1.9.26
Minnippi
Another overcast, kinda grey morning, but, nevertheless, quite pleasant. I spent 4 hours on site – probably my longest expedition to Minnippi ever.
Mainly I went a bit wild with a new app Mr D had showed me on the weekend – SEEK by iNaturalist. It uses the phone camera to identify stuff while on location and so I let it loose on trees, shrubs, flowers and even grasses. Each species I identified I took photos – and spent another 4 hours at home later confirming ID and updating the photos and my databases – its all so anal, but I love it.
I ended up with 25 new plants for the site and 22 of them were new for my database – and I know I was only scratching the surface.
The app worked quite well apart from when it identified a Koala up a tree when there was obviously no Koala up the tree. It also, interestingly, came up, out of the blue, with Painted Buttonquail, White-throated Treecreeper and Yellow-footed Antechinus. I have no idea how or why it came up with any of those as I never heard the Buttonquail or Treecreeper – both extremely rare at Minnippi – and I really struggle to think an Antechinus would be there either. So, some salt needs to be taken with some of its suggestions, although, in all fairness, it did identify the plants etc correctly, the Katydid, a Moth caterpillar and the Fly – well they all corresponded in iNaturalist at home. I feel I’m walking round in circles here……...
(Mind you it might explain some of the crazy IDs offered in Ebird and similar databases....)
It was a new Katydid – the highlight of my morning actually. I have a soft spot for Katydids – the kind of ugly, beautiful cousin to Grasshoppers. This one was the Gumleaf Katydid Torbia viridissima and posed well for the camera.
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| Gumleaf Katydid Torbia viridissima |
I had a new Fly sp for my site list and a Mantid Lacewing Theristria discolor, a different species but similar to ones I had found while Blacklighting.
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| Theristria discolor |
Bird-wise it was much as usual with nothing really noteworthy – 51 species. I had 4 butterfly species – Black Jezebel Delias nigrina, Brown Ringlet Hypocysta metirius (3), Glasswing Acraea andromacha (2) and a Speckled Line-blue Catopyrops florinda – whether this increase in numbers was because I was on site later then usual or a sign of Spring had Sprung I couldn’t say.
3.9.26
Hemmant Rec Res W
On site at 6.30, a bright, warm Spring morning with a thin, smoky mist hanging over the ponds which quickly cleared in the rising sun.
Bird-wise a bit on the quiet side, highlights included a Whistling Kite (the only raptor seen) on a nest above the third, largest pond and a male Mistletoebird that perched up very obligingly.
Mistletoebird (male)
I found a Brown Honeyeater’s nest very low down in a Brazilian Peppertree beside the track with 2 eggs.
Brown Honeyeater nest
Brown Honeyeater
I used the SEEK app again identifying more plants and recording them for my databases. The main scrapes were pretty dry with a few of the expected wader types (Pied Stilts, Black-fronted Dotterels and White-faced Herons) restricted to a couple of claypans still holding a little water. One can only hope for a little rain to offer a better habitat to arriving waders in the coming months.
Butterflys were restricted to the ever-present Monarch Danaus plexippus and I saw a few caterpillars hanging off the Balloonplants in the area.
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