Want to know Gum Trees? Part 2

So my first tip to identifying gums was to become familiar with an area. Walk and look at the trees until you can see which ones are similar. Before too long it won't look like a wall of green anymore.

So my next tip is to keep looking and walking and becoming familiar but now pay attention to the bark. The bark is a key identifying tip, especially when it comes to gum trees. I'll talk more about gum trees soon but for now start to notice the bark. I've added some photos below of what types of bark you may come across, particularly in the bush of Brisbane and surrounds. Again I wouldn't worry about taking out your ID book or trying to name any of the trees. I'd just look at the bark.

Smooth Bark

 

 

Iron Bark

 

 

Stringy Bark

 

 

Box Bark

 

 

Bloodwood Bark

 

 

Here I have introduced five bark types. Smooth, Iron, Stringy, Box and Bloodwood. See how each of the bark types are rather unique? Looking at the bark type is a key identifying feature, which can help you narrow down what type of tree you are looking at.

 

Now next time you go for a walk, have a feel of the bark on the trees. Does it come off in strings or flakes? Is it smooth or rough and difficult to pull off? The other thing to look for, is if the bark is rough or smooth over the whole tree or only some of the tree. Perhaps there is rough bark only at the base and it's smooth further up the trunk. The photo below is what a half bark might look like. Rough at the bottom but smooth further up the trunk. So take a few days and look at the bark of trees.

 

 



Half Bark

Bushwalk discoveries

Today on our bushwalk we discovered a few wonderful things.

A Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquantus) feeding chicks in its nest. There were two adults feeding the chicks. It's hard to see in the photo but the bird had a really large spider in its beak. It waited until its mate came and fed the chicks, then it flew off with the spider. I'm guessing it ate the spider itself. I wondered why it decided not to fed it to the chicks? My kids call these two Butcherbirds, Mildred and Rosie. I'm guessing it's more than likely a male and female feeding the chicks but we'll go with Mildred and Rosie anyway.

I also spotted this gorgeous butterfly known as Large Grass Yellow or Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecaba). It was flying quite fast about 1 metre about the ground. I crept up and got a few photos before it flew off again. Reading tells me they are quite common in Brisbane and during all seasons. It was a deep yellow with black markings on the wings. It was small, maybe about a 4cm wing span.

My daughter has a great eye for animals. We really complement each other out in the bush. I'm guessing it must be her height. She can see things I often miss. She spotted this female Golden Orb Spider (Nephila Plumipes). The females are large, often 5xs the size of the male. They build an orb web and the silk is yellow in colour. The females abdomen in the photo is narrow, showing that she is either young and/or hasn't developed any eggs yet. Her abdomen will get really big and round when the eggs have developed. The females are really large, I wouldn't want to walk into a web!!! Golden Orbs are really easy to recognise, they are large with blank and orange legs.

My daughter also spotted this Tent Spider (Cyrtophora moluccensis). Tent Spiders vary in colour, this one had black, white and yellow on its abdomen. They build a tent or dome like web and sit upside down in the middle of it.

The understory has a lot of Barbed Wire Grass (Cymbopogan refractus). This native grass is really easy to identify, its seed heads are similar to a barb wire. It is a clumping grass and has a distinct lemon scent. You can often smell it when it gets disturbed or by picking some leaves. It grows well on nutrient poor and stony soils which it is growing in, in these photos.

 

 

So we enjoyed our walk and saw some interesting things. It was a real treat to watch the Grey Butcherbirds feed their chicks. My daughter watched them intently. Will be nice to see the chicks start to fly.

Want to know Gum Trees? Part 1

At first trying to identify gum trees can be like a huge wall of green. You may look out at a natural area and just see hundreds of trees. Where to start? Sometimes it may be so overwhelming you may not even start. I have a few tips that might help you and over the next few weeks, I hope to introduce you to these little identifying 'tricks' I use.

My first tip is to start small. Pick a location you frequent often. A place where you want to know what lives there. Perhaps your garden, a local park, reserve or creek. I totally recommend your own garden as a starting point as this is so accessible. However your own garden will most likely have introduced plants species, so you need to be aware of this.

So my first tip, is pick a location and visit it. Don't even bring your ID book. Just walk around and look. On my property, I walked everyday for a month and just looked (that's my property in the photo). I focused my attention on the large trees first. Gums will probably be the tallest trees you can see. Once you understand the gums in the area, you will understand what the forest type is (wet or dry Eucalypt etc) and this will help you to identify more plants.

As each day passes you will start to pick out similar trees. I turned this into a game with my daughter. So I would stand beside a tree and she would find the closest one that looked just the same. Then she would stand beside one and I would have to find one just the same. This game would be easier at a local reserve than in your own backyard (if your backyard is small). Though if you have several trees the same, you could still try.

So my first tip is about becoming familiar. Don't worry about  naming any of the trees. Start to expand your senses. Walk a similar track and look, look, look. These leaves are shiny green but these are dull green. This bark is smooth but this bark is really rough. This tree is very tall but this one is much smaller. Look, look, look and ask questions. The trees will become familiar to you and you will broaden your search patterns and be able to point out the ones which are similar.

So go on and try, I'd love to hear about it.

We found our mystery frog

We found our mystery frog tonight and I was right, it's Littoria fallax, commonly known as Dwarf Green Tree Frog. I heard it calling tonight, so my daughter and I went outside with a torch to hunt. We spotted five, yes FIVE Striped Marsh Frogs. The little fello with one eye was calling "toc" very loudly. Then I could hear the "reeeek...pip, pip" even while we were right there, shining torches and cameras into the pond. I couldn't find it and was looking all about the reeds, then my daughter spotted this tiny little frog sitting on the reeds. Here it is, isn't it adorable? Sooo excited to finally catch a glimps.

Littoria fallax is only tiny, 2.5cm long. This little one is all green, however they can be green and fawn or all fawn. The most distinguishing feature I noticed, was the narrow brown stripe from the nostril to the eye. So very pleased we captured some photos of it.

This morning we also spotted this large Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea). It was calling earlier this morning, a deep "crawk" and I had a look around and couldn't see it. Then when I pulled the cover off the pool so my daughter could have a swim, she immediately spotted it. It was happy enough for me to take photos and then quickly moved away when we got into the pool.

Easily distinguished due to its size of about 10cm. Doesn't it look rather relaxed and content there on the side of our pool? I really wanted to have a hold and for my daughter to hold it too but I thought we wouldn't disturb it too much. Maybe another day when we spot it again, we'll have a hold.

Lastly I'll add another photo of the Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peronii). We saw five tonight. We have a wire grate over our pond to keep it safe for the kids. I have worried about whether this would be an obstacle for the frogs but it doesn't seem to be. It is probably providing a safer sanctuary for them and the fish from predators such as Kookaburras.

 

So I am very happy and frog content tonight. Mystery solved! So to my current knowledge my place is home to four frog species and a toad.

 

 

Regurgitated Pellets

Some birds regurgitate their food in pellet form. I have always wanted to see this. I thought it would be near impossible to find these pellets. Like looking for a Magpie poo in a paddock, impossible! So it took me by surprise this past week, when I found some on the ground while searching for gumnuts. I was in surburbia, just out the front of an industrial complex in Ipswich.

Some birds regurgitate food which is indigestible. The pellet may contain bone, fur, or indigestable plant and seed remains. Many owls, hawks and eagles produce these pellets and I was aware of this. Though where I found these pellets just this week, I thought it highly unlikely that these pellets came from owls etc. I came home and did a bit of reading, to discover that Magpies and Currawongs also regurgitate pellets. From looking at the pellets this would most likely be a Magpie or Currawong, due to the size and content of the pellets. I would hazard a guess it's a Magpie. Magpies are far more common than Currawongs in this area. We notice an increase in Currawong numbers throughout Winter at our place. I rarely hear them call in Summer, as they head back up to the ranges near Toowoomba.

You always wanted to see what regurgitated bird food looked like right? :D

More frogs at our place

Last night was rather windy and we didn't hear our mystery frog calling. From research and listening to calls recorded on the internet, I've narrowed it down to the Litoria fallax. This frog has many common names, Eastern Sedgefrog, Green Reed Frog and Dwarf Tree Frog.

The call is a very distinct "Reeeek...pip, pip". It's also very similar sounding to the Cooloola Sedgefrog (Litoria cooloolensis) but its habitat is described as coast, lowland rainforest areas or wallum country, which my place is not, so I've excluded that one. However, I will continue to listen out and try and catch a glimps of our mystery frog, just so I can be sure.

I have included a picture of Litoria fallax, isn't it gorgeous? I'm so excited to think we have this little frog calling our place home at the moment. I am even more amazed that frogs come and go from our place and in the 10 years I've lived here, I've never heard this little frog call before. How they make their way here just amazes me.

We decided to go out with the torch and check the pond last night, even though we couldn't hear any calls. My daughter immediately spotted a Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peronii). This frog has been a resident of our pond, to our knowledge, for well over a year. We know because this particular frog only has one eye. She has spotted and caught him several times before. Striped Marsh Frogs are common and widespread and fish ponds are a favoured breeding site. We often see the big foamy egg nests in the reeds after rainfall. It has a very distinct call, which is a short and sharp "toc". We hear it calling often.

The most distinctive features that I use to identify this frog, are the dark stripes down its back with a lighter central stipe along the middle of the back.

See how it's missing an eye? After rainfall, we have seen several of the same species in the pond but on a more regular basis, we only see this one. Will be interesting to keep track of it and how often we see it over the years. Apparently they live for 5-8 years.

Ornate Burrowing-frog

We have several frogs that live about our place. Some reside in our shed or drains. Some in our backyard pond. Lately I've been hearing a new frog out in the pond on dusk. I haven't caught a glimps of it yet but have listened intently to its call. Last night I recorded its call and so hopefully I'll be able to identify it soon.

Then this morning I was upstairs and I happened to look out the window at the pond. I noticed a frog amoung the reeds, so I raced down and snapped a few shots of this gorgeous little fello.

I identified it as an Ornate Burrowing frog. It's a species of ground frog native to Australia. Previously this species was known as Limnodynastes ornatus and then Opisthodon ornatus, in 2006 following a major revision of amphibians. Now reclassified again as Platylectrum ornatum.

The most distinguishing feature I noticed was the patch of pale markings between and behind the eyes. Also the strips down its legs. It's call however it a resonant, nasal "unkh" which is not the call I recorded last night. So I'm excited to know we have several different species living in my own backyard.

From reading, this little burrowing frog generally is only seen after rains. We did have a spit of rain last night and from the weather predicted this week, we are meant to be in for more rain. So maybe this has brought it out of its burrow and into my pond. Lucky for us!

Just a bit about me...

Hi there and welcome to my blog Brisbane Backyard Naturalist.

I'm not a Brisbane girl born and bred. I actually grew up in North Western Sydney in the beautiful Hawksbury River region. I have lived in Brisbane for the past 10 years however and so consider myself a Queenslander. I live in and love Ironbark country now.

I have spent 5 years of my life studying conservation and ecology, so by training I'm a scientist. However by heart I'm a naturalist. I have never preferred flora over fauna or hydrology over geology. I have a well rounded interest in everything natural. I've worked in everything from soil and water testing to dune rehabilitation and environmental education.

I'm a full time mother of two children now, so I spend much of my time exploring local areas with my little ones. Therefore I also have a keen interest in the importance of nature connection in the lives of children.

So as I spend time exploring my backyard and the greater Brisbane and Ipswich region, I hope to increase my knowledge of local nature. I will use this blog to share my experiences and knowledge in the hope to inspire others to discover their backyards. I will also write about nature connection for both children and adults and anything else I feel is valuable and interesting along the way.

Enjoy :)