More on Bowerbirds

In Wild Windellama April 2006 I wrote a little about Satin Bowerbirds, the article also had a
photo of a "bower", since then we've seen plenty of these birds about and I have since had the opportunity to take a photo
of one of each sex, they are the only birds smart enough to get through the netting over our vege garden, 
Satin Bowerbirds have the most unusual coloured eyes with the outer part being bright blue
and the next inner ring a vivid purple, the pupil is jet black, these photos are best viewed in colour on the 
Wild Windellama website.

More on Tree Scribblers

The results of the search for the larvae of the Scribby Gum Moth are in and even though my hopes were high 
unfortunately they evaded capture in our trap this time, Max Day from CSIRO suggested that the dry conditions may be
reducing numbers of these insects, like I said in the original artcile, very little is known about Tree Scribbling
Insects and is likely to stay that way just a bit longer.

Wild Turtles 

A Wild Windellama reader has found 3 juvenile turtles close to their dam which is also not far from
 the Nerrimunga Creek, they were about the size of a 20c piece with long necks and orange patches 
on their undersides, a bit of research seems to indicate they were probably Eastern Snake Necked Turtles,
(Chelodina longicollis) these are very common in Eastern Australia and they bury their eggs in the bank above 
the waterline. These eggs hatch usually after sufficient rain has fallen to soften the earth above, females 
may have 1 to 3 clutches per year. 

Adults turtles of this species have a very long neck, often as long as their shell or
carapace (which  up to 250mm long and relatively flat ) and black lines between the shell plates.

These turtles often migrate through the warmer part of the year and can be seen crossing
roads in the district, if handled they give out a defensive odour that comes from special glands
and they are quite good at tucking their long neck and clawed feet into their shell when they feel
threatened.