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Showing posts from April, 2015

April Wildlife Report

Goodbye Sweltering Summer, Hello Wildlife! Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus), Bribie Island I think April might be my favourite month for wildlife watching. It was particularly productive last year  and I've met with similar success just now. I think as animals and birds come out of their spring and summer breeding seasons, their numbers are temporarily boosted and they relax and wander more, leading to increased viewing opportunities.

What Lies Beneath

A Closer Look at a Gold Coast Predator. To live on Queensland's Gold Coast is to live in a place obsessed with fitness. On any given day of the year, at any time of day, the beaches, parks and public spaces are packed with people undertaking their chosen fitness pursuits: running, swimming, surfing, weight-lifting, kayaking, power-walking and more. At 84 years of age, even Gold Coast resident Bob Purcell made sure to live a healthy lifestyle. Previously a champion lawn-bowler in the Commonwealth Games, Bob had always led an active life and had for many years enjoyed a regular morning swim in Burleigh Lake. Connected to the sea by a network of canals, this estuarine lake is sheltered from the pounding surf of the nearby beach, and perhaps this is why it was his Bob's favoured swimming location. Or perhaps it was the convenience: the highly regarded retiree lived in one of the houses surrounding the lake, in the affluent suburb of Burleigh Waters. Regardless of the reason, whe

Suburb Guide: Hollywell

Early morning colours on the heathland at Pine Ridge Conservation Park. Featured areas: (1) Pine Ridge Conservation Park, (2) Runaway Bay Marina, (3) The Broadwater foreshore, (4) Suburban Hollywell. Image courtesy of Google Maps.  Hollywell is not one of the premier tourist destinations on the Gold Coast, but for those interested in coastal landscapes, a visit should be essential! Inside this suburb remains the last coastal wallum heath found on the Gold Coast mainland, preserved as part of Pine Ridge Conservation Park. Before European settlement, this vegetation type would have covered the entire area, right down to the dunes bordering the Broadwater. Things changed in 1890, when