Have you heard a ‘new’ bird call from home or whilst on Mt Rogers? The Grey Butcherbird’s song seems to me to be simultaneously mocking, joyous and sometimes as melodious as magpies’ best efforts. I did see a young Grey Butcherbird watching for edibles from a tree above Bingley crescent on 6th March. I’d heard the far-carrying calls from mid-Flynn and Mt Rogers before then and since. Last Saturday (7th April) there was an early serenade from a magnificent Eucalypt that reminds a few of us of the grassy woodlands that Flynn’s Welch and Wyles Places replaced.
The Butcherbird, Cracticus torquatus (the photo above is courtesy of Barbara), is known to impale prey on twigs or lodge it in forked branches. They also raid small birds’ nests but mostly feed on small lizards and invertebrates grabbed from the ground after a swift dive. Photos and good binoculars will show the curve on the bird’s strong beak. At 26 to 30 cm they’re smaller than a wattlebird. Adults have grey plumage, with young birds being much browner. Three other species of butcherbird are found in Australia including the Pied butcherbird whose range is to the ACT’s north. A new book on magpies makes the point that some ornithologists group magpies in the butcherbirds’ genus Cracticus. Whatever their precise taxonomy the two birds are closely related.
I wonder if the Butcherbird’s appearance this time will herald its becoming established as a Mt Rogers resident species? In the last 10 years we’ve noticed how Common Bronzewing Pigeons have gradually spread around the reserve from the Wickens Place carpark area. Despite their name they are far from common and nowhere near as ubiquitous as the Crested Pigeon. The sudden influx of a species is known as an irruption. We have witnessed this in 2011–2012 with the millions of Plague Soldier beetles, but Crested pigeons suddenly appeared in the ACT region in the 1930s. Their stay then didn’t last but another irruption in the sixties led to the gradual expansion of their numbers that we’ve seen in recent decades. Both pigeons have gloriously coloured, sun-highlighted bands of feathers in their wings.
The story of the Common or Indian Myna is currently making headlines again as these introduced pest birds have also shown how species increase and spread through an area. Their invasion wasn’t natural however, and by approximately 2005 their numbers were threatening the survival of native bird species and hollow-using small mammals. I remember noticing that it took several years before Mynas completed their invasion of Flynn. After backyard trapping Indian mynas moved from being third most common Canberra bird to 13th or 14th currently. Flynn, Fraser, Melba and Spence folk were effective trappers.
A much more attractive species also gradually spread through Flynn and onto Mt Rogers: the Australian King Parrot. Like Currawongs it appears that ‘Kings’ have changed their behaviour to remain in the suburbs during winter, enticed by Cotoneaster, Privet, Pyracantha and Hawthorn berries. They apparently breed in the high country so they’re classed as “altitudinal migrants”. In recent weeks there have been inspiring sightings of robins moving through areas like Shepherds Lookout beyond Holt as they leave the high country’s winter weather behind. This means that we’ll be able to see Scarlet Robins around Mt Rogers for the next few months. Eastern Spinebills are piping! Can you believe that “a flock of four seen once“ was an observer’s entry covering the period 1913 to 1928 about the Galah?
If you need a change and a more rugged walk (also dogs off-leash) Shepherds Lookout offers a short walk with spectacular views of the Murrumbidgee after it’s been joined by the Molonglo River’s “interesting” contribution. Drive along Stockdill Drive towards the sewage treatment works and look for a collection of boulders that mark the way to the lookout.
Shepherds Lookout is also interesting because it has the most incredible smorgasbord of weeds alongside the track. It is therefore an example of what happens to a nature reserve when there is no money for adequate maintenance and no caring group of volunteer stewards to show their appreciation by action.
If you visit Shepherds Lookout, dogless, on Fridays or the weekends you could call in to Strathnairn Homestead Gallery to reward yourselves with morning or afternoon tea, a glimpse of the current exhibition and a walk around the property and its studios. Anyone who’s lived the rural life will enjoy a step back in time, rural and Brindabella views and close encounters with Fairy Wrens, Sparrows, Magpies and the chooks.
Several Mt Rogers folk exhibit at Strathnairn and contribute to the handcrafted artefacts that make unique gifts. Jill, no doubt assisted by Bernard, is about to have a display of her artwork there. Steve has a wonderful painting of New Holland Honeyeaters currently on display at CSIRO Discovery and there’s a glorious collage featuring Frogmouths there for free-appreciation also. At the Botanic Gardens there’s a display of botanical art by artists from the Gardens’ Friends Group. Their paintings feature local species too.
It might well be time to appreciate the parklike appearance of Mt Rogers whilst it lasts in its current greenness! The mowing crews have been through again and made the edges look neat and enticing. We know that this isn’t the real bush and that it’s the “organised chaos” of our ecosystems that actually support, shelter and feed local species and maintain their complex inter-relationships. Strathnairn shows how farming families created oases amongst the paddocks that replaced grassy woodlands. Mt Rogers is a bush oasis amongst the suburbs.
SUNDAY 22ND APRIL FROM 9AM, ASSAULTING BERRIED-WEEDS
MONDAY 7th MAY FROM 9AM, FROM NEAR WICKENS PLACE’S CARPARK.Encourage everyone to keep walking and observing in spite of the cooler days!
10-15 April 2012
Mt Rogers Landcare Group, 6258 4724
Reference
Wilson, Steve Birds of the ACT: Two centuries of change. Canberra, Canberra Ornithologists Group, 1999.
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