A Few Notes on the Fauna

I am becoming very familiar with the wildlife here on Straddie. Last night after watching Space Balls at the Amaroo house, I nearly walked into a juvenile kangaroo at the bottom of the steps. It was standing out of view behind a fence, and when I turned the corner, we were face to face; its dark deep set eyes glaring into mine (similar to a deer in the headlights). Fortunately it didn’t kick or molest me and I was able to safely pass it by. I’ve seen so many of them now that I hardly take notice any more; I clear sign that I’m finally becoming acclimated to this land and its fauna. Even the colourful Rainbow Lorikeets hardly catch my attention anymore.

One new bird that caught my eye today while tracking whales through the theodolite was a new Procellarid (a type of bird with a tubular structure on its bill, such as an albatross) for me. It was light grey with a distinct dark line on the upper surface of its broad wings. It was dancing on the water like a storm-petrel, but was much larger in size. Turns out it was a close relative to a storm-petrel, a type of bird called a Prion. It is very hard to distinguish prions in the field, but based on the record of prion sightings off of Eastern Australia it was most likely a Fairy Prion. If I’m not mistaken, Prions are known for their ability to fly through large seas in a heavy storm, instead of over them (this may actually be diving petrels now that I think about it). Amazing birds that feed on plankton on the surface along current lines. I have been seeing flocks of them through the theo today, especially around areas where the whales have dived down. Perhaps the whales are welling up planktonic matter from the water column. I am not 100% sure these are prions I’m seeing, they may in fact be storm-petrels, but they don’t seem to fit any description of storm-petrels based on their size and light grey appearance.

I’ve been looking up photos of southern hemisphere albatross online, and it turns out the ones I’ve been seeing from the theodolite and one the Beluga may actually be Eastern Yellow-Nosed Albatross. The yellow-nosed have a grey bill with a yellow line on top, running from the tip of the bill to the base. They are also slightly smaller than the Shy Albatross and are darker on top. These characteristics match what I have noticed in the field. I can’t exactly confirm it, and both the shy and yellow-nosed are fairly common this time of year in Eastern Australia. I just need on to fly really close to land so I can confirm the bill is two toned.

Aside from the marine sightings, at dusk yesterday I heard a load clicking sound behind me as I road Dave’s bike from my house to Amaroo. It was a butcherbird, kind of a cross between a crow and magpie, trying to catch a large black butterfly. Australia seems to have quite a diversity of butterflies. I’m not sure if the source of the clicking was the bird’s wings or beak slapping together, but whatever it was the butterfly was eventually stunned and immobile; allowing the butcherbird to snatch it up with little effort.
The photo is of an Australian Pelican.