Last week my dog and I were walking at night in a park we don’t usually go to. We were in the dark of the park and some people were walking along the lit path at the edge of the road. I saw a bird fly up from the ground to a tree, scared by the people on the path. I thought to myself “what’s a bird doing awake?” and then I realised it must be an owl or frogmouth. I walked toward the tree he’d flown into. The street lights didn’t reach very close to his tree, so he was very hard to see, but eventually I recognised a tawny frogmouth, still as the branch he sat on, trying to make me think he was part of the tree :) He was only 30cm above my head, and waiting impatiently for me to leave so he could get back to dinner!

I just have to tell you (only because bird people repeatedly tell me this when I get it wrong) that tawny frogmouths aren’t owls. They’re in different families (one of the layers of classification of animals). The two have very diff looking faces – owl’s faces are flatter. There’s a few owls in Perth, but only one type of frogmouth. In other parts of Aust there are other types of frogmouth.

And yes, we need to stop clearing our beautiful suburban bush, and even just 100+ year old tuarts on blocks that are cleared when subdivided.

Re: greenbelts. In Gnangara there is a Bush Forever project which involves corridors of bush with a minimum width of 500m facilitated through landswaps with developers for pine plantations and other previously cleared land. The plan is currently with the State Government and hopefully will be approved, so this land will never(?) be cleared :)

I was soooo lucky to see three young frog mouth owls at Houghton Vineyard – perched on a tree branch all huddled up together. Just amazed that I spotted them as they were so well disguised. Needless to say very very excited!

I agree that the bush land around Perth needs saving – how about Green belts? Even an overpopulated tiny country like England still has a lot of countryside left – thanks I suspect to the green belt movement of last century. Seems there might remain a Eurocentric attitude to the ‘bush’ – because it doesn’t look like Sussex or Oxford not many people seem to care that it is constantly being flattened to build housing estates.

Star Swamp is a large reserve (95h) and the wildlife is pretty safe (except when there’s a fire) even though it borders Marmion Ave. Last summer I saw a group of three tawny frogmouths in a tree just before sundown. Two were juveniles and they were so beautiful. But sadly I don’t think there’s any marsupial wildlife at Star Swamp.

When I went to Darwin in May at the Territory Wildlife Park there was a tawny frogmouth with a guide near the entrance and I got to pat him. His feathers were beautifully soft. I also got to hold a carpet python and have him wrap himself around my neck and arms. I wanted to take both of them home with me, they were so amazing.

You are so lucky to have seen a frogmouth in your tuart tree. Several years ago I found one on a busy road opposite the Wembley Golf Course. It must have been hit by a passing car. I picked it up and gave it to a resident who lived just opposite. The features were so incredibly soft – it was an exquisite looked bird. I don’t know whether it survived.
Unfortunately dead birds were certainly on the increase along the roads when the bushland near Churchlands and next to Perry Lakes were cleared for development a year or two ago. Clearing such vast tracks of native bushland at the same time took vital habitat from our native wildlife. I’ve not heard our resident boobook owl since.

Cheers Jan