Russell Island Wetlands

The Friends of the Wetlands would like to thank zoologist Dr Ronda Green and Darren Green, who are accredited data collectors, for their work on the fauna data collection. Below is their Spring report referring to their visit to Russell Island from September 20 to September 22, 2009. Whilst on the island they were provided some meals and accommodation at Anita's Russell Island B&B. Their work was mainly in relation to mammals, frogs and nocturnal species.

Russell Island Interim Report – Spring 2009

Ronda and Darren Green

Introduction

Several areas of Russell Island, in Southern Moreton Bay, are in relatively natural condition and a three-stage project to reclaim and improve the wetlands and surrounding habitats has been approved by the Federal Government. The authors of this report – Ronda and Darren Green - are involved in the first stage of this project, the collection of data, specifically data on the fauna.

The first round of their fauna survey has been reported as ‘Russell Island Interim Report – Winter 2009.’ The second stage, reported here, was conducted in early spring, September 2009.

Methods

Methods are as reported in the first interim report except that:

1. Traps were laid in less places to enable a greater coverage of sites that looked most promising.  The sites selected were (a) near Letita Avenue in a forest patch with good understorey by the side of the swamp and scratchings that appeared to be bandicoot diggings, (b) Western end of Turtle Swamp (central) adjacent to Western Corridor and (c) an area of dense heathy vegetation near site 5 of the winter survey. All were baited with the standard peanut butter, honey and rolled oats, and were set for two consecutive nights.
2. Additional bait (peanut butter, honey and rolled oats plus pieces of cooked sausage and some banana and apple) was laid in a back garden (with permission of the owner) on Trevanna Avenue where a bandicoot was in the habit of visiting for food scraps, and we waited quietly in a darkened car equipped with digital still camera and a video camera with night vision capabilities.
3. Searches for birds and wallabies were employed in these sites, in and near other sites visited in the winter survey, near Sandy Beach (because of reported sightings) and opportunistically while travelling between sites.
4. No pitfall traps were employed.

Results

Mammals

A swamp wallaby Wallabia bicolor was seen near the corner of Centre Road and Glendale Road, but disappeared too quickly for photography. Discussions with local residents suggest that both red-necked wallabies also live on the island but these have yet to be sighted within the fauna survey.  Wallaby scats and tracks were seen in a few locations, including near Letita Road, near Trevanna Avenue and near Sandy Beach.

A northern brown bandicoot Isoodon macrourus was sighted eating the bait left in the garden, appearing about 8.00pm, and especially interested in the sausage but also other foods. This animal was photographed several times, and also videoed.

A second northern brown bandicoot was captured in the Letita Road site, in a wire cage trap, on the second morning of trapping, and was subsequently photographed and released at point of capture.

A grassland melomys Melomys burtoni was caught in the same line of traps, also on the second night of trapping.  This is the first evidence we have found of native rodents in this part of the island (the water mouse Xeromys myoides has previously been found in the southernmost part of the island in a separate study by other researchers).  The melomys was also photographed and immediately released at point of capture.

The following birds were sighted:

Reptiles

Two skinks were sighted.  One was a Carlia vivax in Zone 4, in a sheoak. The other was small with a coppery head in Zone 2, and was probably a Carlia or a Lampropholis sp. but disappeared into the leaf litter before a good sighting or photograph was obtained, and could not be found with subsequent searching, probably having escaped into a burrow.

We tried several times to find a lace monitor that had previously been seen by residents a few months earlier, but were unable to sight it.

Other researchers are investigating turtles in the swampy areas of the island, so we made no attempt to find these.

Frogs

A striped marsh frog Limnodynastes peroni was seen and photographed by the roadside on Glendale Road on the second evening, during a light fall of rain.

Two other frogs were identified on the same evening in a creek near the IGA store in the northern part of the island. One was the emerald-spotted treefrog Litoria peroni, which we could not see despite considerable effort, but was recognized by its very distinctive call. The other was the sedge frog Litoria fallax, calling from waterlily leaves in the creek, and was photographed.

Invertebrates

No particular effort was put into surveying for invertebrates, but naturally quite a number were encountered, including the following.

St Andrews Cross spiders, leaf-curl spiders and other spiders were sighted and some photographed.

Evening brown butterfly, common brown butterfly and other butterflies were seen, as were native bees (especially feeding on Xanthorrhoea flowers). A large cricket with long antennae, probably a Paragryllacris sp., was found in one of the elliott traps near Letita Avenue. Termites were actively feeding under logs in the recently burned area of Zone 2 – their level of activity may have been increased by the light rain the previous evening.

A large earthworm with a somewhat swollen head was seen in Zone 2.

Discussion

Between the two surveys, we have now established that at least four families of mammals are present, including two placental (Muridae and Pteropodidae) and two marsupial (Peramelidae and Macropodidae) families.

Birdlife appears to change with the seasons or with food availability. For instance no scarlet honeyeaters were detected on this trip. This accentuates the need to conduct surveys in different seasons and under different conditions. The detection of koels was especially interesting. These are regular summer visitors to Southeast Queensland, and – although the birds are very vocal once they arrive - the authors did not detect them in their home region of Rathdowney until about ten days after the Russell Island survey, implying they reached the island before moving inland.

Reptiles and frogs were not active on the winter survey, and the light rain on the second night of the spring survey in addition to the onset of springtime undoubtedly enhanced our chances of detecting them this time.  Only two reptiles were seen, and it is possible more will become active as summer approaches.

A full discussion will be prepared at the conclusion of this survey.