Cockatoos - Part III

Sulfur-Crested Cockatoos


These birds are very large, very loud and absolutely wonderful to watch. They seem to spend a lot of time socializing and playing. For such magestic animals, they have the loudest squalking -- you can hear when a flock is nearby!

All of these photos were taken at Orpheus Island, although we see them regularly around Brisbane. As an American, it is amazing to see large flocks of these birds in the wild. (Note: I hear there is a great PBS show on Australian birds that is currently running.)

Cockatoos - Part II

Galahs


These little pink, grey and white birds are my favorites. I see them often in pairs or in small flocks. This bird was part of a flock of eight that were eating the buds off the flowering grasses in a park near our house.

Cockatoos - Part I

Corellas

These are a species of cockatoo known as Corellas. They are very social and very playful. We see large flocks of these on campus everyday -- in fact, all of these photos were taken at the University of Queensland.

Orpheus Island

Eric and I spent a week at the Orpheus Island Research Station, just offshore from Townsville in North Queensland. It is a gorgeous island with lots of hills and crystal clear blue water. Eric was attending a workshop with other marine scientists and I spent the days painting and photographing the wildlife.

About the photos:
1) Boobook (native owls): these little owls were the highlight of my trip! I saw them almost everyday and they were always together. Expect to see these two in a painting soon...

2) Crazy sulfur crested cockatoos: no need for an alarm clock on island -- these birds were noisy and wild with the first light. They were hilarious to watch and they seemed to be just goofing off. (We have these all over Brisbane too.)

3) Sunbird: tiny little nectivorous birds that loved the camera.

4) Spider: this spider trumps any other that we have seen for size. He kept his distance and we all liked it better that way.

5) Another spider (the "little" brother?): hiding behind the rolls of tp in the bathroom. ET mistakenly thought this was a little spider when he first saw the legs sticking out... it turns out those were just his toes and there was a lot of spider stuffed in that tiny space. He hung out there all week until someone removed the last roll...

6) Green frog: every night this fat frog squeezed himself out of this the plumbing to hunt for bugs in the bathroom. He was quite a treat too see! Apparantly this species of frog is known to inhabit loos in local homes up there!

7) Momma and baby possum: living in our friend's shed on Magnetic Island.

8) Orpheus Island: from the top.

9) Rhino beetles: it was mating season...