But we will

The first thought that came to mind in response to the outcome of the Australian national elections on Threatened Species Day, 7 September 2013:

“It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.” – Ansel Adams

Spotted Catbird

Taken at Kingfisher Park, Julatten, January 2008

If you’re walking through the rainforest in North Queensland and hear a strange cat-like yowling, it’s probably a Spotted Catbird Ailuroedus melanotis. Very tricky to spot in the dense foliage of the rainforest, you might be lucky enough to catch one out in the open like this.

Dear spiders…

I know that you’re a miracle of evolution with your squillions of eyes, and gazillions of variations, and your ability to produce silk that’s stronger than steel, but you creep me out.

Peppermint Stick Insect

Taken January 2008 along the Dubuji Boardwalk, Cape Tribulation

It’s easy to walk past a Peppermint Stick Insect Megacrania batesii with even realising it’s there (“there” being only a couple of locations, several hundred kms apart, in Far North Queensland). Look carefully on the leaves screwpine Pandanus tectorius along the Dubuji Boardwalk at Cape Tribulation and you might be lucky enough to spot one enjoying a feed. When provoked, they squirt a sticky milky substance that smells like peppermint at whatever is threatening them. Hopefully it’s not your camera or your eye!

Waterview Creek, Jourama Falls

Taken August 2006