I read about a trail that crossed McQuoid Creek near Kambah Pool that I thought looked interesting. I did not want to do the full trail but I wanted to concentrate on the area around the creek itself. The trail was easy enough to access, it was opposite the small carpark located outside of the Kambah Pool entrance. While I was prepared to get my feet wet crossing the creek, because I had already read about that possibility, I was not prepared for the waist-high grass that I encountered. The rain over spring and summer had caused a lot of growth in this area meaning that the trails were no longer too distinct. I started following a trail made by a vehicle and missed the connecting trail. I only realised I had missed the trail when I encountered the Pine Island to Kambah Pool trail, which was a well-made and maintained trail. The area that I was in was very small and I never went too far from where I could still hear the odd car driving to Kambah Pool so I was in no risk of getting truly lost but I knew that my original plan was not going to work. The weather was also challenging because it was very overcast which not much light reaching the subjects that I was looking at. Fortunately, on both days that I visited the weather cleared up a bit towards the end of my time there so I had some better lighting. I was happy to see a Nankeen Kestrel on my first visit as well as Dollarbirds; those sightings prompted me to return the next weekend in anticipation of what I might see. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below of what I did see.
On the first weekend, once I had started my walk along the trail made by a vehicle through the long grass, I noticed a different coloured object in a dead tree. When I drew closer to the tree I realised that the object was a Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides). Given the colour on the crown and breast I suspected that this may be a juvenile. It was stationary in the dead tree, allowing me to approach close to the base of the trunk. It was looking around but not making any body movements. Eventually, I think, my interest made it uncomfortable so it flew to some branches at the back of the same tree. The kestrel is a small falcon that feeds on a wide variety of food and can tolerate a number of different habitats. Sorry, I have only included a single photograph in this post because the lighting made it hard to get a shot that was not too grainy.
I kept following the vehicle track through the long grass, hoping that I would find a better trail that was not so overgrown. After a little while I came across the much better maintained Pine Island to Kambah Pool trail that I turned onto in the general direction of where I wanted to head.
Just along the new trail that I had joined I heard the sound of a juvenile Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) somewhere off in the bush to my left. A juvenile’s call sounds like an adults call that is stuck on the first note. I surveyed the thick bush but I could not see any bird and I did not want to bush-bash through the area because I figured that I would disturb any birds before I saw them. Nor was there enough light to really take a decent photograph if I was under the canopy. After I took a few more steps an adult kookaburra flew onto the branch of a dead tree not too far from me. The bird stayed there for a little while, flicking its tail up and down while it surveyed what was around it. After a little while it flew on. I waited, looking at the branch in case it returned but in less than a minute a juvenile kookaburra landed there instead. It looked around, then made its stuttered call before it flew off as well. Photos of both of these large kingfishers are below, with the adult first, followed by the juvenile. The photos help to show the differences in plumage, especially the heavier colouration of the juvenile’s crown.
Laughing Kookaburra adult
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 2000, 400mm, f/7.1 and 1/400 SEC])
Laughing Kookaburra juvenile, note the darker crown and the uniformed colour beak
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 2000, 400mm, f/7.1 and 1/400 SEC])
After crossing a small bridge over a wet but plant-clogged McQuoid Creek I continued along that trail as it climbed up the ridge. The bush was reasonably thick on the right of the trail whereas on the left the ground sloped away quickly to the Murrumbidgee River. I could hear birds around me but the bush made it hard to leave the trail to find them. After I had gone a little way and realised I was not going to be able to find any alternate tracks I decided to return along the way that I had come.
On my way up I had passed a substantial orb=-weaver web but there was no obvious spider so I kept going. On my way back, with the sun finally shining through I decided to look for the spider in the surrounding foliage. It did not take long to find this Backobourkia that was probably a male. It was happy to stay sill under the branch with only a few small moves of its limbs. This spider is often only identified to the genus level because differentiating the three species within takes an expert, often with a strong magnifying aid. The genus name is a play on the Australia idiom describing things in the outback as being out the back of the town Bourke because it was thought that this genus only existed in the true outback.
Backobourkia under a branch
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Very near the spider above, a Robber Fly (Cerdistus varifemoratus) landed on a plant stalk. It then preceded to clean itself. I thought it was a risky place to be given the location of the nearby spider but these insects are good flyers so it could probably avoid the web.
Robber Fly
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
For me the sighting of the morning was an adult and juvenile Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis). I heard the adult before I saw it, indeed after hearing the distinct call I really hoped that I would see one of these gorgeously coloured birds. I initially had trouble locating it but then it called again and I looked up into a dead tree to see the glistening blue of its plumage and contrasting orang of its beak on a branch. I also realised that there was second Dollarbird perched on a branch of that tree. In looking through my camera I realised the other Dollarbird was a juvenile. The juvenile’s plumage was less bright than its parents and its beak was a dull, darker colour. The adult was normally perched on a branch away from the juvenile but I noticed the older bird twice fly off to find food, that it brought back. As it got close, the juvenile would start calling. The adult would land on the branch to feed the juvenile bird before flying a short distance to a different branch to pause and survey the area. I moved positions to get clearer shots of the birds but they did not interact again. After a little while the juvenile flew off first towards the north, followed in less than a minute by the adult. I am always amazed that these birds spend half the year in tropical, humid Papua New Guinea before heading to Australia in September, where some of them come all the way to Canberra, surely a habitat vastly different to the one that they spend the rest of the year in.
Adult Dollarbird in the front with food in its beak
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/14 and 1/400 SEC])
Food goes in
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/14 and 1/400 SEC])
Side by side showing the differences
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/14 and 1/400 SEC])
The Dollarbirds were the last subjects that I photographed on that first trip, not through a lack of interest on my part. Although the weather had been against me I thought that it was still worth a trip the following weekend when the weather may be better.
I was wrong about the weather, the day again started off very overcast, possibly more than the previous weekend and there was even a very light drizzle of rain. I parked in the same location as the previous weekend but I thought that I would try a different path this time. The previous weekend, I had noticed another vehicle-created trail heading off to the east from the one I had started on. I missed it on my way down the slope but it appeared more obvious on the way back up. So this weekend I turned onto that trail, which seemed more a remnant of an idea for a trail than an actual path. It took me north-east, which was the way the information said I should head but when it got near the boundary fence it petered out to nothing. I saw a faint sign of a trail, probably an animal trail heading towards some trees that lined McQuoid Creek. There also seemed to be some clear ground under those trees so I headed in that direction. I kept following barely marked trails and eventually joined up with the Kambah to Pine Island trail again, which I followed back to the Kambah Pool entrance. This route was closer to my original plan and I felt that I was off the better followed path. I even came across a Common Wombat, who did not care for a photograph so barrelled off the trail leaving me to snap a furry bundle of fur behind grass stalks. I loved seeing the wombat but I did not post what was really a formless blob that you would have to trust was indeed a wombat.
Walking along the trail with the long grass on either side there were a number of Meadow Argus butterflies. I disturbed them unintentionally with my walking, at which point they haphazardly took-off, only to land a little further on, back towards the bottom of the grass. It appeared that they sometimes stuggled to get to a perching spot would persisted in getting into the long grass rather than higher up the stalks. I suppose being higher up exposed them to birds whereas lower down they were less exposed to predators like insects and spiders. They were a beautiful butterfly to see.
Meadow Argus among the grass
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 2000, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
While walking along the trail, the other insects that I saw jumping out of my way were grasshoppers, including this Giant Green Slantface (Acrida conica), which, as you can see, is not very green. This insect was also right at the base of the grass, having jumped from the relatively more open path. Despite having green in their name they can also be the colour shown below.
Giant Green Slantface
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 160, 214mm, f/8.0 and 1/250 SEC])
I came across this Freeloader Fly when I was setting up to photograph the spider. I was waiting for the spider to come back to the prey when the fly landed on the dead sugar ant. The very wise fly did not stay long but waited for the spider to get close before departing. These flies do not have a particularly nice name but they have found a niche in the ecosystem that they can fill, where they obtain their sustenance from dead insects that a spider has already subdued.
Freeloader Fly on a dead sugar ant in a spider web
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/180 SEC] with Canon 430EX III-RT flash)
The spider in question above was a Diamondback Comb-footed Spider (Cryptachaea veruculata) which had made a web from a small branch jutting out at eye level from a substantial Squiggly Gum. The spider was originally on the ant when I first saw it but then moved towards the tree before returning to the ant. Like all comb-footed spiders this one is related to the well-known Redback Spider.
Diamondback Comb-footed Spider with a dead sugar ant
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/180 SEC] with Canon 430EX III-RT flash)
The sunshine tried to break through, and bits of light began to appear giving a glimmer of hope that photography would be better.
Sunshine trying to break through
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
I came across this Grasshopper (Austroicetes sp. (genus)) that was trying hard to blend into its background
Grasshopper (Austroicetes sp. (genus))
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/250 SEC])
After having joined back up with the Pine Island to Kambah Pool trail I decided to keep following it back to Kambah Pool where my car was parked. It was along this section of the trail that I encountered the wombat but my photography let me down because I could not get a photograph before the wombat disappeared into the grass. I crossed back into the Kambah Pool area but instead of walking along the road back to my car I decided to follow a trail that went around the side of the entrance. Passing a tree I saw a group of about four Weebills (Smicrornis brevirostris) moving through it looking for food.
Weebill
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 2000, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Near to the tree with the Weebills a temporary pond had formed thanks to the rain. It was not a large pond and it could also be described as just a large puddle but even in this fragile water habitat life had come. I could see a number of water insects, which I could not photograph well enough, and a number of Shore Flies. They were skimming across the top of the water, using the surface tension to stay afloat.
Shore Fly in a rain-created temporary pond
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 2000, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
While I was disappointed that the light had not been better, I enjoyed my trips to the area. I was really happy that I saw the Dollarbirds because I had not seen any this season yet. They were a good couple of trips that were not far from home but still allowed me to get out and see another part of Canberra’s natural heritage.
Thanks for reading this post and thanks also for looking at my photos. I hope you come back again to read more about some of the wonderful natural things that the Australian Capital Territory has on offer. All the best until the next post.