Recent sightings

Here's a snapshot of some of the sightings over the past few months.

Short-Beaked Corella pulling out Onion Grass and eating the bulbs 

Yellow-Tail Black Cockatoo's roosting in the dead branches of a tree

Crested Pigeon perched on a fence post

Local - wondering what we're doing?!?!

.......and another after rain.

Black Wallaby - minding its own business, and hoping we'll do the same.

Eastern Rosella

A pair of Sulphar-Crested Cockatoos - on the roof

Mum n' Joey - snoozing in the morning sun

Wedge-Tail Eagle - flyin' by.

Chestnut Teal family

Weasel Skink - warming up on the front garden wall 

White-Faced Heron - hangin' around the dam, hunting for frogs

.........another Wedge-Tail Eagle fly by

Pacific Heron (left) and White-Faced Heron (right) sharing the dam

Biggish male Kangaroo - grazing one morning

Five (5) White-Faced Heron's

......not good with our ID of insects........Black-Faced Percher Dragonfly (we thinks?)

Australian Kestrel - roosting on a fence post

Grazing in the evening

Hope you enjoyed!!!

A Wallaby Joey revisited

Leaving the camera at the usual location, we gleaned a few more hours of footage of amongst other things, a mother wallaby and her joey. This is the wallaby mother with the "pinky" from an earlier posting : Wallaby Flat - a week in the life : Part 1

We've condensed the recorded movie grabs into just on 4 minutes and you'll witness lots of scratching and grooming, the testing of legs, annoying mum, foraging, feeding from mum, and at the end of the footage, returning to the pouch due to the mother wallaby sensing danger.

The wallaby joey is very strong with it's jumping so early in it's development - in contrast, kangaroo joeys can be quite clumsy when initially using their legs to jump, and it takes a little while for the kangaroo joey's to control the power in their hind legs.

When kangaroo mobs graze around the house, we often hear the kangaroo mother's give a clicking sound, which alerts the joeys to return to the pouch. Occasionally, the mother kangaroo will give the joey a reaffirming "hurry up" by tapping them on their back.

In the attached footage, the wallaby mother does a similar action. As there's no audio, we don't know if Wallabies "click" but somehow the joey knew that it was time to get back into the pouch.

Enjoy!!

A wallaby named "Horse"

Since the recording of two (2) female wallabies with joeys (blogged previously), we've been endeavouring to secure more footage - as we were keen to witness the development of the joeys over time.

We've been leaving the camera out at the same location but it seems that a male has taken over the spot the ladies had been frequenting. Over the past few weeks, this particular male keeps popping up in the video bytes. He spends much of the time itching, scratching, and grooming. The rest of the time is spent sunning himself, and generally lazing about.

Sitting with the tail outstretched between the legs is quite a common behaviour, and should be noted, is also exhibited by kangaroos. It looks uncomfortable but allows them to preen and tend to the tail; getting rid of ticks and such like.

During the period he's frequented the site, there's been no evidence of other wallabies, suggesting his presence minimises the occurrence of others - possibly for territorial reasons. It's early days but we'll continue to record and see whether our considerations are validated.

We'll continue to pursue footage of either or both of the joeys' development, but for the moment, we'll have to be satisfied with footage of the male wallaby we've named "Horse".

The elusive Arboreal Wallaby : rediscovered?

Our mailbox is located some 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) from our home. We often walk to the box to collect our mail - the journey takes us along the gully and due to the topography, we can peruse and view the other side of the gully as we walk along the roadside. During these walks, we often witness unique and unusual events.

A while back, maybe a year or two ago, Janet and I spotted a Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) standing on a tree that had fallen across the gully. Unusual in itself, to see a wallaby perched on a log, but more so when we noted that the wallaby was some 3 to 4 metres (9 to 12 feet) above the gully floor. We are unsure whether the wallaby was using the tree to get across the gully, or for other means, and at that time, we didn't have a camera with us so were unable to record the event.

Yesterday, on one such walk to collect mail, we once again observed a wallaby perched on a fallen tree. We were heading out, so checked to see if the wallaby was still there on the return trip and sure enough, it was. By the time we got home and grabbed the camera at least an hour had passed since our first sighting.

Fortunately, we were able to get the following shots.

The day was overcast with scattered showers throughout the day. The wind strength was 5~10 kph (3~6 mph) in exposed areas, although the wind was negligible this deep in the gully.

We went to the spot to assess the actual height and observed that the wallaby was about 1.2 metres (4 feet) above the ground, and wallaby scats were found along 4 metres (12 feet) of the tree trunk.

No, they aren't really called Arboreal Wallabies, but it does give some insight into the evolutionary link Wallabies have to the real Tree Kangaroo's found in Northern Queensland and Papua-New Guinea.

More info on the Tree Kangaroo can be found here :

http://www.tree-kangaroo.net/tkInfo.html

or here;

http://www.ozanimals.com/wildlife/Mammal/Kangaroos,Wallabies.html

Wallaby Flat : a week in the life : Part 2

As mentioned in our previous blog, in the 1-1/2 hours of footage recorded recently we observed two (2) females, both with joeys in the pouch.

This footage (Part 2) includes a larger female, with an older and recently out-of-the-pouch joey. The joey has fur which gives the dark colouring - when compared to the "pinky" in the previous footage.

The mother is easily recognisable by the damage to her left ear - so we've named her "Cauliflower".

Enjoy!!

Wallaby Flat - a week in the life : Part 1

We purchased a motion sensitive camera a while back and have been developing our skills and techniques. All too often, we seem to set the camera too high and we currently secure the camera to  existing trees and fallen branches which limits our positioning, so it might be time to buy a tripod.

The attached movie was stitched together from over 1-1/2 hours of footage recorded over a one week period. The camera was set to record a 60 second bite (maximum period) whenever the camera sensed movement or heat, resetting to record again once 30 seconds had elapsed.

Much of the footage we recorded over the period included two (2) females, both with joeys. The spot we chose seems to be a favorite for the wallabies. There was no footage of kangaroos, nor foxes, which is a surprise based on other recording sessions we have undertaken.

The footage below includes the younger female (of the two mothers we filmed), with a young joey (pinky) which had yet to emerge from the pouch. 

We have set the camera at the same location to try and get more footage, especially of the joeys as they develop. We are still working on the 2nd clip and will post once it's finished (in a week or two). 

Enjoy the 1st movie!

Wallaby (Greek-style) Wrestling

One afternoon, Janet and I were poncing about the property, checking out the plants, when Janet noticed a couple of wallabies fighting.

We've witnessed kangaroos boxing...........a lot. In fact, it's obvious that the prime objective of a male kangaroo is to become the Alpha male. From a very early age, the males like to fight anything and everything - other joeys, mum, branches and twigs, even the fresh air. Often using their tail for support and lashing out with their hind legs, kicking out at the opponents underbelly. They continually challenge each other to develop skills, and to assess the strength and abilities of other males within the mob. Consequently, a day doesn't go past without witnessing some boxing activities. On the other hand, the females appear sensible, measured and in most instances, are extremely attentive mothers - watching the males to identify those with the strongest and most dominant genes.

Wallabies are essentially solitary. Going about their day alone. From time to time, we see a couple grazing in the same area, usually in the gully, but it appears to be either a male and female courting or a catch-up between neighbours, rather than a family unit or mob.

On this particular occasion, two (2) wallabies were wrestling each other. Trying to roll the opponent to the ground and pin the other down. There was no kicking out with their hind legs and they were totally focused on each other, and totally ignorant of our presence. Initially, they were about 20 metres (60ft) away, so we sat down to witness the event and as time passed and the two continued to wrestle, they moved closer and closer until Janet and I felt uncomfortably close. Like I mean about 3 or 4 metres (9~12ft). So we yelled to let them know we were there. They stopped for a moment, looked at us and then resumed wrestling. They continued to edge closer so we yelled again. This time they stopped briefly before one of the wallabies ambled away, with the other chasing him down. Not in a hurry, but in a controlled manner - much like a human would walk tall and fluffed up with adrenalin pumping through the veins after a fight or conflict. We expect their issue was regarding territory, and we're not sure what happened after they disappeared into the scrub, but it was an amazing and very different experience.

The attached images are of a local Black Wallaby (Wallabia bicolour) and may be one of the wrestling wallabies, but we can't be sure. The Black Wallaby is also known as the Swamp Wallaby, Black-tail Wallaby or Fern Wallaby.

A worthwhile site for gleaning more knowledge is :

http://www.mtrothwell.com.au/index.php/BlackSwampWallaby/

Enjoy!!

Fire mitigation and other benefits

Due to our proximity to the Mornington Peninsula National Park, and the Park being both to the North, and to the West, our fire plan deems "ember attack" as the most significant threat.

In the event of a wildfire, using galvanised buckets and cotton mops with long handles, our plan is to extinguish any embers or cinders which land on or around the house ahead of the flame front. We have a 1000 litre galvanised water tank at the southern side of the home to facilitate the recharging of our buckets. We considered the water storage close to the home in the planning phase of the house' construction - noting, our normal water storage is 14 meters below the level of the home, so water is pumped up to the house using 240v mains power. As we anticipate that all power will be cut should a wildfire occur, the 1000 litre tank will be our only source of water.

Keeping the grass very short around the house minimises the impact of the flame front, once it arrives.
Considering this, we conduct two (2) cuts per year, one in late spring, and another just prior to the fire season - for the rest of the year, the kangaroos keep the grasses sufficiently low.

By cutting in late spring, we benefit by the significant reduction of pasture grass seeds. We estimate that the biomass of seed-stock is reduced by up to 70% using this method. Timing is critical. Last year we were spot-on. The year before, we peaked a little early, and due to an extended Spring attributed to ongoing rains and milder weather, we needed to cut an extra couple of times..........but the plan is once.

Similarly, determining the fire season is just as difficult. Last year, we cut in mid' February, whilst this year, we mowed around the home in early January. One of the benefits of fire season cut, is the dispersal of native grass seeds. Ripening later than the introduced pasture grasses, the native grasses are ready just prior to the fire season.

So the mowing regime performs three (3) functions : 1) reduces introduced pasture grass seed stocks, 2) disperses native seeds, and 3) contributes to fire mitigation.

We've included some images to show that the vegetation around the home is minimal, lessening the impact of wildfires to ember attack, and minimising impact from direct flame and radiant heat.

Looking towards the North-West - the direction from which the fire is likely occur.

Looking South-East - again, negligable vegetation around the home

Looking West-ish - likely direction following an Sou'-west wind change
- down side of the hill might slow the wildfire somewhat.

........again, little or no vegetation that might contribute and/or impact on the home.

A few years on................

It's been way too long since initially setting up this blog - with good intentions of regular updates..........alas. The enthusiasm has been there, and lots and lots of things have happened;  we've simply been focused on other matters.

Anyways, it's a new day, and we'll see how we go from here !?!?!

The most significant observation in the past couple of years has been the vast increase in animal activity around the home, eg. kookaburra's using the house and flagpole as a roost, blue-tongue lizards around the gardens, copper-head snakes living under the back deck, Grey-shrike thrushes debugging the eaves, blah-de-blah.

The dam has been home to various birds at different times, including Australasian Grebes (raising their young failed both years due to Swamp Harriers eating the fledglings), up to eight (8) White-faced Herons, Great Egret, Pacific Heron, Sacred and Straw necked Ibis, Latham's Snipes, Cormorants, etc.

Mammals? - Antechinus' and Ring-tail Possums using the shed as a refuge, Kangaroos a plenty, Swamp Wallabies grazing in the plantings...........all good.

We've been trialling some weed management techniques. Some worked, others didn't. This year, the hand weeding of grasses has commenced in the gully. Very significant we thinks, considering the past has focused on woody-weeds. Pasture grasses are also being reduced with our mechanical controls (read 'mowing the grasslands just before the pasture grasses set seed'). We are sure the native grasses are increasing in these areas so will continue to implement this technique and monitor.

Also purchased a KeepGuard camera and will post shots from time to time..........promise.

So here's a tempter for you - we set the camera up in the gully along one of the thoroughfares used by the animals.

Enjoy

The 1st Post

Introduction
Boonoorong, the property, is located next to the Mornington Peninsula National Park in Victoria, Australia. The property consists of 20 hectares (50 acres) and includes remnant deep wet gully (approx 4 hectares) and remnant dry sclerophyll to heathy woodland (approx 2 hectares). The rest of the land is undulating pasture that was cleared in the 1950's and used for the grazing of cattle. Soil is substantially old aeroleon dune sands over basalt – yellow podzolic soils, coffee rock and some clay have been found at varying depths on the site. Internal fencing has been removed in addition to the lower two strainers from external fences (to improve access to kangaroos and wallabies).


Scope/Objective
To return the land to the way it was before white settlement and promote habitat for local fauna. Both consider the task a “rest of life” commitment which won’t be completed within our lifetime.

Revegetation (Active),  Regeneration (Passive)
Cattle were removed in September 2000 and the land laid fallow to assess the natural regen of the site.

Wet Areas (natural springs, riparian zones to gully) -
Wet areas have shown substantial natural regen. No intention to plant in these areas – possibly conduct some companion planting in later years.

Dry Areas (within pastured paddocks) -
Drier pasture areas have not shown signs of regen although, some Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwoods) have started to progress up into the pasture from the gully. Scarification to south sides of remnant eucalypts was unsuccessful - seed stocks appear depleted.

Plantings - Revegetation
Only plants of local provenance are used, so seed is collected from ours and neighboring properties which are then propagated into tubestock. Over 4000 plants have now been introduced to 20 assigned areas - primarily to support lone remnant trees, and to provide habitat corridors. Care has been taken to ensure grassland areas remain to encourage grazing by kangaroos. With the removal of cattle, native grasses (Microleana spp., Danthonia spp., and Themeda triandra) are returning and competing with the introduced pasture grasses.

Weeding
Within the gully, the biomass of many problematic species has been sufficiently reduced to allow hand pulling or cut and paint methods,
eg.
Rubis spp. (Blackberry) – cut and paint
Myosotis spp. (Forget-me-not) – hand pull
Phytolacca octandra (Ink Weed) – 1) hand-pull, 2) use pitchfork on larger plants or use mattock to clip top of tuber
Senecio jacobaea (Ragwort) – 1) hand pull rosettes/cabbages, 2) remove seed heads and cut/paint stem of mature plants

Following previous actions with blackberry, ragwort, forget-me-not and thistles, Ink Weed is now deemed our highest priority. A reduction of the biomass is under way with follow-up hand pulling intended.

Fauna
Mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos roam the property, at least five Swamp Wallabies live in the gully and over 70 species of birds have been recorded. Two Copperhead Snakes reside under our decks (currently hibernating), so our home acts as a hide and allows us to monitor and observe the native fauna in its natural beauty.

An old dam located near the house has developed into a unique wetland encouraging four frog species, various waterbirds and a food source for the snakes and lizards.

Why the Blog?
Due to our unique situation, we decided to start a blog to document and record our observations.