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Chepu: a hidden corner of Chile
The island of Chiloé lies off the coast of Chile, roughly a thousand kilometres south of Santiago. It is wild and wet (more than two metres of rain a year) and not really part of the tourist trail, but...
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Australia: Living in a Land of Fire
Over most of Australia (excepting perhaps only the rainforest pockets and the alpine systems) fire is a natural, even essential, part of the ecology, and has been so for at least 20 million years since...
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Alone in the World; single species families
I've long been intrigued by organisms which have no close relations, having separated off from their ancestral line very long ago. I'm not just talking about animals and plants which are the only ones...
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On This Day, 29 June; Rembert Dodoens and Dodonaeas
Rembert Dodoens is probably not a name that features regularly in your life, and fair enough too, but he made a contribution to the Australian botanical landscape in particular (plus quite a few others...
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Longreach Waterhole, Northern Territory
[Apologies to my Queensland readers - there is a lovely Longreach Waterhole in central Queensland too, but that's a story for another day.]We were on the way home after a blissful month on the road in...
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Bowerbirds; charismatic old Australians
Bowerbirds have long fascinated laypeople and scientists (not to mention the odd natural history blogger). Obviously enough the key focus has been on the remarkable behaviour which gave them their name...
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Tasmania's Dove Lake; an exquisite stroll
Say 'bushwalk' and 'Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park', and the response is likely to be something like "oh, the Overland Track!". This six to seven day walk from Cradle Mountain to Lake St...
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An Alphabet of White Flowers
I have in the (fairly distant) past, compiled alphabets of both yellow and red flowers. Today, on a mere whim, I have decided to do the same with white flowers. The 'rules', as before, are that where...
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Dingoes; Australian Wolves (updated from an earlier post)
I am away for a bit over two weeks and, instead of preparing new posts for that time, I have opted to update a couple of earlier posts, which are more than three and a half years old and which you may...
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Ghost Gums; spirits of the desert (updated from an earlier post)
I am away for a bit over two weeks and, instead of preparing new posts for that time, I have opted to update a couple of earlier posts, which are more than three and a half years old and which you may...
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Madagascar: 'the eighth continent'
We have just returned from a memorable, enthralling (and often challenging) 17 days in Madagascar, which has long been a distant dream of mine. Some years ago I gave up on it, largely in view of the...
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Kata Tjuta; mighty rocks close to Australia's heart
Last year I posted on one of the truly special parts of this land, to me and to many others - great Uluru. You might like to visit that post again, to put this one into some context; I'll not repeat...
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Happy Wattle Day! An Acacia alphabet.
Today, 1 September, is (semi-officially) at least Wattle Day in Australia. It has been celebrated sporadically from the earlier days of our colonisation, as part of a growing sense of identity and even...
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Lemurs; ghosts of Madagascar
If asked where the greatest number of families of primates could be found, I suspect that most people (including me until 12 months ago) might suggest Africa or Asia because of apes as well as monkeys...
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Kata Tjuta 2; life among the domes
Recently I posted on Kata Tjuta in the central deserts, one of the special places of Australia. I promised to revisit there before the end of September to introduce some of the animals and plants I've...
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On This Day, 21 June: Lake Burley Griffin was born
Well, one could very justifiably argue that any number of other dates could fit that description of course, but I've opted for the day in 1963 that the weir gates closed on Scrivener Dam and the lake...
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Undara Lava Tubes #1; volcanic landscapes
Australia, uniquely as a continent, has no active volcanoes (we don't count the sub-Antarctic island territories in this). We sit securely within the tectonic plate we ride, and the deep-seating...
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Undara Lava Tubes #2; life around the tubes
In my last posting introduced the wonderful Undara Lava Tubes of north Queensland, and ended by promising to show you a few of the plants and animals which live there. The wider landscape around the...
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Chameleons; the fascinating ground lions
Chameleons are truly amazing lizards, but until a recent trip to Madagascar I'd had almost no contact with them. Madagascar though is the world centre of chameleondom, and you can't avoid them (in the...
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Australia's Bird Families; a brief introduction #1
I'll actually be in South America when this comes on line, but you're reading this courtesy of the magic of blogging... Today is the first day of National Bird Week in Australia, coordinated by...
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