Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo

Photo by David Cook

These are my favourite bird! They fly over frequently, always paired up and much less raucous than the other common parrot the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo.

So when I saw that a pair had made a nest behind my shed, and that it had a large chick in it, I gasped with delight! As I observed it later in the day I witnessed a number of interesting things:

• when a crow flew into a tree near my chickens, the chickens sent out alarm cackles which set off the cockatoo chick who also squawked. I had no idea crows are considreed such threats.
• I could see a ring tail possum tail sticking out of this same nest. Was it dead? Are they sharing? Is there such a shortage that a possum and cockatoo will share the same tree hollow? Later in the day the tail retreated into the hollow.

This dead branch has a nest for a pair of Yellow tailed black cockatoos

Those with some understanding of Australian fauna, know that many birds and mammals need tree hollows to make nests to reproduce and with tree clearing  accelerating around here, homelessness is not just a human problem.

Nest in the dead branch

Trees need about 100 years before hollows start to be formed, so if we keep cutting down the big ones its obvious what will happen.

On my 6 acre bush block which is nearly all forest, there are only around 30 trees old enough to have hollows. Like much of the Daylesford area, the area was cleared of forest for mining in the late 1800's.

This candlebark below has many hollows, Rosella's and possums are the current residents, with European wasps also calling it home.

Candlebark with many hollows

Many years ago I wanted to make nest boxes for Feather tailed gliders and possums, which I knew were here, and I put a a couple of these home made nest boxes up. The photo shows clearly why this is not the right way to attach a nest box.

How not to attach a nest box

The metal strapping that I nailed into the tree is hindering the growth of the tree and is creating a wound. Now I know that the nest box needs to be hung rather than attached.

Plague soldier bettles

As any observer of the natural world knows every year brings different conditions and different booms and busts. I've been seeing creatures that I don't normally see. In spring it began with Plague soldier beetles, these ominously named insects weren't the trouble that you might think. The main problem they cause is the possible snapping of branches under their weight.

Plague soldier beetles massing

Beetles on the raspberries

I then found they were of considerable benfit for my ailling cherry tree that was under serious attack from black aphid. I had hoped that this year would be different as I gave the tree a good dose of Munash - rock dust, a local product that I think has created resilience and abundance in other plants similarly dosed.

Black aphids on Cherry tree

I suspect the cherry tree gets too much shade from an enormous messmate eucalyptus nearby. So  for a few years now the aphids sense its weakness and attack.

However the beetles eat aphids, so one plaguing creature consumed another. Nature is good that way. No waste in nature. No photos unfortunately.

The lady bird beetles come to the rescue eventually, but it can take time for the numbers to build. ABC's Gardening Australia says there are 100 species in Australia!

Adult and larvae Lady beetle in one shot

 There is a 28 spotted lady bird beetle that's not so useful for gardeners as it eats cabbage, bean and potato plants