratory species, and this record is merely an anecdotal record that they are here, today.  Spring is well and truly here !        

Masked lapwings nesting in absurd locations

I have been watching a pair of Masked lapwings nest on the foreshore of Lake Macquarie for a number of years now.  It's not all that surprising, as it's a seemingly ideal environment, except for a couple of things.

The Masked lapwing family. 

Firstly there is a very busy cycleway within 5 or 6 metres of where they nest every year.  I took the photo above standing right on the edge of the shared cycleway.  Several hundred people would walk, jog, cycle and exercise their dogs right past their nest on a week day.  On a weekend, several thousand people would pass within metres of them.

Of course, the local council mow the grass here regularly.  To their credit, the nesting Masked lapwings are so well-known here that the Council work crews give them a wide berth during the nesting season.  The local residents have even been known to write to the local newspaper congratulating Council for this approach.

Adult Masked lapwing attempting to distract me from it's almost-fledged young by pretending to incubate eggs. 

I think that for a bird whose chief defences against predators is swooping, feigning a broken wing and a strategy of complete immobility by the young when threatened, it is nothing short of miraculous that a dog doesn't race in and grab a chick before it's owner realises the Masked lapwings were breeding.  Another consideration is the fact that there is bushland within 500 metres of this location.  It surprises many city dwellers to discover just how prolific foxes are in this part of the world.  Most people would never see a fox here, but I assure you they are extremely common, and have a supreme sense of smell.  And in the small hours of the morning when all of the residents are in bed, Br'er Fox likes to come calling.  Of course there are also feral cats as well as ever-present "domestic" cats allowed to roam at night to consider as well.

Adult Masked lapwings standing at the nest site, wedged between a VERY busy cycleway and a busier road. 

But it seems that these factors have almost no impact on their breeding success.  The biggest killer seems to be the road.  Traffic surveys have revealed that over 15,000 vehicles pass this spot on a weekday.  It's MUCH busier on a weekend.  The Masked lapwings choose to nest almost on the verge.  About three weeks ago there were four tiny golf-balls of down and fluff skittering about within a metre of the adults at all times.  Sadly, that number has shrunk to two, but the good news is they are _almost_ fully fledged as of this morning.  They will be surely independent of the site by the end of the week.  

Cute little ball of fluff _A L M O S T_ fully-fledged 2nd October 2014.

Good luck little Masked lapwings babies.  May you return to breed here for many decades to come.  And be careful on the roads . . .        

Species list - Casa da Ayre - October 2014

27 Species recorded at Casa da Ayre 26th June 2013 to 1st October 2014 

We moved into our new home, Casa da Ayre in Belmont North on Wednesday 26th June 2013.  This is simply a list of species we have observed in our yard since that day.  

  

Birds

Rainbow lorikeets 

Eastern rosellas

Scaley-breasted lorikeets 

King parrots

Crested pigeons (Nesting)

Noisy miners

Welcome swallows (Nesting) 

Spotted turtle doves (Nesting, introduced)

Masked lapwings

Black-backed magpies

Laughing kookaburras
Magpie-larks

Pied currawongs

Grey butcherbirds

Pied butcherbirds

Galahs

Little corellas

Dollarbirds

Silver gulls

Blue-faced honey eaters

Australasian Figbird

Eastern koel

Channel-billed cuckoo (seen flying overhead summer/autumn 2013/14, heard Spring 2014)

Amphibians

Striped marsh frogs

Reptiles

Grass skink (Lampropholis delicata)

Mammals

Rattus rattus  (aka Yuckus yuckus!)
Neighbourhood cat (aka feral cat) 

So there you are - that's our list to date; 27 species.  It's sure to grow as time and seasons pass.  

Taking the road less travelled, 3rd December 2014 - 13 x Freckled ducks

Freckled Ducks (foreground), Louth Park December 2013

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference.

I have always enjoyed taking the road less travelled by.  And on this particular day it certainly made all the difference.

I was driving home from work on 3rd December 2013, and took the least travelled way I could find - as is my want.  I happened to glance at the waterfowl on a small dam next to the road in Louth Park, and noticed something different about them.  Naturally I headed back to have a closer look, and found to my delight, 13 Freckled ducks foraging on the margin.  They were extremely flighty, and I was quite lucky to grab a couple of quick "voucher" shots before they all took off.  I recorded the sighting with the Atlas of Living Australia.