Wild BNE

Wildlife and Waterspouts! Nature can be both cruel and kind within a short space of time. South-east Queensland residents have been blessed with perfect weather around the Easter and ANZAC Day long weekends, and I've certainly made the most of it, with daytrips out to a variety of areas. Buckley's Hole Conservation Park, Bribie Island. But these sunny days and clear skies of late almost seem like an apology from 'Mother Nature', after she unleashed a Sunday-afternoon thunderstorm upon us earlier this month that was breath-taking in its ferocity. Born in the hinterlands to the south-west of Brisbane, the storm cut power to some suburbs and then gained strength as it moved out over Deception Bay, forming waterspouts just off the southern coastline of Bribie Island.

It goes without saying that the freedom of being able to drive has expanded my wildlife-watching opportunities. I used to be bound by public transport access and timetables, so that only suburban reserves could be explored, usually around mid-morning or late afternoon. Interestingly though, since getting my license, I haven't really used my newfound liberty to head out to the well-known National Parks and wildlife hotspots yet. Instead, I prefer to survey unmarked but intriguing patches of bushland I see on satellite maps, and this is how I came to be walking down a country lane in the Sunshine Coast hinterland at dawn yesterday. Sunrise along Policeman Spur Road, Harper Creek

 Last Days of Summer Cloudy evening skies over Moreton Bay, Sandgate. Despite humid conditions and cloudy days, Brisbane received only 15.8mm of rainfall this month, making it the driest February since 1859. Some species adjust to these circumstances better than others. Unlike most other

Sometimes when I wildlife-watch, I watch a little too closely. My focus becomes so swallowed up by living, breathing detail - whiskers, feathers, eyes, scales, form, movement, behaviour - that I miss out on the bigger picture. The environment in which an animal lives is the canvas upon which its very life is painted into, and observing this relationship can offer as much beauty as the best art gallery. Yesterday's journey around the shores of Lake Somerset, a 52km long artificial swelling of the Stanley River, allowed me to ponder this bond between wild animals and their surroundings further.

North Lakes Town Park 'Lifers', Migrants and Climate Change. It's been a great start to the year for wildlife watching in South-East Queensland, especially for bird life. As this is therefore a 'bird heavy' post, I've shared this with 'Wild Bird Wednesday' , Stewart Monckton's excellent weekly collection of bird blogs that you should check out if you haven't already. This month I saw two new 'lifers' (ie. species I've never seen before) in the one location - the Moreton Bay Shire suburb of North Lakes. Sighted there earlier in January was a White-browed Crake (Porzana cinerea), a tropical species usually only found in the far north of the continent. Birdwatchers raced to the area after the bird was reported, in order to get

I spent Monday night of this week in the Redlands, searching along Hilliards Creek for frogs. Surveying wildlife in this area is not a new thing for me, and some of you may remember that I wrote a  feature last year on the fish found in this waterway.  I

I'll let you in on a secret - up until October of this year, I couldn't actually drive a car. As a result, most of the locations featured in this blog and on the Facebook page are public-transport accessible, though next year will see more out-of-the-way places making an appearance! This blog has given my outdoor jaunts such a welcome sense of purpose this year - thank you so much to anyone who has read and enjoyed my writings. 1. Lake Samsonvale, Joyner. Outstanding for its natural beauty alone, Lake Samsonvale is a great place to visit at any time of the year. Bullocky's Rest is a popular location for family picnics and