Recent rain has brought the Orange-thighed Tree-frogs down from the canopy. For several nights, the males gathered near little streams and puddles and called for the females to join them.
So many photogenic poses!
On stage:
This one got a bit confused.I don’t think the female was amused!
Orange-thighed Tree-frog (Litoria xanthomera) male with Green-eyed Tree-frog (Litoria serrata) female.
Our resident pair of Grey Goshawks (Accipiter nocaehollandiae) decided to build a new nest in late July. The chosen site is a tall Rose Gum close to our house.
By late September they were incubating, and at the end of October, they were feeding a single hatchling.
Grey Goshawk chick with mumA small gap in the vegetation allows us a glimpse of the nest from our veranda.Almost 40 days later, in early December, it left the nest and has been hanging around nearby ever since.Although we have a couple of birdfeeders, the Goshawk is mainly eyeing off the pademelons, the bigger the better! It swooped down on a large male several times, but it needs a lot more practice and speed to be a real threat to a fully-grown pademelon. The pademelons are not impressed, and we’ve seen the male make threatening noises towards the bird.
Today it even had a go at a tree-kangaroo:
After an unsuccessful attempt, it often lands on a nearby perch (in this case right on top of the birdfeeder!),
Noisy Pittas are summer visitors to the higher parts of the Atherton tablelands (we are at 1000m elevation), and we usually hear the first ones in December.
This year they have arrived a bit earlier. I happened to be down by the creek, watching the Grey Goshawks (they built a nest near our house in August), when a Pitta called near me, then a second one answered!. I had hoped to have a better image for this blog, but the birds have eluded me over the last week (although they are calling a lot).
The Grey Goshawks’ nest is in a very tall Rosegum and one only gets a good view from one spot near the creek.
The adults are feeding one chick and are calling before coming to the nest, which makes it easy to hurry down to the creek in time to see the parent arrive.
Grey Goshawk nestling
Many other bird species are also nesting now. Mrs Cockatoo chose a tall dead tree for her nest.
She always comes to the opening when she hears someone walking past.
Female Scarlet Honeyeaters are busy collecting nesting material
while the males are always on the look-out for competitors.
The Spangled Drongos are sharing nest-building duties.
Amazingly, they can fit up to 5 eggs into their tiny nest!
Brown Gerygones are flitting in and out of their nest, which is pendular with a roof over the side entrance, to feed nestlings.
Other birds already have fledglings in tow. This Mountain Thornbill got duped into raising a Shining Bronze-cuckoo.
Many Red Roarer cicadas are hatching at the moment -it might be another cicada year, when they are much more numerous.
Several species are flowering now. From the tiny Caterpillar Orchid (Plexaure crassiuscula) with flowers about 1.5mm small
to the large Oak Orchids (Dendrobium jonesii.
Oak Orchid close-up
Other epiphytes are the Buttercup Orchid (Dendrobium agrostophyllum)
this Northern Thumbnail Orchid (Dendrobium nugentii)
and this small Common Snake Orchid (Bulbophyllum johnsonii syn. Serpenticaulis johnsonii)
Bulbophyllum orchids flower sporadically throughout the year.
Pink Lady Fingers ( Caladenia carnea) are ground orchids, which grow along the drier road verges here
and so is this Northern Sun Orchid (Thelmytra queenslandica).
Someone has already nibbled on this flower! Orchids are tasty, and not just insects, pademelons and possums eat them: yesterday I watched a cassowary pecking at the flowerbuds of a Giant Boatlip Orchid, which was just within reach.
So far, I could identify 19 species of orchids on our property, hopefully more to come!
