Forester Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus tasmaniensis)

A small video showing a mob of Forester Kangaroos  (Macropus giganteus tasmaniensis) at Narawntapu National Park in Tasmania. I counted over 80 kangaroos in the Springlawn area on Monday.

The Forester is the Tasmanian subspecies of the Eastern Grey Kangaroo. (Skippy the bush kangaroo was a female Eastern Grey) Males can weigh over 60kg and when standing upright can be 2m tall. (over 6 feet) This makes them the worlds second largest marsupial after the Red Kangaroo.

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Linked to Saturday's Critters

Wildlife Watching at Narawntapu National Park

On Monday we enjoyed a day  out at Narawntapu National Park. The highlight of the day for me came just as we were leaving. There is a small ephemeral body of water that comes quite close to the road. We stopped to make a final scan, with binoculars, across the water and surrounding field.  Sure enough there were several species I had not already seen that day. Great egret, Australasian pipit, Flame robin, White-fronted chat, and two Black-fronted dotterels. The dotterels were foraging along the edge of the water and gradually making there way around to where we were parked. I've been trying to get a reasonable photo of these birds for a long time so this was my big chance. I was quite happy with the results:

 

 

Black-fronted dotterels

Other highlights included seeing 74 Forester Kangaroos; the most I have ever seen there. There were the usual Bennett's wallabies, and Tasmanian pademelons. We only spotted one Wombat. Some years ago I remember counting over 80 wombats within just a couple of kilometres but, sadly, the population has been decimated by mange. Five mammal species in all if I include the European rabbit.  All but the rabbit can be seen in the following video.

There were not a lot of birds present at the hide apart from four rather entertaining Musk ducks. One just wanted to spin around in circles on the water while trying to doze.

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Linked with Wild Bird Wednesday

Striated Fieldwren

... and a Penguin Story (below the photos)

The Striated Fieldwren (Calamanthus fuliginosus) could easily be dismissed as just another little brown bird, but, on closer inspection,  it is seen to be beautifully marked and full of character.  Getting a good view through the binoculars is always a special moment. Getting a half decent photograph to capture those moments has always proven to be more difficult. I have plenty of shots of blurry flying objects and tails sticking out of bushes etc. 

There are two places where I can usually be sure to find these birds. The coastal heath at Rocky Cape and the heathland around Ronny Creek (near Cradle Mountain). Last week I was at Rocky Cape and after a bit of a picnic lunch at Burgess Cove my attention turned to the birds. The funny thing is, I was patiently scanning the area with the 'noccies  when a family member, in excited and not so quiet whispers,  pointed out the Striated Fieldwren perched on a bush directly behind me.  It turned out there was actually a pair of them. I fired off a couple of over exposed shots while the birds went about their business, flying low over the heath, moving from shrub to shrub.  Fortunately they were still fairly close and about a dozen shots later I came up with the two you see below. After years of trying, persistence and patience paid off.

Striated Fieldwren - Calamanthus fuliginosus

Striated Fieldwren - Calamanthus fuliginosus

Coastal Heath at Rocky Cape (Table Cape in the distance)

On a different subject, you can see the entrance to a cave in the middle of the large rock outcrop. That's North Cave. It's an old sea cave formed at a time of higher sea levels. It's about 6 metres in height and around 60 meters deep. You're not allowed in there these days as it contains archaeological remains of aboriginal occupation (middens, etc). However, 28 years ago (Aug. 1987) I did venture down to the very back of the cave where I found a lone Fairy Penguin (Eudyptula minor) in residence. It thus stands as the biggest penguin burrow I've ever found :-)

Linked to Wild Bird Wednesday

Ferns Along Seabrook Creek

...at the Frenchs Road Nature Reserve.

Anyone interested in ferns would thoroughly enjoy visiting the Frenchs Road Nature Reserve. The site consists of 34  hectares of remnant forest along Seabrook Creek, not far from Somerset and Wynyard in Tasmania.

Quoting from the sites information brochure:

The native vegetation of the Reserve is predominately of two types:

•  Dry Stringybark (Eucalyptus obliqua) forest on the drier and low nutrient slopes with Tea Tree and Wattle.  
• Wet (Stringybark ) forest in the lower areas and along the creek (riparian zone). This wet forest understorey consists of majestic tree ferns with epiphytic ferns, tall blackwoods (Acacia melanoxylon) Tasmanian Pepper and the occasional Sassafras and Myrtle-Beach.

The purpose of my visit was simple. No, not ferns. Birds! I was particularly looking for Pink Robin and Scrubtit.  Unfortunately the birds had other plans for the day. There were plenty to be heard but very few to be seen aside from a Grey Fantail, a Superb Fairy-wren, and a Brown Thornbill. Honestly, that was it! I see a greater variety of birds in the town centre. Next time I'll have to go a little  earlier in the day, when the birds are more active.

Watch the video and listen to the invisible birds :-)

Despite the lack of avian accompaniment I still enjoyed my short walk along the damp and ferny banks of Seabrook Creek. Since the birds refused to co-operate, my attention soon moved on to the ferns  (they can't hide). I came home with several photographs needing to be identified. While reading Gouldiae's Blog recently I was motivated to learn a little more about our local ferns and this was an opportunity to get started. Currently my only reference on the subject is a small book with black and white photos from 1975. Unfortunately that book is temporarily packed away in storage so I resorted to the Internet to identify them. Feel free to offer corrections :-)

Kangaroo Fern - Microsorum pustulatum

Fishbone Water-Fern - Blechnum nudum

Scrambling Coral Fern - Gleichenia microphylla

Bat's wing fern - Histiopteris incisa

Manfern or Soft Tree Fern  lining the bank - Dicksonia antarctica

For a "A Closer Look at at a Fern", click here.

Linked to Our World Tuesday

Waterfalls

Pencil Pine Falls are just a couple of minutes walk from the main office at Cradle Mountain National Park. I stopped for a photo last Wednesday on the way through.

(Click to enlarge)

Pencil Pine Falls

The photo below was taken in 2007 and show a better flow of water.

Pencil Pines Falls in 2007

From the road, you can get a nice shot of the Cascades. Also from the north side of the river there is a track that will take to Knivet Falls. I didn't have time to visit them on Wednesday but I've included some earlier photos.

Pencil Pine Cascades

Knivet Falls

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The Wombat Pool

My last post was on Lake Lilla. A little further up hill from here you will find a glacial tarn known as the Wombat Pool. Ancient Pencil Pines (Athrotaxis laxifolia) reflecting in the still clear water makes for a very picturesque scene. The six photos below are my futile attempt to capture the beauty of this place.

(Click to enlarge)

#1 Pencil Pine Reflections

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6 Looking north from the Wombat Pool

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Lake Lilla

Lake Lilla was named in 1905 by photographer Stephen Spurling in honour of his sister. It is one of many glacial lakes in the Cradle Mountain National Park and is only a short walk from the Dove Lake car park.

(Click to enlarge)

Lake Lilla - You can just see Dove Lake in the distance

Lilla creek flowing out of the lake. Cradle mountain in the background.

Lilla creek flowing out of the lake. Marion's Peak in the background and Cradle mountain in distance.

Lilla Creek

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A Visit to the Tamar Island Wetlands Reserve

I recently visited the Tamar Island Wetlands Reserve just north of Launceston. The Tamar Estuary at 70km in length is said to be the largest in Australia and it drains Tasmania's largest catchment area which covers 18% of the state. The reserve itself protects around 60 hectares of mud flats, reeds beds, coastal paperbark forest and small islands.

Some of our small party were a little less enthusiastic about entering because as soon as we got out of the car they spied a snake slithering off the path and into the reeds. Unfortunately I missed seeing it. It was likely to be a Lowland copperhead, Austrelaps superbusas, as that is the only snake that has been recorded in the reserve.

Between the entrance and the interpretation centre you pass through an area of freshwater lagoon. Apparently this is a good place for spotting the rare Green and Gold Frog, Litoria raniformis. On sunnier days they sit basking on the bank but we "dipped out" as it seems the frogs had "dipped in". The photo below is of a captive specimen.

Green and Gold Frog - Litoria raniformis

The interpretation centre has a lot of information on the wetlands ecology and also has a spotting scope set up for watching the birds.

Interpretation Centre

About half a kilometre down the boardwalk there is a side track that takes you through some coastal paperbark forest and then to a small bird hide.



Along the main boardwalk you pass though large areas of reed beds (Phragmites australis) where I spotted a Little Grassbird, Megalurus gramineus.

Reed Beds

There are three species of skink in the reserve. Along the boardwalks we spotted two metallic skinks, Niveoscincus metallicus, and also the rare Glossy Grass Skink, Pseudemoia rawlinsoni. This species is found in other parts of south-eastern Australia too but it is rare here in Tasmania only being known from a few sites mostly in the Launceston area.

Glossy Grass Skink - Pseudemoia rawlinsoni

You also cross over a series of bridges spanning drainage channels. At low tide these areas reveal extensive mud flats.

Bridge

Drainage Channel

Some of the 53 Black Swans, Cygnus atratus, we saw at the reserve

Great Egret - Ardea modesta

Black-fronted Dotterel - Elseyornis melanops


Juvenile Welcome Swallow - Hirundo neoxena at the side of the boardwalk
(Only about 60cm from lens)

At the end of the walk you cross over to Tamar Island (1.5kms from the entrance). The island has a long history of European occupation and is dominated by exotic trees and shrubs. The birds I saw here were, not surprisingly, mostly introduced species such as Greenfinch and Goldfinch but there were also some natives like Silvereyes, Zosterops lateralis and Superb Fairtywrens, Malurus cyaneus.

This was a fairly rushed trip and much of the time was spent covering the area as opposed to sitting and watching for birds. We only saw 22 of of the 63 birds that have been recorded there. My intention was mostly to spy out the land to see if it was worth visiting. The answer was an emphatic yes.

List of birds seen:

Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)
Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides)
Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa)
Australasian Shoveler (Anas rhynchotis)
Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea)
Eastern Great Egret (Ardea modesta)
White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae)
Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans)
Eastern Australian Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus)
Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)
Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)
Black-fronted Dotterel (Elseyornis melanops)
Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)
Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus)
Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)
Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus tasmanicus)
Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
Little Grassbird (Megalurus gramineus)
Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
European Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

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Narawntapu Marsupials

Yesterday we took an overseas visitor to Narawntapu National Park. She was quite impressed with the local wildlife, particularly the close encounters with the wombats.

(Click to enlarge photos)

Wombat Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis

This is a Tasmanian subspecies of the Common Wombat. There is also another subspecies, Vombatus ursinus ursinus, which is found on Flinders Island.

Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus)

This is the Tasmanian subspecies of the mainland Red-necked Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus banksianus). Bennetts wallabies are a little smaller and have longer fur.

Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii)

This species is extinct on the mainland.

Forester Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus tasmaniensis )

The Forester kangaroos were keeping their distance as usual. These are the Tasmanian subspecies of the mainland "Eastern Grey" kangaroo and are listed as a threatened Species. There was a mob of 10 at the western end of the Springlawn area.

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Musk Ducks - a-splishin' and a splashin'

Biziura lobata

We took advantage of yesterdays public holiday to visit Narawntapu National Park. While most of the time was spent enjoying a BBQ and the beach we still managed to see 30 species of bird (see list below), as well as the usual kangaroos, pademelons, and wombats. A little outside the park area, we also saw an echidna. While there, we payed a visit to the lagoon bird hide. The lagoon itself is looking healthy with the water level the highest I've seen in in my limited three years of visiting this site.

The highlight for the day was having 3 male Musk ducks displaying right in front of the hide. So close in fact that I had to wait for them to move further out so I could focus on them with my camera. We also spotted one female.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Musk Duck (Male)

Splish Splash, I was takin' a bath
Long about a saturday night, yeah

Musk Duck (Female)

Rub-a-dub, just relaxin' in the tub
Thinkin' everything was alright

Male displaying
Yes, I was a-splishin' and a splashin'
I was a-rollin' and a-strollin'
Yeah, I was a-movin' and a-groovin'...woo!

Male displaying

We was a-reelin' with the feelin'..ha!
We was a-rollin' and a-strollin'
Movin with the groovin'
Splish splash, yeah!

Male

Male - Detail of lobe

Below is a list of all 30 birds species seen at Narawntapu for the day:

1. Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)
2. Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides)
3. Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea)
4. Musk Duck (Biziura lobata)
5. White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae)
6. Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris)
7. Australasian Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo novaehollandiae)
8. Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax)
9. Tasmanian Nativehen (Tribonyx mortierii)
10. Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)
11. Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)
12. Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)
13. Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)
14. Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus)
15. Swift Tern (Thalasseus bergii)
16. Brush Bronzewing (Phaps elegans)
17. Green Rosella (Platycercus caledonicus)
18. Blue-winged Parrot (Neophema chrysostoma)
19. Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)
20. Little Wattlebird (Anthochaera chrysoptera)
21. Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla)
22. Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus)
23. Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa)
24. Satin Flycatcher (Myiagra cyanoleuca)
25. Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus tasmanicus)
26. Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
27. Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
28. Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
29. Common Blackbird (Turdus merula)
30. Beautiful Firetail (Stagonopleura bella)

* Song Lyrics above from Bobby Darin's, Spish Splash

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Orchids

... Henry Somerset Orchid Conservation Area

The Henry Somerset Orchid Reserve is located on the Railton Road south of Latrobe. It was opened on 27th November 1981 specifically to protect it's many orchids. There have been 43 species recorded in the reserve. After several visits over the last year or so I have managed to track down 6, so just 37 to go. This should give you an idea of my great skill at finding orchids :-)

Yesterday I walked through the reserve and photographed the following four species. I'm a little uncertain on the 'Trim Greenhood' ID so perhaps someone may be able to confirm or correct that one.

(Click Photos to Enlarge)

Small Gnat Orchid - Cyrtostylis reniformis


Small Gnat Orchid - Cyrtostylis reniformis

Mayfly Orchid - Acianthus caudatus

Mayfly Orchid - Acianthus caudatus

Mayfly Orchid - Acianthus caudatus

Nodding Greenhood - Pterostylis nutans

Trim Greenhood - Pterostylis concinna ?

More information on the reserve can be found here.

Location Map:

View Larger Map

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