The House(s) of Fran_mart

A strong squall came through in the afternoon of 25 November and blew one of the chicks from its very exposed roost (roughly position 1) on to the ground.   It was able to launch itself back into the air - I think quite a feat for a bird only 4 days out of the nest - and made it to a small Acacia (about 10m from the roost).  It was about 1.5m off the ground so I thought quite safe.  The male adult was calling to it and after a few minutes took off to another large Acacia dealbata ( position 2 - about 15m from the roost).  The second chick then joined the adult.   About 40 minutes later the three of them were all together again in the large Acacia.  The chicks were well snuggled under the adult - it seemed rather like a joey seeking shelter in Mum's pouch.  I didn't take any photographs of this as getting blown around was probably enough stress for them in one day. Today (26/11) I went to look for them and found the whole family a...

Sorry I have been a bit slow in updating this with text Been a bit busy with real estate stuff recently. On 20 November I went for a drive round the area which is the focus of this post but it begins with a few things from home. I was surprised to see the Frogmouths nest empty!  The chicks haven't flown but have just crawled a metre or so away and perched on a branch with Dad in attendance. This isn't that unusual but they were still there on the morning of the 21st.  That is unusual, as they usually go back to the nest before dark.  The next day they had moved further away to such a position they must have flown: this is the shortest brooding period I have recorded. There has been an outbreak of unwellness amongst some wildlife,  A beetle - still with a nice purple iridescence on the elytra. This spider was actually still alive when I chucked it outside.  Only then did I notice the white tip to the abdomen, which made me glad I hadn't picked it u...

I went back to the Plain this morning hoping to find some Woodswallow nests in a small plantation (to which the owner kindly gave me access). There seemed to be less Woodswallows around today - I think they were more dispersed - and a higher proportion of Masked than yesterday.  I was able to spot a couple of instances where the food being found in the paddock was a grub of some description - quite large so perhaps a chafer larva? While some of the photos which follow illustrate specific points others are  included under the spiffy image rule: I hope they aren't too boring for you! As well as the pines there are some snow gums ( Eucalyptus pauciflora ) in the plantation.  They were flowering nicely,  but I don't fancy the chances of a polinating insect surviving long with the number of predators zooming about! A White-browed Woodswallow (WBW) launching itself.  Male WBW.  A female WBW: on a few occasions after this pose was held, a male ...

On Sunday 21 October the male Tawny Frogmouth was a bit restless on the nest.  I usually take this as a sign of the eggs beginning to hatch.  He was VERY wriggly on Monday.  Taking Sunday as the start of the process it was a 27 day incubation period, whereas I have usually recorded 28 days.  In other words all in normal. On Wednesday 24th I found some broken eggshell on the ground (a confirming physical sighting).  Today I actually sighted a chick  see red arrow in second digiscoped image below.  A nest has to be maintained and here is Dad shuffling a few twigs around.

Our dog walk this morning was very pleasant, although the Southerly was a little brisk when walking in to it.  It was very dry, giving a good display of condensation trails as punters flew from Sydney to Melbourne. Getting back towards the house I happened to glance down and was surprised to see a reasonable supply of guano. Looking up up, my ghast was flabbered to see Ms Tawny Frogmouth in a very scrawny tree. There have been many days this year when I haven't been able to find them and judging by the amount of poop she and/or her mate have been sitting here.  I know it was the female as himself had, for the first time this season, assumed the position on the nest brooding the eggs.  This was exactly the date estimated by adding the average length of nest building to the date they started the process. While going to take these photos one of the pair of Grey Currawongs that are currently resident posed nicely.  I suspect they are nesting somewhere nearby ...