Most people are aware that we hominids have robbed our native wildlife of essential tree hollows. Urbanization, clearing for agriculture and our general dislike of dead trees have all played their part in the shortage of available nesting hollows. So
Dwarf Tree Frogs, aka Eastern Sedge Frogs, are tiny little frogs with great big voices. As a result, they are more often heard than seen. They make a classic frog noise, described as a ratchet-like “reeek-pip”. Like diminutive barometers, they
If you’re a believer in reincarnation, try not to come back as an Antechinus. Sure, they may look cute, but the males only live for one year and the females are lucky if they survive two years. The most common
The Wompoo Fruit-Dove is a riot of colour, as though a pigeon has been coloured in by a toddler with a new set of paints. These birds are not often seen, as they tend to hang about high up in
The Masked Lapwing (also known as the Spur-winged Plover) has benefitted from human development. Like humans, these handsome birds are rather partial to open grassed areas, from where they can command a good view of their surroundings. Mown lawns and
Koala rescuers have noticed a steep increase in callouts to local koalas in the past couple of years, which suggests that numbers are holding, if not actually increasing, across the shire. And if one extrapolates the density discovered in Yurol and Ringtail to other known koala habitat in Noosa, we are talking about potentially thousands of koalas already surviving, reproducing, and living the Noosa dream.
Squirrel Gliders bear no relationship to squirrels other than both animals having bushy tails. Of course, there are no native squirrels in Australia, although attempts were once made to introduce them a century or so back by muddle-headed acclimatisation societies.
We are lucky to have so many varieties of parrot on our doorstep: from large birds such as Sulphur-Crested, Yellow-tailed Black and threatened Glossy Black Cockatoos, to smaller versions like Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. In-between we have Galahs, Little Corellas,
Look north from Noosa Main Beach and the Cooloola section of The Great Sandy National Park stretches away to the horizon. More than just a wonderful stretch of coastline, it is also a geological marvel: part of the largest vegetated dune system on the planet.
Have you ever seen the delightful face of a Short-eared Brushtail Possum peeking out of its hidey-hole in an arboreal termite mound?
How about a Platypus surfacing to grind up its catch? Or a Red-browed Finch leaping up and down on the spot with a flower in its beak (it’s called a stem display, performed to attract the opposite sex)?
All of this and much more has greeted me on frequent visits to one very small patch of Noosa Shire.
Most people are aware that we hominids have robbed our native wildlife of essential tree hollows. Urbanization, clearing for agriculture and our general dislike of dead trees have all played their part in the shortage of available nesting hollows. So
Dwarf Tree Frogs, aka Eastern Sedge Frogs, are tiny little frogs with great big voices. As a result, they are more often heard than seen. They make a classic frog noise, described as a ratchet-like “reeek-pip”. Like diminutive barometers, they
If you’re a believer in reincarnation, try not to come back as an Antechinus. Sure, they may look cute, but the males only live for one year and the females are lucky if they survive two years. The most common
The Wompoo Fruit-Dove is a riot of colour, as though a pigeon has been coloured in by a toddler with a new set of paints. These birds are not often seen, as they tend to hang about high up in
The Masked Lapwing (also known as the Spur-winged Plover) has benefitted from human development. Like humans, these handsome birds are rather partial to open grassed areas, from where they can command a good view of their surroundings. Mown lawns and
Koala rescuers have noticed a steep increase in callouts to local koalas in the past couple of years, which suggests that numbers are holding, if not actually increasing, across the shire. And if one extrapolates the density discovered in Yurol and Ringtail to other known koala habitat in Noosa, we are talking about potentially thousands of koalas already surviving, reproducing, and living the Noosa dream.
Squirrel Gliders bear no relationship to squirrels other than both animals having bushy tails. Of course, there are no native squirrels in Australia, although attempts were once made to introduce them a century or so back by muddle-headed acclimatisation societies.
We are lucky to have so many varieties of parrot on our doorstep: from large birds such as Sulphur-Crested, Yellow-tailed Black and threatened Glossy Black Cockatoos, to smaller versions like Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. In-between we have Galahs, Little Corellas,
Look north from Noosa Main Beach and the Cooloola section of The Great Sandy National Park stretches away to the horizon. More than just a wonderful stretch of coastline, it is also a geological marvel: part of the largest vegetated dune system on the planet.
Have you ever seen the delightful face of a Short-eared Brushtail Possum peeking out of its hidey-hole in an arboreal termite mound?
How about a Platypus surfacing to grind up its catch? Or a Red-browed Finch leaping up and down on the spot with a flower in its beak (it’s called a stem display, performed to attract the opposite sex)?
All of this and much more has greeted me on frequent visits to one very small patch of Noosa Shire.