The Aussie Flora and Fauna thread ..

[Terroir]

mate they are pretty easy things to catch. THe Daintree though i wouldn't recommend as a great spot as its a sandy river (saying that its still full of them). You want a muddy one. Of course the further away from people the better. The bigget problem with crabing these days is not the lack of crabs but the rippers on the water. Folks that are to lazy to set there own traps so they raid yours. INstead of tying your trap off with a float and leaving it you can tie 2 traps together with a piece of rope and dump them in your honey hole. Use a small anchor and drag it along the bottom to catch the rope attached between your pots and pull them in. THis method requires abit of practice and a gps and is technically illegal but sure beats having all your pots or crabs stolen or having to confront a thief on a crocodile infested river where a slip could mean death.

As for cooking them. Charmaine Solomon, the Sri Lankan born "Julia Child" of asian cooking has some great recipies in her books. ONe of my little tricks with chilli mud crab is to substitute the ketchup which is in every recipe for a home made roast garlic chilli and tomato sauce.

NOw off to the garden to see if i can take a snap of the tawny frogmouth or the ringtail possum that reside with me , or even the tawny frogmouth eating the ringtail possum

 

[Terroir]

Here is a pic of a rare Australian bird called a Spotted Pardalote. The Spotted Pardalote is a very tiny bird that is most often high in a eucalypt canopy, so it is more often detected by its characteristic call.

The wings, tail and head of the male are black and covered with small, distinct white spots. Males have a pale eyebrow, a yellow throat and a red rump. Females are similar but have less-distinct markings. Size is 9cm! A very small bird!

These are my photos and are taken in my back garden..

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The Spotted Pardalote's nest is an enlarged, lined chamber at the end of narrow tunnel, excavated in an earth bank - or in my case, they burrowed into the base of a hanging fern. Sometimes they nest in tree hollows and occasionally in artificial structures. Both parents share nest-building, incubation of the eggs and feeding of the young when they hatch.

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Here is the male looking out from the nesting tunnel.

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These are pics from my garden today.

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Man do i miss the small birds.

I live within spitting distance from the city. As a kid in this area i remember the small birds everywhere more like insects than anything else. Flying in an out of bushes and having a great old time. They myna birds both native and foreign along with the rainbow lorrakeets seem to have pushed them out.

A few hundered meters from my house was an area that was a known nesting area for the supurb fairy wren(it was fenced and allowed to grow wild). I had never seen one before but always took it for granted that they were there. A few weeks ago council sent round a letter saying that after a few years of surveys the fairy wren population was gone and the area would be cleared and unfenced and turned into parkland which they did straight away. Pretty sad. Well i was until i went for a walk in the park that adjoins this area and saw my first one. SO small, blue and pretty i can see how they got their name.

 

[Donald Mallard]

Lovely little fellow terroir ,
some species seem to do well out of man ,
others not so well ...
often its the ones we appreciate the most that dont fare so well ...

 

[Sat X RB]

Love the daintree. Went there for the first time as a 6 year old. So many crocodiles, and its when i first got addicted to mud crabs.

You prob wont believe this but. I know a guy who swam across the mouth of the Daintree river. After making it to the other side the idiot realised he had to swim back. He survived (how i dont know) maybe the crocs were not hungry that day.

When I was there recently the driver of the bus from Cairns to Cooktown via Cape Trib (ha, ha! has to be one of the great bus trips of the world!) said there's a large crocodile near the ferry crossing that's so fat he's named it Clive Palmer!

(sorry to anyone who's not up with Qld politics.)

and I know someone who's not only swum the Daintree but also the Bloomfield which is also infested.

but hey ... the Daintree's that sort of place ... yes?

cheers!

 

[Terroir]

Follow the link to watch an amazing video shot in Arnhem Land , Northern Territory.

Amazing scenery.

Watch in HD and big screen.

http://www.rfthills.com/series-sample-hd.html

 

[Terroir]

Just got back from fishing Burrendong Dam. Its at 90% and the place is alive with wombats, roos, emus, goats, pigs,snakes and birds birds birds.
Camped on a island in the middle of the lake. it was really hot there. Its only 50 kilometers from Orange (altitude 1000m) but 600 meters lower. No sleeping bag required.

Fishing was good and steady for redfin and we helped out the natives by not returning any and bringing them home for ferts. Yellows were slow.Fisheries were out and about and every one we spoke to on the water was very friendly and didnt say anything about our herbal cigarettes.

Normally i wouldnt post about my weekend activities but as we were leaving the lake we went to the Burrendong Arboretum. Burrendong Botanic Garden and Arboretum was established in 1964 and covers approximately 167 ha.
It is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of Australia's unique and incredibly diverse flora.

One mans labor of love and it was mind blowing. Here is an old video and a newer one for your viewing pleasure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3duKoz8fcSo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq4Wis-0GXc&feature=related

If you have a weekend free you should get up and have a look while the dam is full. If your not into fishing spend time at the arboretum or have a bit of a prospect in the creeks. Some nice nuggets have been found following the big rains in the area.


photos in the next few days when i get them from a friend with a old school digi cam that does not store meta data.

 

[Donald Mallard]

Nice one terroir,
just loading the clip now ,
sounds like you had a nice weekend man,
thanks for sharing it with us,
and look forward to seeing what the cam picked up ...

 

[b00m]

Love the photos and stories in this thread
Will try to find some pics from my days growing up in the tropical FNQ

 

[Persephone]

I ve been out and about quite a bit since last posting in this thread,
and ive carried the camera to try and get some "aussie" scenery and animals ...

first up , the tropical north,
the Daintree , and Cape Tribulation ..

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Hey Donald.....know this country well!

Here's lookin back at ya, across the creek toward where you would have been to taken your pics, and on to the main range.

P.

 

[Donald Mallard]

Nice one persephone ,
good to know im not alone there ,, hehehe
thanks for popping that up man ,
i spose we are likely neighbours ,
i did note a familiarity with that creek of yours ,, lol ..

 

[Persephone]

Here's a few things that are endemic to my part of this great Land!

Dad and his youngster!

Fan Palm.

Cape York Lilly

Boyds Rainforest Dragon

P.

 

[Donald Mallard]

Hey nice one perse ,
those boyds dragons are elusive little fellows ,
i noticed they do the old freeze , im not there , deal when confronted ,
nice additions mate ,
cape york lilly time of year i see in my garden aswell ..

 

[Persephone]

Male and female Fig Parrots.....my favourites...smaller than budgies, but giant personalities...

Micro Bat...

Tree Kangaroo ( not a very good pic, sorry.)

P.

 

[Persephone]

^^^ Thanks Mr Mallard. Your never alone!

Yeah...July through through to October....one of the best times of year up here!

P.

 

[Terroir]

Persephone

WOW. The micro bat is the coolest thing ever/

 

[Sat X RB]

Nice photos Persephone!

far out! a tree kangaroo!

Hey, I asked a Daintree Warra what Language was for "tawny frogmouth" (cos we have a pair nesting in front of our house) and his word was the sound frogmouth's make!

Ha Ha. nearly fell of the rock I was sitting on at the simplicity of Language. sure cuts out a lot of verbal bullshit!

cheers Nature lovers!

 

[Donald Mallard]

^^^ Thanks Mr Mallard. Your never alone!

Yeah...July through through to October....one of the best times of year up here!

P.

Yes for sure ,
particularly nice season this year ,
bit of rain , no storms yet ,
i dont mind and extended dry ...

nice to see a tree kangaroo,
crazy critters ,
amazed at the height they can leap from a tree,
can scare the heck out of an unsupecting bush walker (me several times lol ,) never mind the noise they make at night from out of the trees ...
never ceases to amaze me how gnarly our cuddly looking critters sound ...

at this rate ill likely bump into you one day along a track persephone ,, lol ..

 

[b00m]

I took these in July(escaping the southern winter cold) in Kuranda @ my mates backyard verandah, this is harry the cassowary and acts like a pet and comes right up to the verandah looking for food but my mate has strict rules of never feeding him by hand but the cheeky buggar helps himself to the banana and paw-paw trees when he strolls through. The family and myself had just stepped off the plane, drove up the range, got out of the car, stood on the verandah and harry steps out of the scrub to have a squizz and say g'day

 

[b00m]

Couple more of harry

Sorry about the quality of some of the pics, I was trying to take as many as possible without getting too close to the cheeky buggar.

 

[Donald Mallard]

Nice one boom,
always seems the pics on the signs have very over exaggerated legs,
till u see they have very exaggerated legs ,,
i dont blame you for keeping a distance ,
i sure would ... just incase ...
most dangerous bird on earth ...