South-eastern Australia

25th September - 17th October 2010

Eastern Canberra

After visiting the Flying-Fox colony in the centre of the city, we went for a walk on the southern side of Mount Ainslie, parking just outside the headquarters of the Australian Defence Force in Campbell Park.  There are not too many countries where you can assemble an enormous 600mm lens onto its tripod in the car park of the central intelligence offices and not get arrested!

Stumpy-tail (Tiliqua rugosa) - Mount Ainslie, Canberra

On the lower slopes of Mount Ainslie a Stumpy-tail lizard was crossing the track.  This medium-sized lizard (30cm), also known as a Shingleback, is easily identified by its broad triangular head; short, blunt tail and its extremely large, rough, and prominant scales.  It is a common species in open habitats of dry and arid regions.

Noisy Friarbird (Philemon corniculatus) - Mount Ainslie, Canberra

One of the least attractive members of the honeyeater family is the large, bald-headed Noisy Friarbird.  It is a fairly common species, but the individual above was the only one I saw on the entire trip.

Mount Ainslie, Canberra

At the eastern head of Lake Burley Griffin lies an area of artificially created wetlands.  Here we found a large feeding flock of Red-browed Firetails...

Red-browed Firetail (Neochmia temporalis) - Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Canberra

Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles) - Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Canberra

Masked Lapwings were breeding in the area and would get quite irrate whenever you deigned to walk past their territory, performing distraction displays and divebombing flights....

Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles) - Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Canberra

White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) - Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Canberra

There were many other species of waterbird present, such as Purple Gallinule, Great White Egret, Australian Ibis etc. but these were mostly too distant to bother photographing.

Australian Ibis (Threskiornis molucca) - Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Canberra