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For many of us, spring is a favourite time of year. With the short, dark, cold days of winter behind us, we always tend to look forward to the fresh, green warmth of spring and animals are no different. As always, the arrival of spring was noisily announced by the Channel Bill Cuckoos as they arrived back in Australia after their winter migration, ready to breed. When you visit Lone Pine in the next few months, listen out for these large and noisy birds calling loudly too each other as they fly across the sanctuary or rest in the many trees within the grounds. Also keep an ear out for the resident Whip Birds as they send their musical whip like call out across the sanctuary. Staff always wait to hear the calls of these birds in particular as we've come to associate them with the true start of spring.
Birds are not the only ones enjoying the warmer weather. Coupled with the recent rain, we have been enjoying listening to a chorus of different frog species calling for mates around the sanctuary. Our resident water dragons have come out of hiding and are happily soaking up the sun. You can expect to meet a lot of these lovely lizards when you visit.
Babies are often associated with spring as well and the animals have not disappointed. Out in the wild, we are enjoying watching an number of bird species sit on eggs and raise their young. So far we have seen numerous baby lorikeets joining their parents at our lorikeet feeding. Bush Stone Curlews (also known as Bush Thick Knees) have been seen nesting around the sanctuary but so far no chicks have been spotted. We have also enjoyed the privilege of watching a Tawny Frogmouth raising it's beautiful new chick. Some of these birds are very protective of their new chicks so don't be surprised to see magpies, butcher birds, lapwings (plovers) and pee wees swooping at larger birds (and us!) as they valiantly defend their babies. Lone Pine's animals have some new arrivals as well.
<3 The koala mums are at their busiest at this time of year with their joeys now out of the pouch and driving all the mums mad with their energetic play. Spring is also the beginning of breeding season for koalas and both boys and girls are much more vocal and active as they try to attract the attention of the opposite sex. Breeding season is not a quiet time of year in the koala world! We have already had our first koala birth of the new season but this tiny little addition will not be big enough venture out of the safety of mum's pouch for another 6 months. No doubt there will be many more joeys added to our family before autumn next year.
<3 Our Red Tailed Black Cockatoos have a new baby! This lovely pair of birds have been partners at Lone Pine for many years now and have successfully raised chicks before but it has now been 8 years since we last had the pleasure of watching a chick emerge from their nest log. The new chick has reached an age where it is starting to build up the courage to leave the nest and will sometimes be seen with it's head poking out viewing the strange new surroundings. Mum is very protective however so she is never far away. In the next couple of weeks, we expect to see this little one take the next step and leave the nest behind for good.
<3 Our very clever Barking Owl parents have done it again! Mr and Mrs Barker are proudly displaying their 3 new babies which have only recently fledged from the nest. When you visit, you might not see a huge difference in size between the babies and the parents, but the chicks have not quite lost all their baby feathers so they are still quite fluffy looking. They are also extremely curious and their heads never stop moving!
<3 There is no baby news for any our Sulphur Crested Cockatoos but we do have a pair of love birds among them. Anthony and Caroline have lived at Lone Pine for many years and have always had a close bond but we never knew quite how strong that bond is until recently. With Lone Pine's long history, often things can get forgotten along the way and the ages of Anthony and Caroline was something that none of the current staff could remember. A recent visitor who knew these birds many years ago at their previous home, helped fill in the blanks for us and we now know that Anthony is 42 years of age and his long time partner Caroline is 47. While this is only considered "middle aged" for these long lived birds, it warmed our hearts to hear that the 2 of them have been inseparable for nearly all of Anthony's life - that's over 40 years! Isn't love grand :) |
IP Logged
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Last Edited On: 2010-11-07 04:12:31 By Karen for the Reason |
Karen
Senior Wildlife Officer in charge of koalas |
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