2.10.26
Minnippi
On site at 6.15, another bright, clear, calm, sunny morning, pleasantly cool to start with warming up nicely and comfortably.
Bird-wise pretty average, the ‘highlight’ being 3 Australian Pipits on the Airfield and, actually hearing and identifying before seeing it, a Varied Triller along the cement track. (I have had some difficulty hearing this bird when others seem to pick it up on a regular basis, but this one I clearly heard). The Plumed Whistle Ducks appeared to have moved on, while 10 Wandering Whistle Ducks remained and an adult White-bellied Sea Eagle showed well before heading off into the distance.
Butterfly-wise very poor despite the perfect conditions – only a few Meadow Argus Junionia villida and 1 Evening Brown Melanitis leda.
Insects were a bit more ‘exciting’ – if that’s what floats yer boat.
I found 3 new Beetles and a new Fly and added a couple of new species to my site list. Everywhere very dry and needing some solid rain – with none on the forecast.
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| Aporocera speciosa |
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| Green Strip Leaf Beetle Calomela pallida |
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| White-cheeked Longicorn Ancita marginicollis |
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| Green Long-legged Fly Austrosciapus connexus |
5.10.26
Blacklighting JC Trotter
The evening promised to be warmer than the last couple of weeks so I arrived on site at 18.30. I walked in and dumped the Blacklighting gear and chair behind a tree and wandered on down the track towards the reservoir.
Using some ‘encouragement’ I got response from an unseen White-throated Nightjar. It wasn’t very far away, but I didn’t pursue it, reluctant to disturb it anymore than necessary. It called only twice and I didn’t hear it again during the next three hours I spent watching the Blacklight sheet. I tried a couple of other species but got no response from anything and heard nothing else apart from a single call from a distant Australian Boobook somewhere back towards the road.
So far as the Insects went – I had expected more – but then I always do. I keep wondering when it’s going to kick off?
It was a warm night, at least up until 21.00 when the irritating ‘small breeze’ brought a couple of shivers. It also spat rain for about 30 minutes early on, but it didn’t seem to dissuade the participants. There was an increase in the ‘small stuff’ activity compared to recent events, but any decent-sized Moths were pretty thin on the ground. However I did get 7 new Moth species, 3 new Beetles, a Planthopper and a Fly so I guess I shouldn’t really complain.
Some of my guests....
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| Brown Cockchafer Rhopaea magnicornis |
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| Cryptodus tasmannianus (I think - Beetles are often difficult to ID from photos) |
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| Heterallactis microchrysa (A bit on the small side, but hard to resist) |
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| White Antenna Wasp Moth Amata nigriceps |
And, just before I packed up the best Moth of the evening really...
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| Pink Leaf Moth Wingia lambertella |
On site at 6.15, a warm, cloudy, rather dull morning with some sunny spells and a gusting breeze.
Bird-wise not too exciting, although a Pied Stilt perched up and then flying around looking for another place to alight was my first in a long time at this site – it had gone by the time I got back to the lake via The Avenue. Two White-bellied Sea Eagles were perched up in the Cormorant Tree, obviously the original had brought a ‘friend’ and an Oriental Dollarbird called over the M1 track – as Mr P had reported a few days earlier. A single Spotless Crake on the island’s edge, also reported by Mr P, that ‘I would not have seen if I hadn’t been looking for it’ as the water level was up to the vegetation edge and no mud exposed. Two Little or Rufous Shrike Thrushes on the Airfield Track and a similar number of Varied Trillers basically completed the ‘nice-to-see’ part of the list, but weren’t exactly adrenaline-producing.
Butterflys were ordinary – a single Chequered Swallowtail Papilio demoleus, 2 Monarchs Danaus plexippus and a handful of Common Grass-blues Zizina labradus left me hoping this season turns out to be better than the previous two years.
A single young Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor sat up and 2 Macquarie/Eastern Short-necked Turtles Emydura macquarii and 3 very confiding Eastern Water Dragons Intellagama lesueurii lesueurii (nearly stood on them) hung out around the water’s edge.
A little bit more exciting on the Other Insect front with a new Katydid - Naskrecki's Bush Katydid Ozphyllum naskreckii although just a nymph, a new Phasmid - Australian Garden Mantis Orthodera ministralis – very small, a (new) True Weevil - Gasteroclisus immundus, also very small, and a caterpillar for a new Moth - Euphronarcha luxaria – what we used to call a stick caterpillar.
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| Naskrecki's Bush Katydid Ozphyllum naskreckii (nymph) |
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| Australian Garden Mantis Orthodera ministralis |
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| Gasteroclisus immundus |
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| Euphronarcha luxaria |
I also had an Assassin Bug - Gminatus wallengreni and a Broad-headed Bug - Riptortus abdominalis, both of which I had had before.
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| Gminatus wallengreni |
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| Riptortus abdominalis |
Certainly the pursuit of insects while maybe not quite as inspiring as birding, does help alleviate an otherwise mundane morning – and does give me hours of work in follow-up…..
9.10.26
Blacklighting Minnippi
Another warm evening potentially so – on site at 19.15.
It remained warm, but the activity was only luke-warm at best. I did end up with 18 species of Moth, 9 of them new, a Cicada, 2 Mantisfly sp, 1 new Beetle sp and, for the first time Blacklighting, 2 Spiders on the actual sheet, both new to me.
I gave it two hours, but headed home then as nothing was changing and most of the stuff, what there was of it, was small.
I neither heard nor saw any birds or mammals, apart from hearing what I assumed was a Grey-headed Flying Fox Pteropus poliocephalus.
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| Bag Shelter Moth Ochrogaster lunifer (Responsible for Processional caterpillars) |
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| Common Garbage-line Spider Cyclosa insulana (Terrible name, but a very widespread species across Europe and Asia) |
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| Cryptophasa flavolineata |
Mr D picked me up at 5.45, on site 30 minutes later – a bright, hot, sunny morning, everything very dry and a burn-off had been conducted along the first part of the track, extending back as far as the power line cutting. The smell of smoke still hung in the air and the resulting lack of almost any undergrowth limited the number of insects and birds in that section. Things did improve along the upper track and down the bitumen section and we had reasonable results.
Initially a male Cicadabird showed quite well, despite my description of the burn-off, along the first section of track. Other highlights included both Black-faced and Spectacled Monarch – halfway down the track to the Quarry. Two Channel-billed Cuckoo heard then one seen briefly, 4 White-breasted Wood Swallows on the power lines, 4 Apostlebirds at the Dam Overlook (1 juvenile and 3 adults) and 6 Brown Quail near the top of the Quarry Track.
Butterflys were not many – 3 or 4 Glasswings Acraea andromacha, a couple of Meadow Argus Junonia villida, similar Common Grass-blues Zizina labradus and Dainty Grass-blues Zizula hylax and one Monarch Danaus plexippus.
Breakfast after at West Vets.
11.10.26
Blacklighting Boombana, Mt Nebo
After dinner with my daughter and grandsons I hurried home, changed my gear and was on site at 20.00. It promised to be a warm, calm evening and my expectations were high – but a little apprehensive given my recent Blacklighting efforts and subsequent minor disappointments.
However, it was to be the best night so far of my Blacklighting events.
I set up the sheet and light tied down over the signage at the entrance to the Thylogale Track and it proved to be a stable and very accessible platform.
At first not much happened and I started to worry – but within the first 15 minutes things started to happen and continued in that vein for the next 4 hours. I did notice a slow down of sorts after 23.00, when the same species seemed to re-occur, either new individuals or the same ones returning?
I took 300 photos and ended up with:
45 Moth species – 34 new
4 Fly species – all new
8 Beetles – 7 new
1 new Cockroach
4 Planthoppers – 2 new.
And that was the ones I photographed, there were a lot of ‘smaller stuff’ – that I didn’t try to get on film and I may have overlooked a few other possible candidates. Taking very rough notes of the Moths I paid attention to I estimate I had at least 90 individuals - its always difficult to count the numbers because of their tendency to come and go and move around on the sheet - I would say this was a conservative estimate.
On a couple of occasions the sheet was actually shaking and vibrating as a couple of bigger moths made their presence known, but the settled down and sat quietly after a while.
I was very happy with the results and picked some of the photos to upload.
Bird-wise – there were at least 2, possibly 3, Australian Boobooks calling, one quite close at times, it seemed to be moving around, and I heard a single Marbled Frogmouth calling – just once and not in response to any encouragement.
Other than that it was pretty quiet and apart from a 2 meter Carpet Python Morelia spilota variegata I met on the drive back down the range and stopped to hoosh off the road there was nothing else to report.
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| Acosmeryx miskini (- a Hawkmoth sp, one of the big 'Sheet-shakers) |
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| Archichauliodes neoguttiferus (a Dobsonfly) |
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| Axiocteta oenoplex |
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| Black Spot Moth Epicoma melanospila |
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| Orange Cup Moth Pseudanapaea transvestita |
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| Chorodna strixaria (One of the other Sheet Shakers, this one on the timber, the other 3 on the sheet itself.) |
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| Common Gum Emerald Prasinocyma semicrocea |
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| Ethmia sphaerosticha |
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| Fallen Bark Looper Gastrophora henricaria (On the sheet patiently and I had to lift it off when I was closing down and it showed its underwing...) |
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| Fallen Bark Looper Gastrophora henricaria |
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| Geometer Moth Parepisparis excusata |
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| Green Lacewing Mallada signatus |
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| Guenee's Emerald Chlorocoma dichloraria (Hid on the back of the sign - I do have a soft spot for green Moths) |
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| Melanterius semiporcatus (A Wattle-seed Beetle, apparently) |
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| Pale Phrataria Phrataria replicataria |
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| Rhinochloris acutirostris - a Planthopper sp. |
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| Sericesthis geminata |
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| Southern Bracca Bracca matutinata |
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| Wilson's Grey Cyneoterpna wilsoni |
Being on grandfather duties I had the opportunity to visit this site again. It was a very warm morning with a relatively strong breeze gusting through. All in all it was pretty quiet – possibly due to the conditions and later than normal time, however, it was what it was.
I only counted 35 bird species – the wetland on the ‘right’ side of the road was completely dry and the lake looked fairly shallow with Salvinia once again encroaching which was disappointing.
I had 2 raptors – a Whistling Kite that drifted low over the road, talons hanging, and an adult White-bellied Sea Eagle.
I picked up a couple of Beetles and Planthoppers on the small eucalypts beside the road, adding Metallic Green Acacia Beetle Calomela ruficeps to my site list, and a couple of new plants. There were 5 or 6 Chequered Swallowtails flying around at the end of the road showing a surprising amount of yellow on their wings, but they had to be that species, although they threw me for a while and I didn’t manage to get any photos cause they never settled.
Other than that it was a bit average, but a nice short walk anyway.
