Chifley Chronicle #2

First week of May 2006

Things continue much as they were happening last week but by now the leaves are falling fast on my Claret Ash. I will soon need to rake them up!

Two Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo flew over the house in the early afternoon on Wednesday so they are still around! I think the Eastern Rosella have 4 young from this season because I saw 6 birds together on Monday evening when walking with Hailie, the dog, towards Mt Taylor. I am trying to get back to regular daily walks and it gives me a chance to see the wider picture in the neighborhood. Gang-gang Cockatoo are not numerous in the area at the moment but I have seen a couple flying past from time to time lately although they do not seem to be coming into the garden at present. Red Wattlebirds and Noisy Miners both continue to be boisterous and busy.

White-winged Chough (Chifley; January 2006)

I came across a mob of 8 White-winged Chough poking about in long grass along the pathway on my walk yesterday with the dog. They were confiding but not that trusting of us and moved off giving their customary grating “hass” alarm calls while exposing their large white wing panels. I have added a picture of one of these White-winged Chough taken earlier this year on the garden fence. Also seen yesterday, on the way home from this walk, was a ‘greenie’ Satin Bowerbird. A ‘greenie’ because it may have been a female or simply an immature bird. It is not easy to tell at a distance. Males do not show much signs of their adult blue-black feathering until 4-6 years of age so there is often no easy way to be sure of males less than that age, especially if they are seen in flight.

Another extraordinary find on Friday, in the early afternoon, was a huge moth on the wall beside my front door. I have added a picture. It was almost 12 cm wide across the wings. With assistance from my colleague Ed Slater I was able to tracked it down to be a member of the Anthelidae. The Anthelidae are only found in Australia and New Guinea. ‘The caterpillars appear to have large heads with large eyes. They are very hairy, and the hairs can often cause skin irritation in sensitive people’ - a quote taken from the fabulous website I found at: http://www.usyd.edu.au/macleay/larvae/faqs/ident.html
This website has all you would ever want to know about Australian caterpillars! Also mentioned on the appropriate web page is the strange behaviour of adults of this particular species in that ‘the male moth has a special defence posture when threatened: rearing up, extending its dark fore legs, and exposing the light underside of the wings. In this posture, it resembles a large spider about to strike.’

Large male moth. Probably White Stemmed Gum Moth Chelepteryx collesi

Early today I had a call from another colleague, Joe Forshaw, telling me about a brood of two young Musk Duck being fed by the female on a small wetland area in a northern suburb of Canberra near where he lives. The male Musk duck has a fleshy lobe below the bill that is inflated to a round disc when he performs his extraordinary display during which he will be giving a steadily repeated penetrating whistle while contorted his head and body into a strange reptilian-like posture during which he splashes water sideways using synchronous, rapid kicks. Quite bizarre. Joe reported that a male with a large lobe was also present on the pond. Rather unusual date for breeding, I suspect, but not entirely surprising for this species.

To end with I have added a picture of three of the five Laughing Kookaburra seen in the garden this week. A family party with three young of the year it seems. They enjoyed a bathe in the birdbath and spent sometime checking out the small garden ponds for any signs of useful food!

Sunday, May 7, 2006