Thread: Workshop visit

Originally Posted by artful bodger

Hi Graeme. Yes I did take the photos through my dirty workshop window. I am quite aware that the forty spotted Pardalote is a very rare bird and is usually found on Bruny Island, which as the crow flies is not far from my place. ...

Really great news, Artful. I had a mate here when I wrote that. He is a really keen birdwatcher and got quite excited but suspected you had googled someone else's photos, and inadvertently got the wrong species. I have copied your reply to him.

There is a significant population at the old quarantine station at Barnes Bay. Birds on the Tas mainland are, apparently, really rare. He said that they live, feed and nest (in hollows) in 100+ feet tall manna gums, and allegedly Unsustainable Timbers Tasmania devastated almost all mature manna gums stands by clear felling, and it takes 100 years for the trees to grow big enough for the forty spotted pardalotes. The breeding hollows then form and the trees start exuding a resin that attract some bugs that the birds eat. He said that they very occasionally dig tunnels, but are timid and spend most of their lives at tree top height. Their future is not good due to loss of habitat.

If I got any of the above wrong, no doubt Pete will tell me.

Artful, your presence may not have been what sent the little fellas off, so don't beat yourself up too much. It's not a species I'm familiar with, but I have read that the forty-spotteds are timid, so it may indeed take very little to put them off in the earlier stages of nesting, but they were indulging unusual behaviour for their type by digging a nest-hole in a bank if their typical nesting sites are in manna gum hollows. Obviously, they still have a remnant of the instinct for digging their own apartments like many of their close rellies do. My guess is that they were a pair of very young adults having their first go at "playing house", and since vacant properties are probably very scarce back on the island, they were looking for new territory. They were probably a bit diffident about their basement apartment anyway, and just decided to hold out for a penthouse...

I've had a couple of swallows check my shed out as a potential nesting site two years running - they fly in frequently in the early Spring, & occasionally perch on a tie-beam & have a good discussion for a few minutes, but so far they've decided it wasn't good enough for them. My most exciting shed visitor was a feather-tailed glider that 'nested' in some plastic bags on a far shelf two years in succession. I was pretty upset when I came in one morning & found a juvenile had managed to drown itself in the dog's water bowl... The next year I made them a nice cosy box with the right-sized entry hole & installed it in a safe spot, but haven't seen them since....

Cheers,

We have been living here 40 years this year. It is only an acre of land but our neighbours have bigger areas and all with native bushland at the back of our blocks. Over the years we have had all sorts of visitors and transient lodgers.....Goanna, Brown Snakes, Black Snakes, Whip Snakes, Whire Cockys, Galahas, Happy Jacks/Apostle Birds, Top Knot Pigeons, Little Doves, Lorakeets, Wrens, the odd Satin Bower Bird.

For years now I have been letting the eat a wild bird seed mixture. There is also shaded water for them as well. I think its very special that they come down for a visit. There is definitely a time table that they adhere to quite strictly. Some will only come down when there is little or no one at the dishes while others take pot luck. There is a real hierarchy to have a feed. They mostly eat all that I put out but some days they leave wheat seed for the next day or even the next day. Then when I go out in the morning the dishes will be completely cleaned up. I suspect we get a night visit by Wallabies or Deer. I really don't mind who eats what I put out. When we were in the grip of the drought (it went for 5 years at least) I figuerd that all the live stock would benefit from the seed. OH.... the shed has 2 pine board boxes which house Mum and Dad Possum. They tend to come for a while then move on but eventually return I would guess they are following what fruiting trees are out at the time.
In the 40 years we have been here our slumber has been broken by a blood curdling cry. It has taken a long time to find out that Koalas were the culprit. We had one guy sleeping in a forky eucalypt 10mts off the ground. He was here for a fortnight then moved on. I have since found out that there is quite a colony of them. I think people around us have kept quiet about them so they won't get molested.

Yes its good to have some wildlife to brighten the day. Had this pink tongued skink came by yesterday. Thought it was a blue tongue but it looked a bit too slim. Google to the rescue.
Likewise over the years have had most of those mentioned and I also had to make possum boxes after evicting one that looked pretty comfortable in the shed. Looked happy with the new digs. Not sure if it's still the same one as the box is occupied on and off. The other box got put in a tree next door and was occupied almost right away. Think if you make one they soon move in. Never had any koalas and sadly not likely to happen way things are going for them.
Regards
John