Mammals on Monday - Wombat

The Wombat (Vombatus ursinus), also known as the Common Wombat, or Bare-Nosed Wombat, is a chunky hole-dwelling, herbiverous marsupial. They have small ears and eyes, and a large bald nose, and can move surprisingly fast. 

This individual was browsing on grass on Squeaky Beach at Wilsons Promontory National Park.  As you can probably work out from the close up images, this individual was not in the least phased by my presence, and carried on eating even when I was taking photographs.

I think the pictures where the wombat seems to be trying to hide behind a small patch of grass as misleading!

On the mainland of Australia wombats are about 1m long and weigh around 27 kg. I think this makes them the largest hole dwelling herbivores in the world.

Wombats are an absolutely wonderful animal, and I love just finding them when I am out for a walk.

These pictures can from one of my recent trip to The Prom where I am getting my legs ready for a winter walk in Central Australia. I this convinces people that I have been doing more in the last couple of months than just process images from India!

Hope all is well.  SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 723 - Great Thick-Knee

The Great Thick-Knee or Great Stone-Curlew (Esacus recurvirostris) is a large wader which is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia. It is a widespread species in India - but it distribution is rather patchy. 

It is described (accurately) as an 'odd-looking wader with a dark mask, staring pale eyes, and a large heavy bill'.  I don't really recall seeing individuals of this species doing anything but standing still by bodies of water looking rather judgementally at us birders.

This species is about 49–55 cm size, with a chunky 7cm bill. The lower section of its beak takes a sharp angle at the end, giving the whole beak an upturned appearance.

This species is very closely related to the Australia Beach Thick-Knee (or Beach Stone-Curlew) which is a species I have not seen in many years.

The first of these pictures were take in pre-dawn light, and I rather more soft than I would like.  But there you go.

As ever, to join in with WBW click on the link below. Cheers  SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 722 - Painted Sandgrouse

(This will be a rather brief post this week, due to an unexpected peak in the chaos level here, I thought things were supposed to be more straight forward once you retired!)

The Painted Sandgrouse (Pterocles indicus) is described on E-bird as looking like a 'cross between a dove and a pheasant".  

Looking at a different published source, one of my field guides says 'usually keeping in twos.......sits tight and allows close approach'.

I think both sources have a point here.

We found these two birds very close to a road, and they seem utterly unbothered by our presence.  It's hard to tell but I think the bird in the front is a male, as it has distinct banding on (at least) the upper part of its chest.  I am (even more) unsure about the second bird.

These two birds were essentially immobile for the time we watched them - so I have included images where they have the eyes closed just to show that they were actually alive!

As ever, to join in with WBW click on the link below.  Cheers SM

PS: I hope normal service will resume soon!  S

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Wild Bird Wednesday 721 - Grey Treepie

To continue my celebration of all grey, this week's bird in the Grey Treepie (Dendrocitta formosae).  As far as I can tell, the second part of the common name of this bird is pronounced 'Tree-pea' not 'Tree-pie'.

The Grey Treepie is a member of the crow family. The species is widely distributed along the foothills of the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent and extends into much of South-East Asia, as well as Nepal, southern mainland China, and Taiwan. 

Fitting this distribution perfectly, this bird was seen on the lower slopes of the Himalayas in the state of Uttarakhand.  This wonderful birding location is about 6 hours East and North of Delhi, not that far from the Western boarder of Nepal.

This bird is about 36-40 cm long and is described 'as the dullest of the treepies'. Now this may be true, but it does seem to underplay this rather splendid bird.

As ever, to join in with WBW please click on the blue link below.

Cheers  SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 720 - Indian Grey Hornbill

The Indian Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) can be seen over much of India, as well as parts of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

There harsh voices, described as a series of short “kek-kek-kek” calls when flying and a squealing, high-pitched “kieeeeu” when perched, were a common part of the sound scape of my Indian trip.

The most prominent feature of this species is the horn or casque which form part of the beak and gives this type of bird its name.

The Indian Grey Hornbill is a medium-sized hornbill, measuring around 61 cm in length, the sexes are similar in size and build, although females have a less prominent horn.

As ever, to join in with WBW click on the link below.

Hope all is well, cheers  SM.

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Mammals On Monday 18 - Indian Grey Mongoose

The Indian Grey Mongoose (Urva edwardsii) is a mongoose species found throughout the Indian subcontinent and much of West Asia. 

The Indian Grey Mongoose can be found in open forests, scrublands and cultivated fields. It can also be found close to settled areas, where its rat hunting ability is appreciated. It lives in burrows, hedgerows and thickets, among groves of trees, and takes shelter under rocks or bushes. It is reputed to be bold and inquisitive but can also be rather wary, seldom venturing far from cover. It is an excellent climber and usually lives singly or in pairs. Its diet famously includes snakes, but they with also take rodents, birds' eggs and hatchlings, lizards and a range of invertebrates.  Basically, if it is the correct size a mongoose will eat it.

These two animals (I never got a decent shot of both of them together) were moving along a river bank in the Ranthambore National Park.  They were very fast moving, and if ever an animal could be said to flow along, it was this species.

The body of the Indian Grey Mongoose is about 36 to 45 cm long, and the tail is a similar length.

Given that their diet includes snakes, it is no surprise to find out that they are immune or at least resistant to snake venom.

Just like the Gray Langurs last week, tail maintenance seems to be an important aspect of this animals life!

Hope all is well.  Cheers  SM.