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.        

Welcome swallow breeding record - Belmont North, NSW

This is just a brief note to mention we have a pair of Welcome swallows nesting in our carport at Casa da Ayre, Belmont North, NSW.  We observed them actually commence nest building on Saturday 14th September 2014, but they had been zooming around the general area of our house for about a week prior.

They took about a week to build their nest, and they roosted beside it every night whilst it was being built.  I don't know if this had any bearing on where they decided to build, but there is a paperwasp nest approximately 1.5 metres away from their nest.

To be honest, I was a bit surprised where they chose to build, because it is under the roof of our carport, directly over where my wife parks every night, and the external exhaust fixture of our air conditioner.  Hardly low traffic, and hardly quiet.

We have deliberately minimised our activities around the area they have built their nest to minimise the chance that they will abandon the site.  So far so good, because they appear to be incubating eggs at the moment.  Sooner or later we will get around to photographing them, but it is just a very pleasing thing to observe.  Welcome swallows are hardly rare or threatened.  But they are native, incredibly beautiful and a wonderful part of Casa da Ayre.        

European Blackbirds in the Hunter Valley

Female European blackbird, Maitland 17th Sept 2014

Until fairly recently I had no idea that European blackbirds occurred in the Hunter Valley.  They seem to be painfully common in Melbourne, but that was the only place I had seen them routinely.  I met a keen birdo while I was working for the Vertebrate Pest Research Unit of the Department of Primary Industries back in 2009.  Peter assured me they were recorded as "common" throughout the Hunter, but truthfully I did not believe him.  When I asked him exactly where they were in Newcastle, he couldn't tell me because he had never been to Newcastle!  Ha !  I was a keen birdo when I was growing up, and if they were "common", I would definitely have seen them.

Male European blackbird, Maitland 17th Sept 2014. 

I returned to Lake Macquarie in 2012 after working in the Central West, Jervis Bay and even briefly Adelaide.  I joined a local bird observer's club, and somehow the topic of European blackbirds came up.  Turns out they should be described as "locally common" as they are typically encountered around Maitland.  There are not many other places where they are found in the Hunter.

I am very fortunate to work for a small New South Wales Government Department that is based in Maitland.  I had just arrived at work on Wednesday 17th September 2014, when I encountered a pair of European blackbirds foraging on the lawn in the staff car park.  I happened to have my camera with me and grabbed a couple of "proof-shots" to confirm my observation.  Unfortunately they were very nervous, so I was only able to grab a couple of very quick shots.  But they are readily identifiable.  I lodged the record with the Atlas of Living Australia.  
 

Same pair of European blackbirds foraging together in Maitland, 17th Sept 2014.  

First Channel-billed Cuckoo for Spring 2014

Species Occurrence Record - Casa da Ayre - Belmont North  

On Sunday 28th September at 8:45pm, my wife Amanda and I heard the distinctive call of a single Channel-billed cuckoo at our home in Belmont North.  It was still Eastern Standard Time (Daylight Savings Time commences next weekend), and so quite dark outside.

The reason I record this call is because Channel-billed cuckoos are a migratory species, and this is my first observation of the species for Spring 2014.  I immediately unloaded the observation to the Atlas of Living Australia.  If you are not aware of this site, it is a treasure of records.  It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn good to indicate the likelihood of a species occurring in a particular area, and the time of year the species is likely to be active.

Blog Pivot !

I established this blog back in in 2012 to record my observations of wildlife in the Hunter Valley on a daily basis.

I soon discovered that it's a great idea, but I soon lacked the motivation to record every single sighting. After a couple of weeks my motivation waned and sadly I neglected the site.

So I have decided to simply record notable observations rather than daily records.