Funky fungus!

I found an amazing looking bright red fungus growing outside my workplace this morning, its like nothing I've ever seen before.  I thought it was a curious plastic ball someone had left on the ground, that is how odd it looks.  It has an incredible lattice structure.  It didn't take me long to find a name for it as its so distinctive: Clathrus ruber, commonly known as the latticed stinkhorn, the basket stinkhorn, or the red cage fungus.  I didn't notice it smelling, but apparently it can have quite a pungent smell.  It is not native to Australia, but in fact quite widespread across the globe, remarkable.

Original photo taken on my phone in poor light when I first spotted the fungus - not a great shot, but you can see how much more upright and rounded the fungus was when it first appeared in the rain!

Coochiemudlo

Could this be one of Brisbane's best kept secrets?

Moreton bay is home to two very beautiful and famous islands: Stradbroke Island, which I blogged about last August, and Moreton Island, which I'm yet to visit.  Tourists flock to these islands by the boatload.   However, closer to the mainland are many little islands.  I first discovered these in a kayak with the UQ canoe club, where I spent a wonderful day paddling around the bay from Victoria Point to Karragarra Island, coming back though the Secret Garden (a forest of mangroves).  Our 20km route map is shown below.  I didn't take a camera on that trip as kayaking is a new hobby for me, so the likelihood of capsizing seemed quite high - particularly when a Dugong swam under my kayak; though I was simply thrilled to get so close to such a fantastic animal.

The peacefulness of being out on the bay in a sea kayak was bliss.  We spontaneously decided to get out there again late one balmy afternoon with some friends - this time taking the very short hop on the ferry across to Coochiemudlo Island, situated only about 1km from the mainland but a world away.  For $3.50 each way, we had a sunset walk on a  beach to ourselves, besides a couple of kids in a kayak and a family having a picnic.  We even had the novelty of watching the sunset reflected in the ocean, generally not seen from land on the east coast!

The modest little ferry from the mainland to 'Coochie', as the island is affectionately known.

The previous day's king tide had washed up some interesting creatures, like this starfish and jellyfish.  I tried to rescue the starfish, but I think it was too late.  I think this Jellyfish is just a 'blubber' or catostylus jellyfish, not particularly dangerous.

This amazing pattern of little balls we found on the sand is made by sand bubbler crabs, Scopimera inflata.  "These crabs live in burrows in the sand, where they remain during high tide. When the tide is out, they emerge on to the surface of the sand, and scour the sand for food, forming it into inflated pellets, which cover the sand. The crabs work radially from the entrance to their burrow, which they re-enter as the tide rises and destroys the pellets" (Wikipedia).  I came across this lovely YouTube film of the crabs doing just that, creating a work of art!

Storms and turtles

Its a holiday weekend in Brisbane, but we are marooned!  For two reasons - our garage roller-door broke and so I don't want to open it again in case it won't shut, but also because of the incessant wind and rain.  We moved to Brisbane post-2011, so didn't experience those terrible floods, but right now we are getting a taste of what that was like.  Combined with the recent King tides, the Queensland coast is taking a battering.

I was really sorry to hear on Saturday how hard the Tropical Cyclone Oswald had hit Bargara and Burnett Heads near Bundaberg: we spent last New Year at Burnett Heads and had an incredible experience watching turtles nesting at Mon Repos: the largest Loggerhead turtle rookery in the South Pacific.  Flatback and Green turtles also lay their eggs there. Mon Repos is situated between Burnett Heads and Bargara.  Thinking about those wonderful creatures struggling out to sea in such storms, I realised I never posted on this blog about that trip.  January is right in the middle of the turtle breeding season (Nov-March), where female sea turtles will be coming onto the beach to lay their eggs at Mon Repos and also baby turtles will be starting to hatch and make their perilous journey to the sea, certainly even more perilous in this weather.

Last year we were really lucky and saw several female Loggerhead turtles come up the beach that night to lay their eggs.  It was amazing to watch such an enormous creature so close, apparently oblivious to 30 people stood around in the darkness (torch use was restricted).  She dug a hole in the sand and then began to lay 120 eggs, one after the other.  After she had finished she buried the eggs then made her way back to the ocean.  Some interesting facts about the turtles at Mon Repos:
- The eggs laid on the mainland produce mainly females and those laid on islands produce males - to do with the warmer temperature of the sand on the mainland.
- Only 1 in 1,000 hatchlings will survive to maturity.
- It is 30 years before the turtles will return, to the same beach, and start to breed.  The longevity of the turtles is not yet known!

We were able to get very close but had to stay behind the turtle as she laid her eggs

After laying her eggs the turtle buries them (and almost herself!) in sand

Researchers take some measurements and mark the position of the eggs.

Sometimes, the turtles lay their eggs too low on the beach, so that they are in danger of being washed away by high tides.  To help conserve this endangered species, researchers and volunteers dig up the eggs after the turtle has gone back to the ocean and literally move them further up the beach.  Research has shown that if this is done within a short timeframe it doesn't affect the hatchling survival rate.  The turtle we were watching laid her eggs too low on the beach, and so we also helped with the egg relocation - I was thrilled to hold some turtle eggs as we all helped move the eggs as quickly and carefully as we could.  

Eggs after they are dug up and counted, ready to be buried again further up the beach

I hope the little turtles that I helped will be the 1 in 1000 that make it!

A sand sculpture Edd made at Mon Repos beach the next day, in memory of the beautiful turtles we saw.  Edd has also done a couple of very cute illustrations of some other wildlife blown about in the Australia Day storms on his blog.

Kangaroo Island: Fur-seals and Sea-lions

Looks like I have a bit of catching up to do.  The last couple of months I have been on my travels, first to South Australia and Kangaroo Island, then back to the UK (via Hong Kong) for a wonderful 'proper' cold, damp, traditional Christmas with the family.  Arriving back in Australia in the middle of a massive heatwave is taking some getting used to!

Although this blog is now named 'Brisbane Adventures', it is really simply about the wonderful experiences of nature I have living here in Australia.  For that reason I certainly couldn't visit Kangaroo Island in South Australia and not write about it - its a nature wonderland.  In fact, so much so I think a single post won't do it justice!

Cape du Couedic, Kangaroo Island

Many people visit Kangaroo Island to encounter the Fur-seals and Sea-lions that live on the South coast.  There are three species that have set up home here: Sea-lions, New Zealand Fur-seals and Australian Fur-seals.  Although the tourist guides don't warn you about the smell - the colony really stinks!  The easiest way to tell them apart is mainly by colour (information from a Flinders Chase National Park notice board at Admirals Arch at the Cape du Couedic, where my photos were taken):

• Australian sea-lion females and juveniles are very pale, almost white.  The bulls are dark, with a contrasting cream mane.
• New Zealand fur-seals range in colour from dark grey to brown.  They have a long narrow pointed face with an upturned nose.
• Australian fur-seals range in colour from light sandy-brown to grey-brown.  Their head is broader and shorter than New Zealand fur-seals.  

I hope my IDs below are correct!

Australian sea-lion

Australian fur-seal

NZ (left) and Australian (right) fur-seals fighting for their spot on the rocks

New Zealand fur-seal

Seals and Sea-lions surf the enormous waves to crash-land on the rocks

Aww.. a cute little Australian fur-seal (a pup or maybe a female)

All three species were severely hunted to the verge of extinction in the past following European settlement - seal fur and blubber was Australia's first export industry - and so today they are a protected species.  In particular, the Australian sea-lion is classed as vulnerable and declining, with an estimated 14,000 individuals in the wild.  However, their conservation status on Kangaroo Island and the relative abundance of the fur-seals and sea-lions now poses a major threat to the lovable Fairy Penguins, who also inhabit the island.  We went on a Penguin Tour at Penneshaw during our stay, and saw around 12 penguins: parents returning from a day at sea to feed their young.  Not long ago, there were hundreds of penguins all around this little coastal town, found up to 2km inland.  Now, they are all but gone and our guide was absolutely ecstatic to see 12:  it was the most she had seen in one night in her year on the job!  Many tours don't see any - which is a severe disappointment and a serious conservation concern.

Backyard cutie

After the rather creepy mole cricket a few days ago, we were excited to find a much cuter creature in our garden tonight, a Ring-tail Possum Pseudocheirus pereginus. We often see them around, along with the bigger Brushtails, they like to do a tight-rope act along the wires across the street.  With the flash of the camera it shows this one is a beautiful red colour, I had no idea they were so red - we only ever see them in the dark!  We have a tiny back garden (about 4x10 metres), half of which is Myrtle bush, so its fantastic the wildlife don't think its too small and appreciate our trees.

A couple of years ago we rescued a baby ring-tail, when it's mother had abandoned it and the Magpies were attacking it.  We wrapped it in a towel, cuddled it to keep it warm and took it to the local vet surgery.  We hope it survived ok.  Cats and dogs are a big threat to these cute little things, as are the usual cars and habitat clearance, particularly as ring-tail possums live exclusively in trees and haven't adapted themselves to live more closely with humans (i.e. invading roof spaces!) like the Brush-tail.

Me holding the baby ring-tail we rescued in Sydney, May 2010

Backyard beastie

This morning I saw an incredible insect crawling across the patio as I was eating my breakfast.  I had never seen anything like it!  It was huge, around 5cm long with rather vicious looking barbs on its rear a bit like an earwig and huge forelegs.  If you click on the photos below they will enlarge (unfortunately my camera wouldn't focus well for a decent close-up, the batteries were low).

After searching through various websites including the CSIRO ANIC 'What Bug is That' we found what it is: A mole cricket Gryllotalpa spp. There is a lot of very interesting information about them on the Brisbane Insects website.  They burrow underground from where they can be heard making loud mating calls.  This solves a long standing mystery for me: ever since we moved to Australia, particularly after it rains, I have heard very loud insect noises coming from the grass or even from under the pavement, but there is never anything there.  I even thought it might be a frog in the drains.  In fact, it was one of these!  If you click the image below you can hear its call (recording downloaded from the Brisbane Insects website, where they have an interesting analysis of the sound waves and explain how the mole cricket makes this noise).  We are also wondering if these mole crickets have been giving us some large mystery bare patches in our lawn, as I have read that they eat turf!

A little more searching around the Internet on these interesting bugs and I also found out that in some countries they are eaten.  Yes, eaten!  They are called 'Kamaru', and this blog about Filipino food describes how they are a delicacy in the Philippines.  Apparently 'they go very well with a cold beer.  They are crispy on the outside, moist in the middle...' Our backyard beastie is quite safe though, as I am a vegetarian.

Jacaranda season

Brisbane is famous for it's beautiful Jacaranda trees, that come into bloom at this time of year.  The Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia) is actually a Brazilian tree, not native to Australia!  One of the best places to see some lovely trees is down by the riverside in West End, where I happened to be today for the Great Brisbane Duck race!

Not sure where my ducky family placed, but we didn't win.  Totally crazy, but its not every day you see several thousand rubber ducks going hell for leather down the Brisbane river.

The riverside entertainment was a bit 'quackers' too...

A few little ducks made a break for freedom after the race. Swim duckies, swim!!