​Just before Christmas I had the privilege of seeing one of Australia’s less common birds, the Powerful Owl. Just seeing the bird in the flesh, one can only be impressed. A big owl, it is at the top of the food chain in the forest and feeds on arboreal animals including both brushtail and ringtail possums. 

The owl can be found along the East Coast of Australia where they are associated with the forests of the Great Dividing Range. They are listed as vulnerable in Victoria and New South Wales. 

They usually breed in the winter months and require a large hollow (up to 2 m in depth) and in trees which have a diameter of 80 cm or more. Dr Rob Clemens from Birdlife reckons it can take 100 to 300 years for a tree to reach the appropriate size with hollows! 

If you have the fortune to see or hear one you could report it to the Urban Birdlife Program - Powerful Owl Project.  You can contact them via their website at Powerful Owl Project | BirdLife.

Its a sight you won't forget and its just another reason why we need to conserve our remaining forest areas.

Watch the video below to learn more about this Owl and Birdlife's Project.

Many followers of REF, especially around the Hays Inlet projects including the Ecopath, Green Army and Bushcare activities would realise that bird surveys have been conducted on a quarterly basis at the Silcock Street Reserve for the past four years. Incredibly, a 131 bird species have been observed in this important wetland remnant area.  With 20 surveys completed by the South Pine Birder’s group, I thought it would be worthwhile joining in with one of their sessions at Kumbartcho House situated on the South Pine River at Albany Creek.

The survey is conducted on a monthly basis and so far, the group has identified over 150 bird species associated with the reserve. The bird tracks of Kumbartcho meander through forest, open pasture and riverine habitats and provide wonderful opportunities for people to get out exercise and take in some of nature’s gifts. On the day, many bird enthusiasts or “twitchers” as they are known gather in order to document the species seen on the day. Starting at 7.30 am, they make their way along the pathways, binoculars at the ready and their attention focused on the many bird calls resonating in the area.

There were the unmistakeable calls of the Eastern Whipbird and the Lewins Honeyeater as well as a number of aquatic birds in display including a Royal Spoonbill and Pacific Black Ducks. Along the reeds were the darting forms of wrens, honeyeaters and finches along with the sometimes more sedate (that is stationary) Striated Pardalote.  In the end 66 species of birds were observed and 5 more heard.  Perhaps the highlight of the day was the emergence of an Owlet Nightjar from its hollow.

The morning was about the chance to enjoy the local wildlife as well as enjoy the company of so many enthusiasts. The chance to share stories and make some personal observations about various birds was ongoing during the walk; and the morning tea afterwards provided the opportunity to collate all of the observations. Kumbartcho may be for the birds but is also for the birdwatchers!

For further information on bird surveys at Hays Inlet go to ​https://www.redenviroforum.org/bird-surveys.html

Many years ago, as an undergraduate at UQ, I used to spend some weekends at Stradbroke Island and part of my education involved walking the rich intertidal flats around Dunwich.  Especially on moonless nights, I was struck by the melancholy calls of wading birds, which turned out to be Eastern Curlews. Since those days, I have had an interest in migratory waders, especially in Moreton Bay and around the Peninsula.

In those days, you could always see them at low tide foraging in the intertidal flats around Deception Bay, Scarborough and Hays Inlet. Every year these amazing birds make a round trip from Siberia and Norther Alaska to Moreton Bay. In recent times, their numbers have dropped dramatically and they are now listed as critically endangered.

Around September each year they return to Australia from their breeding grounds to spend the summer months in the bays and estuaries of our coastline. At the start of each spring, I visit the flats to see if any of them survived and returned to Moreton Bay. Last week, early in the morning I took my camera and binoculars to the flats of Scarborough and was I lucky enough to spot and photograph one of these precious birds.

Their future is worrying and complex, as they rely on feeding grounds in Southern Asia in order to refuel at the half-way stop through their long journey. Many of these areas have been subject to development and the loss of feeding grounds has had an impact on their survival. Here in Moreton Bay we have also created issues through our own development activities. These activities have reduced the availability and quality of the habitat required for the survival of our international visitors.  

​Over the next few months, I will continue to walk the flats around Moreton Bay and I hope to see and hear more of these amazing birds feeding on our shorelines. In my eyes, they are a gift to us, and I hope there will always be the opportunity to see these birds and hear their emotional calls. And when they depart for their Northern trek, I will wait for the next spring and hopefully see them return safely. One of the jewels of Moreton Bay.

Preferring coastal forests Green Figbirds are able to make a living in urban areas, especially where there are plenty of fig trees. They have adapted to our parks and gardens and although they prefer figs they can feed on cultivated fruits as well including tomatoes, berries, mulberries and even bananas. During the breeding season they live in pairs and nest between October and February. The rest of the year they often live as a small flock and can be seen making their way around the urban landscape in search of fruit trees.

They are distributed along most of the Eastern Coast and the 'Top End' in the Territory. They are part of a worldwide family that includes the orioles, of which Australia has two other members (the Yellow and Olive-backed Orioles). 

Figbird song:

Scientific name Alectura lathami

The Brushturkey is a large megapode (big feet). With urbanisation and the introduction of feral predators including foxes and cats, it was thought they might become endangered. Although they are a large bird, they are not strong flyers and their young may have been prone to predation. However, these birds have adapted to the urban environment, especially where there are areas of trees and mulched gardens. In places where it shares its breeding and foraging grounds with humans, the survival of the species depends largely on the goodwill of householders. In the video below they have adapted to the campus area of the University of Queensland and students and staff are treated to a daily show of Brushturkeys foraging and defending their own territories.

Originally an inhabitant of rainforest and wet sclerophyll forests, they can also adapt to drier settings including urban areas. Brush-turkeys feed on insects, seeds and fallen fruits, which are exposed by raking the leaf litter or breaking open rotten logs with their large feet. The majority of food is obtained from the ground, with birds occasionally observed feeding on ripening fruits among tree branches.  

Brush Turkeys have not only adapted to higher education settings they have also taken advantage of other urban places and you can spot them going about their business at the Bribie Island Golf Course and along the beach walkway at Mooloolaba, where the go about their daily business in the dune and bush gardens associated with the coastal track. An endearing bird, it can make quite a mess of gardens with its scratching and mound building, but let's hope our gardeners and landscapers continue to put up with their industry! 

The first time I came across a Haswell’s Shore Crab was during a “Clean Up Australia Day” at a reserve area in Hays Inlet which included mangrove and saltmarsh habitats. There was a number of car wrecks in the wetland area (which were all removed at a later date by the local Council) as well as domestic debris including a large piece of carpet overlay which was almost welded to the ground surface. As we pulled up the offending piece of carpet we were surprised by a number of brown and orange crabs who immediately lifted their claws and let us know their displeasure!

Since then, and many clean up days later, I have always rushed to any piece of flat rubbish or debris in order to look for these marvelous creatures. They are one of the dominant species in the saltmarsh habitat which can prove to be a tough area to make a living in. Over the years we have seen the salinity in these habitats vary greatly from below ocean levels (approximately 35 parts of salt per thousand) to more than triple the salinity. During extended dry periods, the saltmarsh soil dries out, cracks and is often covered with a salt encrustation. There is no shade, except from the saltmarsh succulents and the marine couch so it can get very hot as well.

The crabs are pretty hardy and dig burrows in the marine couch area in order to escape the sun and avoid desiccation. They are generally nocturnal feeders which makes sense in terms of avoiding the harsh conditions as well as reducing the risk of predation. With a number of wetland birds scouring the area during daylight hours it is a good strategy to avoid becoming an avian meal. Of course another idea is to find a piece of debris such as carpet and make their way underneath in order to take advantage of a moist retreat from the harsh conditions of the saltmarsh.

They are very common in the saltmarsh areas, and often you will see hundreds of their casts dispersed across the saltmarsh vegetation almost like snow.

Further information

For more information on the expo visit https://www.redenviroforum.org/moreton-bay-wetlands-expo.html​ or check out the Redcliffe Environmental Facebook Page

I enjoyed a recent break at Coffin Bay in South Australia where the water temperature in the winter months is too cold for mangroves to survive. The bay is part of the western coast of the Eyre Peninsula and is characterised by rugged coastlines of sandstone, dominated by low woodlands, scrub and coastal heath. Like Moreton Bay and Hays Inlet, there are many sheltered inlets, where saltmarsh can dominate the higher intertidal zone.

In warmer areas, mangroves tend to dominate the coastal fringe and whenever there is enough tidal inundation they replace saltmarsh vegetation. But in Coffin Bay there are no mangroves, so the saltmarsh inhabits the edge of the tidal zone and thrives. One species (Tecticornia arbuscular) also known as the shrubby samphire can grow well over 2 meters in height and another samphire, the Thick-head Glasswort (Sarcocornia blackiana) is also common in the Coffin Bay saltmarshes and can grow to over a metre in height. These larger samphires appear to occupy the niche of the mangrove, so common in warmer waters.

Still there are also a number of familiar plants, which are common in the saltmarsh areas of Hays Inlet. They include the Beaded Samphire (Sarcocornia quinqueflora), Ruby Saltbush (Enchylaena tomentosa var tomentosa),Seablite (Suaeda australis) and Marine Couch (Sporobolus virginicus). On the landward edge in Hays Inlet we can see stands of Melaleuca and Casuarina. Similarly, at the landward fringe in Coffin Bay there are stands of tea tree, known as Swamp Paperbark (Melaleuca halmaturorum).

The birdlife in this coastal area also reflects the trends in the saltmarsh vegetation, some familiar to South Queensland and others characteristic of the southern temperate coastline. There are many of the same birds as Hays Inlet including Oystercatchers, Cormorants, Silver Gulls, Pelicans and the White-faced Heron. There are also other birds not seen in Moreton Bay that occupy the shorelines and coastal vegetation including the New Holland Honeyeater, the Red Wattlebird and the impressive Pacific Gull which looks like one of our seagulls on steroids.

​Coffin Bay and the Eyre Peninsula is a relatively isolated area of coastline and to visit the area certainly gives us a chance to reflect and appreciate the areas of wetlands we still have around Moreton Bay. Importantly it also gives us an idea of how saltmarsh would look without the Mangroves dominating the shoreline and the edges of our waterways. In our case, in Moreton Bay, we get to enjoy the best of both worlds, saltmarsh and mangrove forests!

Saltmarsh is an endangered habitat and some of the reasons behind its fragility include weeds, development traffic including bikes and 4 wheel drives as well as predicted sea rise from climate change. Hays inlet still has some significant areas of saltmarsh which are important nursery sites for fish, provide habitat for wading birds, improves the water quality entering Moreton Bay and is one of the most effective habitats in storing carbon. REF Inc along with its partners has continued to work in these areas including removing some serious weeds from the landward buffer zones of Casuarina and Melaleuca.
​
Recently weeding work has been carried out in these buffer zones as well as a new set of saltmarsh transects being put in place to monitor the health of the saltmarsh vegetation. A recent high tide had receded when I noticed the channels between patches of marine couch and saltmarsh vegetation were full of snails. A closer inspection revealed that as well as snails many small fish had been trapped in the channels and with the tide receded were now in real danger of being desiccated.

When high tides inundate saltmarsh many fish move in with the water to take advantage and feed on the high levels of algae and detritus. Clearly this is a risky business for if they don’t retreat with the tide they risk being trapped on the saltmarsh. Without the tide, this is a harsh environment and really its invertebrates that do best in these conditions. The snails can close up shop by closing an operculum on their shell effectively creating a moist environment. They will often make their way to the base of surrounding vegetation in order to avoid direct exposure to the sun. Other invertebrates including mangrove whelks employ a similar strategy, although in this case they make their way to the shade found on the surface of mangroves. Other invertebrates including crabs will burrow into the marsh sediment and wait out for the next tide.

This is generally not an option for fish; once the water recedes they are trapped. A closer inspection of these channels areas revealed that one or two of the fish appeared to have buried themselves into the sediment. Saltmarsh specialists such as gobies do have burrows and are adapted to cope with heat and excess salt levels. But these fish were not gobies and perhaps this is a behaviour used by them to avoid a harsh death. There appears to be nothing in the literature about this behaviour and the author would be appreciative if any reader has come across this behaviour in the literature. Saltmarsh can be a harsh environment, especially during low tide at daytime. Invertebrates with their external shells and burrowing habits dominate here, but many species of fish will make their way onto the saltmarsh during high tides regardless of the risk. Another reason for us to appreciate the saltmarsh and do everything we can to preserve the remaining sections at Hays Inlet.