A Skink and waterfalls at Springbrook

The weather here in Queensland at Easter was absolutely glorious, we had a wonderful camping trip.  We were staying near the Channon, a lovely place, but were really keen to visit Springbrook National Park - although not particularly near where we were staying (in fact, closer to home, oops!!).  Anyhow, it was a really stunning drive across the hills, passing by no less than 3 national parks: Mt Jerusalem, Mt Warning (Wollumbin) and Lamington (Binna Burra section), as well as quaint villages like Uki, and the infamous Nimbin.

Perhaps it was the drop of rain we had during the night that meant the waterfalls were in full flow!  We decided to do the Twin Falls circuit walk, which loops above, below and behind several beautiful falls.  This is the Twin Falls waterfall, below, that we walked behind (second image)!  How I wish I had been wearing my swimmers for a dip in the beautiful pool below the falls.

A couple of other lovely waterfalls we could only see the top of, but I got some nice pictures nonetheless.  The first is a picture of the view out across the treetops taken from a little bridge crossing the top of Blackfellow falls (my favourite viewpoint of the day), the second is taken at the top of Goomoolahrah falls (meaning Big Waterfall in the language of the Yugambeh people of this region) - a short drive away.

The reason I know the Yugambeh aboriginal word is that we also came across a noticeboard, explaining all the aboriginal place names around Springbrook, very interesting!

We also encountered some wildlife, despite the tracks being rather busy.  We were lucky enough to see a Land Mullet, Egernia major, which is a very large Skink - in fact the largest Skink species in the world!  Apparently they can be quite shy despite their size, so Im very pleased to have manged to get a quick snap of one before he disappeared into the bush.

Brisbane's Koala controversy

Since my previous post on our local koalas I have now found Mount Gravatt is on the edge of a significant area of koala habitat, the 'Koala Coast': "the area South of Brisbane: Redland City, the eastern portion of Logan City and the south-eastern portion of Brisbane City... is regarded nationally as one of the most significant koala populations because of its size and genetic structure" (DERM 2010).

So, how many Koalas live in Brisbane?  Are numbers still declining, or stable?  These questions are at the heart of continuing controversy over the status of koala populations around Brisbane. Due to its iconic status in Australia, koala population declines get more airtime in the press than most of the other species facing serious population declines as Australia rapidly urbanises.  Such airtime inevitably increases close to the forthcoming state election!  However, without independent, up-to-date, scientifically collected data, the article states that conservationists claim they are fighting a loosing battle against figures that are 'fudged'.  The most recent state government report (2010) with a survey of the population in this regions was compiled by DERM (Department of Environment and Resource Management). As Koala numbers are now reported to be low but the margin of error in the government survey remains high, it is increasingly difficult to statistically prove a decline without better survey methods that reduce the uncertainty.  With such uncertainty in the 2010 report it is simply inconclusive about whether the decline continues or not and open to interpretation by politicians, such as state Environment Minister Vicki Darling, claiming that this means they have stabilised without any proof.  Better census methods seem to be urgently required.

Populations on the Koala Coast are now somewhere around 1/3 of the population of 20 years ago - but the sustainability of the population is not mentioned in the DERM report.  The 'Australian Koala Foundation' (AKF) and Australian Research Council are funding scientists at the University of Queensland and DERM to work on this question, and they have been examining the impacts of multiple threats (dog attacks, vehicle collisions and disease) on the koalas in this region and the impact this is likely to be having on the sustainability of the population.  Their conclusion is that the population will continue to decline unless there is intervention that can drastically reduce more than one of these threats.  With such rapid urbanization in Brisbane the threats look set to increase, not decline, a chilling thought.

A Liebster award

Many thanks to Martin of The House of Fran_Mart for nominating my blog for a Liebster Blog award! ( This is a German word, which online searches translate as 'Sweetheart".   A better idiomatic translation would seem to be  “favourite". )


Receiving the award involves certain obligations: I had to decide on five blogs, each with fewer than 220 followers, to pass it on to. The idea is to bring attention to these small blogs who deserve more notice.   

AND THE WINNERS ARE … 

In no particular order …

1. The Blogfolio of Edd Cross - quite literally my 'liebster' blog, a wonderfully imaginative and eclectic mix of illustrations, often inspired by Australian wildlife.
2. Tony's photo blog - some beautiful photos of Australian nature that inspire my own humble efforts, taken by a fellow ex-pat pom!  (and always some interesting skywatch contributions)
3. Snail's Eye View - a lovely, personal perspective on the nature of the Atherton Tablelands
4. Daintree Valley - a blog run by a guesthouse in Daintree village, whose owners clearly have a genuine passion for their beautiful surrounds.  One day I will visit (and it will feel strangely familiar!).  
5. Bush and Beach - now I have moved to Brisbane we are on the same blog territory and Leanne's blog will be an inspiration for my local adventures.

RULES FOR GIVING THE AWARD

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you (thank you, Martin!). 
2. Reveal the five blogs you have chosen and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog. 
3. Copy and paste the award onto your blog (see above). 
4. Request the people you have chosen to receive the award pass it on to their favourite bloggers. 

There are many more blogs I would have nominated that I appreciate but I see they either already have an award - Soulsong Art and The Nature of Robertson, or are too popular - Red Nomad and Matteo Grilli, or don't show how many followers they have - Cathy's Canberra! Anyhow, all the Australian nature blogs I appreciate are to be found listed in the side bar of my blog, so browse away!

Mount Gravatt Koalas

Such a long absence, I have skipped summer!  Well, it is about time I started nature blogging again, and even though I can't blog about the Australian National Botanic Garden any longer (as I am now located in Brisbane!) I have chosen my new location wisely...

I now live next to a beautiful 'urban' bushland reserve in Brisbane, called Mount Gravatt, which is also the name of the suburb.  The bushland reserve is really fantastic mountain habitat with high biodiversity as well as the best lookout over Brisbane at the summit.  We have made contact with the local Mount Gravatt Environment Group and helped out on Clean Up Australia Day a couple of weeks ago, this pic is from the Environment Group blogpost about it.

So, besides this, my partner Edd and I have had quite a few adventures on the mountain already.  However, it was only recently that we discovered the Koala family.  We had read that there were Koalas seen on the road there at Christmas, so we decided to dedicate a day in January (21st) to track them down... with great success!  My partner Edd blogged about that sighting here, and here are a couple of pictures I took:

Mum and Joey

Dad

Today we went back to try and see if we could find the Koala family again, looking in the same spot (below Federation Lookout).  Sure enough, we were very lucky and spotted Mum and Joey again - and it is Mothers' day too (in the UK)!  This time the light was much better and they were lower in the tree, so I got some much better pictures.  We feel so lucky to have Koalas living so close to us, Mt Gravatt is clearly a special place and I look forward to sharing more of my new adventures in Brisbane with you all. 

Goodbye beautiful garden

All good things must come to an end, and its time for me to leave Canberra and move on.  I am sad to leave Canberra and very sad to leave the Botanic Garden where I have had so much fun exploring and taking photos.  We will be staying in Australia - we are moving to Brisbane, to start an exciting new life in the sub-tropics!  I hope I can continue my nature blogging in some form from there - watch this space...

Thanks to the people who have taken an interest in my blog and all the lovely comments.  Taking an idea from Red's Australia blog, here is a round-up of three of my most memorable posts from the past  year and a half...
My most popular post

Bowerbirds lovemaking in the lovenest

 My most viewed post by far is my 'David Attenborough' moment where I captured the Bowerbirds lovemaking in their love-nest.  I spent many lunchtimes seeking out Mr. Bowerbird and watching quietly as he chugged and whirred his way around the bower.  My video camera skills are very amateur without a tripod but what an amazing thing to see and I was so excited to share it on my blog.  


My most beautiful post

Lovestruck Galahs

I think my most beautiful story is the Galah love story post.  I looked up one day and two Galahs were kissing and cuddling on a branch above me, they really were so sweet.  I got some great pictures of them as they gave each other little pecks and cooed.  Extremely cute.




My personal favourite post

A Brush-tail Possum in the red spotlight

I waited a year to go on the 'Twilight Adventure' in the Botanic Garden last August, and I wasn't disappointed.  It was such a privilege to go into the gardens at night, there is so much to see in the bush after dark!  The best moment was a close encounter with a Tawny Frogmouth, such a strange night bird.  I also discovered many more Kangaroos are in the gardens than I thought, and caught a glimpse of a Sugar Glider.


These are just a few memorable moments, others include watching the baby Wattle birds grow, a soldier beetle mating frenzy, cute bathing parrots and the challenge and reward of trying to photograph many fast moving little birds like the Eastern Spinebill, New Holland Honeyeater and Spotted Pardalote!  Watching the seasons change in the garden and the wonderful colours and aromas of the beautiful flowers (at least, those that don't give me hayfever) has been fantastic.  I was really chuffed that my Cicada photo was a finalist in the ABC 'summer bugs' competition, and I recently discovered that this blog featured as 'website of the month' in a recent issue of the ABC Gardening Australia Magazine!  Such a wonderful two years, thank you ANBG, I will miss you.

Rosellas growing up

I love the Crimson Rosellas Platycercus elegans, they are cheeky, colourful parrots who make the sweetest little chirps, like a squeeky toy.  There are always plenty in the gardens.  At the moment Ive noticed a number of young ones who are making the transition to adulthood, so their feathers are changing from green to red. According to Birds in Backyards, "Young Crimson Rosellas have the characteristic blue cheeks, but the remainder of the body plumage is green-olive to yellowish olive (occasionally red in some areas). The young bird gradually attains the adult plumage over a period of 15 months."  I got some nice shots of a young one in this 'puberty' stage, as well as a beautiful fully fledged adult male.

Science week coming up!

Science week is coming up and that means the Twilight Adventure will be back at the Botanic Gardens, horay!  I had a great time on the adventure last year , so sign up early or you will miss out.  Details of bookings for this years Twilight Adventure are on the ANBG website here, along with a range of other Science Week activities.

Here is a shot I took on my adventure last year of a Tawny Frogmouth, there are lots of other pictures on my blog post.