Wildlife - Summer, Autumn 2008

[Armin]

Fermi, Paul & Peter,
enjoyed your great wild-life shots

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

I'm posting these in addition to a shot in the ANBG thread..... some of the wildlife I have encountered, both of these fairly early in the morning (6.50am in the case of the Kangaroos) in pretty poor light.  The Kangaroos were inside the grounds in the carpark adjacent to the bookshop and main concourse.  I think they were as surprised to see me as I was to see them at that time of the morning.    As you can see, steps aren't a problem for them.... no, Kangaroos do not have glowing red eyes, it was dark so I had to use the flash for most of the shots. 

I quite like Kangaroos.... very tasty!!    I read somewhere recently that Australia is the only country that eats the animals featured in it's official Coat of Arms (ours has a Kangaroo and an Emu as part of it), then again how many countries have an animal on their coat of arm that can become a feral pest in pastures during droughts, and breed very quickly when it rains!?  haven't tried emu, but had a Kangaroo steak last night.  Soft, tasty meat, and to be honest far better suited to being "grown" in this country that cattle or sheep.  perfectly suited to our country of extremes, that is for sure.

Anyway, I digress...... pics of Kangaroos are below.  Also a "White Winged Chough", one of a group scoping out the cafeteria for any food scraps.  They travel in flocks of extended families, and I am SO glad I don't get them in my garden at home as they are even worse  than the darn blackbirds!!   You can just see the white under the wing on the far side of the bird.... when in flight they are black with a broad white panel on the wings.

[David Nicholson]

Ah! Skippy.

[Armin]

They travel in flocks of extended families, and I am SO glad I don't get them in my garden at home as they are even worse  than the darn blackbirds!!  

"White Winged Chough" look like pigeons. Fit to eat and tasty?

[Anthony Darby]

Fermi,

As requested, here are a couple of very poor, fuzzy pictures from back in May when I was watching a green male practicing at the bower.  They give the idea, even if they are awful pictures.

I didn't think the bower was a nest Paul?

[Paul T]

Sorry Anthony, did I use to term nest in my description did I?  I thought I'd managed not to.  No, the bower is not a nest, it is a display "platform" (for want of a better term) to impress females.  The blue items are there to enhance the visual impact of the deep blue-black male, and the bower shows his prowess at keeping his territory etc.  The courting displays are very cool, and the calls are extremely intricate, both when they are at the bower and when they are up in the tree trying to get the females to come and take a look.  The nest is an entirely separate item, in no way connected to the bower.

[Maggi Young]

I think the term 'nest' was only used in a photo file name, paul.
Fascinating to see one of these bowers and with the young bird having a trial run! Next time,Paul, a bower portrait with the blue bird, please!!

[Paul T]

Maggi,

Yep, you're right.  I hadn't noticed I'd boo booed when labelling the pictures.  I won't go back and re-upload them now though.  Sorry for the oops.

[Maggi Young]

Paul, if the biggest OOPS I make is the mis-labelling of a file name, then I will die a happy woman!

[Linda_Foulis]

Good to see the site back up, I missed it!     I had posted this prior to it going down so I'll repost now (thank you Maggi)

Got one heck of a good laugh from page 2 of this thread, thank you, I
needed that.

I am sitting here trying to catch up on all that's been posted lately and
heard a ruckus outside, thinking it was one of those *^%$ deer munching on
the garden again I was about to run outside and chase it off.  Fortunately
I had the good sense to turn on the motion light first and take a peek out
the window.  Not a deer but a skunk!  That would explain some of the odd
munching that's been going on in the yard.  I had thought it was squirrels
(usually not a problem) digging up my pots of hippeastrum but I bet
anything now it's been the skunk.

Any ideas on how to discourage this delightful little beast, I've never
had this problem before?

[Anthony Darby]

Like with racoons, it is not a problem we have here in the UK (a point lost on the people who (re)made 101 Dalmations).

[Maggi Young]

Many thanks for re-posting, Linda.

My sister, the Canadian one,  had various problems with skunks moving in under her house in assorted wild places many years ago...her main worry was them attacking her cats. She never mentioned the skunks eating plants; only cats...

[David Nicholson]

Many thanks for re-posting, Linda.

My sister, the Canadian one,  had various problems with skunks moving in under her house in assorted wild places many years ago...her main worry was them attacking her cats. She never mentioned the skunks eating plants; only cats...

Oh! in that case does anyone know where I can buy a skunk?

[Michael J Campbell]

David I can loan you my dog,guaranteed not to leave a cat in the parish. here she is up on a chair looking out the window for cats when it is dark

[David Nicholson]

Send her over Michael, I could keep her going for weeks.