Australian Bush Life

Hardenbergia violacia or Purple Coral-pea. Natural wildlife food.

We have never seen so much Purple Coral-pea – Hardenbergia violacea as has been abounding on our bush block in the last 2 years with excessive re-growth triggered by the bushfire in 2009. This is one fire loving indigenous plant.

During spring we had masses of purple flowers trailing along the ground and creeping up small trees and shrubs. Since December these flowers have produced numerous pea pods which have been bursting with ripe seed to provide a bounty of food for local wildlife.

Hardenbergia violacia - Crimson Rosella eating seeds.

Although there are many smaller animals like ants which undoubtably harvest the seeds from the ground we most commonly see parrots feeding on the seed pods. Our most common parrots, King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas will come right down onto the ground to spend time opening the pods gorging on the hardy seeds within.

Hardenbergia violacea seeds eaten by King Parrots.

Any excess seeds that are not harvested for food by our local wildlife will remain hidden amongst the leaf litter and soil on our bush block. The tough seed coat protecting this seed bank until the next round of germination. This plant is a hardy native survivor, the tough seeds can even be protected through droughts or bushfire.

More natural wildlife foods…

More information and pictures of Purple Coral-pea – Hardenbergia violacea…

Painted Button-quail - Turnix varia. Recovering from shock in a quiet and dark place.

We recently had a Painted Button-quail, Turnix varia, crash into our windows. The bird hit hard and as it is quite a small bird this caused it to go into shock.

Whilst in this state of shock the quail was very vulnerable to any form of attack by a predator. Additionally the exposure to the cooler weather of the morning may increase the chance of death when in this state. As we have had another small bird - a Striated Pardalote crash into our windows before and die, we decided to pick the animal up and put it in a quiet space to let it recover from the shock. Click here for more information and tips on how to avoid birds striking your windows…

We placed the Painted Button-quail in a cardboard box on some clean rags for warmth, comfort and somewhere to hide. Closed the lid and just peeped in every 10 minutes to check it was going okay. After about half and hour the animal had perked back up. We could tell as it had become fully alert and was trying to get out of the box. This fiesty spirit is what it would need to survive in the bush. We were also able to give it a small drink of water and it drank another sign it was feeling a lot better. We released the bird in the exact location where we had found it and it immediately flew off to our relief.

Painted Button-quail - Turnix varia. Flew away immediately on release.

Like all quails the Painted Button-quail is a ground dwelling bird. It predominantly eats seeds and really enjoys the seeds of our indigenous grasses such as the Wallaby Grass, Kangaroo Grass and Weeping Grass. The indigenous grasses are also all tufting grasses and left un-mowed provide excellent habitat for birds like quails to hide amongst. We have noticed more quails than ever before after the recent bushfire as all our indigenous grasses have successfully regenerated in larger numbers than were originally found on our bushblock (pre-bushfire). The higher rainfall over the last year has also helped provide a bumper source of seed for the birds.

Another important habitat feature for ground dwelling birds such as quails to survive is to maintain a good ground cover of leaf litter, twigs and logs. This provides additional protection from predators particularly as quails build their nests on the ground. Without this ground cover and a good scattering of indigenous grasses it would be very difficult for quails to survive and breed and they would most likely become locally extinct in areas where these features are removed.

Feral predators particularly foxes and cats are also be a major threat to the Painted Button-quail. Additionally human activites can threaten quail survival such as straying pets (cats & dogs), and ”tidying up”; fuel reduction such as mowing & clearing up the leaf litter, twigs and logs. The “tidying up” of our bush particularly occurs and is promoted as a bushfire prevention method and is particularly disastrous to ground dwelling species that rely on these exact habitat features for their existence.

We choose to refrain from “tidying up”; mowing & clearing away the leaf litter, twigs and logs as we love to see these ground dwelling creatures survive. They are the reason we live on our bushblock and we refuse to turn our piece of paradise into a parkland with low biodiversity values just for the sake of a bushfire event that may or may not happen in the short or long term. This would be giving up on the wildlife that we get to live amongst every day for a single day that might not even be for another 30 years or more into the future (it was 48 years between the last 2 bushfires!). It would defeat all reason for living here in the bush amongst the wildlife.

What are your thoughts on “tidying up” as a bushfire prevention technique that can remove the exact habitat that the Painted Button-quail needs?

BirdWatchCam - Helmeted Honeyeater. Legband white on dark green. Full shot.

Weather

The camera was left outside in a range of conditions. It actually worked through a severe storm and the inner waterproofing surround stopped water entering the batteries and SD card area (inner core). It doesn’t matter what angle the camera was it on it still protects the inner core.

There was some fogging of the lens early in the morning after the major rain event but this cleared within a couple of hours after sunrise.

Checking / Downloading Footage

This is very simple. Can easily take a laptop out into the field (study site). Extremely easy to change the batteries and the SD card whilst in the field. Was able to quickly check the JPG folders whilst in the field, also download to my laptop and return SD card into the camera within 10 minutes.

It is recommended to take an initial quick image and check using your laptop before setting up the camera for long periods to ensure you will get the best quality images. 

BirdWatchCam - Helmeted Honeyeater. Legband yellow on light green. Cropped.

Bird Identification

Can easily see bird bands and identify birds. All birds that came into view were visibly identified by their leg band during the series of 20 shots taken.

Benefits

Currently a lot of video film is taken for fieldwork of this nature. The BirdWatchCam reduces the need to plough through endless hours of footage with nothing in the frame, as the folders of JPG files were very easy to skip through to find presence of birds.

Good application for bird identification (species and individuals by leg band) within a given area (less than 54cm x 40 cm) of known visitation.

The camera is extremely light, the rechargeable batteries and SD card are also light and simple to use (and swap) in the field.

The camera performs well under wet weather tested to about 2 degrees centigrade.

The camera can be left for long periods of time, assumed well over 10 days is possible, before needing to change batteries and/or SD card. More research required for exact details on duration, but after initial trial this is very good as requires minimal physical effort for a potential large amount of data.

• Summary Part 1 – Camera Set Up, Image Quality, Setting Time Function
• Summary Part 2 – Duration, Focal Distance, Timing
• Batteries used in research

Duration

batteries
52 sets (x 20 images each) were taken over 5 days. This was approximately 52 hours of daylight as trialed in winter with shorter day length, summer would use batteries faster. The batteries reduced in charge from 1.40V to 1.29V. It appears the camera could stay out for many more days or under more intense photo taking periods and still cope with an original set of batteries.
 
SD card
The maximum SD card size that can go into the camera is 8GB (comes with a 2GB card). Each photo taken during the trial period ranged in size between 60 – 120KB as JPEG’s.
Therefore
•average of 90KB image by 20 produces a set at 1.8MB
•using average 1.8MB set, the camera can store over 4,000 sets of images

Focal distance

The focal distance has 3 settings, 1.5, 2 and 3 metres. But as the focal distance uses a rotating button you can also estimate any focal length between 1.5 – 3 metres. For example during the trial I chose 2.2m as this was the distance to a nearby tree for easy camera mounting. I altered the rotating focal length button 1/5 of the way from 2m to 3m (an estimated 2.2m focal length).

Note: The camera comes with a string line measuring tape, but it was difficult to set the camera independently (without someone helping you hold the other end of the tape) using this string. You need a measured solid stick, or a stiffer measuring tape to help guide you if you are setting up on your own.

The camera could easily be mounted onto a metal or wooden stake to get the distance right. Although it is really easy to mount on a tree first and then set the feeder/water point to meet good camera requirements. Note: I do not generally agree with feeding wildlife, the bird feeding used in this trial is part of a captive release program for threatened bird species. I am although happy to recommend water points, such as bird baths which can be used just as effectively as bird attractors.

To assist in set up the area that the camera takes a photo of varies depending on the focal length as below:

•1.5m focal length produces an approximate 27cm x 21cm frame taken.
•2.0m focal length produces an approximate 37cm x 30cm frame taken.
•3.0m focal length produces an approximate 54cm x 40cm frame taken.

Timing

The camera takes 20 images in 13 seconds.  Or about 0.65 hundredths of a second between shots.

The first image is taken at about 1.3 seconds after trigger. The camera also seems to re-boot quickly after a set of 20 images and within seconds is ready to capture the next round. This has scientific potential as for instance a nestling Helmeted Honeyeater was taken from a nest by a Kookaburra in less than a second which could almost be caught on film using this camera, but not guaranteed. More trialing needed to ensure that it can capture everything required for certain studies.

The camera did take blank sets of 20 images during the trial, maybe triggered by falling leaves or branches? This did not in any way effect the storage space during the trial or greatly lengthen the amount of data that was required to be checked at the end of the trial.

BirdWatchCam used in Helmeted Honeyeater trial.

Recently as part of my research work on Helmeted Honeyeaters – Lichenostomus melanops cassidix I trialled a new camera for potential application in (ornithological) research. The intention for use in this project would be to positively identify individual birds prescence through recognition of colored leg bands. Particularly useful for tracking after release as part of a captive breeding program.

Outlined is a 3 part summary detailing performance of BirdWatchCam, particularly in relation to scientific use and application.

BirdWatchCam uses a motion sensor system which relies on a moving object entering the camera frame to trigger 20 images to be taken. The camera uses a set focus (options between 1.5m – 3m) and only operates during daylight hours. The lack of flash and focus allows the camera to be very energy efficient.

Camera set up

Can set up the camera for portrait or landscape to get maximum field potential for shot. I chose the landscape option as birds in my trial had more opportunity to get into the frame along a horizontal branch.

Inconspicuous: The camera’s small size and light weight means that the camera is not too obtrusive to the natural environment. It also makes no sound when taking the photos just a subtle flashing of a dull green light (which is very difficult to see). The camera could easily be mounted at heights which is normally difficult with heavy or cumbersome cameras often currently used in research. Or the camera can be hidden in bush areas where people may not find the camera (hence reducing it’s likelihood of being stolen from public spaces).

Image quality

Best to get sun direction right to get clearest photos (sun behind camera). Doesn’t produce images of a quality to magnify and use for media / print type purpose or avoid blurring when birds move whilst the image is taken, you need a high quality digital camera for this. But the images were still very clear and could be blown up to assist with identification of birds – viewing their leg bands.

The best quality images would be taken under a strong light situation, but for the birds in this trial they are generally found in quite dense forest and low light levels. The camera clearly performed well enough under this low light to ensure bird identification, which was the intention of it’s use during this trial period.

Setting time function

I didn’t get time to use this function but it should be easy. This is a very useful tool with date and time shown on each image – this has many options for scientific application when date & time are set correctly.

• Summary Part 2 – Duration, Focal Distance, Timing
• Summary Part 3 – Weather, Checking / Downloading Footage, Bird Identification, Benefits
• Batteries used in research

Helmeted Honeyeater at feed station.

The last month has been really busy for this Bush Chick as I have just started a new job looking after Victoria’s Avi-faunal emblem the Helmeted Honeyeater, Lichenostomus melanops cassidix. These birds are endangered under the Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999. My current role is to work with the birds in the field to meet outcomes of the Recovery Plan for this species.

Over the last month I have been busy working with the dedicated volunteers who maintain the supplementary feeding program. The birds are part of a captive breeding program where birds are bred in either the Healesville Sanctuary or Taronga Zoo and released into the wild. On the birds release into the wild they are given extra support to increase their chance of survival through a supplemented feeding program, where a part of their diet is supplemented with a nectar based solution known as Wombaroo.

Helmeted Honeyeater - captive leg banded bird being released.

Whilst out in the field I have been busy tracking which birds are observed during each visit by checking their leg bands. This is sometimes an easy task if they come down low and you can see their bands really easily, but if they stay up high in the trees this is more difficult. We are currently moving into the breeding season where I will be busy monitoring nesting behaviour and assisting the birds nesting success as best as possible. This will mostly involve trying to reduce the chance of predation of their nest.

Crimson Rosella eating Cotton Fireweed.

The indigenous plants called “fireweeds” or scientifically known as ”senecio spp.” live up to their namesake as they do love fire! We have had huge numbers of fireweeds sprout up since the bushfire over a year ago as they love disturbance and are a typical plant to colonise newly opened areas of soil. Unfortunately for their namesake and appearance they do look and sound weedy. Many people have unfortunately removed this plant from their gardens but they are an indigenous plant and a very important food plant for our wildlife particularly rosella’s.

The most common species on our block is called Cotton Fireweed or Senecio quadridentatus. Cotton Fireweed’s on our bushblock have been continually flowering from spring until autumn. They have been a staple food supply for our local rosella’s who visit and eat the flowers and seeds from these plants daily.

Eastern Rosella eating Cotton Fireweed.

We are glad that we have had the chance to notice the importance of this plant as a food supply for wildlife. We will ensure that we have an abundance of fireweeds in the future to entice our native parrots to visit us on our bush block. We don’t need to provide them with bought seeds or other types of bought food, just observe the indigenous plants they love to eat and ensure we have these around our home where we can enjoy the birds as they visit.

Superb Fairy-wrens on insect control patrol - cucumber vine rack.

One of the best ways to reduce insect attack in your garden and vegie patch is to maintain your biodiversity. The more diversity you have the more balanced your ecosystem and the more difficult it is for one species to take over. We find the small birds are a key link in reducing insect attack in our vegie patch. We have had a new family of Superb Fairy-wrens – Malurus cyaneus move back in 10 months after the bushfire that burnt our bush block. They move across our block and through our vegie patch, such as our cucumber rack, for hours every day scanning for insects to eat.

To ensure you maintain habitat requirements for small birds, such as fairy-wrens you need to have a dense shrub layer amongst your indigenous vegetation. They are very vulnerable and need shrubs (bushes), from ground level to 1 – 2m high to hide in. The shrubs need to form continuous clumps, one isolated shrub surrounded by mowed lawn doesn’t provide them the hiding places they need. They do like open patches (like a vegie patch) and raised vantage points amongst the shrubs so that they can dash in and out of their hiding place.

Dead shrubs form vantage structure for small birds.

We realised how important this layer of vegetation was as the small birds only returned to our burnt bush block when we had a good, thick cover of shrubs which took about 10 months to fill out after the bushfire event. One of the saddest events since the bushfire was to watch most of our neighbours mow (and kill) their indigenous shrubs through the spring and summer just as they were re-generating after the bushfire. This critical habitat component is also apparently a bushfire threat and recommended for removal to protect human homes. Dilemma….. no good for protecting the homes of the small birds and who knows which other wildlife species!

We ensure that we maintain our indigenous shrub sized vegetation – the plants that fill out from the ground to 2 metres height or so. Especially having indigenous shrubs abundant near areas like our vegie patch to entice these small birds, our organic pest control, to dash in and out of our vegie patch. They are also a joy to watch and listen to as they have fun moving in and out of your garden plants.

More to come on our home which survived the bushfire even though we had not removed our shrub layer…

We love the view from the windows of our home because they provide us with views of the bush we have chosen to live in and enjoy. We have also put a birdbath amongst indigenous shrubs immediately outside our kitchen and living room as it immerses us in the bush experience. Hence birds regularly come to visit close to our home to drink and bathe so that we can observe and enjoy them.

In the first couple of years we had a few birds strike the windows whilst coming to the birdbath. The larger birds like parrots just bounced off but unfortunately one small Striated Pardalote – Pardalotus striatus didn’t make it and died in my hands. This was a fairly traumatic experience for us as we had placed the birdbath close to our home to enjoy birds and yet this directly lead to the death of such a beautiful bird.

Echidna leadlight ornament hanging in middle of window can reduce bird collision.

Since this event we have made a few changes and so far have not had any bird strikes. The first tip is easy we don’t clean our windows anymore, and are loving it – I mean who likes cleaning windows! They are not particularly dirty, but the reduction in shine definately helps. We have objects in the larger window areas to break up the large open glass view. Such as some hippy type – yin and yang stickers and also a hanging leadlight echidna decoration that we purchased whilst travelling.

If you are thinking of designing your home from scratch or renovating it is worthwhile considering some of the ideas that are discussed in the report: Minimising the Swift Parrot – Lathamus discolor collision threat. These design techniques could be applied to any home and if implemented in the design can reduce overall avian death through window strike which is a huge problem.

Female Scarlet Robin - Petroica multicolor. A lookout position for insect hunting.

After not seeing Scarlet Robins – Petroica multicolor on our bush block for a whole year after the bushfire we now have a pair that have moved in and become quite comfortable with their newly changed surroundings of regenerating bush.

Male Scarlet Robin - Petroica multicolor.

Recently they have taken to sitting on our outdoor chairs, female on one chair and male on the other. The Scarlet Robins - Petroica multicolor use the chairs as a launching place to attack insects on our house windows which are really close by. It is interesting hearing the tap, tap, tap on the windows and then looking out to watch them consume their insect dinner on our chairs.

Link to tips on how to reduce birds striking windows which can cause injury or death…….