Swift Moths – they’re large and impressive, but look closely: 2

We’ve finally had some autumn rain and a few days ago we had a classic big-moth night. Large, bullet-shaped, fast flying kamikaze moths  on wet roads at night – I think we’ve all seen that. Back in February we had an emergence of the Swift Moth Abantiades labyrinthicus. Over the last month a different species of Swift Moth, or Ghost Moth, has been emerging – Oxycanus dirempta. These large moths belong to the moth Family Hepialidae, that includes moths even bigger than the two mentioned here. The genus Oxycanus includes at least 71 described species in Australia & New Guinea.

Stone artefacts – Srathbogie district.

Another collection of stone artefacts from the Strathbogie Township district.

Another collection of indigenous stone tools has surfaced from near Strathbogie Township, in the eastern Strathbogie Ranges.

These stone tools were found during paddock cultivation over the course of a few years. Some appear to be of local rock (granitic), while others clearly are not. Interestingly, and unlike some of the other local finds, none of these tools are of Mt William Greenstone, a well-known and highly prized and traded commodity for stone tool manufacture.

Road-killed rare species – phascogales and bandicoots.

Brush-tailed Phascogale, or Tuan.

It’s good to know these animals still survive in our landscape, but so sad that this is the only way most people get to see them. Long-nosed Bandicoots (Perameles nasuta – below) and Brush-tailed Phascogales (Phascogale tapoatafa – left) are both small marsupials and both have become quite rare in Victoria in recent decades.

The Phascogale is a carnivorous marsupial in the Family Dasyuridae, which includes quolls, devils and thylacines, though most species are small and inconspicuous, like dunnarts, antechinus and planigales.

Seven Creeks Walk – Polly’s to Coach Rd Ck corner

A gently-flowing Seven Creeks

Last Saturday twelve Tablelanders spent a glorious autumn afternoon walking along the Seven Creeks, from Polly McQuinn’s Reservoir to the Coach Rd Ck corner – a distance of 3.5 km.

This reach of the stream has a very gentle grade, no rapids or steep, rocky banks, so the only real obstacles were tributaries to the stream (wet feet!) and the occasional fence. Although the stream has ‘crown-frontage’, adjacent land is all private property, so it’s important to obtain permission before attempting such a walk. This walk is part of an on-going Strathbogie Tableland Landcare initiative to assist landholders to better manage local streams and waterways.

Tiger Snake – first confirmed record for Strathbogie Tableland

Ken with Tiger Snake

It’s long been a mystery: why are there no Tiger Snakes on the Strathbogie Tableland, when they are regularly seen in the ranges around Ruffy and Highlands, as well as lower down around, Merton, Seymour, Euroa and Benalla? That’s not to say no one has ever seen a Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus) in the Strathbogie district, but until very recently there were no confirmed records from districts like Strathbogie, Toorour, Boho South, Kelvin View and Marraweeny. But that’s now changed.

Nathalia’s Bardi Gras – Easter Saturday Festival

A Bardi Gras Turtle.

Here’s a fantastic day out, just up the road a bit at Nathalia – The famous Bardi Gras Festival is on again this Easter Saturday! Each year the festival selects a different environmental topic to highlight and this year it’s TURTLES. There are three species of turtle along the Murray: The Murray River Turtle, Common Long-necked Turtle & Broad-shelled Turtle (also long-necked). It is the Broad-shelled turtle which is the Yorta Yorta Totem.

Albino Woodland Blind Snake – Reef Hills

Albino Woodland Blind Snake (Ramphotyphlops proximus)

A few weeks ago the Benalla crew of Global Contracting, who had been upgrading a truck stop on the Midland Hwy south of Benalla, noticed an unusual snake at the work site.

The snake was found in an excavated depression and looked like it had been injured during excavation. Now, at this point many a workman would have either ignored the animal, finished it off with a shovel (it was a snake after all!), or released it into the nearby bush.