Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park

Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park

Website of the Friends Group – Information about working bees and monitoring projects. As well as flora and fauna pictures and descriptions

Tag: Remote Camera

Feral Cat with a Sugar Glider

Remote Camera Results Updated to include 2015

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Overall total number of species sightings – all cameras

2012201320142015
Antechinus791068659
Bassian Thrush198198934719
Brown Gerygone0012
Brown Thornbill0305
Brush Bronzewing3215901356
Common Blackbird2716183145
Common Bronzewing0150
Common Brushtail Possum751305
Crimson Rosella782845
Cuckoo Fantailed0002
Dog0110
Eastern Whipbird3120143137
Eastern Yellow Robin341112
Echidna242463107
Fantail, Grey0300
Fantail, Rufous3370
Feral Cat24499599
Fox191323336140
Grey Currawong716237
Grey Shrike-Thrush3380
Human0010
Koala31411875
Kookaburra09417
Large Billed Scrubwren0002
Long Nosed Bandicoot287119270652
Lyrebird4869021809973
Magpie3000
Mountain Brushtail Possum181235243289
Olive Whistler715710
Pied Currawong36108
Pilotbird2150136217
Rabbit191583490
Rattus Species120213222189
Raven Species0140
Ring-tailed Possum7852967
Satin Bowerbird21835
Sugar Glider0410
Superb Fairy-wren35667
Swamp Wallaby74913821112677
Tawny Frogmouth0030
Wedge-tailed Eagle3000
White-browed Scrubwren8971264130
White Throated Tree-creeper0043
Wombat202234176130

Without any advanced statistical scrutiny strong trends include:Our remote camera monitoring has now reached four solid years of records. Although not a flawless scientifically planned project there are still be some interesting developments. The table above shows the total sightings of each species combined across all of the camera sites. There are many variables in these results, the main one being that cameras have been moved around different habitats at different times, so have not constantly been in the one place.

  • A massive rise in the number of Brush Bronzewings every year.
  • A rise in the number of other ground dwelling bird species including Bassian Thrushes, Pilotbirds, Eastern Whipbirds and Common Blackbirds.
  • An increase in the number of Long-nosed Bandicoots (although this may be explained by moving cameras to areas where habitat is more suitable).
  • Crimson Rosellas had a huge spike in numbers in 2014 (maybe because there was a lot of wattle seed on the ground?)
  • An upward trend in Echidna and Feral Cat numbers.
  • A drop in Fox numbers in 2015.
  • 2014 had double the amount of Lyrebird sightings than other years.

Several cameras have been left in the same spot for several years and it is possible to compare the results of these sites with the overall figures.

Site: Tarra Bulga – North East

Habitat: Mountain Ash forest with an open understorey consisting of scattered shrubs, ferns and grasses:

Species201320142015
Antechinus0233
Bassian Thrush36298209
Brown Gerygone010
Brush Bronzewing1121102
Common Blackbird510341
Common Bronzewing100
Eastern Whipbird47998
Eastern Yellow Robin012
Echidna5811
Fantail, Rufous100
Feral Cat3616
Fox406817
Grey Currawong100
Grey Shrike-Thrush110
Koala1102
Long Nosed Bandicoot38138
Lyrebird106145159
Mountain Brushtail Possum81016
Pied Currawong200
Pilotbird12311
Rabbit351114
Rattus Species104465
Ring-tailed Possum402
Satin Bowerbird210
Swamp Wallaby553017
White Throated Tree-creeper002
White-browed Scrubwren33924
Wombat275329

Site: West of Balook

Habitat – Forest with an open understorey, canopy consists of mature Silver Wattle.

Species201320142015
Bassian Thrush0726
Brown Thornbill001
Brush Bronzewing1045272
Common Blackbird651
Common Bronzewing040
Crimson Rosella01223
Eastern Whipbird106
Eastern Yellow Robin012
Echidna3102
Fantail, Rufous010
Feral Cat272217
Fox6411153
Grey Currawong351
Koala07930
Kookaburra1039
Long Nosed Bandicoot1703
Lyrebird237510116
Mountain Brushtail Possum46117
Olive Whistler001
Pied Currawong143
Pilotbird057
Rabbit602
Raven Species110
Rattus Species001
Satin Bowerbird002
Sugar Glider010
Superb Fairy-wren010
Swamp Wallaby955374179
Tawny Frogmouth020
White Throated Tree-creeper010
White-browed Scrubwren3183
Wombat541620

Comments: The open nature of this site means it is less suited to small mammals. Popular site for Swamp Wallabies to congregate. Openness also suits many ground feeding birds scratching around or eating fallen seeds. Foxes and cats often pass through. Has been a Koala habitually passing the camera every few days between its favourite trees.

Site: Balook Area

Habitat: Open forest with regenerating Mountain Ash, Ferny understorey with some thick scrubby patches near by.

Species201320142015
Antechinus059
Bassian Thrush9276222
Brush Bronzewing0101303
Common Blackbird03865
Cuckoo Fantailed001
Crimson Rosella0710
Dog010
Eastern Whipbird01913
Eastern Yellow Robin043
Echidna412
Feral Cat42917
Fox136385
Grey Currawong030
Grey Shrike-Thrush010
Koala032
Long Nosed Bandicoot6149168
Lyrebird12314545
Mountain Brushtail Possum957379
Olive Whistler044
Pied Currawong002
Pilotbird251117
Rabbit171445
Rattus Species117923
Ring-tailed Possum1901
Satin Bowerbird601
Superb Fairy-wren014
Swamp Wallaby136184151
White-browed Scrubwren01921
Wombat1082514

Comment: Good site for a diversity of species, some scrubby ground-cover in the area makes it a good spot for Bandicoots, with a high proportion of our Bandicoots sightings recorded here. Also good for introduced Common Blackbirds and Rabbits that like to hide in cover. Like other sites had a big spike in Crimson Rosella numbers in 2014. Interestingly large drop in Fox numbers.

Lyrebird

Lyrebird Numbers Up, Brush Bronze-wing Population Explodes!

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Friends of Tarra-Bulga have now been using remote cameras within the park to monitor wildlife for over three years. The table below shows results adjusted for the number of days cameras have been active in the field. We currently have eight cameras that are moved around to different sites on a regular basis. As of January 2015 the cameras had spent a combined total of over 5000 days in the field and were triggered by animal movements over 10,000 times.

Feral Cat with a Sugar Glider
Feral Cat numbers have risen

The results show a number of interesting trends. For mammals most species have not varied much in the frequency of sightings over the 3 years with a few exceptions. There was a large jump in Koala sightings in 2014 most were at one site where a Koala developed a routine of passing by every couple of days. Feral Cat numbers have risen each year and Ring-tailed Possum sightings seem to have declined. (the figures for Ring-tails have been influenced heavily by one popular site).

Lyrebird
Lyrebirds captures by our cameras doubled each year.

There has been a massive jump in the numbers of birds that the cameras are detecting. The number Lyrebirds passing cameras have doubled each year. Bassian Thrush (Zoothera lunulata) sightings increased around 600% in 2014 and Brush Bronze-wing numbers skyrocketed from only 15 sightings in 2013 up to 404. Crimson Rosellas, Eastern Whipbirds, Pilotbirds and *Common Blackbirds all had a significant rise in detection. Two smaller species the White-browed Scrubwren and the Superb Fairy Wren were also ‘captured’ more often.

Brush Bronzewing
We have had massive increase in the number of Brush Bronzewings recorded.

A reason for the jump in bird numbers may be due to camera placement. One site used in 2014 was very popular for ground dwelling bird, however this does not fully explain the rise, other camera sites were used in both years and showed a big increase ground dwelling birds from 2013. Fox control efforts in recent years may also be a factor helping the birds numbers increase. Our results have picked up a small rise in Fox numbers over the last few years. As our monitoring continues, time will tell if this greater abundance of bird sightings will be maintained.

Species201220132014
Lyrebird3196181239
Bassian Thrush136135639
White-browed Scrubwren6149181
Eastern Whipbird211498
Pilotbird143593
Satin Bowerbird1452
Crimson Rosella55195
Grey Currawong51116
Olive Whistler595
Brush Bronzewing215404
Eastern Yellow Robin238
Fantail, Rufous225
Grey Shrike-Thrush236
Magpie200
Pied Currawong247
Superb Fairy-wren2345
Wedge tailted Eagle200
Brown Gerygone001
Brown Thornbill020
Common Bronzewing014
Fantail, Grey020
Kookaburra063
Raven Species013
Tawny Frogmouth002
White Throated Tree-creeper003
Fox131220229
Rabbit1263924
Common Blackbird1910125
Feral Cat163364
Human001
Swamp Wallaby513947761
Long Nosed Bandicoot19781185
Brushtail Possum176171169
Wombat138160120
Rattus Species82146152
Antechinus547359
Echidna161643
Ring-tailed Possum55820
Koala2981
Dog011
Sugar Glider031
Unidentifiable Bird103101119
Small Mammal – Unidentifiable476744
Large Mammal – Unidentifiable331629

When Koalas are on to a good thing.

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Amazing how much of a routine Koalas get into. At a camera site we had been monitoring for over 12 months, we had never come across a Koala. In fact you wouldn’t really have expected one because it is in a regrowth area of Silver Wattle, with the nearest suitable Eucalypts quite a distance away. All of a sudden our camera location has become a point on a local Koalas new favourite path. Since late May it has been crossing by our camera on average every couple of days, all up a total of 24 times (and still counting).

It is interesting to click on and check out this photo gallery to see just how regular of a routine it has.

Camera Site Greatly Exceeds Expectations

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In February we placed a camera in a new site along the Grand Ridge Rd, in vegetation that was not typical old growth Mountain Ash forest, but rather sad looking regrowth scrub. As a result we didn’t have high expectations as to what fauna we’d find in this habitat. Surprisingly though it’s a very popular spot, especially with ground dwelling birds (must be lots of food) and we obtained some fantastic images. All up the camera was triggered on 165 separate occasions, see the table below for more details)

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Species Sightings  

Species

 Sightings
Brush Bronzewing 36   Fox 3
Superb Lyrebird 22   Swamp Wallaby 2
White-browed Scrubwren 20   Echidna 2
Bassian Thrush 16   Koala 2
Pilotbird 13   Common Blackbird 2
Eastern Whipbird 7   Brushtail Possum 1
Superb Fairy-wren 7   Rufous Fantail 1
Wombat 4    
  • In addition there were 26 birds that triggered the camera not able to be identified from the image quality to species level.
Related Posts:

 

Camera Killer

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The recent news involving a Sea Eagle flying off with a remote camera in the Kimberley has inspired us to put together this video of a Superb Lyrebird, that seemed to think the reflection in the front of the camera was a rival and hence went to war. This happened in September 2012 and thankfully we have not had a repeat. However we did stop putting cameras quite so close to the ground.

Koala on Candid Camera

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Since our remote camera project began around two years ago, we had only once photographed a Koala. These figures have now been boosted by 800% with a camera in the north east of Tarra Bulga National Park capturing a Koala eight times all on separate days over a period of about 7 weeks.  Most sightings were in the early morning, but a few were in the evening.  Another case luck with the camera being at the right place at the right time to film the comings and goings of the locals.

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How to Set Up Remote Camera Traps

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Very informative video here from PestSmart, where they give an excellent lesson on remote cameras (like the ones our group uses in Tarra Bulga) and how to get the best results out of them when using them for monitoring wildlife and pest species.

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