April 17th is World Bat Appreciation Day! Time to take a minute to think about what amazing animals bats really are. Bats are one of the oldest types of mammal (warm-blooded animals that suckle their young) and one of the most successful – about 20% of all mammal species are bats. It seems that learning… Read more »
While we acknowledge that there are still some parts of western Queensland that have received little or no recent rain, the downpours in areas such as Roma have stimulated frog activity that I haven’t seen since the last big wet years between 2010 and 2012. Standing on our home deck last night I could hear… Read more »
As the temperature begins to rise, so will the activity of local snakes. Reptiles such as snakes become more active in the hotter months and begin looking around for food. As they move around they can often be spotted in backyards, inside homes and local parks looking for a warm place to set up camp. … Read more »
We often get asked about Magpies and while its never fun to be on the receiving end of a Australian Magpie Cracticus tibicen’s defensive behaviour, it is understandable when you learn a little more about them. Why do Magpies swoop? They’re are very territorial birds. They’ll protect their territory from other birds throughout the year…. Read more »
I was looking at my diminished woodpile this morning and thinking that I might not need to cut any more this winter. We might just have seen off the worst of the cold. Spring is in the air! In the last week I’ve noticed the Little Noisy Friarbirds Philemon corniculatus (a kind of honeyeater) arriving… Read more »
Our Principal Ecologist and Tour Guide Craig Eddie took these photographs of a bower in some roadside vegetation in western Queensland. The bower belongs to our resident bowerbird in Outback Queensland – the Spotted Bowerbird Chlamydera maculata. Like all bowerbirds, they build a bower which is basically an archway constructed from grass stems and twigs. Each… Read more »
Whether you are an international tourist or an Aussie citizen, it is important to travel throughout Outback Australia responsibly. There are many factors to consider and be aware of, such as our poisonous creatures, animals that may cross roads at any times of day (cattle, kangaroos and emus), distances between some towns and black spots… Read more »
Meryl Eddie “Growing up on a farm in the South Burnett area and at the tender age of twelve I started my own business – a Poll Hereford cattle stud. When registering my stud I had to decide on a prefix. Most nights after the radio and T.V. were turned off, and you were lying… Read more »
You need to get the spotlight out at night to try to find these little critters. Widely spread across northern and eastern Australia, the Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps) is common within the Maranoa Local Government area and around the township of Roma. Belonging to the gliding possum family, their most distinguishing feature is the flap… Read more »
There are many amazing things about the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus ). One of these is its ability to find its favourite foods – wood-boring grubs! These are the larvae of beetles and moths which tunnel into various trees such as gum trees and wattles. In this snippet of footage, a male Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, uses… Read more »
