As today’s Ragtag Daily Prompt is diurnal, I thought I would post a couple of photos of the eastern long-necked turtle. The (Australian) eastern long-necked turtle is a sun-worshipper. It is a cold-blooded, diurnal animal. These small fresh-water turtles are most active mid-morning and afternoon once they have warmed up. Read more
My February Changing Seasons post will be divided into two parts. Part 1 contains the serious environmental message. Part 2 is more lighthearted.
This post contains images that may distress some viewers. Read more
I would like to thank Frank at Dutch Goes the Photo for his Tuesday word prompt, crawl. It allows me to post about something near and dear to my heart. Yes, I know. Everything is near and dear to my heart, but that can’t be a bad thing surely? You have probably all seen the news this week about a recent insect study review. The review found that insect numbers have plummeted, experiencing a 2.5% loss per year. Now one can argue about the rate of decline, whether it can be applied uniformly across the globe and to all insects, but one thing is clear, our insect population is in trouble. Read more
This is my response to the Ragtag Daily Prompt — Manufacture. I’ve finally come up with the an idea for my next mosaic. After my last huge effort, I am looking to do something small, literally. I like to make mosaics from my own photos, but in this case I won’t be able to. I should be so lucky to see an endangered mountain pygmy possum! Read more
Today’s post will introduce two very strange aquatic creatures found at one of Canberra’s nature reserves — the first, one very odd looking duck, and the second, quite duck-like.
Australia’s musk duck looks half-fish, half duck. It must be the oddest looking duck I’ve ever come across. It is so named because it is very smelly, emitting a musky smell from scent glands on its rump. Musk ducks spend most of their time in the water. They even sleep on the water. They can fly, but launching from the water or ground is hard work, so they do so infrequently. When fleeing predators, they choose a watery escape rather than take to the wing. Read more
I’m currently following Kyle Rohrig’s latest hike on the Florida Trail. He is a hiking with a friend and his little shiba inu, Katana. Katana’s story is as interesting as Kyle’s. She was a pet shop impulse buy. Katana accompanies Kyle on all his hikes. The gorgeous girl had glaucoma in both eyes and is now blind. Check them out here.
I’ve been talking about my current mosaic project for about six months now. Now finally, it is finished. Read more
In my previous post, I mentioned that my love and I had gone out to the river for a sticky beak. It soon became apparent that not everyone understood this strange Aussie/Kiwi colloquialism, with a number of readers requiring a translation. In response, I thought I should provide a general explanation for those too polite to ask for a translation. Which is completely fitting as the explanation links in so perfectly with today’s post (unintended) about one of our most weird and wonderful mammals, the short-beaked echidna — a real sticky beak. Read more
I spent several hours eating a lot of chocolate so that I could write a post today. It was rubbish (the post, not the chocolate), so I ditched it. Still suffering and not just because of the chocolate. I must reform (new year’s resolution?) and prioritise my waistline (currently lack thereof) over my blog. So when all else fails, post a photo! Read more
Bigfoot dwells in Australia, but we call it macropod. The term macropod is derived from the Greek words makros (meaning large) and poús or pod (meaning foot).
Macropods cover a group of marsupials that have large hind feet and which move by bounding. They cannot move their legs independently and often propel themselves forward with the help of their tails. They also raise their babies in pouches. There are several species of macropod including kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, pademelons, bettongs and potoroos, among others. Today I thought I would share some photos of two species of macropod, the Swamp Wallaby and the Long-Nosed Potoroo, found at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, just outside of Canberra (Australia). Read more
