Meet a new friend: my Northern Old Lady.

Queensland Lepidoptera: Northern Old Lady

2015 December 21; Sanctuary Cove, Queensland

My new friend allowed me to photograph "her" on the 21 Dec. "She" suddenly revealed herself when I began moving storage boxes in the garage that would eventually make there way into my vehicle. A quick and direct flight from one corner of the building to the next caught my peripheral vision and  butterfly sprang to mind. I chased it within the garage hoping to get a better glimpse of it. Each time it flew it dropped to the ground and immediately sought a dark location Every time I disturbed it,   it would madly flight about, drop to the ground or behind a box..in the dark. I just about gave up when it finely landed in the open on a duffle bag and with a couple of clicks you see the picture below. By this time, moth was rolling around in the memory banks and with a closer view a moth but which one.

So who do you call but my friend the Lep-Man, Bjǿrn Fjellstad, and below is what he wrote:

The moth is called Dasypodia cymatodes (Northern Old Lady [Moth] or Northern Brown House Moth) in the family Erebidae, sub-family Catocalinae (this is according to new classification). It’s a fairly common moth, but not often seen because it avoids any form of light. Even when I’m out light trapping, they hardly ever come to the light, but I can see them flying around in the outer edge of the light. During the day, they like to rest in very dark places, like tunnels, caves etc. and often one can find them in old public toilets (not the new ones with white walls) that don’t have a light. Once, a bit north of Rockhampton in a dark kind of a shelter, I came across probably more than 20 of them inside the shelter, sitting on the dark coloured walls.

Apologies to Neil Young but as I was writing this little ditty I could help but remember his words to The Old Laughing Lady:

You can't have a cupboard

If there ain't no wall

You got to move there's

no time to stall

They say the "Northern" old (Laughing) lady

dropped by to call

And when she leaves 

she leaves nothing at all

It is found in Queensland, NSW and Victoria  and has a wingspan  of approximately 80 mm. Caterpillars feed on Acacia sp and are yellow brown speckled with black. To confuse matters there is also a Southern Old Lady (D. selenophora) but where the division between these two subspecies lie  n this continent is unknown and open to speculation. So many mysteries yet to solve. 

Swan Upping on the Gold Coast

Banding Black Swans on the Gold Coast 

Dec 26 2015

Rainer Ebel, Sanctuary Cove, Qld.

Jon Coleman, Lucy Coleman and I checked numerous residential ponds (aka swan pond study area) from the Robina area north to Coombabah area which  generally lies between the Pacific Highway (M1) and the Gold Coast Highway near the Pacific Ocean (Coral Sea) to the East (See Map). I have repeated this drive with Jon (Principal; his study) and searched his swan ponds/lakes for swans a number of times in the past but frankly, him driving, the streets with its curves and numerous round-a-abouts still confuses and disorients me perhaps due to my inability to escape the influence of the Northern Hemisphere.

As it turned out today (6 hours driving and gawking)  we hand captured a ten swans, ringed, coloured marked (Darvic rings), and measured 7 cygnets and three adults. The technique can be viewed in the two photographs below. It is a bit tricky: grabbing a big bird by the wings or neck and then the body, is at first daunting to say the least.  Once in our possession they are straddled by the ringer and the tarsi are grabbed and held or tied together. At that point a stainless steel standard ABBBS band is placed on the left tarsus while the right receives the white lettering on red, an  individually unique engraved colour band . The combinations used can easily be read in the field by researchers or members of the public, without the need to recapture the bird. This band is the basis upon which detailed life histories and movement patterns of the individuals are built. 
The web, wing, radius bone length,  total head, bill length, bill width  is measured; the bird is weighed and then released. The entire possess takes approximately 4-5 minutes. From the biometrics it is possible to calculate  a body condition index for each individual,  survival rates, recruitment rates to the breeding population, and individual reproductive success.  

Gathering the flock at one of the many residential freshwater (or brackish in some instances)  ponds

Placing the stainless steel ABBBS  band requires brut strength. The Darvics  (red) will be next followed by measurements.  The swan is lying on its ventral side.

It is all about the food- the Bread- that brings them in. If they are conditioned to public feeding then these birds will arrive instantly from nowhere looking (begging?) for their treats. Those birds that stay back have little or no experience with "meals on feet" and appear uninterested or suspicious. We experienced this behaviour from swans on the Pines Golf course in Sanctuary Cove where feeding of swans is not practised.  However, some swans on the golf course ponds were occasionally attracted by our presences and were soon bejewelled.

Black Swans can breed in any month. Some, a small number may continually breed while others, the majority, may leave their freshwater breeding sites to mass with hundreds if not 1000s of other swans on  swallow saltwater bays, estuaries and inlets along the coast of Queensland. I also suspect these large numbered flocks

 may be roosting, feeding or socially iterating with other family groups before dispersing from saltwater regions to  elsewhere in Australia. In the two pictures above note the black dots in the background. The birds near the shore are shorebirds ( I can not recall which species we cannon netted at Toorbul in February 2013.  

Bird Banding at The Grand GC: 2015 Dec 23.

The Grand Golf Course Bird Banding Update for December 23, 2015

Licenced Banders: David Braithwaite, Stephen Macdonald, and Rainer Ebel

Guests: Rodney Cook

Location: The Grand Golf Course, 346 Gilson Road, Gilston QLD 4211: 28°0’54” S 153°18’2”E,  “Dumpsite Road”.

Temperature: 28-31°C; Cloud Cover: 50-95%; Net Operation: 07:30 to 12:00 = 4.5 hrs.

Number of nets:  11 (2m tall by 12m long, 32mm mesh) Number of net-hrs: 49.5 net-hrs. Birds/net-hrs (Effort): 0.10. Number of birds: 5 representing, 2 species.

Red-browed Finch 4; (3 returns) Silvereye 1; (return)

           

Definitions: When we discuss recaptures the terms repeat and returns are often used.  A bird banded at a site and is recaptured at the same site after 90 days is considered a return. A repeat is a recaptured bird banded at a site and, is recaptured at the same site within 90 days.  A foreign re-trap or recapture is a banded bird from an unknown location.

Returns:

Band No	Species	1st Date	2nd Capture Date	Min Age	Age/Sex
01A-65104	Red-browed Finch (RBFI)	2015 February 1	2015-Dec 23	10mths 23 days	2+/M
01A-65152	Silvereye (SILV)	2015- March-21	2015-Dec 23	8 m 18 d	2+/F
01A-65235	Red-browed Finch	2015- June -15	2015-Dec 23	6 m 6d	2+/M
01A-65249	Red-browed Finch	2015-July-15	2015-Dec 23	6m 6d	2+/F

 I am not sure how long lived these birds are but one thing for certain is that they were adults at the time of capture and are, in reality much older that indicated. Both the  RBFI and SILV female displayed a brood patch that suggested they were nearing the end of their breeding cycle for the year.  All birds are obviously resident although Silvereyes are known to migrate north after the breeding season.

Comment

Weather conditions were relatively hot and dry.  Forest floor litter abundant and the shrubs sparse- looking although hints of greening were present. Another major rainfall and I suspect that the vegetation will change as well as the bird diversity. Although the forest chatter was relatively quiet, the ratio of newly captures to recaptures (1:5) says it all.

  

Red-browed Finch

Other Observations

An additional 30 birds recorded while at our station and on the fairways. Only one Scarlet Honeyeater was heard this time whereas other species of honeyeaters where conspicuous by their absence. However, once the rains come we can expect an increase in flowering trees which (you guessed it) will attract a variety of honeyeaters to The Grand. 

PS: It is good to be back and to catch up with mates. I do thank David and Stephen for continuing the banding program at The Grand in my absence. 

THE COVE CORELLAS,

THE COVE CORELLAS, OUR LOVE TO HATE GOLFER BIRD

Rainer Ebel, The Parkway, Sanctuary Cove Qld

The central bird is a Long-billed Corella the others are the Short-billed form. Seeds
are extracted from the cones of Pinus elliottii by both species and provide necessary
calories as well as a number of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients.

Three corella forms exist for Australia; the Western form, as the name suggests, occurs in southwest corner of the continent.  The remaining two forms, Short-billed and Long-billed corella are found just about everywhere else including our east coast. At times, it appears that Sanctuary Cove habours the entire Australian population. Last year (2014) my best estimate was 5-7000 birds, a small 2-3000 drop from the previous year!

The difference between these species is not apparent from a distance but golfer close, the Long bill conspicuously sports more salmon pink before the eyes, across the forehead, a slash across the chest and when they fly, there is a pinkish wash to the under wings.  For the Short-bill, blue-grey spectacles on bare skin around the eye with very little to no pink is the main feature for separation. The bill length is an obvious descriptor but who in their right mind wants to measure its bill length! Ouch!

The history of any animal is important for developing an appreciation and understanding of how the animal functions and behaves.  For plants and animals, we call it natural history but it is no different from human history.  Just like humans, animals repeat their actions and activities but unlike humans, animals can adapt and evolve to survive by increasing temporally and spatially their reproductive strategies while they search for food, water, and cover. The hardy generalist such as corellas adapt to changes in the natural landscape, accept their surroundings and learn to coexist with humans.  Sanctuary Cove corellas are an example of adaption.  

Corellas are loud, numerous and cause destruction to course and golfer property but they provide some comic relieve with their “drunken” antics which may be best described as play. There is no evidence that birds of this species are intoxicated from the consumption of pine seeds although Bohemian Waxwings have been observed enjoying a fermented berry or two during warming spring weather in North America.  I have collected and eaten some pine seeds from the Pines with no apparent buzz. Perhaps, the consumption of a 50 kg bag of seed may have done the trick!

Thirty or so years ago, both species did not co-exist or inhabit the agricultural land now known as Sanctuary Cove.  Short-billed Corella spread eastward from west of the Divide and the Long-billed Corella moved northward from the Melbourne-Adelaide region into the southeast Queensland.  Large-scale adverse weather patterns are known to move birds, as do changes to land use policies that encouraged both residential and agricultural development. Local aviary escapees are also a source for establishing population in new areas. 

Give any animal unlimited amounts of food, water, and cover and in time, they will adapt and, they will flourish.  In Sanctuary Cove, the Pines incorporate an unlimited fresh water supply (ponds), nutritious food (fertilized greens with its subterranean invertebrates and pine seeds), dense cover (the Pines), reduced predators, and adequate roosts sites nearby.  Limited are nest sites, which come the breeding season encourages the majority of the corellas to emigrate.  Not all remaining corellas will breed in the Sanctuary Cove area.

If there is a need to reduce the numbers of the Cove’s cockatoos, consider the complete removal of the pine trees.  If this is not an option then reduce the availability of the cones that litter the ground by mechanical means or by encouraging an understory of grasses and shrubs. If corellas cannot find their favourite food source then hunger and intraspecific competition should force the majority to relocate.  Without doubt, the corellas will adapt in time by adjusting their numbers to the reduced food supply. However, the bigger question remains:  will the golfer adapt by preventing ball loss in the understory or will ball loss retain the status quo for Sanctuary Cove’s corella population?