Birds of Oz

Warning: no pictures of kids will be shown in this post. Feel free to skip to the next. This one is for journaling/memory purposes.

When you see Cady or Asher next, ask them to sing “Lizards of Oz” for you. We have a new repertoire of songs – most dealing with Australian wildlife. While we have seen a few lizards, the wildlife that we most often see are the birds. I’ve tried to catch many of them with our better camera but some are more shy than others. There are so many different species, I think we (even kids!) can identify over 30 and that is just the common ones that hang around by our place. We checked out the most popular guidebook for birds in Australia (aptly named “What Bird is That?” and first published in 1931) from the library and it was over 800 pages long and weighed almost a kilo. SO MANY BIRDS! Anyway, here are the ones we could catch on camera with their common and scientific names and location of the photograph.

Australian Brush-turkey, Alectura lathami, pictured in Taronga zoo, Sydney, New South Wales but they were wild - not exhibit animals!

Australian King-Parrot, Alisterus scapulars, Myrtleford, Victoria (Adult male with red head)

Australian Magpie, Cracticus tibicen, Myrtleford, Victoria

Australian Pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus, Pictured at Taronga zoo but we also saw them in the wild in a few places including Primrose Sands, Tasmania

Australian White Ibis, Threskiornis molucca, Albury, New South Wales

Blue Faced Honeyeater, Entomyzon cyanotis, Shepparton, Victoria

Brolga, Grus rubicunda, Tidbinbilla, Australian Capital Territory

Bush Stone-curlew, Burhinus grallarius, Great Keppel, Queensland

Crested Pigeon, Ocyphaps lophotes, Myrtleford, Victoria

Crimson Rosella, Platycercus elegans, Myrtleford, Victoria (adult with red belly, juvenile with green mottled belly)

Eastern Yellow Robin, Eopsaltria australis, Booderee, Jervis Bay Territory

Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae, Pictured at Taronga zoo but we also saw them in the wild in a few places including Tidbinbilla, Australian Capital Territory

Galah, Eolophus roseicapilla, Myrtleford, Victoria

Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum, Myrtleford, Victoria

Green Rosella, Platycercus caledonicus, Port Arthur, Tasmania

Indian yellow-nosed albatross, Thalassarche carter, Jervis Bay, New South Wales

Laughing Kookaburra, Dacelo novaeguineae, Myrtleford, Victoria

Little Penguin, Eudyptula minor, Bicheno, Tasmania, photo by Bicheno Penguin Tours but we were there!

Little Pied Cormorant, Microcarbo melanoleucos, Greenpatch, Jervis Bay Territory

Magpie-lark, Grallina cyanoleuca, Echuca, Victoria

Masked Lapwing, Vanellus miles, Vincentia, New South Wales (check out the yellow wing spur!)

Olive-backed Oriole, Oriolus sagittatus, Boderee, Jervis Bay Territory

Rainbow Lorikeet, Trichoglossus haematodus, Husskinson, New South Wales

Satin Bowerbird, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, Rosewhite, Victoria (plus the bower with blue treasures that he collected to attract a female)

Silver Gull, Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae, Vincentia, New South Wales (“mine, mine, mine”)

Straw-necked Ibis, Threskiornis spinicollis, Myrtleford, Victoria

Sulfur-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua galerita, Myrtleford, Victoria

Superb Fairy-wren, Malurus cyaneus, Echuca, Victoria

White-bellied sea eagle, Haliaeetus leucogaster, Jervis Bay, New South Wales

White-faced Heron, Egretta novaehollandiae, Echuca, Victoria

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus funereus, Myrtleford, Victoria

Yellow Rosella, Platycercus elegant flaveolus, Albury, New South Wales

No picture but seen frequently:

Australian Raven, Corvus coronoides, Myrtleford, Victoria

Black Swan, Cygnus atratus, Primrose Sands, Tasmania

Pacific Black Duck, Anas superciliosa, Bright, Victoria

House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, Myrtleford, Victoria

Nankeen Kestrel, Falco cenchroides, Hume Highway, Victoria
Willie Wagtail, Rhipidura leucophrys, Myrtleford, Victoria

Jervis Bay

From Sydney we traveled down the New South Wales coast on Princes Highway for 2.5 hours, stopping at Kiama to view the blow hole (cool!) and lighthouse and have ice cream.

On the drive, the views of the beaches with rocky outcrops to one side of us and green hills on the other reminded us of Oregon and the Pacific NW. We arrived at our destination in Vincentia on Jervis Bay and walked out our backdoor to the beach. We had three nights at this cozy beach house but could have spent an entire week. The chilly weather did not stop the kids from getting into the water or digging sand pits to Mexico.

We also went out on a whale-watching cruise. Humpback whales are migrating north and we followed a pair for a while trying to get a good picture when they would surface and hoping that they would breach. Neither happened but it was still a neat experience.

The real highlight of the boat trip were the dolphins. They hung around our boat and played at the bow both on our trip out and then back into the bay. 

Despite the wind and chill, Cady and Asher hung out at the front of the boat the entire trip looking for them. (Asher in orange and Cady in gray puffy coats):

On the way back into the bay, the boat captain took us along a rocky cliff with pancake stack type rock formations. He stopped the boat in a natural cove and we finally got a family picture with everyone looking at the camera! This one may make it to the holiday card.

One of the great things about visiting the beach in the winter is that the sunrise and sunset were not at crazy hours. We would sit at the beach before breakfast while the sun was coming up over the South Pacific and then in the evenings know when it was time to head home for dinner by the sunset reflections in the clouds. The sand was so fine and white and the water so blue – I took a million photos. Sunset and my loves:

Sunrise with my rooster:

We spent most of our last full day in Booderee National Park which is actually in the Jervis Bay Territory, a separate territory of the Commonwealth, and governed by the federal government and ACT (Australian Capital Territory) not New South Wales. We hiked around a lake at the botanical gardens waiting for temperatures to be beach-worthy and then visited both Scottish Rocks beach and Murray Beach. Both had amazing sand and clear water. And were EMPTY! I know it is winter but we were there during school holidays! Amazing empty beaches seem to be the theme all over the country. Scottish Rocks:

Murray:

From Scottish rocks we spotted dolphins not far off shore and just before we left Murray we hit the jackpot  - the Australia story that we will be telling for years. A 2 m (6 ft) smooth sting-ray (the largest string ray species in the world) came right up by us on the beach. It was probably only in 12 inches of water and not afraid of us as all. We kept a healthy distance, while restraining Asher from giving it a cuddle, and walked along side-by-side as it swam the length of the beach. The only other family on the beach said that they have seen these rays near the marina where the fishing boats come in (looking for fish scraps).

Sydney

The older kids had the first two weeks of July off of school for winter holiday. We had never been to Sydney (outside of the airport) and so we planned a car trip up. It is almost a 7-hour drive from Myrtleford but my awesome friend Jackie is from the Sydney area and planned out our itinerary, including emergency stops along the way. We didn’t fit in half of her suggestions so I guess that means we need to go back sometime!

We stayed in a fancy flat above a neighborhood convenience shop in Paddington. It wasn’t the most kid-friendly but we were really only there for dinners, baths and bed. The location was excellent – close to the train station and bus stops, a nearby playground and footy oval, ALDI (yippee!) and a funny statue that the kids could climb on while we waited for the bus.

We walked our feet off exploring the sights of the CBD (Central Business District – the way “downtown” is referred to in cities). And when we needed a break from walking we would take a ferry around the harbor.

Enjoying a train ride:

At the top of our list was the aquarium in Darling harbor, we have all become sea life fans. Our resident sea life expert (Asher) was impressed. We especially liked watching the sharks being fed squid and the boat ride through the penguin area.

We shopped the outdoor market at The Rocks and watched people climb the harbor bridge. We went to a show at the Sydney Opera House! “Justine Clarke and the Gobbledygook.” We couldn’t take pictures of the show so you will have to google it to see what it is about. Justine is a presenter on the TV show “Playhouse,” which is a show aimed at pre-school aged kids where they read stories and sing lots of songs with silly actions. Playhouse has been televised for over 50 years (longer than Sesame Street) by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The show was fun and even Cady grooved to the music.

We went to a special spider exhibit at the Australian Museum where we saw large live spiders and watched a huntsman get milked for its venom. I might have had nightmares the following night.

 

We spent almost an entire day at the Taronga zoo. It was good (baby elephant!) but the views back across the harbor were the best part.

From the zoo we took a ferry to Watson Bay for playground fun, view of the ocean from the other side of the bay and take-away fish and chips.

We watched the sunset over the harbor bridge on our ferry back into Sydney. We sat by one of the ferry guides and she answered a million questions from us- mostly about the Japanese U-boats that attacked the harbor during WWII and where famous people from Sydney lived. This holiday was really an educational experience disguised as fun ;).

On Sunday we attended a congregation that met in a building facing Hyde park (right smack downtown). It was amazing to sit with people from all over the world and sing the same hymns we sing back at home.

Although it is winter here, we had to visit the famous Bondi beach. It was a balmy 17 degrees (63 degrees F) but that did not stop the kids from swimming. I enjoyed watching the heaps of surfers catching ripper waves. Notice the people in the background in full winter coats!

  

We reluctantly departed Sydney and made our way down the New South Wales coast to our next stop: Jervis Bay. I’m still sorting the pictures but will have a post on that soon.