Busy, busy, busy
Autumn leaves in Barooga, NSW
Apologies to my loyal readers.
I’ve haven’t posted here for quite a few weeks – I’ve been very busy and then I went away for a few weeks caravanning with my wife and some dear friends. Like the photo of the autumn leaves above, I have quite a few new photos to share here. While I didn’t go snap happy, I did get some great shots of the Victorian high country, as well as autumn leaves in several centres such as Bright and Mt Beauty.
I’ll get to those photos and travel experiences in a few weeks. In the meantime, I still have quite a few photos of our trip to Morocco to share here, so in the coming days, expect more of those.
Photos of Pangarinda Arboretum, Wellington, South Australia
No Comments »30th November, 2011; Category: Australia, Botanic Gardens, Parks and Gardens, Photos, Picnics, South Australia
Our lunch spot at Pangarinda Arboretum, Wellington, South Australia
One of our favourite places to visit near our home is the Pangarinda Arboretum at Wellington near the Murray River in South Australia. It is about a half hour drive from home. The arboretum is a vast collection of Australian native plants, many of them displaying spectacular flowers. Over the coming days I will be showcasing some of those plants and flowers on this site.
Pangarinda Arboretum, Wellington, South Australia
Pangarinda Arboretum, Wellington, South Australia
Tammar Wallaby, Adelaide Zoo
Tammar Wallaby, Adelaide Zoo
Tammar Wallabies are found in south western Western Australia. They inhabit coastal mallee scrublands and eucalypt woodlands. They tend to stay in dense vegetation during the day and feed mainly at night.They were previously also found in South Australia, but land clearing and introduced pests like foxes and cats are thought to have made them locally extinct in this area.
A feral population was established on a New Zealand island, and in the last decade a large number of these had been repatriated to Monarto Zoo (a part of Adelaide Zoo) and then reintroduced into Yorke Peninsula where they have established breeding populations.
You can read more about this species on the zoo website here.
Tammar Wallaby, Adelaide Zoo
Emu at Adelaide Zoo
Emu at Adelaide Zoo
One of the most recognisable of Australian birds would have to be the Emu, shown in the photos here on this post. These photos were taken recently on a visit to my home zoo in Adelaide, some 50 minutes drive from where I live.
This large bird, standing from 1.5 to 2 metres high, is found over most of mainland Australia. They became extinct on the island of Tasmania in the 19th century. While it ranges over most of mainland Australia, its current distribution can be patchy, especially in closely settled areas and regions of intensive farming. It can still be found in good numbers in pastoral lands, forested areas and national parks. In Western Australia the species is migratory, moving towards coastal areas after breeding. They female lays 5 -12 large, dark green eggs on the ground which the male incubates and then cares for the young for up to a year and a half.
Emu eggs at Adelaide Zoo
Emu at Adelaide Zoo
Polly wants a penny – or a dollar
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
The Free Flight Bird Show at Taronga Zoo in Sydney has been my topic here for quite a few days now. Whenever we visit the zoo we make sure we schedule one of the shows into our schedule. It is also a great opportunity to get some good photos of the birds.
At the end of each show the keepers invite audience members to come forward and give some of the parrots a donation of a coin. The birds accept the coin in their beak and immediately drop it into the donation box. In this way over $75,000 has been raised for bird conservation in recent years. Today’s photo features one of those birds, a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo which is a common bird in the Sydney region. It is also common in other parts of Australia too.