Bowra Non Birds

While at Bowra Station in south-western Queensland for a four-day stint of bird banding (see previous post), and despite being fairly flat out on that activity for most of that time, it was, of course, impossible not to notice the abundance of life (other than birds) busying about in the landscape.

Perhaps most evident were the grasshoppers, prolific in both numbers and species. While not having the time to pay the attention to them they deserved, I reckon there were easily in excess of a dozen species that made their presence known to even the casual observer. Unfortunately only a few of these ended up being photographed (i.e. the ones that most conveniently flushed and landed on open ground when I happened to have my camera with me) and I missed getting shots of some of the more spectacular ones.

One of the more common grasshoppers at Bowra.

This grasshopper is well camouflaged among the dry grey fallen mulga leaves.

And this reddish grasshopper of unknown species is clearly designed to blend with the red soil. But it appears to be different to the similar but even more cryptic species depicted in the banner at the top of this blog post.

Dragonflies were also prevalent anywhere there was surface water, though numbers were mainly made up of just a few species; notably the Blue Skimmer and Scarlet and Wandering Perchers, all of which tend to settle and pose prominently for photographers (these species must surely be three of the most common and widespread dragonflies in Australia!). But there were also big greenish-yellow types (emeralds?) also darting and flitting hither and thither, and thereby thwarting all efforts at photographic ID determination. 

Blue Skimmer Orthetrum caledonicum (Family Libellulidae)

Scarlet Percher Diplacodes haematodes (Family Libellulidae)

Wandering Percher Diplacodes bipunctata (Family Libellulidae)

This tiny Aurora Bluetail Ischnura aurora, a damselfly rather than a dragonfly, also occurs commonly and Australia-wide (indeed it occurs from India to the central Pacific) but moves more discretely, or at least less noticeably, about the swamp vegetation than the dragonflies.

Butterflies were obvious if not over-abundant, but again just a few common species comprised the majority seen, including Meadow Argus, Lesser Wanderer, Caper White, and one of the grass-yellows (Eurema sp.).

Two Caper Whites Belenois java sipping moisture from the mud beside a billabong.

Caper White in full frontal.

This beautiful hairy caterpillar, about 5 cm long, is possibly a species of Anthela from the Anthelidae family of moths.

The mulga country is characterised by the distinctive nests of mulga ants. These are of the genus Polyrhachis (meaning many or variously spined), of which there are almost 700 species, mainly in Australia, Asia and Africa, with Australia hosting many of these. The mulga ants, probably just a few of the Polyrhachis species and especially P. macropa, are invariably associated with the mulga plant Acacia aneura, and they use the dead fallen mulga leaves (phyllodes, actually) to decorate pronounced rings or levees the ants build around the entrance to their nest. This is thought to be an adaptation to help prevent surface water from flooding the nests during the mulga country's infrequent heavy rainfall events. 

Mulga ants, Polyrhachis macropa, are just a centimetre in length - think I need a macro lens!

This is a comparatively young mulga ant nest, still small with a relatively low 'levee' and fairly minimal decoration with mulga leaves. 

Several large orange wasps were seen but never settled in my presence. The mud nests of wasps are less mobile, however, and I was intrigued to find this one attached directly and firmly to the ground rather that to some more elevated support.

There was the expected diverse range of miscellaneous moths attracted to lights and insect screens around the homestead’s shearing quarters at night, and the odd praying mantis and even a stick insect seen in flight one day, but these were never followed up. The bush flies and mosquitoes attracted attention only through their supreme nuisance value!

That seemingly ever-present Australian spider the golden orb weaver of various Nephila species, was common, in this case probably Nephila edulis. Some of the webs, and the spiders for that matter, were probably the biggest and fattest I've seen. Conditions must be good. The genus name Nephila, incidentally, comes from the Greek words nen = to spin and philos = love, hence love to spin or fond of spinning. And apparently the species name, edulis, which means edible, comes from the fact that the original describer of the species noted indigenous people eating this spider in New Caledonia. I didn't try them! 

A large and fat female Nephila species.

Apart from the odd rabbit and a single black-spotted feral pig, the only mammals I recall seeing were the Red Kangaroos that were not uncommon at Bowra. Though I did see another camper watching by torchlight what must have been a possum at the campground one evening. 

A mother and young Red Kangaroo Macropus rufus - these two were on the main track through Bowra on our way back from banding late one afternoon, but moved into the paddock as we approached. 

We saw surprisingly few reptiles; just a couple of Common House Geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus) in the shearers’ quarters and one unidentified caramel-coloured skink disappearing into the long grass at one of our banding sites at one of our busiest times.

But the frogs were in evidence. The billabong at the campsite hosted good numbers of at least two species, but I don’t know my frog calls at all well yet so don't know what species they were.

The various buildings around the homestead harboured several other species, including a goodly sized Green Tree Frog Litoria caerulea and a smallish Desert Tree Frog Litoria rubella in the bathroom block, and a line-up of six Peron’s Tree Frogs Littoria peroni in the old toilet stalls.

Green Tree Frog Litoria caerulea in the corner of the bathroom.

A small Desert Tree Frog Litoria rubella, also in the Bowra bathroom block.

Five of the six Peron's Tree Frogs Litoria Peroni that make the old toilet stalls their home.

But the real prize was an incredibly incongruous, exquisitely decorated Crucifix Toad (Notaden bennetti) that Karen found plumply plopping along a dry track adjacent to where we’d set up for our second day’s banding. She discovered their ability to secrete copious amounts of sticky defensive ‘frog glue’ as soon as she picked it up, but it was well worth it for the photographs we ended up getting of this amazing outback denizen.

Crucifix Toads are one of very few frogs in Australia that do not exhibit cryptic colouration or patterning, i.e. camouflage. Indeed the opposite is true - they exhibit aposematism, which is a fancy way of saying that they signal to other animals to keep away from them (apo = away, semantic = sign or meaning), in this case through bright yellow/green warning colouration with a range of variously coloured warts and dots in the vague shape of a cross - hence the name. 

The psychedelic Crucifix Toad Notaden bennetti.

The frog is variously called the Crucifix Toad, Holy Cross Toad or Catholic Frog for obvious reasons.

For a bit of anuran esoterica; the glue produced by the Crucifix Toad is composed essentially of a mix of proteins (ranging in size from 13 to 400 kDa) with a high proportion of the amino acids gycine (15.8 mol %), proline (8.8 %), and glutamic acid/glutamine (14.1%), which appear to form large, porous, elastic proteinaceous structures. The glue presumably clogs up the mouths or mouthparts of would be predators and thus acts as a deterrent. Not sure what it might taste like!

The frog was described scientifically in 1873 by Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther, a German born British zoologist who was Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum of Natural History from 1875 to 1895. Despite looking, I couldn't find an explanation of the scientific name, though the genus name must surely derive from the Greek noton which means back, and aden which means gland. 

The species name, bennetti, is a little more problematic. It may well be in honour of George Bennett (1804-1893) who was a medical practitioner and naturalist who first visited Australia in 1829, returned in 1832, and finally settled in Sydney in 1836. He was fascinated by the flora and fauna of Australia and his inland travels culminated in the Wanderings in New South Wales ...Being the Journal of a Naturalist (2 volumes), published in London in 1834. He later played a significant role in the newly fledged Australian Museum in Sydney and the Zoological Society, and was agent for John Gould. His second book, Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia, was published in 1860. 

Alternatively, as in the case of the Little Crow (Corvus bennetti), which we also saw on this trip, the honour may be to Kenric Harold Bennett (1835-1891), a naturalist with interests in birds, plants and Aboriginal artefacts who was active in central NSW in the second half of the 19th century. Though this seems less likely to me. 

And while I'm on the meaning and history of names, the Green Tree Frog has an interesting tale (pun intended, sadly)! Its specific epithet, caerulea, means blue - rather odd for a bright green frog. The original specimens were described by John White in 1790. White was the surgeon on the convict transport Charlotte, one of the eleven ships comprising the First Fleet, and was then appointed as Surgeon-General for the new colony. Despite a severe dislike for Australia, White developed an interest in its fauna and flora and the potential use of the local plants in medicine. He described many Australian species for the first time in his Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales (1790), including Rana caerulea, which he described as "Blue Frog, fpeckled beneath with greyifh; the feet divided into four toes; the hind feet webbed. Size of the common Frog."
The original name of Blue Frog was apparently due to the fact that the specimens on which the species was described were in preservative. The frog's colour is produced by both blue and green pigments covered in a yellow layer - the preservative destroyed the yellow layer leaving the frogs blueish in colour. 

White's Tree Frog is therefore an eponymous alternative name for the Green Tree Frog (that makes three different colours associated with this one species!), others being Australian Green Tree Frog, Common Green Tree Frog, Northern Green Tree Frog, Dumpy Tree Frog, and perhaps most appropriately for most people, Dunny Frog! A good place to stop.

The good old "Dunny Frog" - this one at the dunnies at the Kalpowar Crossing camp ground in Lakefield National Park (now Rinyirru NP), Cape York, Queensland (Nov 2005).

Bowra Bird Banding

Bowra Station is a property that up until a few years ago was run as a family grazing operation, just outside of Cunnamulla in outback Queensland. Now it is owned and run by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy as a nature reserve, and birds are especially bounteous.

It is in the heart of the mulga country of south-west Queensland, and hosts such mulga specialties as Halls’ Babbler, Bourke’s Parrot and Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, but also includes a range of other habitats and boasts a bird list of just over 200 species. Bowra has been a revered location for birders for a long time, and was included among the top ten birding sites in Australia in the most recent edition of Australian Birdlife, BirdLife Australia’s magazine.

Hall’s Babblers (Pomatostomus halli) are not uncommon at Bowra but are shy and like to keep their distance. This bird carries a band and is presumably one of the birds Dean Portelli banded as part of his PhD research in 2006-09.

We managed to catch and band two Hall’s Babblers in the “Western Paddocks” part of Bowra. This one is looking a little ruffled and somewhat disgruntled just before being released.

We (Karen and I) made the 1,000 km drive from Canberra to Bowra to participate, as part of the Canberra contingent of banders, in an Easter / ANZAC week of bird banding organised by Jon Coleman from Brisbane. Other Canberrans were Mark Clayton, and Richard, Mark and Brett Allen, but the bulk of the effort was made up of another 20 or so people, mainly from Queensland.

We saw quite a few Emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) on the drive up to Bowra, as well as on the property. These ones, attracted to seepage from a water trough, were our companions through much of our second day of banding. 

Australian Bustards (Ardeotis australis) are always a highlight, nobless personified. We were lucky to pick up on this one in the long roadside grasses as we whizzed by at 110+.

The weather was perfect (it is Queensland, after all!) with temperatures just edging into the low 30s on some days, and dropping to a refreshing 13 or so overnight. The region had received good rains in February, with follow-up rains in March, so the vegetation was looking fabulous, but we were blessed with beautiful sunny days and clear starry nights.

Our camp site by the billabong was idyllic – glowing reflective moonrises (and sunrises on the few days we hadn’t already de-camped before dawn to get an early start with the banding), and the all-night serenades of several species of frog, the strident cackle of the Masked Lapwings (Karen’s unfairly deplored “ugly-bird”), the soft yelping of the White-headed Stilts, and the “sweet-pretty-creaturing” of the Willie Wagtails all adding to the atmospherics.

Our campsite at Bowra Station, between the billabong and the shearers' quarters.

We pitched our tent less than 10 m from the edge of the billabong and were treated to its various moods. This moonrise, with Scorpius ascending, is at a bit of an angle as, in the absence of a tripod, I balanced the camera on a gas cylinder wedged into the fork of a tree; and I didn't want to rotate and crop as that would have deleted Pi Scorpii (the right nipper) from the image.

Sunrises over the billabong were beautiful and serene.

And the suffused pink of sunset foreshadowed the arrival of the mosquitoes!

Three of our four days there were solidly taken up with banding activities. All up, the Canberra team banded something over 400 birds. Finches made up the bulk of our catches, thanks to some nets being strategically placed close to water at each of the sites where we banded, but we caught a wide range of species, some of the highlights being Hall’s Babblers (2), a Crested Bellbird, a budgie, Diamond Doves, a Restless Flycatcher and the three local Fairy-wrens (Variegated, Splendid and White-winged varieties).

The banding station in a quiet moment - Karen, Mark and Brett.

Male Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata.

Double-barred Finch Taeniopygia bichenovii.

Male Plum-headed Finch Neochmia modesta.

The line-up: male Zebra Finch, Double-barred Finch and male and female Plum-headed Finch.

A male Crested Bellbird (Oreoica gutturalis) - frequently heard but less often seen let alone captured.

A male Red-capped Robin (Petroica goodenovii) - common but always stunning!

Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) - the facial markings are anything but indistinct when seen this close.

A female Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) - what a stunner!

A very uncooperative Australian Ringneck and several excruciatingly loud and sharp-clawed Apostlebirds inflicted the worst damage, but all wounds have now healed satisfactorily!

Mark, Richard, Mark and Brett had arrived a day earlier than Karen and I did, and left a day earlier, so we spent our final day looking for birds rather than banding them. I was very keen to find a Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush but unfortunately was not successful. In fact I didn’t get a single new species for the whole trip. But the birdwatching, both at Bowra, and on the way to and from, was nonetheless very satisfying and I logged a total of 131 species for the trip.

Of these, the ones that stand out most for me were the numerous emus along the route; the single bustard we saw just south of Cunnamulla; the many Plum-headed Finches (which I also saw at the Nyngan “waterbird wetlands” aka the sewage works); the Mulga Parrots, Bluebonnets, Red-winged Parrots, Superb Parrots, Major Mitchell’s Cockatoos, and flocks of Cockatiels and Budgerigars; a swirling mass of 300+ Black Kites, a hugely dark Black-breasted Buzzard lifting off from a carcass just in front of the car; and an exquisite view of a male Spotted Bowerbird bathing at the campsite billabong with its bright pink nuchal crest glowing brilliantly in the sunshine.

White-headed Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus) at the campsite billabong.

Male Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens).

A pair of Brown Falcons (Falco berigora) at "Stony Ridge" kept a close eye on me. 

On the way home, we watched this male Plum-headed Finch at the Nyngan sewage works take two large feathers to its nest in the rank grasses on the levee of the settling pond. Probably the bird of the trip for me.