kestrel44's Identifications

This posting continues the series that I began on 20 May, and covers 13/8 afternoon to 17/8 morning. A couple of days ago I thought something was amiss when I visited the Lyrebird nest (at a time when I knew the female would not be egg-sitting) and there were feathers from the floor of the nest lying bedraggled around and outside the nest entrance. I revisited at times when she should have been there, but she wasn't. So I retrieved the trail camera this morning to see what was going on. All was well on 13/8, and 14/8 afternoon, with the Lyrebird attending the nest as previously (pics 1, 2). Then on 14/8 at 6.45pm a Sugar Glider arrived (as has occurred previously). It returned at 8.45 (pic 3). Two minutes later, in movements too quick for the trail camera to completely capture, 'something' flying close by caused the Lyrebird to panic and abandon the nest; the video shows the nest vacant, with the Lyrebird's alarm calls loud just off camera, the Sugar Glider too was alarmed on top of the nest, and a blurred flying creature is close by (pic 4 - the flying creature is left of the Glider, the nest is vacant). Judging by the video of this incident (from which these screen shots are taken), I can only think the creature was a bat or an owlet nightjar; it is too small for an owl. You wouldn't think these would scare a Lyrebird, but maybe combined with the stress of the Glider she had had enough. Maybe the Glider was the target of the nightjar?? Or perhaps the bat/nightjar was simply hunting moths and came too close to the Lyrebird. Vacating the nest was fatal to the egg. The Sugar Glider entered the nest 8 minutes later (pic 5), brought out the egg and proceeded to eat it (pics 6-8). Next morning 15/8 at 6.35am the Lyrebird returned to the nest but left 12 mins later (pics 9-11). She returned again at 5.25 that afternoon and soon left (pic 12). Later that night a rat spent quite some time at the nest (pic 13). Next night 16/8 a rat and a Sugar Glider both came back to the nest for short times. So, after all that effort by the female Lyrebird, building that nest, sitting on the egg for over six weeks each night and increasingly in the afternoons as well, and so close to hatching, her breeding attempt has been ended for this season. Whether there is any chance of her mating again this season I don't know, but I will leave the trail cam in situ for a while longer. Sigh...