Sacred Kingfisher

SACRED KINGFISHER (Halcyon Sancta)

The days are still very grey. We have patches of sunlight  and the air and ground is warming up, but the days have been grey. I have seen echidnas, brown snakes, blue tongued lizards and tortoises all on the move in the last week. I imagine a combination of wet ground and the warmth is pushing the wildlife above ground a little earlier than other years. 




Do we plant out tomatoes now? It is is still two weeks until Melbourne Cup Day. That is the proper time for tomatoes.

I have a brother in law who lives around Baddaginnie.  Benalla never had a holiday for Cup Day, so  the locals begin  tomatoe planting day according to the days when the brown snakes and the blue tongued lizards emerge from their winter sleep.

It must be the time.



I was walking last Sunday quite early when a flash of blue swooped past and a little kingfisher landed on a nearby tree. I can't remember seeing one of these before around Kilmore. It was a bright blue and sat on it's branch for quite a few minutes before flying off.  It was a small, blue kookaburra.

Today I had an hour or two to spare and went out looking to see if I could find him or her again. It began to rain heavily, again. I sat under a large pine tree to wait until the rain passed. The birds were not waiting. Swallows, ducks, swamp hens and cormorants were all enjoying the rain. And there was the little blue kingfisher, sitting quietly looking at me. Lovely!

So what kind of kingfisher is it?   I could not see this bird very clearly but I think this might be a Sacred Kingfisher. At first I thought it was an Azure Kingfisher which has a striking blue, ultra marine coloured back with buff underparts. This one has a pale chest and has a white collar which extends all around the neck.  So I think Sacred Kingfisher,  Halcyon Sancta. 

The name?  Halcyon  was a mythical bird said by ancient writers to breed in a nest floating at sea at the winter solstice, charming the wind and waves into calm And sancta, of course means saint. What a lovely name for a lovely bird 

Red-browed Finch

Red-browed Finch or Red-browed Firetail

These birds are listed as being common to the eastern coast of Australia, and the adjacent ranges, but I do not see them very often around Kilmore.


This pair were feeding on the tee off mound for the final hole on the Kilmore Golf Course the other day. I was able to get quite close to them, they did not seem to be concerned about me at all, very sociable.  


Finches of course, are seed eaters, just look at the beaks. They feed on  ripe or ripening grass seed which they pick from the ground or from the  stalks. That is certainly what this pair were doing on this day. Perhaps the course curators had spread some grass seed on the tee-off area.  My reading tells me they also  need a regular supply of water. So if you are thirsty and lost in dry country, look out for finches. They are a good sign of water.

These have the scientific name Neochmia temporalis but have also been known as Aegintha temporalis. Temporalis comes from the Latin for temple; that makes sense. Neochmia and Aegintha? I am still looking for a meaning. Both sound like Latin to me, neo,  new?  Aeg...,  something to do with silver perhaps. Aah, they are related to silver eyes, perhaps that is a connection. I'll update the information if and when I find it.

Wood Ducks & Porphyry Swamp Hens

SPRING GROWTH

Wood Duck Parents and Children

There are lots of young birds about at this time.

It is difficult to see those that are tucked away in tree hollows, those hidden in thick clumps of gorse, those in mud nests under the eaves of sheds or those perched in stick nests at the top of a telephone tower.

The water bird babies are a lot more obvious. Within a short time of hatching they are out on the water or scrambling about the reed beds.

I spent a pleasant half hour watching three (three?) purple moorhens (Porphyrio porphyrio) feeding chicks in their nest of reeds. There are many of these beautiful swamp hens on the Kilmore Hospital reservoir. I have always called the porphyry moor hens but I think I might have my terminology mixed up a little. Swamphen seems to be the name in my books. The moorhen name seems to belong to the dusky moorhen, a similar but not quite so brightly coloured bird.

The porphyry name, of course, comes from the beautiful purple coloured igneous rock that has been used for centuries in building and sculpture. There is a beautiful sculpture outside St Mark's Basilica in Venice of the Four Tetrarchs carved from porphory.  The term Greek word porphyry means purple, the color of royalty. The 'royalty' of the Catholic Church, the cardinals, of course wear purple or porphyry.

And here we have such a beautiful bird, all clothed in royal purple. I was a little surprised to see at least three birds busy around the nest and all were feeding the young. Upon doing some reading, I found the following comment about the dusky moorhen.  " During breeding season, the Dusky Moorhen forms breeding groups of two to seven birds, with all members defending territory, building nests and looking after young."  (http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Gallinula-tenebrosa). 

Little Black Cormorants

A WET WEEK IN SEPTEMBER

KIlmore sits just to the north of the remnants of the Great Dividing Range. Pretty Sally, a hill supposedly named after the proprietor of an early inn, and about eight kilometres from the town, is just 529 metres tall. Monument Hill, adjacent to the town, is a little over 460 metres tall. The Kilmore Creek, running through the centre of the town is 380 metres above sea level at the southern end of the town and about 330 metres at the northern end.

Because we are very close to the top of the Dividing Range, this is a relatively small area for the collection of water after heavy a downfall. Some of the water runs into Dry Creek to the East of KIlmore and some ends up in the Kilmore Creek. These waterways join the Goulburn River and eventually join the Murray River.  So with a small collection area and a good slope, we rarely have a problem with too much water. Just sometimes,

But it has been wet. Our creeks have, for a short time, looked like creeks. It was great to see the water flowing, flushing the accumulated rubbish away. Very often Kilmore Creek resembles a  drain running behind the main street.  In 1884, the journalist naming himself 'The Vagabond', writing in the Argus  talked of the Cloaca Maxima of Kilmore. The Cloaca Maxima was of course the 6th century BCE sewer system of ancient Rome.

But this week our creek was a real creek.





I found some new visitors to our area. Perhaps they like the wet countryside.

 Three Little Black Cormorants ( Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) were sitting in the little sun that was shining through the cloud. I haven't seen them here before. As children we  called them 'shags'  and 'cormorants' .I do remember my Leaving Certificate (Year 11) teacher growling that at my friend. Damian was sitting next to a sunny classroom window and couldn't give the  mathematical formulae for exponential growth. You are  'like a shag on a rock', said Brother Michael.  I assume the reverend brother was referring to the bird's habit of sitting asleep in the sunshine. Poor Damien, he was called 'Shag' for a long time afterwards.

The name sulcirostrisis is from the Latin words sulcus "groove", and rostrum "bill". Phalacrocorax  is thought to come from the Greek word for bald, referring to a whitish face patch on some species. 

Buff-rumped Thornbills

  Buff-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza reguloides)

These tiny little birds are very hard to catch sitting still. They are constantly on the move, from the ground to small shrubs and trees. It is obvious they are around because they call constantly as they move from place to place abd branch to branch. They continue to call as they search for food,  'sipp, sipp, sipp'.

People in some regions know these  as Little Thornbills. Not surprising they are such tiny birds, no bigger than a mouse in the body, yet their highly pitched voices can be heard over quite a distance.




They are very pretty, when you can actually get a good glimpse of them. They seem to be a brighter yellow at the moment, more so than when I followed them earlier in the year. They look quite distinguished with their white ringed dark eyes, speckled faces over yellow breasts and underparts and black feet and beaks.

Usually I see them groups of four or five, but sometimes they forage in pairs. Whilst they do not seem timid or overly cautious, they usually manage to keep just out of camera range. If I move toward,  trying to focus on them amongst the twigs and branches of shrubs, they move off a little way. I move forward again, and they move on some more. We do this dance three or four times, until they get sick of the game and flitter off into the distance.




This little fellow, or lass, sat for quite a while on a branch, singing away; in a voice not the usual 'chip, chip,' or 'sipp, sipp, sipp'.

Spring Kilmore

Something Is Moving In the Land

After a few wet and cold weeks, we are seeing glimpses of Spring. We have patches of bright  and warm sunshine interspersed amongst the cold squalls. I was standing in bright sunshine just a few hours ago whilst hail stones were hitting my bald head.







Just this week, all of a sudden,  the flowers are beginning to bloom. There are many Early-Nancy, far more than we usually have. They are called Early-Nancy for an obvious reason, one of the first flowers of Spring. Good rainfall this year seems to have helped them along. The botanical name of these small pinky white flowersw is Wurmbea dioica. 


 I love botanical names, they contain so much information. According to Michael Bedingfield,

 (http://step.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Wurmbea-dioica-Early-Nancy.pdf  writing in the Friends of the Grassland Newsletter 2003)  F. Van Wurmb was a Dutch merchant and amateur
botanist who lived in Java, Indonesia in the 18th century. And the word dioica is a Greek word for two houses. This is referring to the male and female flowers which occur on the plants. They usually occur on different plants but I am sure I have seen them on a single plant.

It is quite easy to see the difference between the flowers, the female flowers have oval shaped fruit. Sometimes there are a few bisexual flowers in the inflorescence. The different flowers can be seen in the pictures.



I saw my first Green-hood orchid out, and there are many more on the way.



 I found a small hovea, just the one at this stage, and patches of clematis.



I think it was Edna Walling who, when speaking of gardening, talked of the enormous pleasure in anticipating. what is to come. There is so much to look forward to in the coming weeks.

What a waste of time to walk around a golf course when we can walk in the bush.








 

Gorse Mite

Mite (Gorse) Tetranychus lintearius

I was out walking along the Dry Creek at Kilmore East today. It generally is a dry creek but after the recent rains, there is now a string of waterholes which follow the creek line.

The area is a mixture of farming land with a large area given over to blue gums. Between the train line and the blue gums runs the creek. It is a narrow corridor of black and other wattles, furze bushes, chinese scrub  and small eucalypts.

The wattle are blooming at present as are the furze bushes.

The furze, or gorse bushes are covered in masses of what looks like dense spider webs. However there are no spiders. It looks quite beautiful, like Christmas snow on conifers. When I look closer I can see a red stain through parts of this. More closely I can see what looks like red saw dust, very fine.

It's time to look at my references. I'll let the Friends Of Te Henui, New Zealand tell you all about it. You can read the whole story at their wonderfully detailed site.  http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/spiders/gorse-spider-mite.html

Photo by Friends of Te Henui  

Mite (Gorse) Tetranychus lintearius

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Subclass: Acari
Superorder: Acariformes
Order: Prostigmata
Family: Tetranychidae
Genus: Tetranychus
Species: T. lintearius
Binomial name: Tetranychus lintearius
Common Name : Gorse spider mite

Tetranychus lintearius is a species of spider mite known as the gorse spider mite. It was imported from England 1988 as an agent of biological pest control on common gorse, a noxious weed. The adult mite is half a millimetre long and bright red. It lives in colonies in a shelter of spun silk spanning many branch tips. Infested plants are easily identifiable by these cobweb-like sheets of silk, which can grow quite large. The female lays one to four eggs per day during her three- to four-week adult lifespan. The tiny nymph is small enough to disperse on the wind during its first stage. Those that stay behind populate the colony as it expands. This mite is native to Europe, where it does more damage to the plant than any other organism. The mite appears to be host-specific; it does not attack any other plants. The adult and nymph damage the plant by piercing its tissues during feeding. Heavy mite activity reduces flowering and can stunt the development of the branches but does not kill the plant. 

Photo by Friends of Te Henui

Eastern Spine-bill & Red Wattlebird

SOME LIFE AFTER WINTERY DAYS

It has been very damp and dark for the last few weeks in Kilmore. It has been hard to get out and see what is happening. The few times I have been out, everything seems to be dampened by the cool and misty air. When it has stopped drizzling, the moisture just continues to drip, drip, drip from the air, like a kitchen squeegee dripping into a sink.

Today there was some beautiful winter sunshine as the day went on and the temperatures rose a little. There were some pretty visitors to the grevillea bushes in my garden.


The Eastern Spine-bill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) was there first.

Strange name. Acanthus is a green plant with a spiny shaped leaves. Maybe that is a connection. Ryhnchus, as in ornithorhyncus, the duck-billed platypus,or perhaps more literally, bird billed platypus (ornith). Thus spine-bill. And the Specific name Tenuirostris, Wikipedia tells me is made up of the Latin word for narrow, tenuis  and rostris meaning a beak like projection. There you have it, Spine-bill, Spine-bill. Such a good name, they used it twice.

Anyway the Spine-bill was there, happily among the grevillea flowers, paying very little attention to me. As soon as the wattle bird arrived, the other was gone like a flash. These red-wattled birds are very aggressive and very noisy. There are so many of them around this part of Victoria, many other birds struggle to be free of their unwanted attention. (Anthochaera carunculata). The  genus name means flower lover and the species name carunculata is from the Latin word for a small piece of meat, which I assume relates to the small red wattles. 

The wattle bird sat on a tree sedately on a tree branch for a few moments and then, called by his relatives, flew off. The Spine-bill immediately emerged from wherever he or she had been hiding and,  afraid no longer, continued feeding.

Wood Ducks

NESTING TIME  Australian Wood Ducks 

There are many wood ducks (Chenonetta jubata) preparing and settling on their nests at the moment.
They are sometimes called a maned duck or maned goose, although they are of course, a true duck,  often found around damp farmlands, urban parks, coastal inlets and woodlands.


Around Kilmore they can often be seen around the sewerage ponds of Willowmavin, to the west of the town. They do seem to prefer to hunt for food on land so are often seen around dams and are common around the urban areas where there are lakes and waterways.

 

They nest in tree hollows. The pair pictured were busy inspecting the hollow in the tree they perched upon. At first he male sat above whilst the female had a good look. They then changed places so the female could have a look. I could almost hear him asking, "Is this one all right dear?" He probably was asking just that; sounding just like a long suffering husband. It is thought that these ducks mate for life, so that might explain the attitude.

The male and female are very similar, both with a striking mottled breast. The female mottling seems to be more  marked than that on the male . The female also has white stripes above and below her eyes.

Superb Fairy Wrens

 SUPERB BLUE WRENS COMING OUT OF WINTER

Like most of southern Victoria, the weather in Kilmore this week has been wet and very cold. While traveling to Melbourne on the train yesterday, I could see see snow on the slopes of the Old Sydney Road south of Wallan.

With just a little sun,  the small birds come out to forage.

These Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) – were in amongst the dried out furze and wattle saplings at Kilmore East, up and down between the ground and the scrub, searching for small insects. Research has suggested that ants and shield bugs make up a large proportion of the wrens' food intake.  

I assume these to be young males, born last season and just beginning to show some colour. The vivid blue breeding colours come after their first year.

 

Hedge Wattle

Acacia Paradoxa, (Hedge Wattle, Prickly Wattle, Kangaroo Thorn)

Something's Coming..

It makes me a little cross when I hear people say, "Isn't it a dreadful day!" Sometimes this is said when it is cold and wet. Sometime this is said when it is hot, when it is windy, humid, dry, foggy or anything other than a mild spring day.

My father-in-law used to start a conversation with the words, "It's a great day!" Such a lovely expression.

Ants on Black Wattle

Acacia Ring-In ??

It was a great day yesterday in Kilmore, a real Irish day, with water dripping from the air and from the trees. The air was still and crisply cool and there was plenty of mud under my feet. Already there was a scent of wattle blossom in the air. I had to look hard to find a few early blooms. Even then I could not identify what it was. I think it was a ring-in from a tree planting day a few years ago.

Blackwood Wattle with caterpillar & psyllid

But there were many trees full of buds, ready to burst open. 

Acacia Pycnantha, Golden Wattle (?)

One of the great pleasure of the bush, and of gardens, is the promise of things to come. On the bleakest of days, there are always signs of growth, flowering, fruiting, seeding and germinating. The wattles are almost ready.

It is only the second week of July, but such a promise of Spring. What a great day!

Blackwood Wattle last season's seeds ready to drop.

"Hey it’s July and the winter sun is shining
And the Cootamundra wattle is my friend
For all at once my childhood never left me
‘Cause wattle blossoms bring it back again" 
(John Williamson)

 

Tree Creepers

Tree Creepers

I saw these tree creepers behind the Kilmore Cricket Club the other day, feeding upon insects under the bark of a very dead tree.

They are  little hard to tell apart from the sitellas. They are a little larger and in this case, the orange spot on the neck or cheek tells me that this is a White-Throated Tree Creeper. (Climacteris Leucophaea) 

You can sometimes pick them out as they make their way up tree trunks as they feed. That seems to be peculiar to these little birds. These were certainly very intent on their hunting and I was able to get quite close.

Grey - Brown Robin .. Jacky Winter

Out Of The Fog

Kilmore has had several days of 'misty moisty weather.' That's how Doctor Foster from Gloucester might describe it. On Tuesday the fog did not lift at all, the moisture dripped out of the air all day. It was a real old fashioned Kilmore winter day.

Old Man Kookaburra

Yesterday was just a little better. I moved down the hill to the arboretum at Kilmore East. The arboretum which has, over the last few years, been planted out with a large number of locally sourced trees and shrubs, also contains a few old pine trees, many black and silver wattles, and a variety of eucalyptus trees. There is also much chinese scrub, Cassinia arcuata, growing amongst the trees and on the open ground.

 There was some movement amongst trees, little birds flittered about on the grass and up and down tree trunks. These small birds are so hard to catch on camera. They move far  too  quickly. 

 one bird sat and posed for me.This poor old kookaburra looks a little weather-worn, but he likes sitting on this post. No matter what time of day or night I go past, he is there. He sits and watches all the goings on of Kilmore East. The people of this small community are lucky to have such a beautiful bird watching over them.

I watched this bird for quite a while. It was up and down the tree branches and on the ground collecting grubs.

At first I was a little unsure of just who he or she is.
Perhaps she is a hooded robin. The colour seems to be right and my very old Gould League book number 7, describes the robins as liking  'wattle savannah' country. That also seems to be right. The male is much more black and white than the female's grey and white.

Grey-Brown Fly-Catcher

Is she, or he a Brown Fly-catcher?  My books say she, or he, should have a white eyebrow. I can't see it. And this bird does seem very grey for a brown flycatcher. However the Strath Creek Landcare Group have published a fine little booklet Birds of the Lower King Parrot Creek and it describes the Grey-Brown Flycatcher, Jacky Winter. That seems more like this little bird. The publication says, 'It often hovers and takes insects in flight before returning to a low perch, twitching its white-edged tail from side to side.


I think that is who he or she is, Jacky Winter, a Grey-Brown Robin.

Grey Kangaroos

Kangaroos

About a dozen or so years ago, we had some visitors from Sussex in England to visit. Like most tourists to Australia, they wanted to see some kangaroos in the wild. "We could organize that! Easy."

We set off about 5.30 in the afternoon towards Tooborac and just after Pyalong turned into Paddy's Dam Road. We drove for about fifteen minutes until we came to some open paddocks, bordering on the Pukapunyal army land and waited. No kangaroos that night. When it became too dark to see, we came home.

Our visitors were very disappointed. So at about 6.00 in the morning we set off to Paddy's Dam Road once again. This time we were successful. Across a bit of a gully, about one hundred and fifty yards away we could see a few grey lumps against the sparse green grass. They did move, a little; but they really were kangaroos. Our visitors were happy.

Oh how things have changed. A few weeks ago, I had a friend from Namibia out to visit. Eino is a tall, dark member of the Oshiwambo community. He was in Melbourne completing his Masters degree in Education. As well as being a wonderful leader in the Namibian education system, Eino is also a farmer. He and his family farm long horned African cattle in the desert country along the Angolan border. In this country there are giraffes, lions, zebras, wildebeests, rhinoceros, and all the other large African animals we hear about. The farmers in this area complain of broken fences, dead livestock, trampled crops and dangerous meetings on bush tracks. Look up Etosha on Google and you will see the Oshiwambo country.


Well, despite all those wondrous animals in his own country, all Eino wanted was to see kangaroos. "We could organize that! Easy. There are plenty in the Monument Hill area"


Our home is adjacent to the golf course. It is  suburban Kilmore, close to the Monument Hill Reserve. We sat down to a bit of lunch before our walk to look for these famous kangaroos. As we ate, Eino was looking  out of a window. He jumped excitedly and said "Look!Look!Look". Sitting on our lawn were half a dozen young grey kangaroos, looking at us through he window as they grazed.

We did go for a walk later. Kangaroos, kangaroos, they are everywhere. Our Monument Hill is full of them. They are in the town, on the main road  and along the creek. One morning I had to chase a kangaroo out of a school yard so the children could go out to play. They are becoming a real problem for some people; for walkers, for dog owners, horse riders and to cars. I  heard  story the other day of a cyclist being knocked off his bike by a kangaroo.

But at the same time we must remember how lucky to have so much of our wildlife around us. Many people in other countries, only get to see their native animals in zoos. We do live in beautiful land. Let's do all we can to keep it that way

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