White-necked Heron

The White-necked Heron is a stately heron species that is an irregular visitor to these parts. It is highly nomadic and generally appears after good rain when the paddocks are wet and there are lots of ephemeral water bodies. Not much is known about any regular or seasonal movement patterns.

Unlike the more common White-faced Heron we have here permanently, the White-necked Heron, Ardea pacifica (Ardea = heron and pacifica = peaceful) is seldom seen close to the coast.

White-faced Herons feed on insects and aquatic animals that they locate in shallow pools or the wet grass by standing and waiting for prey to appear or by walking slowly and even stirring the water with their feet to disturb a tasty morsel.

Seasonal conditions determine when White-necked Herons breed. They build a stick platform-nest in a tree usually near water. The Murray-Darling Basin is their most favoured breeding ground.

The White-necked Heron (890-920mm) is a much larger bird than ‘our’ usual White-faced Herons (650-690mm).

Eastern Long-necked Turtle

At Alex Goudie Park Drouin

The Eastern Long-necked Turtle, Chelodina longicollis, belongs to the Chilidae sub-order of aquatic turtles that have a long fossil record dating back probably 200 million years. There are over 200 species worldwide and we have around 30 species in Australia. The Eastern Long-necked Turtle belongs to the group of turtles that withdraws its neck sideways into its shell.

At Moonlit Sanctuary Pearcedale

Eastern long-necks are found in creeks and wetlands, sometimes far inland. They seem often to prefer water bodies with murky bottoms. They spend most of their time in the water but will travel overland for some distance to discover new water holes or nesting sites.

Digging a nest hole

In summer, Eastern Long-necked Turtles dig a nest hole on the bank of a billabong or wetland and lay 10-20 eggs. The eggs and hatchlings are often prey for goannas, birds, and water rats, etc.

Egg laying at Heyfield

Aquatic turtles can hibernate or aestivate during cold or dry times. The Eastern Long-necked Turtle feeds on aquatic invertebrates, tadpoles, and small fish.

Nest protection at Coolart Homestead and Wetlands, Somers

 Sometimes called the snake-necked turtle or just long-necked turtle, the Eastern Long-necked Turtle can eject a smelly liquid from glands on its body, giving rise to another common name - the Stinky. By convention, the distinction between a turtle and a tortoise is that turtles are aquatic and tortoises are land-based – Australia has no tortoises.

 

Echidna

The Echidna, or more correctly, Short-beaked Echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus, (‘tachy’ = fast, ‘glossus’ = tongue, ‘aculeatus’ = spiny) is such a special animal. Because it shows traits of being both a mammal and a reptile, it was named Echidna after the creature in Greek mythology that was half woman and half snake – the mother of all monsters.

At Drouin Waste Water Treatment Plant

First and foremost, the Echidna is a marsupial mammal that lays eggs – a monotreme – and the only other monotreme is the Platypus.

After laying her single egg, the female Echidna transfers it to her pouch where it remains for about 10 days before hatching. The hatchling remains in the pouch, suckling on the mother’s milk for 2-3 months. By this time, the young ‘puggle’ has started growing its spikes and the mother transfers it to a home burrow. The mother continues to suckle the baby by visiting the burrow every few days for the next 6 months.

At Lang Lang

The Echidna’s spines are made up of modified hairs of keratin. Fur in between the spines gives the animal some insulation. In hot climates, Echidnas are known to seek water in which to bathe. They are very good swimmers.

The powerful legs and strong claws of the Echidna are adapted for digging, breaking open logs, and rolling rocks to enable it to seek out its diet of ants, termites, and beetle larvae. Using its long, sticky, and fast tongue, the animal can consume many thousands of insects in a day.

At Longwarry North

The Echidna is widespread throughout mainland Australia and Tasmania, from the alps to the coast and from the barren outback to urban parks and gardens at times. In some climates, Echidnas can hibernate for short periods.

During courtship, several males will follow a female in a ‘mating train’, sometimes for days, before mating.

Recently, in the sand dunes at Corinella, a new species was discovered – Tachyglossus arboreous J!

At Corinella

We share this planet with some amazing creatures.

 

 

Golden Tip

Goodia lotifolia, or Golden Tip, is a tall, pea-flowering shrub endemic to s-e Australia. ‘Goodia’ after Peter Good, a gardener from Kew Gardens who assisted botanist Robert Brown during explorations by Matthew Flinders. ‘Lotifolia’ = lotus-like leaf.

In the wild, it often forms a thicket-like shrub to about 3-4m. There are one or two examples in flower at the moment in Golden Whistler Reserve in McGlone Rd.

The large, yellow, pea-shaped flowers with red markings contrast beautifully with the green clover-like foliage that is soft to touch. The flowers can last several weeks on the bush. Some references suggest the leaves may be toxic to stock.

In the garden, Golden Tip makes a good fence-screener. It is fast-growing and can be kept in shape with light pruning after flowering. The plant sets large amounts of seed after flowering and these can be fairly easily raised to new seedlings. Golden Tip is semi-deciduous in our district and dead branches might sometimes need removing to maintain appearance.

Spotted Pardalote

Pardalotus punctatus (pardalotus = leopard-spotted and punctatus = speck or spot) is one of our most attractive bush birds. However, the Spotted Pardalote, like its close relative the Striated Pardalote, is a tiny (80-100mm) bird that spends most of its time high in the canopy of eucalypts and is seldom seen up close.

With nest-lining material

Also like the striated pard, the Spotted Pardalote is more often heard than seen. Its ‘seeet-dee-dee’ call can be quite loud and at times incessant, giving rise to the name Headache Bird in some districts. Another name relating to its call is Miss Piggy (draw out the ‘miss’ and accelerate the ‘piggy’ and you will know what it means!). Jewell of the Bush and Diamond Bird are two other fairly obvious common names.

The Spotted Pardalote is distributed widely through the south-east of Australia and also occurs in a small area of southern Western Australia.

Some people with well vegetated native gardens are lucky enough to see a Spotted Pardalote lower down when it comes to ground level to a nest tunnel in some soft earth. Roadside cuttings, upended tree roots, and creek banks are also popular nesting sites for this little bird.

Female approaching a nest tunnel

Spotted Pardalotes eat insects and larvae on the foliage of eucalypts and are often seen with other similar species in mixed flocks. The Spotted pardalote is mostly sedentary but many populations can be locally nomadic.

A great little Australian endemic.

 

Striated Pardalote

The Striated Pardalote, Pardalotus striatus, is the most widespread and nomadic of Australia’s four pardalote species (pardalotus = spotted like a leopard). It can be found in a wide range of woodlands, scrublands, urban reserves, etc. There are several sub-species of the Striated Pardalote. 

Striated Pardalotes feed on a range of leaf bugs – psyllids, beetles, larvae, spiders, etc. – gleaned from the canopy foliage, particularly of eucalypts. Often they can be found in small family groups and some groups that are nomadic may be as large as 50 or more. 

Like many of our small canopy birds, they can be hard to spot as they dash between the tree tops and most often it is their call that gives away their presence. Outside their breeding season the Striated Pardalote is mostly silent, but in spring and summer you will hear their 2-4 note call variously described as ‘wid-did-i-up’ or ‘pik-it-up’ with variable local dialects. This song is often emitted while perched on a high, bare branch.

Patches of forest or woodland with old growth trees are likely habitat for the Striated Pardalote as they opt to nest inside small tree hollows. Rivers and creeks lined with mature eucalypts are fertile ground for this little bird. They are also known to nest in the eaves of sheds and houses and will even occupy a nest box with a small entry hole. 

The importance of tree hollows as nesting sites is no better illustrated than this (often seen) image of a Striated Pardalote a hollow metal power pole as a nesting site …

Flesh Fly

Flies belong to the order of insects called Diptera. Flies have just one pair of wings and mouthparts adapted for lapping or piercing and sucking (ain’t nature grand?). According to the CSIRO’s Flies page, we have about 30,000 species of them in Australia, many being endemic and barely half of them described.

House Fly and Blowfly - Museums Victoria

Flesh Flies are much larger than the Common House Fly and even larger than the Common Blowfly. The Flesh Fly has a stripey or chequered back and large, bright red/brown eyes.

Flesh Flies are mostly attracted to decaying meat, carrion, etc., rather than food scraps, manure, or human perspiration that tend to be the favoured source of nutrient for blowies. Their life cycle is particularly rapid – their eggs will hatch within a day of being laid on a carcass. The larvae will feed on the carcass for 3 or 4 days before pupating. The pupae bury into the soil and turn into adult flies within 15 or so days. The cycle is complete within a fortnight or three weeks, although sometimes, depending on seasonal conditions, the pupae may may over-winter and only emerge in spring.

Because of their diet and preferred habitat, Flesh Flies do pose significant health risks to humans. Continued or frequent presence of Flesh Flies can indicate an underlying issue with sanitation, like the presence of dead rodents or other animals.