Scouting for nature
Rani Davis, Joshua Wilson, Nicola Sockhill and Richard Fuller had a wonderful time recently with the cub scouts at Belmont Scout Den, Carindale. We developed three “bases” so the cubs could experience different ways of discovering nocturnal critters. They were mesmerized by the range of cool tech and gadgets that they got to use!
At the spotlighting station, the kids used a state-of-the-art thermal telescope and spotlights to search for wildlife scurrying about in the tree canopy. The kids found some crested pigeons (Ocyphaps lophotes) huddled together for warmth as they rested for the night, wolf spiders (Lycosidae) and huntsmen (Sparassidae) out searching for prey, and even a horse on the neighbouring property (Equus ferus caballus)!
At the bat detecting base, the kids recorded just over 50 bat passes on an echo meter plugged into a smartphone despite not being able to hear the calls with their own ears. The bat were mostly Gould’s wattled bats (Chalinolobus gouldii), but also 3 or so other species which are a little more difficult to ID. A short duration call at 38-40kHz that is likely a broad nosed bat species (Scotorepens sp), a longer duration call at 40kHz that looks like a Hoary Wattled Bat (Chalinolobus nigrogriseus) and a long duration 46kHz call that looks like a Large Bent-wing Bat (Miniopterus orianae oceanensis).
The insect station, while resembling a “purple alien” from afar, was an assembly of LEDs within an Ikea wardrobe; this setup proved popular with the scouts and insects alike. The former excitedly observed and photographed the latter, while asking lots of questions about the differences between the species we observed and why they were attracted to the light. We were lucky to have been visited by a diverse range of insects, including many different species of moths (Lepidoptera), flies (Diptera), beetles (Coleoptera) and bugs (Hemiptera).
All in all, everyone seemed to have fun and it was amazing how much nature we could find in the immediate area around the scout hut, which is situated in a nondescript suburban edge.
