Ibises

The sacred ibis isn't so sacred in Brisbane. They have adapted well to urban life here and hang out anywhere there might be a free meal such as park barbeques and bins. That long bill is perfect for dipping in and pulling out tasty discarded morsels.

Cane Toad Trap

Floating around in the beautiful back lake at Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens are a few of these things:

They're floating cane toadlet and tadpole traps! Apparently there are loads of cane toads breeding in this lake but these traps are proving to be very effective. They've only been in for a couple of months but they've already been able to remove 45,000 of them. They contain a pheromone lure derived from the toad that draws them in and then they can't get out. They need to manufacture a garden pond version.

#1 Suspect

I think this ring-tailed possum might be have a fondness for the new growth on my potted lemon tree. I put a net over it the other day and the next morning there was a hole in the net and the leaves beneath were munched! Cheeky bugger.

Say your prayers...

Check this little beauty out! I think it's a praying mantis. I nearly ran over her (?) with my bike as she was sunning herself on the bike path. I didn't want to put anything near her for scale as I was afraid she'd take off but I reckon she was about 20-30cm long.  I think she may have posed for the camera.

I need to gar-gull.

I got a shock when I first came to Australia. The seagulls all sounded like they had a cold. Unfortunately my Field Guide to Australian Birds by Pizzey and Knight doesn't describe the call of the gull I was used to hearing in England so you'll have to make do with my attempt to put it into words: it is a high pitched "co-loy co-loy co-loy co-loy!". The book does have a fair bit about the Silver Gull which is what I reckon this photo is of.

   "Voice: "short, harsh, gutteral 'korr' or 'keow'; longer, harsh descending 'karrr-karrr-karrr'."  

 ....in other words like they have something stuck in their throats. Anyway, reading into it a bit, I see that there are several different types of gull in Australia with different voice descriptions. At the risk of going into it far too much:

Pacific Gull: shouted 'ow! ow!; muffled 'auk, auk' gruff chuckles; whining stutters
Kelp Gull: yelping or laughing 'yo-yo-yo-yo' (I think that might be the one I know from England)
Black Headed Gull : high-pitched harsh screams in quick succession: 'kreeooo' or 'kraaahr'
Black Tailed Gull: plaintive mewing
Franklin's Gull: shrill 'kuk-kuk-kuk'; also nasal 'kear, kear'
Laughing Gull: strident laugh or variety of low chuckles
Sabine's Gull: harsh grating and tern-like 'k-year'
Lesser Black-Backed Gull: similar to Kelp Gull.

There now. More than you will ever need to know about the various calls of Australian Gulls.

You're Welcome!

I think this might be a Welcome Swallow. Allow me to consult my bird book (it was a Christmas present)

...yes 15 cm, tail deeply forked, upperparts glossy blue-black...

"Courting males descend on stiffly downheld, quivering wings... Voice: single 'chep' usually in flight; spirited twittering song; rising 'seep,seep,seep'; in alarm, high pitched puny 'seeet'."  

My favourite thing about my bird book is the was it tries to convey the voice of the bird in human terms. To be found in most places in Australia with the exception of deserts and the Kimberley Region. This one was flying around the river in St. Lucia and sat still on the front of the CityCat while I raced to attach my zoom lens. 

It doesn't say in my book how it got it's name.

Paul brought us back some yabbies from Somerset Dam

If I had been on the ball a bit more, I could have entered this one in the Animal theme day yesterday but my mind was elsewhere. They are like mini lobsters. As a matter of fact, I was tucking into some this time last year. Excellent in a curry or just chargrilled on the BBQ with lime and chilli. Mmmm.

Again, apologies to vegetarian readers.

Eye on the prize, boys.

 

The sacred ibis bird is not considered very sacred in central Brisbane. Their long skinny bills, originally designed to root around in the mud for seafood, are perfectly adapted to Brisbane city life. You often pass them rooting around in old food wrappers and bins or hanging around picnic areas, waiting for people to finish up so that they can get stuck into the leftovers.

Showing Dad what she saw in the rockpool

 

...It was some soft coral that looked like it was breathing!

Shelly Beach, Caloundra

Feeding the ducks at UQ

Spiderweb in the drizzle

Looks like another grey day today in Brisbane. Even the spiders have disappeared.

Gecko Embrace

Perhaps I should have looked the other way.... but it was so pretty!

Orange and polka dots are in this season...

A lovely ladybird in my garden yesterday. And if you were thinking to yourself "Wow that's an extremely healthy looking plant" well it's all new foliage on my flowering ginger which was under 5 feet of hazardous river water not so long ago. It's powering along now!

Flies On The Washing Line

I

The kids found a cane toad

The Little Homemaker

Here's a young Golden Orb Weaver spider going about her business. You get them hanging around in their webs all over Brisbane during the warmer months.  The females grow up to be quite big but they do the right thing and stay in their webs.

Stick Pose

I nearly missed it walking through the car park at work yesterday - it was on the underside of a wing mirror - but what a beauty! I do love a stick insect and this was 10 centimetres long at least so I bolted for the camera in the car. It was only when I returned and got up close that I noticed the expression on it's little face. Click on the picture for a closer view. Is that a smile?

Watch the birdie!

My extensive research (5 mins on Google) tells me that this is a Pale Headed Rosella. Please let me know if I am wrong! 

This one was spotted scoffing flowers in Grange in the northern suburbs a couple of weeks ago. 

Hanging for a bite to eat

This is a Rainbow Lorikeet, a chatty colourful bird found all over Brisbane. Coming from England where it seems like 95% of the birds are some shade of brown, the novelty of these birds just won't wear off. The colours are bright and strong like a kid's drawing.... and the flowers that attract them are equally flashy. This one's called a Grevillea.

Thanks to my friend Sandra for this photo which was taken recently in her garden in Grange.

Canned Great Barrier Reef Turtle Soup, Anyone?

With the opening of the new walkway on the Go Between Bridge, the top portion of a lovely old building has become visible with this old painted sign. Foggitt, Jones and Co. seems to have been some sort of canned meat factory back in the 1930s from most accounts...

If the Brisbane Courier from November 14th 1931 is to be believed, one of it's meats was live turtles from the Great Barrier Reef. They were shipped from up the coast and straight to the Foggitt Jones wharf where they were turned into canned soup! Yikes! Barbarians!