Nearly four and a half years ago Nature Foundation volunteer Coral Johnston and her siblings became proud owners of a large Riverland bushblock. It was just what she’d been searching for: natural scrub in good condition, surrounded by other good quality bushland and at more than 900 ha, it was larger than any other property she’d seen.
“My motivation to buy it was so that I could go camping there and to be able to conserve something into the future,” said Coral.
The decision to buy was easy when they returned for a second look and discovered a malleefowl mound.
Because the vegetation on the Heritage Agreement property is in such good condition she hasn’t had to do much to maintain it, so she’s spent most of her time monitoring it. She has walked over 80 percent of the property and has discovered several wombat burrows and more malleefowl mounds.
“I do a lot of bird watching. I’ve seen Regent Parrots on a few occasions. I’m also a member of the Australian Plant Society so I identify the plants I find on the block. I’m adding to both the flora and fauna species lists that I was given when we bought the block.
“This spring and summer I want to focus on invertebrates. Invertebrates are harder to identify to species level. Some you need to catch and look at them under a microscope or dissect them to be able to identify them. I don’t want to kill them so I won’t do that. I’ll just ID them to the best of my ability.”
She uses camera traps to record comings and goings of animals on the property, especially malleefowl. These ground-dwelling birds are the size of a large chicken and are well camouflaged which makes them hard to spot.
She keeps close tabs on a mound she located a couple of years ago.
“It looked really old – when they finish using them, they are open in the middle - a donut shape in the sand. The ring of sand had a crust on it and small herbs growing on it – all signs it hadn’t been used in quite a while.
“Then last year it was used again. The birds scratch mulch from the surrounding area into the middle. The area around looks like it’s been raked clean. Then they wait for rain, scratch it over and cover it with sand.
“When the mulch starts to compost, they dig it out and the female lays an egg in the mound and they cover it over with the mulch again. The composting action does the incubating of the eggs.
“They put a huge amount of effort put into the mound. Usually both birds tend to it every day. They usually turn up at about sunrise. Sometimes they might scratch around the top, or they might dig it right out, poke their beak in to test the temperature and then fill it up again.
“Then they go back again in the evening and do the same thing. The process can take two to three hours each visit.”
Females lay an egg every few days, so they scratch out the mound each time so she can lay the next one, and then it gets covered up again. They lay an average of about 16 eggs in a good season and Coral has recorded at least 12 hatchlings from one mound on her property.
“The adults must know where in the mound the eggs are laid – I imagine them in a circle – and by the time all the space has been filled, the early ones have begun to hatch.
“The babies hatch underground and dig their way out. A baby will pop up, dust itself off, quickly recuperate and then run off, sometimes within seconds of surfacing.”
“I’ve got camera trap images where a chick has hatched while the adults are scratching out the nest – and there is no interaction between them!”
Heart-warming stories like these, of private landowners taking a deep interest in the fauna and flora on their properties and doing their utmost to protect and improve them, are taking place all around South Australia. Coral is one of 1600 private conservation and primary producer landholders, who protect diverse landscapes and native plants and animals, exceeding 1.5 million hectares. These properties protect remnant vegetation in perpetuity and often form part of important wildlife corridors, providing an extension to national and conservation parks.
Photo: Malleefowl chick (Coral Johnston)