Tonight was our 120th walk, almost 8 years to the day since our first and a terrific way to finish 2015, the previous week having been rained off. Mark joined Michael, Jaap and me in MacDonald National Park on a beautiful night, the slopes sheltered from the wind which was blowing in the car park. I filmed a Shiny-leaf Stinging Tree new to me, a spider which was probably a Brown Huntsman but looked different, a definitely different species of skink, a dead bandicoot infested with flies and maggots, a moulting cicada nymph and what looked like an unusual snail on a leaf. Rather an impressive haul.
For the first time in 10 weeks I was able to muster a crew for night filming, namely Robyn and Michael,a student she recruited. Jaap was able to accompany us. We went to Joalah National Park and were rewarded with sightings of many of our regular species. I filmed a close relative of a pill millipede, new to us, which terminated in a large, grey hind segment. I also filmed a small, black centipede and two small winged insects with white eyes, one black with orange spots, the other just black. It was sheer joy to be out on a beautiful night in our beloved rainforest once again.
My FILM DIARY entry of 25 July 2015 proudly proclaimed my sighting of two new bird species on the same day, when sighting one is a rare occurrence. I did see two new species, but I got the identity of both wrong, one of them spectacularly so. I discovered the spectacular blemish a few days ago and the second error today. To set the record straight, what I identified as a Topknot Pigeon is the very different Feral Pigeon (whose ruffled feathers gave the appearance of a thick crest at the back of the head). The Feral is a domestic pigeon which has returned to the wild. What I identified as a Little Corella is the similar looking Long-billed Corella. Little Corellas are native to this part of the world whereas the presence of Long-billed Corellas here (they are endemic to southern Victoria and western New South Wales) is due to the release or escape of captive birds.
There has been a marked shortage of moths at the garage this season. It could be due to a cool, dry Spring. I did photograph three moths a month ago, but no others until stormy weather set in a few days back and even then numbers were far fewer than after comparable rain periods. Today I photographed three moths and emailed images for Peter Hendry to identify.
Thwarted by the weather a week ago while trying to benefit from Mark and Dan’s availability during school holidays, we managed to do our first night filming of the new season. Robyn completed the party. Mark had opted for The Knoll National Park. The night was exquisitely still, if a little cool. During the day storms had raged to the North but spared the mountain. There was little activity except for a lone possum, some tube and trapdoor spiders and a few snails. The only subject worth filming was a group comprising a semi-slug and two snails eating a fungus. At one point the antennae of all three were twitching in the same shot.
In the morning I filmed a male Satin Bowerbird tending its bower in a bushland garden belonging to friends of mine. At one point a female appeared and I got brief footage of the two of them. In the afternoon I was on one of my regular visits to the ‘bird feeding’ garden and filmed Little Corellas, a galah and a Blue-faced Honeyeater.
Days when I film a new bird species are few and far between. The previous occasion was in April this year when I filmed a Marbled Frogmouth. On my rain-interrupted walk I noticed a bird I took to be a Topknot Pigeon feeding in a nearby garden whose owner provides food for large numbers of a variety of birds. I had heard about but never seen the pigeon (the sighting was confirmed when I consulted my Slater’s Field Guide to Australian Birds). The pigeon was fortunately around when I returned with my camera and I filmed it for say 30 seconds give or take, resolving to try again in the afternoon. This I did, but the pigeon was a no show. However I managed to add to my footage of Crested Doves and Blue-faced Honeyeaters before filming some Little Corellas, a species which I had seen on the coast but never on the mountain. They look like a smaller version of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, but with less pronounced, white crests. I can’t recall when I last filmed two new bird species in one day.
It’s amazing what difference a bit of rain can make. Moths and fungi appear as if from nowhere, even in winter. I filmed both at the garage in Central Avenue, the first time I have filmed fungi there. They were small and grey, growing in a cluster through the gravel. It was good to get back behind the camera after my trip and given the winter slow down in activity.
Thankfully Mark’s Easter school holiday ran to a second week and it was as if normal service had been resumed when we filmed in Palm Grove. The air was still and mild. The exceptional haul was found within 500 metres of the park entrance, starting with a beautiful green beetle, followed by a flat worm (only the third I have filmed), a Sooty Owl (the first, a rare find) and the largest Stick Insect I have filmed at night. PS The Sooty Owl turned out to be an also rare Marbled Frogmouth which I had not seen or filmed before.
This was our first night filming since the 4th of March and the one before that was on the 4th of February. I just cannot muster a crew now that Hugh is no longer available and Mark only during school holidays. The time when we filmed every week, weather permitting, is becoming a distant memory. But enough of regretting lost opportunities. Tonight Mark was on holiday. I filmed a number of moths and a tiny frog. The glow worms were more abundant than at any other time this season. After substantial rainfall over Easter I wondered whether there would be sufficient water in the pool below the bridge over Sandy Creek for us to see the eel. No sooner had I expressed the hope than Mark caught sight of it. It didn’t like the spotlight and stayed under the bridge.