May 2017 – Go Birding

A couple of weeks ago I headed up to Euroa with Scott and left with a bit of a mystery. I had seen small, agile and very fast mammals running round in the top of a eucalypt without getting good looks. By process of elimination on range and behaviour I thought they must be Feathertail Gliders but something in the back of my mind did not sit right. So I hit up Rohan Clarke for a bit of a jaunt up the Hume. We got out of Melbourne a bit later than expected getting onsite after 7pm. A scan of the relevant tree from last time with the thermal camera revealed nothing. We decided to walk the roadside reserve and quickly Rohan spotted some hot spots in the thermal camera. Flicking on the red light we observed an Antechinus type which on ranged is probably Yellow-footed. Further on he started to pick up many house mice including a number quite high in vegetation.

Squirrel Glider

We meandered along for several hours and found three different Squirrel Gliders as well as more common things. The Squirrel Gliders were high in eucalypts feeding on sap and gave great views if a little high for good photos. I believe these three to be different individuals to the last visit so confirms a good population in this area and shows the value of these remnant roadside vegetation. Somewhat surprisingly there was very little bat activity compared to two week previously despite conditions being very similar.

Eventually I spotlit a small mammal high in a eucalypt and got a little excited. Some more observation showed further small, fast mammals in the tree. Unfortunately when we finally got a light on them they turned out to be house mice! They are not normally known to inhabit the high branches of a mature tree but here they were. After some double (and triple) checking we realised the mystery from last time was solved and headed for home. Not quite the result we were after but any night you see three endangered Victorian Squirrel Gliders is a good night!

Late last year I spent an evening around Euroa looking for Squirrel Glider with Scott Baker and Owen Lishmund without success. The weather was looking pretty foul around Melbourne but a quick check of the weather forecast showed it likely much better north of the divide so I hit up Scott for another crack. I picked him up about 5pm and we headed up the Hume arriving onsite west of Euroa a bit before 7pm. This is an area of remnant roadside vegetation and easements with some excellent old growth box and other eucalypt species with a high density of hollows. Leaving the car we quickly saw a number of Ringtail and Brushtail possums as well as many microbats zipping around despite the cool weather. Scott had to return to the car to get more batteries when I spotlit a small mammal bolting back into a hollow. Further spotlighting of the tree showed a number of other small, very fast arboreal mammals which were very light shy. By process of elimination I believe they were Feathertail Gliders but unfortunately just could not get a good enough glimpse to confirm. About now the heavens opened up and I rather fatefully left the camera in the car.

We continued to wander along the easement seeing many more Ringtails and a rather cheeky Fox. Eventually Scott found a glider but it was just a Sugar. The smell and noise from nearby pig farms was slightly disturbing! We were about a kilometer from the car when Scott spotlit a noticeably larger and fluffier glider perched low down just off the track. This was unmistakably a Squirrel Glider with its large fluffy tail looking like near half its body volume. My previous sightings in Victoria have been in nestboxes which does not give perspective on the animal. It gave us excellent close walk away views with just one small problem – the cameras were a kilometer away in the car! Still it was a memorable experience as Squirrel Gliders are endangered in Victoria and probably have a smaller population here than the Leadbeater’s Possums I photographed last week! They are more common in Northern NSW into Queensland.

We walked back to the car and drove around to the other end of the easement hoping that the Squirrel Glider was still in the same tree but without success. A search of the area could not relocate it. Still nearby we had a Brush-tailed Phascogale run down a tree propping nicely for excellent binocular views. Unfortunately it was too high and obscured for good photos. Still another threatened Victorian mammal – the night well a success.

Brush-tailed Phascogale – just a record shot of a cool animal

We tried a few other areas and eventually found a second Squirrel Glider – this one a bit smaller but it sat well for photographs, if a bit far away. This area is clearly a stronghold for the species in Victoria and clearly demonstrates the importance of the remnant roadside and easement vegetation. Eventually we called it a night and headed back to Melbourne arriving just after midnight – all in all a very successful night. The tail on the Squirrel Glider is something else – I think I have a new one to add to the favourite list!

Squirrel Glider

Month: May 2017

A mystery solved

The Squirrel Glider – an endangered Victorian