Black-headed Honeyeaters and Nankeen Night-herons

1.  Black-headed Honeyeater

Black-headed Honeyeaters are only found on the island state of Tasmania, including the Bass strait islands. Although named honeyeaters, their diet includes fruit and insects as well as nectar. Here you can see them bathing in a tree hollow. Other birds were later seen drinking from this same hole.

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2. Nankeen Night-heron

Here we have two adult Nankeen Night Herons  (Nycticorax caledonicus)  as well as an immature bird. They are also know as the Rufous night-heron. They feed mostly at night but they are occasionally active by day.

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Of Birds and Bugs

1.  A Plethora of Herons

This flock of White-faced herons (Egretta novaehollandiae) were feeding on small fish during low tide at the Tamar Wetlands near Launceston, Tasmania. There were eighteen in all.

(Click the play button to watch the video)

2. The First Crusader Bug

This is the first Crusader Bug (Mictis profana) that I've seen in Tasmaia. This is not surprising as they were not supposed to be here at all.  While quite common on the mainland, until recently,  it had not been found  here in Tasmania. 

Unfortunately this one flew off before I could get much footage and so the lighting on some of the shots is not the best.

You can read more about this bug being found in Tasmania in the following news article:
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4470572/public-asked-for-help-tracking-crusaders/

(Click the play button to watch the video)

3. The Darkling Beetle

Way up in the far reaches of the backyard there is an old rotten tree stump which is home to a species of Darkling beetle. Of course there are many species of Darkling beetle but I believe these to be Meneristes australis. The larvae of these beetles are known as false wireworms. Now if you want to know the difference between a wireworm and a false wireworm then you will have to refer to old blog post of mine from 2008.
Here is the link:
http://tasnature.blogspot.com.au/2008/09/wireworms.html

(Click the play button to watch the video)

Thank You!

Since September I've gone from about 12 subscribers on my YouTube channel to over 250. Thank you all very much for your support and encouragement. If you have not yet subscribed please consider doing so, as not all of my videos appear on this blog. If you are logged in with your google account you simply need to use the YouTube/Subscribe button below.



I hope you enjoy the videos.

 Click the button below to subscribe to my YouTube Channel

Linked to Saturday's Critters