Suprises in the field!

Rebecca came with me as my field assistant over the last two days to help with field work. We got a heap of exercise walking both along tracks and making our own tracks through the forest and woodland of the greater Brisbane region. The purpose of this fieldwork is to supplement the bird survey information with habitat data to tease out patterns of why certain species and numbers of birds are found in certain habitats! Butterflies are diverse and abundant in the subtropical climate of SE Queensland. We got a really good look (and attached photo) of one of the more common species called the Australian Crow (Euploea core). This species is also known as the Oleander Butterfly (which makes infinitely more sense) given its association with Oleander trees. What is really fascinating about this species, apart from it's inherent beauty, is it's amazing silver chrysalis (cocoon). I have attached a great photo from the internet of one! These butterflies are particularly fond of Oleander trees and their cocoons, being laid just prior to Christmas, look like Christmas ornaments!!




Our second surprise occurred yesterday morning in a large koala conservation reserve, where there was a site needing photos and GPS readings. We heard some scurrying in the undergrowth next to us, and for all intents and purpose I could not see what was making the noise as we walked by. It was then that my eyes became fixed on a moving lump of fur only 50cm from me at head height!! It was a juvenile Koala climbing a small sapling and attempting to hide!! I have attached various photos of it below. After walking on and surveying the habitat, we came across the same koala, this time on a log on the ground. Very un-koala like!! At this same site, there were a number of species that are typical of undisturbed, large areas of remnant vegetation. There were no species typical of either disturbed or open habitat (i.e., Noisy Miner, Australian Magpie, Crested Pigeon). Instead, I saw and heard species such as the Forest Kingfisher, Striated Pardalote, White-throated Honeyeater and Rufous Whistler. Two surprises were calls of Scarlet Honeyeaters and White-throated Gerygones! Scarlet Honeyeaters typically migrate south in summer, with only a couple of 'stragglers' hanging out in summer in SE Queensland. Furthermore, this is the first White-throated Gerygone I have heard (didn't actually see it) in Brisbane. The call of this species (which you can listen to here) is absolutely distinctive!

There are many more habitat surveys to go, so no doubt I will have more photos and stories to tell shortly. It is good having Bec with me in the field, as not only can she help with data collection (mostly scribing), but she gets to experience what I experience in the field; interestingly, she is actually really enjoying it!! More soon...............