Surprises where one least expects them

Alan Stephenson sent me a message that a friend of his had pulled their car off the road, on the way back form Moss Vale to Nowra and found some red Greenhood Orchids. Alan identified them as Diplodium coccinum. More to the point, he wanted to know where these plants were, exactly, as these plants are not often seen, and were not known to grow in that area.

I got a message (several actually) suggesting that they were along what is known locally as the Nowra Road, west from Fitzroy Falls. There was a distinctive letterbox nearby.

Armed with that information, it took no time at all to find the plants, once I had driven to the right place.

Scarlet Greenhood - Diplodium coccinum

What was startling to me was that once I started to look, there were literally hundreds of flowers and far more plants (leaf rosettes) than that amongst the grass. They were everywhere in just one hundred metre section of the road. Across the road they were not seen. Further down they were not seen either.

A good example of Orchids growing where they love to grow.

two flowers amongst the grass.

Another nice specimen

The point of my Blog title today is that this road is one which I drive along occasionally, going to look at Orchids elsewhere. Alan has driven this section of road hundreds of times over the years, as his daughter lived in the Highlands at one stage, I understand, and also, it is on his route to just about everywhere from Canberra or points west, as well as the Southern Highlands. It just goes to show that one cannot assume there is nothing to see, just because one doesn't stop to look. In this case, we owe this discovery to an observant traveller's unexpected need to adjust the load on a  trailer.

In deep shade under the pine trees
there were many plants of Acianthus exsertus

 One surprise for me was to find this small "Coastal Greenhood" Diplodium alveatum

Diplodium alveatum
is similar to Diplodium obtusum
The labellum is clearly visible and dark
it has a strongly rolled edge to the "sinus".

Habitat shot

Diplodium coccinum leaf rosettes amongst thistle weeds.
These rosettes had large leaves,
and were quite plastic-looking,
with a deep vein along the mid-line.

On legalised Shooting in National Parks

I have been challenged in my opposition to legalisation of shooting in National Parks in NSW. That occurred on the Canberra Ornithologists Group email forum.

• Hi All,
  Maybe I'm just ignorant, but why are you against this hunting? From what I understand, the hunt will be on invasive large mammals, which are unbelieveably destructive in a lot of National Parks. Isn't it a good thing to allow people who want to shoot them for free shoot them? The parks will be closed during the hunts, so what's the danger to the public? 
  Also, according to this website, duck hunting cannot take place on National Parklands.
  
  Cheers,
  (name removed to protect the innocent)

• Re shooting in National Parks, my main concern is personal safety.

• Dear (blank)
  Last year there was a tragic accident when a NZ shooter mistook a school teacher for a deer, and shot and killed her.
  Such "accidents" are not unknown - though usually shooters shoot other members in their own group.
  I live adjacent to the huge Morton National Park (see map attached). 

• 

  the huge Morton National Park
  accessible from 4 totally separate areas
  with no common Media service.

  
  

  It has two State Main Roads which run through it, the Braidwood to Nowra Road (Main Road 92) and Fitzroy Falls to Nowra road. And it can also be accessed from the Ulladulla side.
  And it has numerous other entry points (especially around Kangaroo Valley).
  
  The media for these far-spread  areas are controlled in Nowra, Goulburn and Bowral.
  One cannot listen to all sources of media in any one point. There are at least three local newspapers which purport to "cover" their own regions (but they do not co-ordinate)..
  How are they going to get the word out to me that the Park is closed?
  
  There is no way they can possibly close main roads of economic and strategic significance leading to and from Canberra to Nowra. So, short of blocking 100 minor roads, how do they "close" this Park?
  NPWS have inadequate staffing to do that at the best of times - let alone when the NPWS Staff are openly hostile to the idea.
  
  The NSW Game Council, the State Organisation "responsible" for this Shooting Program has hardly any staff at all. It really exists as a revenue raiser for NSW as the Licensing body for the Shooters.
  Beyond issues of safety, my personal interest is in rare and endangered Orchids (of which this Park is well endowed). What chance is there that a bunch of ill-informed shooters will take any notice or concern for tiny Orchids in the leaf litter, when slipping and sliding down a steep hill-side, in search of their prey?
  They would have no idea of what damage they might be doing.
   
• Need I really go on?
  
  Incidentally, in the hundreds of hours I have spent in this Park I have never seen any Deer, nor Goats and only one suckling Pig which I reported to the nearby farm from which it had escaped several days before.
  This is a vastly different situation from the large numbers of wild Pigs and Goats in the Far Western region, near Broken Hill.
  
  Incidentally,. my personal experience of shooters I have known is that they like to take their "Pig Dogs" out in the bush and let them chase "Game". The usual result is badly mauled Wombats and Kangaroos - both of which are protected species.
  Mark Clayton has already affirmed that after hundreds of banding trips to Charcoal Tank and Buddigower, he has seldom seen any "game animals" in those Nature Reserves (both listed on the Parks to be opened to shooters)

• Denis Wilson

Chestnut-breasted Shelducks (Mountain Ducks)

This morning I was planning to go bird watching at Bundanoon, joining with the good folk over there, for a Winterfest event. After rising at 6:30 am to check for a early emails, before I was to go out for the day, I sat at the computer for about 15 minutes, and realised my toes were aching with cold. 

I retreated to my bed (with an electric blanket turned on).
Apologies to the good folks of Bundanoon, but some things seem unreasonably painful.

Later in the day, (much later) I went out heading towards Bundanoon (no doubt out of a sense of guilt).

I got as far as the wonderful farm dam close to the Nowra Road turn-off, (from the Illawarra Highway). This wonderful dam is part of Sowter's Dairy, Nowra Road, Moss Vale. It never fails to reveal a small community of ducks whenever I drive towards Moss Vale.

As I drove past, I checked it out (as I always do) and I thought I had spotted a pair of "Mountain Ducks" (Australian Shelducks, or Chestnut-breasted Shelducks).
 

These birds are decidedly uncommon in the Southern Highlands of NSW, so I immediately turned back, and pulled up opposite the dam. The birds responded by moving to the far side of the dam (naturally). I managed to get a few half-way decent photographs. At least they show the differences between the male and the female birds.

Female Australian Shelduck, Chestnut-breasted Shelduck
note the white eye mark and white spot on beak
chestnut breast is darker than the male bird.

Female Australian Shelduck, Chestnut-breasted Shelduck

Male "Sheldrake"
Note his cinnamon coloured breast
and the clear ring mark on the neck.
Australian Shelduck, Chestnut-breasted Shelduck
When I was learning about birds, these birds were called
"Mountain Ducks"

Ignore the confusing names
This is a handsome bird
and he knows it!

And so does his lady friend.

Here are some other links to bird reference sites for ths species.

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/australian-shelduck-tadorna-tadornoides

http://www.birdpedia.com/au/bi.dll/bipu02?m=006&id505=M000000422

http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=FF1439E472DBFDC1

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Tadorna-tadornoides 

And a link to a fabuous photo of a male bird:

http://www.birdpedia.com/au/bi.dll/bipu03?m=510&id505=M000000422&id528=image&id527=m000000422_0002&id902=0

Finally a note about the terminology.

The name which was featured in the bird books when I was a kid was Mountain Duck.
Then they became known as Chestnut-breasted Shelduck.
The irony of this is that the name perfectly describes the female of the species, but not the male.
He would be better described as "cinnamon-breasted Sheldrake". That is the one option which has never been used.

Then with the internationalisation of names, they became the Australian Shelduck.

But linguistic tradition has it that the male birds ought be Sheldrakes.

• They were originally known as "sheldrakes", this remained the most common name until the late 19th century. The word is still sometimes used to refer to a male shelduck. (Wikipedia)

But it does not "fit" with scientific terminolgy to apply a name to a species, which specifically refers to only the male birds.

As an example of how we can get caught up in ridiculous linguistic conundrums, consider the genus Pavo: "The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks"
Modern terminology has settled on Peafowls, but hardly any birdwatcher, or keeper of tame birds of this genus would not call them "peacocks" in a relaxed moment, at the end of a day.