recent photographs

Many of our guests are keen photographers and have very good equipment. Here are a few recent images.

Steve McLean got all three of our robin species:

Pale-yellow Robin, Stephen McLean
Eastern Yellow Robin, Stephen McLean
Grey-headed Robin, Stephen McLean

 

and Mrs and Mr Satin Bowerbird:

female Satin Bowerbird, Stephen McLean
male Satin Bowerbird with Mackinlaya fruits, Stephen McLean

 

The riflebirds are displaying, despite the display post becoming quite worn on the top:

Riflebird, Steve M

 

Lorikeets, Patricia Brouard
tree-roo, Patricia Brouard
tree-roo, Patricia Brouard

my favourite male pademelon, Nicko:

Nicko, by Patricia Brouard

Winter 2024 in Wondecla

Several orchid species are flowering at the moment:

Oberonia. Fairy Orchid, with minute flowers
Bulbophyllum whitei
Dendrobium tetragonum
Tree Spider Orchid, Dendrobium tetragonum

Middle Mum is a very good mother, all her joeys seem to survive. She has another one in the pouch (yesterday a tiny, naked head poked out), but she still lets her previous offspring, he is about 14 months old now, suckle, and they often groom each other.

MiddleMum and son, Red-legged Pademelons
Mrs Boatbill
Mr Boatbill

Practice early

Yesterday a lonely chick showed up at midday. They sometimes get separated from their dad, but usually not for long, as they call for him and he has very good hearing. This chick didn’t vocalize much, but it certainly knew how to make itself almost invisible to potential predators like Grey Goshawks:

It was joined by one of its siblings an hour later. Now we started to worry: surely Dad would have noticed that 2 out of 3 chicks went missing! Maybe he chased another adult cassowary and left the chicks behind? We were very relieved to see Dad together with all 3 chicks later in the afternoon!

It was interesting that the two lonely chicks started fighting with each other, and continued to do so on and off. We’ve never seen such small cassowaries fighting, only when they were at least about 6 months old. Maybe Dad keeps  them in check when they are in his presence?

 

 

New Cassowary Chicks

Last seen in February, our cassowary Dad is now back with 3 tiny chicks. They might even be only a few days old!

Dad is doing his best to keep them close to him, but one managed to get separated from the group and only rejoined them a couple of hours later.

They rest often, and Dad nods off every now and then,

but only briefly!
The chicks seek shelter and warmth under Dad’s tail feathers. That’s why cassowary male have longer tails than females.

 

The chicks are very cute, but not if you are a finch! They caught a red-browed finch and, after a few attempts, one of the little chicks wolfed it down.

 

Hey, you’ve got something on your face!