Category: South East QLD

Orange-bellied Parrot UPDATE!

Posted on February 2, 2017 Heather1 CommentPosted in Endangered species, feathered, South East QLD, Tasmania

Wow a lot has happened since December! Our last post on Orange-bellied parrots deserves a quick update.

For those following along on twitter, or in the news, January has been a rollercoaster of fledglings, foster kids and the devastating loss of 16 captive parrots due to a bacterial infection.

Ticking off the Aussie Birds of Paradise

Posted on April 10, 2012October 3, 2012 Heather1 CommentPosted in Cape York, feathered, North QLD, South East QLD, Spotted!

As those of the birdwatching community would understand, it’s always satisfying to get a clean sweep and sight all of the members of one bird ‘family’. And nothing could be more exotic than covering the length of Queensland to see the four Australian-based ‘Birds of Paradise’ from the family Paradisaeidae.

Taipan found in suburban Brisbane

Posted on February 20, 2012March 6, 2012 Bryan11 CommentsPosted in Backyard, scaly, South East QLD

Having lived in Queensland’s south east for 17 years and providing snake relocation services I’ve heard more than my fair share of supposed ‘taipan’ sightings in properties throughout Brisbane’s western suburbs and Ipswich. Amongst the hundreds of suspected taipans none have ever eventuated in this highly overstated species…until now.

Biodiversity: A hot topic this month

Posted on September 27, 2011January 8, 2012 Kate2 CommentsPosted in Backyard, Cape York, Central Australia, Central QLD, crawly, East coast, Eyre Peninsula, feathered, finned, furry, Mallee, Marine, North QLD, NSW coast, scaly, South Australia, South East QLD

The arrival of spring is not the only reason to celebrate in September, it’s also national biodiversity month.
It provides a chance to celebrate Australia’s magnificent flora, fauna and landscapes; and to promote the conservation of our unique native wildlife.
To wrap up NBM 2011, I thought we’d reflect a bit on what “biodiversity” means in Australia.

Spotted! Noisy Pitta in an Urban Haven

Posted on August 29, 2011September 4, 2011 Kate and Dan7 CommentsPosted in Cape York, Central QLD, East coast, feathered, North QLD, NSW coast, South East QLD, Spotted!

After hearing a rumour of a rumour that a Noisy pitta (Pitta versicolour) had recently taken up residence at our local botanic gardens we headed off for a Sunday arvo wander.

Pint-sized Picnic Predators

Posted on June 27, 2011July 3, 2011 Brent3 CommentsPosted in Backyard, crawly, North QLD, NSW coast, South East QLD

Australia is a great country, especially if you are interested in ants. We have ants that live on tidal mud flats and have to waterproof their colony against each flooding tide and weaver ants which use their larvae as living sewing machines to stitch leaves together to form shelter.

Getting girls in Gondwana Part 2: Albert’s Lyrebird

Posted on February 15, 2011March 30, 2011 Heather1 CommentPosted in feathered, South East QLD

Albert’s Lyrebirds have an incredible vocal ability and visual display to attract females as we found on a recent trip to Lamington National Park

Parasitic storm birds in a suburb near you

Posted on January 24, 2011March 12, 2011 Heather14 CommentsPosted in Central QLD, feathered, NSW coast, South East QLD

If you are in the north or east of Australia you may have noticed ‘grey toucan-like birds’ (as described by a Sydney friend) in your suburb making ridiculous sounds at all time of the day and night. These birds are actually the migratory Channel-billed Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae). They are commonly referred to as storm birds as they turn up in summer to breed then head back to New Guinea and Indonesia around March.

How has our native wildlife fared during the floods?

Posted on January 17, 2011March 12, 2011 Heather1 CommentPosted in Central QLD, Creatures, South East QLD

With large areas of Australia underwater it is hard to know how badly our native wildlife has been affected by this widespread flooding.

Getting girls in Gondwana: Part 1 Paradise Riflebird

Posted on December 8, 2010March 12, 2011 Heather1 CommentPosted in feathered, South East QLD

In the past few months Jase, Kate, Dan and I have made a several trips to Lamington National Park on the border of NSW and QLD. It is a magical place: World Heritage listed Sub-tropical Rainforest (think Fern Gully). Lamington is one of several ‘Gondwana Rainforests’ in Northern NSW and Southern QLD. These forests cover 0.3% of Australia but contain half of all Australian plant families and about a third of the Australia’s mammals and bird species. A biodiversity hotbed!