I was distracted in my Nambour garden in the Sunshine Coast hinterland this morning by a cacophany of alarm calls from Noisy Miners, Blue-faced Honeyeaters and assorted others. That usually indicates they’ve spotted a snake, possum or raptor. I located the source of the mayhem and spotted a Noisy Miner in its last moments as it was being constricted by a small Carpet Python. The miner presumably had been one of those making a racket when it approached the snake too closely.
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| The miner was being constricted in this image |
I watched for the next hour as the snake tried to devour its victim. It contorted itself into various positions to facilitate this before eventually the miner was dislodged from a tree fork. It was in position, hanging vertically with its snake attached to the miner’s head. Normally this is when the prey would be swallowed, head first.
However, the miner was simply too big. The snake tried many positions, but these images suggest it was clearly unable to get its mouth around the head. Perhaps it may have succeeded had it tackled the bill first. In any event, the snake eventually gave up and the miner dropped to the ground; the bird would have been easier to consume there, but no attempt was made to recover it.
In other garden news, the Noisy Miners and friends have located several Eastern Ringtail Possums in recent weeks, including the female with a well-developed joey outside our garage.
Emerald Dove and Wonga Pigeon are among our avian visitors, with the latter a regular at our seed feeder.
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| Wonga Pigeon |
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| Emerald Dove |
Wedge-tailed Eagle occasionally passes over.
Australian Boobook recently put on a show. Surprisingly we hadn’t heard the species in our four years of residence at the property.
Dusky Honeyeater was another recent addition to the garden list.
Pheasant Coucal is a breeding resident and a regular at the birdbath.
Eastern Whipbird is a rare visitor.
Eastern Bluetongue, Carpet Python and Common Tree-Snake are reptilian regulars.
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| Carpet Python |
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| Eastern Bluetongue |
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| Common Tree Snake |