RYDE FLORA and FAUNA STUDY 2007 - City of Ryde - NSW ...

Biosphere Environmental Consultants Pty Ltd
Ryde Flora and Fauna Survey 2007 20
In addition, animal tracks, burrows, diggings, shed fur or feathers and scats were
searched for and collected. Scats and fur samples were collected by bush regeneration
staff in the field. If these contained bone or hair samples they were forwarded to Dr
Read for analysis.
Arboreal Mammals:
Arboreal mammals were detected mainly by spot-lighting at night. In general, all of
the walking tracks in each reserve were walked slowly while panning a spotlight
either side of the track. If an animal’s eye shine was detected, the location of the
animal was approached directly, keeping the spotlight on the animal so that it did not
move away. In most cases, the animal could be identified visually. In a few instances
(e.g. sugar gliders) the animals were identified by call.
Spotlighting was carried out during the first three hours after dusk. Most reserves
could be adequately covered in this time; some of the larger reserves (e.g. Field of
Mars Reserve) required more than one night of spotlighting to cover the length of the
reserve.
In addition, an examination of trees for scratch marks and drays took place during
daylight hours.
Bats:
Flying foxes were detected by spotlighting at night whereas insectivorous bats were
detected using ultra-sonic (ANABAT) bat recorders. The recorders are hand-held and
carried through the reserves at night while spotlighting was in progress. Recorded bat
calls were later analysed using Anabat 5.0 software.
Day Birds:
Birds were surveyed in the early mornings in two ways, in the survey quadrat areas,
two mornings of twenty minutes survey time (in each survey period) was devoted to
recordings the birds that were seen or heard there. In addition, opportunistic bird
surveys were carried out at other times throughout the reserves.
Owls and Night Birds:
Owl surveys were conducted at night using a small portable amplifier. Owl calls were
broadcast at night for Southern Boobook Owls, Powerful Owls, Sooty Owls, Masked
Owls and Barn Owls. Calls were played at suitable sites each night and the amplifier
was aimed away from nearby residences before the sounds were played. A listening
period of 2 minutes followed the playing of each tape. If it was possible to visually
identify the responding owl, all attempts were made to do so.
Other night birds, such as Tawny Frogmouths, Owlet Nightjars and Night Herons
were also spotlighted during night surveys.
Reptiles:
Reptiles were searched for by hand during the day. On two sunny mornings, the quadrat
survey areas were walked and all potential reptile shelter sites examined. Where possible,