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Sometimes our very small creatures are worth a second look.

Peter and Christine Forster found a moth at their place which was identified by John Lenagan as Boisduval’s Autumn Moth, Oenosandra boisduvalii.

I read a little about this species, and can give some information:
The female is white, with a black bar across the top of the wings. When the wings are closed, the black line runs horizontally along the length of the body. The one pictured, is newly emerged as the wings are not fully unfurled.

Boisduval’s Autumn MothBoisduval’s Autumn Moth

The male is a grey/white colour with tiny spots all over and loose barring across the back. Wingspan is about 50 mm. They are found in the southern half of Australia, including Tasmania. The larvae feed on leaves from eucalypt species. (Thanks to John Lenagan for the photographs).

A Diamond Firetail was seen feeding on the ground with tall grasses close to trees at Freshwater Creek. It was in the vicinity of Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Willie Wagtails, but not with them. Diamond Firetails are not usually seen in the Anglesea area, but they do tend to be nomadic.

A King Parrot with a single yellow tail feather was noticed in Fairhaven in March this year. It’s not the first time such a sighting has been made of a King Parrot with unusual coloured tail feathers, possibly caused by some colour mutation. There was a similar one reported in Aireys Inlet a few years ago.

In Anglesea during a thundery storm build-up in March, several swifts, probably White-throated Needletails, were flying overhead. On another occasion, a flock containing 60+ circled and drifted easterly over Harrison Track North in Anglesea Heath.

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos are still in the area. Numbers of 50 and 80 birds in a flock have been reported. Several of them have been seen high in the tall pines feeding on pine cones. Also, Red Wattlebirds are flocking, which is normal for autumn.

There has been a particularly high mortality of kangaroos and wallabies in and around the Anglesea district during the Easter holidays. Wildlife Rescue was called out to 33 cases of animals injured from collisions with motor vehicles. On Easter Sunday alone, 10 kangaroos were hit on the road in the Bells Beach area. In the near future it is hoped to trial Virtual Fencing. This is a device which gives out a sonic alarm and alerts kangaroos on the roadside of the approach of a motor vehicle. It gives them time to move away from the traffic. Such a device would be valuable especially in areas with high accident rates.

Kaye Traynor