Wildlife May 2011

[Roma]

I've zoomed in a bit but the pictures are not so clear.  I think it has 6 legs at the front and none at the rear.  Do caterpillars always have false legs behind?  I'm afraid after I took his photograph I dropped him on the floor and stood on him.  I suppose I should have kept it to see what it turned into.  You can just about see the mouthparts in the second pic and the third shows the underside.

[mark smyth]

I think it is a beetle of some sort. Maybe the orange colour is from what it ate?

[mark smyth]

I saw a stunning Demoiselle today. I've forgotton it's name. Bright green with black eyes on it's wings. It wouldnt sit for photos.

[Maggi Young]

 Do caterpillars always have false legs behind?  

I don't know.... but Anthony will, I hope! 

[Anthony Darby]

Yes, caterpillars do have false legs, up to 5 pairs. I'm with Mark, a beetle grub.

[Anthony Darby]

The Australian magpie has a mean reputation. I quite like it because it has a very musical call. It's more crow than magpie (yes, I know magpies are crows, but crows aren't magpies).

[Lesley Cox]

There's a wonderful poem by Dennis Glover about the magpie's song. I think it's just called "The Magpie Said." Have you come across it yet? The magpie is also a wonderful mimic and I once heard our farm man calling his dog until I remembered he (the man) was in town. The call was from a magpie, exactly the same few words in the same tone and inflections.

[Maggi Young]

There's a wonderful poem by Dennis Glover about the magpie's song. I think it's just called "The Magpie Said." Have you come across it yet? The magpie is also a wonderful mimic and I once heard our farm man calling his dog until I remembered he (the man) was in town. The call was from a magpie, exactly the same few words in the same tone and inflections.

I didn't know the poem before but I found this, from Wikipedia :The Magpies is the most famous poem by New Zealand poet Denis Glover (1912–1980). It helped define New Zealand's distinctive style of poetry. The poem was first published in Glover's 1964 anthology Enter Without Knocking.


 and also this:
http://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~tf/poem10.html

[Lesley Cox]

That's the one Maggi, and yes, the magpie really DOES say those exact words, in a sort of sing song voice and several at once sound like a choir and really lovely, especially in the pine trees at 4am on a summer morning . The NZ magpie, is, of course, actually the Australian magpie.

[Anthony Darby]

I think the one on the South Island is different from ours here?

[Lesley Cox]

Not sure about that Anthony. I know that 50 years ago, the magpie was confined to the N.I and the top of the South, but has gradually moved south to be everywhere.

[Anthony Darby]

The northern form has much more white on it and is the white-backed magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen). The southern form is black-backed which was introduced separately. Australian magpies dive-bomb people at nesting time and live in family groups headed by a dominant pair with several generations of offspring.

[arillady]

Yes Anthony is right. I wondered what on earth a horrible noise was one day so I came flying down the hill to investigate. It was about 4 magpies attacking a mopoke owl baby which had fallen or been tossed out of the nest. The young owl I took to the vet (a friend) who found that it was ok and I left it with her as I knew that the magpies would kill it otherwise. I had a pet galah at one time but the maggies killed it. When the maggies have young before you realise it you feel a rush of air as they fly low past you and then sit in a convenient gum tree to sharpen their beaks for the next run.

[Lesley Cox]

Thay are also said to attack new-born lambs which is why farmers don't like them.

[arillady]

Thought that was crows Lesley. I haven't seen maggies attack any of our kids (goats) when they are born. Foxes, now they are a completely different. Not good.