News from the Bungles
End of Wet Season - April/May 2004

THE LOVE BUNGLES!

It was to be expected, the end of the wet season, all sorts of changes taking place, plants growing, flowering, seeding. And everything was breeding or had just. Lots of juvenile reptiles running all over the place, particularly little Frill-necked Lizards. We even had two Dunnarts mating right there, in the bag! Certainly no capture handling stress there, unless it was just that one last attempt.

We must also pay tribute to Chip, the young honeyeater so well raised by Chris and Helen, the visitor centre girls. And then the poor common bronzewing chick that jumped the nest and didn't survive the night alone.

The final excitement was the Delicate mouse which gave birth to four little pinkies and despite escaping for half a night kept them alive for a two days (until we tried to do the right thing and release her!!!!)

But what a trip, cheers to all my vollies ~ Trev, Michelle, Emma, Brice, Matt, Jacky, Dan, Ben, Rhys, Steve, Jan, Lauren, and Ant ~ you all worked harder and with fewer complaints than I probably would of.

To the boys from UTS, sorry about the beer situation, but I did say in my info guide that Turkey Creek doesn't sell grog! And you missed out on the Bungles Beer too!!! Emma and Brice what a drop! It certainly improved over time, though the lemonade still helps. I am planning on continuing the tradition for the next field trip, so any vollies out there thinking of joining, am particularly looking for people with experience brewing beer (particularly if that experience includes using yellow buckets and 3litre fruit juice containers). I will have to work out a price per 3litre juice bottle though (I can probably collect quite a few extra research funds seeing as I will be the only source of alcohol for 200kms!)

Also boys, particularly Dan and Rhys there are 6 BOXES OF WEETBIX in my supplies! I can now feed you for another week, you are most welcome to come back for another trip. Anyone with tasty weetbbix recipes please send them my way - tpartrid@rna.bio.mq.edu.au

Also Trev, Michelle - thanks for your botanical expertise, couldn't have survived the boredom without the work you started for me. Steve and Jan your cards really are the best. Just don't mention Bees.

Really Dodgy quotes to come. Sorry I forgot to pull them off the vollies van wall and its now been destroyed. I know there were some good ones. Particularly from Emma, Trev and Dan. If you guys have them send them over and I will add them on. :)
Feeding the Masses
Pseudomys delicatulus pinkies
Oedura marmorata
Dealing with Native Bees
So what about the work? Well I haven't analysed anything yet - still cleaning the dust and grime out of the car - so don't get your knickers in a knot but I'm going to make some statements which have no scientific backing and could quite well be complete bollocks.

Possibly we caught more animals and more species in areas which have had a longer time since the last fire.

Only one desert mouse
(Pseudomys desertor  - best said with a voice like its a transformer eg destructor, or skeletor) was caught in a 'recently' burnt spinifex habitat and that was close to the fires boundary.
NO western chestnut mice (
P. nanus) were caught in 'recently' burnt grassland in the sandplain
Delicate mice (
P. delicatulus) are happy breeding in areas which were burnt two years ago.

(The reptile data I'm going to look at more before I make any more comments but we got some really gorgeous ones, see
piccies and possibly three new records for the park)

Radiotracking was interesting to say the least. Certainly a lot of work and no sleep. Got good data when only tracking three animals but really crap data when trying to track nine.
You also run into serious problems when your torch battery fails and you've turned around ten times in the dark with your eyes closed (so that you can hear that signal that much better) and can't remember which direction the car is. Thankfully you have a radio as does your faithful volunteer who is quietly waiting in the car. Though when they fall asleep and don't answer your calls you do start to wonder.
But its only when it starts raining grasshoppers and the signal interference sounds like messages from off this world that you wonder just how sane this work really is - no wonder the locals think your a bit weird.

Ahh but its all good fun, particularly when there are waterholes to swim in.
Juvenile Frill Neck
Don't bite that Aerial off!!
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