Archives

Black Beauties~

Jul25

This gorgeous pair of red tailed black cockatoos was photographed at the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary in the Yarra Valley in Victoria Australia during our February trip.

There are five sub-species of red tailed black cockatoos in Australia, with two sub-species under serious threat.

Healesville Sanctuary is dedicated to the recovery of 27 threatened native Australian species.

It’s animal hospital treats over 1500 sick or injured native animals each year, and it has an active breeding program for threatened species.

Although I was able to photograph other black cockatoos in the wild during our February trip, these were the only red tails I was lucky enough to see.

Cheers to you from Australia’s iconic red tailed black cockatoos~

For more on Healesville’s important work see:

https://www.zoo.org.au/healesville/habitats/main-track/australian-wildlife-health-centre/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-07/five-endangered-species-released-back-into-the-wild-in-12-months/5725428

Rude Roo~

Jul11

Sticking his tongue out at you!

Actually, don’t be offended. It was at me not you.

There were joey’s too!

Like babies everywhere, they spent their time eating & sleeping.

While the parents kept vigil.

Adults are well equipped for both fight & flight.

Cheers to you from Australia’s normally quite polite roos~

Dancing Duet~

Jun27

The Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney Australia are an urban bird paradise.

I found this pair of magpie larks singing and dancing happily in the park.

The name magpie lark is a misnomer as these handsome birds are neither magpies nor larks, but are members of the giant monarch flycatcher family.

Magpie larks are musical prodigies who sing co-ordinated duets together, timed by the metronomic movements of their synchronized dancing. See: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160803-the-strange-reason-magpie-larks-dance-when-nobody-is-looking

Cheers to you from the magical birdies of Oz~

Sulphur Crests~

May20

and golden tails,

feast on pine cones,

by bush lagoons.

Raucous flocks,

rest on scribbly gums.

While a curious cockatoo,

climbs down to me.

Cheers to you from Australia’s gorgeous sulphur crested cockatoos~

Note: Scribbly Gum are a type of NSW eucalyptus tree that have distinctive scribbles on their bark left by larval scribbly gum moths.

Tasmania’s Wild Creatures~

May9

Dolerite Columns rise up to 980 feet from the sea in Cape Raoul Tasmania.

Dolphins fish,

and fly,

off the eastern coast.

Echidna encountered on the trail. Echidnas, like platypus, are the world’s only egg laying mammals or monotremes.

He buries his face in the ground to hide from us!

Endangered Tasmanian Devil stares at the camera lens at Bonorong Wildlife Rescue, Hospital & Sanctuary, in Brighton Tasmania.

Tasmanian Devils are carnivorous marsupials once endemic in Australia, but now wild only in Tasmania.

Sleepy wombat at Bonorong. Wombats are herbivorous marsupials native to Australia and Tasmania. They are one of the rarest land mammals in the world.

Cheers to you from stunning Tasmania and her wild creatures~

For more about Bonorong and the work they do, check out: https://www.bonorong.com.au/

Bush Stone Curlew~

Apr26

Whose hiding here?

A mama curlew and her chick, that’s who! (You can see the camouflaged chick in the first photo in the upper right if you look carefully).

Mama quickly proceeded to lead me away from her chick,

like a good protective mama bird.

Bush Stone Curlews are ground dwelling, carnivorous birds native to Australia. They can fly, but rely on concealment to evade predation.

Cheers to you from the clever, camouflaged, curlews~

Your Own Flying Rainbows~

Apr19

It’s harder to be upset,

when visited by flying rainbows.

Especially when they decide,

to join your picnic.

Flying fluffs,

of rainbow hope,

on wing!

Cheers to you from your friends the lorikeets and me~