Linda and Roger's Bunhybee Grasslands - Animals

This is a page within Roger and Linda's Bunhybee Grasslands Web-Site.

Bunhybee Grasslands is a 49 hectare / 120 acre conservation property 35km south of Braidwood, in southern N.S.W.

You can follow through the internal links, or you may find it easier to use the Site-Map.

Information about Animals

Native Mammals

We've seen eastern grey kangaroos, often, but not every time, never in large numbers, always up close to the forest. They would seem to graze mainly the upper slopes – at least during the reasonable conditions that held in 2008 and into early 2009. In autumn 2009, they had been grazing the microlaena in the two patches in the NW corner and below the forest fence-line 100m south of the NW corner.

We've once seen what we'd loosely describe as a red-backed small kangaroo or wallaby in the forest beside the road, 2km north of Bunhybee (1 Mar 2010).

To date we've only seen a wombat on the property once (and we probably won't until we're there at night); but there's plenty of evidence in the form of paths, gaps under the bottom strands of fences, and a couple of holes in and adjacent to the property. A new burrow appeared in Peppermint corner in late 2008.

Monotremes

The very healthy echida earns his own entry (photos below). He/she's been seen three times in 16 visits over 14 months, generally around the main ridge (which is now commonly referred to as Echidna Ridge).

Native Reptiles

• a red-bellied black, on the rocks in the water-line near Parlour Grasslands (2008), and another 4-footer near the gate (1 Mar 2010)
• a white-lipped snake, Drysdalia coronoides, harmless (to people that is), c. 40cm, impossible to get a photo because it was so well-hidden in the tussock grasses
• a blue-tongue lizard, under the snow-gums (photo below)
• a couple of (probably long-necked) tortoises, in the main dam
• a couple of small skinks
• at least two different kinds of frogs (based on their calls), in both main creek-lines, each time after rain

Shingleback lizards are often seen in the area, but unfortunately usually when they haven't made it across the road in time.

Native Birds

~ Resident / Sedentary:

• a grey fantail (often, in the snow gums along the road)
• Eurasian skylark, usually (around the ridge-area), singly, except in spring, when in pairs
• a Richard's / Australian pipit, usually (in the open grass-areas)

~ Migratory:

• yellow-faced honeyeaters (migrating both ways along tree-lines, at opposite ends of winter, in large groups, and very reliably)
• Latham's / Australian / Japanese snipe, once in late spring (in the kunzea. When disturbed , it flew low, down to the main waterline)
• flocks of 20, 60 and once even 100 (presumably juvenile) wattle-birds heading north along the snow-gums and east along Hart's Road – late April and mid-May 2009; and back again on 9 Sep 2009

~ Occasional, in the open and in the snow-gums along the road:

• Raptors:
  • nankeen kestrel pair (or whatever we're supposed to call the now) once in late spring, and a lone one on 9 May 09
  • black-shouldered kite, once in mid-summer
  • wedge-tailed eagle, once in mid-summer, low, with clear markings and alone, so presumably newly mature; and again on 9 May 09, and we found a large feather the same day; and again on 6 Sep 09, yet again alone, with clear markings (is his partner on the nest in early spring?)
• Medium-Sized Birds:
  • magpies
  • Australian ravens, occasional, incl. chasing the eagle on 9 Sep 09
  • little raven (9 Nov 09)
  • eastern rosellas
  • 8 crested pigeons, once in early spring (at the small dam and in the snowgums along the road)
  • noisy friarbird, late summer (heard only)
  • grey shrike-thrush, on two separate occasions in autumn 2009
  • galah
  • sulphur-crested cockatoo
  • crimson rosella
  • eastern rosella
  • white-faced heron
  • choughs, a family of about 10 (in the snow-gums beside the road, 10 Feb 2010)
  • kookaburra (in the snow-gums beside the road, 10 Feb 2010)
  • yellow-tailed cockatoos (flying from Deua to Tallaganda?, 28 Feb 2010)
  • [red-tailed cockatoos were seen near the Tallaganda Pass on 1 Mar 2010]
• Small Birds:
  • welcome swallows over the main dam, late afternoon, late summer; and 9 Sep 09
  • diamond firetails, once in early spring (in the snowgums along the road)
  • thornbills, probably buff-rumped (a group, low between trees and bushes, no yellow tail), on two separate occasions in autumn 2009
  • ?white-winger triller (black cap and cheek white-streaked eye, dark above, light below), autumn 2009, and again 11 Nov 09

~ Additional sounds heard in the top corner, coming out of the Bunhybee Peak forest:

• black-faced cuckoo-shrike, a pair
• white-throated tree-creeper (usually heard only)
• satin bower-bird
• striated thornbill
• yellow-rumped thornbill
• spotted pardalote
• striated pardalote
• yellow-faced honeyeater
• rufous whistler
• grey fantail
• willie wagtail
• other non-identified calls

See also a List made on 11 November 2009.

Insects

Apart from flies (well, not all that many of them really), we've seen:

• occasional nondescript bugs (three photos below)
• moths
• dragonflies commonly over the main dam and the small dam (photo below)
• grasshoppers. We've been told that there could be 20 species of grasshoppers on a property like this, but all our untrained eyes have seen so far is:
  • a moderate numbers of small grasshoppers, yellow-winged in flight, in late summer
  • a single large green grasshopper (photo below), in late summer
  • a single small brown grasshopper (photo below), in November 2009

Arachnids

From time to time:

• a striped grass spider, modest size
• a white-abdomened spider, small
• a vividly green spider, similar to the white-abdomened?
• a red-and-yellow spider, small, in web, stretched between Kunzea

Holes consistent with:

• wolf (most likely), but possibly mouse and/or funnel-web spiders
• a trap-door spider

Ferals

• a fox (dead)
• pigs – mum, dad and four piglets; plus plenty of evidence in the form of scratchings

Pictures of Animals

For larger images, click on the thumbnails below:

Lark and Echidna, Sep 2008	Echidna, Sep 2008	Blue-Tongue Lizard, Nov 2008	Dragonfly, Nov 2008
Green Grasshopper, Feb 2009	Bug, Apr 2009	Water-Running Bug, Sep 2009 Pond, Southern waterline
Wedge-tailed eagle, Sep 2009	Wedge-tailed eagle, Sep 2009	Wedge-tailed eagle, Sep 2009	Brown Grasshopper, Nov 2009
Luminous Golden and Green Beetles ...	... Nov 2009	Lizard, Nov 2009
Moth, Nov 2009	Moth, Obverse, Nov 2009	Dragon, Nov 2009	Echidna, 11 Nov 2009 (Martin Butterfield)
Wombat – 20 Feb 2010 ...	Sick? Injured? Visibly breathing	He'd started to dig in, but had stopped	It was a 29 degree day, and he was exposed. He was clearly playing possum, as the space was vacant 8 days later!
Bug – 20 Feb 2010 ...	... Snow Gum, Eaten ...	... but not necessarily ...	... by that particular bug!

Pig-damage perhaps one year old, in fairly healthy, unassisted-recovery mode (although the flatweeds need to go!), in late spring, Nov 2008:

Pig-damage, perhaps a couple of years old, just east of the house-site, in similar condition, in autumn - Apr 2009:	Trap-door spider's hole, near fence, towards NE corner- 9 May 09:

Martin Butterfield's Bird List on 11 November 2009

• Wedge-tailed Eagle
• Nankeen Kestrel
• Galah
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
• Crimson Rosella
• Eastern Rosella
• Laughing Kookaburra
• White-throated Treecreeper
• Satin Bowerbird
• Striated Thornbill
• Yellow-rumped Thornbill
• Spotted Pardalote
• Striated Pardalote
• Yellow-faced Honeyeater
• White-naped Honeyeater
• Noisy Friarbird
• White-winged Triller
• Rufous Whistler
• Australian Magpie
• Grey Fantail
• Willie Wagtail
• Little Raven
• Eurasian Skylark
• Australasian Pipit

This is a page within the Bunhybee Grasslands Web-Site, home-page here, and site-map here

Contact: Linda or Roger

Created: 2 October 2008; Last Amended: 1 March 2010