January 2015

The Nature Notes author is on holiday this month, so he is not able to see what is going on in Pett.  Instead, he’ll try and send a little warmth from the Southern hemisphere and tell you a little about the natural world from an Australian point of view.

Getting to grips with the wildlife in a strange place can be daunting at first because nearly everything is new.  Birds are the obvious place to start because other things like small mammals are shy and hard to spot, insects are small and easily hidden, and many species of both are nocturnal.  Birds being able to fly away are more inclined to show themselves.  Another reason for starting with birds is that wherever you go, there’s an appropriate field guide to refer to.

The first bird I saw on the drive from the airport was, appropriately, the welcome swallow.  It is slightly smaller than our own swallow, but still unmistakeable.  Next, picking up road-kill insects from the side of the road were myna birds.  These are found all over Asia, and have been introduced to many Pacific countries where they seem to thrive and have a more or less detrimental impact on the local ecology.  In one infamous example they were introduced to Fiji to control insects that were destroying the local bean crops.  They were successful in wiping out the insects, but having done that, they went on to eat the beans.  Australia though, has its own endemic myna bird as well as the introduced one.

If I had to choose two adjectives that describe the bird life in Australia, they would be colourful, and vocal.  Many people complain about being woken early in the spring by the dawn chorus.  In Australia, it goes on all day, and at times can seem deafening.  The kookaburra is one example, with its almost demonic laughing call.  It took me a while to identify one bird that had a loud, sharp, ‘ping’ call.  Though quite secretive, I managed to get some photographs, and with the help of a field guide, identified it as a bell miner bird.  The sound is more like a sledge hammer striking a chisel than a bell, but much louder and more piercing.   It’s a small bird with olive green plumage and the most amazing orange legs. 

Bell Miner

Another bird that has a loud call is the sulphur-crested cockatoo.  This has a loud and jarring squawking call, played at a volume to make a noise abatement officer long for retirement.

Amongst all the noise, it can be quite surprising to hear the familiar call of a blackbird. (And can be likened to finding a quaint Spanish village with an English pub in it.) It is the same species of blackbird that may be found in Pett.  There are several species that have been introduced to Australia, such as the greenfinch and goldfinch.  These have probably been introduced for no other reason than to make early settlers feel at home.  Whether they have an impact on the local ecology or not, they certainly don’t make it any less colourful or quieter.

One of the most colourful groups of birds is, of course, the parrots.  I've only been here a few days, but I've already seen 6 different species, from the pure white (almost) sulphur-crested cockatoo, to the unbelievable, but aptly named rainbow lorikeet.

Rainbow Lorikeet

There is plenty of other wildlife here, of course, but it all seems to follow the same pattern of louder and more colourful than the wildlife at home.  I've seen butterflies the size of birds, a startling yellow-headed fly, and one black red-bellied snake – described as poisonous, but rarely fatal.  Well that’s a comfort, at least.

If you would like to see some of the photos, I've started an Australia blog that can be seen at www.akaust14.blogspot.co.uk.