Ants in
my yards, front and back, @ Garran, have gone crazy too but not in pants, yet
Sz
From:
Paul Fennell [
Sent: Wednesday, 31 March 2010
5:32 PM
To: 'Canberra Birds'
Subject: [canberrabirds] Crazy
ants, farming ants, and kangaroo fodder on Majura Firing
Range.
The
little black ants in my back yard have gone nuts. They appear to be
predicting the end of the world, or at least a bit of bad weather.
However, they obviously not consulted the ACT Weather Forecast.
On
another front, today at Majura Firing Range, we came upon one little gum
sapling with a lot of ants (looking a bit like meat ants) tending to some
insects about a centimetre long, that looked a bit like miniature cicadas, but
where black with red eyes (or near the eyes) and with white splotches on them.
Seemed a bit like a dairy scene. Any clues?
Looked
pretty much like these, but I recall more white, and they were quite small,
about 12 mm or so. We could not find any more on any other saplings in
the immediate vicinity.
The
Woodland Survey went well in fine, cool weather, with little breeze until late
mid morning. Most sites the usual suspects, but with lots of Maned Geese
in between, a Peregrine Falcon near Range Control, and a Fantailed Cuckoo
calling plaintively at one of the sites.
Other
points to mention include the (again) large number of Kangaroos, apparently
with each mum followed by 2 offspring, all looking sleek as satin, fat as
butter, and with very plump tails. The country has benefited well from
the rain, with lots of flowers and green shoot, not looking anything like as
bare at the height of the macropod plague. However, near the biggish dam
at the northern end of the range the CSIRO has set up a “grass growing”
test site which is fenced off from the surrounding country, and is I believe
being photographed every couple of hours to see how fast the grass and herbs
are growing. What is relevant is that the herbage in the site, which has
been going since Christmas (I believe) is between two and three times as long
and lush as the kangaroo grazed area surrounding it. The surrounding
stuff looks much lusher than it has looked over the past three years or so, and
it would seem kangaroo numbers will again be a subject for heated discussion.
They looked so cute, cuddly, and edible.
Cheers
Paul
Paul Fennell
25 Pickles St
Scullin ACT 2614
026254 1804
0407105460
