New species for Casa da Ayre

We had spent the day sailing on Lake Macquarie, and it had been a particularly perfect day - the weather was lovely, blue skies and a breeze that sighed.  The boat romped in the conditions and we just didn't want to go home.  Of course we did, but we arrived home quite late.  It was well after dark as I started to wash the boat.

Job done, I was rolling up the hose and rounded the side of the house, when the beam of my headtorch revealed an adult Common ringtail possum. It froze, and would have been difficult to see - but she was looking directly at me and her tapeta lucida glowed like lasers.  After a few moments of mutual contemplation, the possum leisurely continued on her way, climbing one of the pine trees in the backyard.    

This brings the number of species of mammal observed at Casa da Ayre to 4.  Adding observations from the other Orders, the all-species list is now 33 as at Sunday 11th December 2016.  


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)
Tawny frogmouth owls (heard calling)
Indian mynas
Sulphur crested cockatoos.
Fork-tailed kite (27th December 2015)


Amphibians

Striped marsh frogs


Reptiles
Grass skink (Lampropholis delicata)


Mammals

Common Ringtail Possum
Rattus rattus 
Neighbourhood cat (aka feral cat)
Mus musculus

Even the Noisy miners remain . . .

A Noisy miner giving me the evil eye, Basden Theatre,
The Uni of Newcastle, 7th December 2016. 

I attended the annual Geological Survey of NSW "Tech-Talks" presentation at the Uni of Newcastle today.  While wandering the campus that I once knew so well, I was nearly overwhelmed by so many memories of good times and friends.

While the mosquito plagues were absent, most of my old lecturers were still there, just a heck of a lot greyer than I remembered.  The gardens are all mature now and there were Kookaburras and Channel-billed cuckoos in the canopy of the mature Eucalyptus spp.  It was great to see that the kamikaze Noisy miners were still, giving everyone grief.         

When a humpback does it's best mullet impersonation . . .

Humpback pectoral wave

Dad and I made a memory that will last the rest of our lives on Friday 4th November 2016.  I had shouted my Dad a trip to Broughton Island, just north of Port Stephens as a Father's day present, but it had been postponed due to inclement weather.  It was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky and about 1 metre of gentle swell.  

We were trundling along in one of Frank Future's red terrors when an adult humpback whale unexpectedly leapt completely out of the water just 500 metres ahead of the boat !  The splash when it landed was tremendous.

Watching a Humpback do it's best impression of a mullet was the last thing we expected to see, especially in Spring, when most of the whales are south-bound and travelling many nautical miles out to sea to ride the East Australian current.  

I had my camera around my neck and once I picked my jaw up off the floor, was able to grab a couple of shots of the whale as it waved a pectoral fin at us, before sounding and disappearing into the deep.

What a remarkable day !  It was the very first time I'd ever set foot on Broughton, and I promised myself that I will sail there before long in my Farr 7500.

Providence Beach, Broughton Island.  Needs a Farr 7500 in the foreground ! 

Rossco photographing Providence Beach, 5th November 2016.  It is simply paradise.  

  

A new visitor . . .

Sulphur-crested cockatoo visiting the feed station 

I have been playing with shooting in black and white in camera recently, just as an experiment to learn about enhanced tonal range and improved contrast in my photography.  This chap turned up at the feeding station in the backyard of Casa da Ayre and I just like the effect.  

My first Topknot pigeon observation

I observed my first ever Topknot pigeons Lopholaimus antarcticus on Tuesday 8th November at Catherine Hill Bay.  It was a scorching day, and just before noon.  I could hardly believe my eyes as a flock of eight adult Topknot pigeons circled and landed in a stand of mature Banksia spp trees on the western side of the Catherine Hill Bay Cemetery.  It was just as I was heading off to an appointment and I was not able to stay to watch them for long.

To be absolutely clear, these were definitely Topknot pigeons, Lopholaimus antarcticus, NOT Crested pigeons,  Ocyphaps lophotes.  I have been hoping to see real Topknots for years, and finally I have ticked that box.  They were distinctive, very large pigeons with an obvious bar transversely across their tails, and the "topknot" was only discernible when they were at very close range.

I returned the next day with all of my camera gear, and naturally, there was no sign they were ever present.  I recorded the sighting in the Atlas of Living Australia.  It's so typical.  I didn't have my camera gear and a bird I'd wanted to see for years appears . . .  

Breeding Spotted turtle-doves

Spotted turtle-dove squeakers on their flimsy nest, almost ready to fledge, 13th November 2016. 

Spotted turtle-doves, Streptopelia chinensis are not known as the brightest birds in the flock.

For the last three weeks, Amanda's car has been getting covered in small twigs while parked in the carport.  We were wondering where in the heavens these sticks could possibly be blowing in from.  All was revealed when we caught a pair of Spotted turtle-doves in the act, trying to nest on top of one of the fluorescent lights in our carport.  The stupid birds kept putting twigs on top of the light, and a few moments later the twigs would blow off, landing on Amanda's car.  Instead of flying down and picking the twig up and trying again, the adults would diligently fly off, returning with another twig - for the same result.  This went on for three weeks before we couldn't stand it anymore and blocked the space on top of the light, thwarting their best efforts.

About two weeks ago we found a Spotted turtle-dove, Streptopelia chinensis nestling wandering alone in the backyard.  It was barely able to fly; clearly it had prematurely fallen from its nest.  Strangely there were no adult doves watching nearby, and we had not observed any nesting behaviour this spring in our back yard.  So I popped it in the tree near the feeding station, and went about my business.  It had disappeared fifteen minutes later.        

We have numerous adults of this feral species living in close proximity to Casa da Ayre, and they are a common sight around the back yard feeding station.  Fortunately the native Crested pigeons are still the most common species.  We are very happy to note that both species of dove breed in our backyard regularly.

On Sunday I was doing some maintenance in the backyard and found yet another Spotted turtle-dove nest, this time with two young squeakers doing their best to flatten themselves into the bottom of their shallow platform of sticks.  I took a quick photo, wished them well and went back about my business.



     

Minor sighting - Tawny frogmouth owl

I have previously recorded a Tawny frogmouth owl calling in the immediate vicinity of Casa da Ayre - while I was putting the bins out a few moments ago (9:17pm) I observed an adult sitting on the power cable in the front yard.