Birds' Paradise - Trip to Australia, Part III

Crimson Rosella

Long-billed Corella

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

Australian White Ibis in the park

Scene from hotel window

On our first morning at Maquarie University we were woken up at early dawn by the shrill cry of birds outside our hotel window and upon looking out of it we were startled to see flocks of large white birds everywhere, on the grass, asphalt, and roof tops. These turned out to be the Long-billed Corella, a cockatoo native to Australia--a large white bird with a red stripe around the eyes and on the chest.  I include the picture of the long-billed Corella above taken from Wikipedia for it shows a good close-up of the birds; the picture to the right gives a sense of what I saw out of our hotel window.   

Birds in Australia make a bold presence in both urban and suburban environments in terms of their brilliant colors, loud cries, and sheer number, more so than they do in America. We certainly felt their presence very vividly in our brief stay there.  The dense vegetation and large bird population give the country an exotic, tropical flavor;  I can easily imagine scenes from Hitchcock's movie, The Birds, taking place here.  Here is a video I took with my phone while strolling back to our hotel from the beach in Port Douglas. 

"The Birds"

We attended a free-flight bird show during our visit to the Taronga Zoo, located just across the bay from the Sydney Harbour, but hidden from view by the thick green foliage on the hill, accessed via a short ferry ride.  Kirk caught a picture of a flock of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos in flight at the zoo-keeper's call.  The Australian White Ibises are a common sight in the city parks, scavenging for food on the pavements and in the trash bins; we were told by the volunteers at the zoo that they are viewed as pests.  

While we were at Canberra, I went on a walk at the Australian National Botanic Gardens with a volunteer guide.  He pointed out to me many Australian native plants as well as birds which happened to be around.  We caught sight of a gorgeous Crimson Rosella; I was able to point one out (see picture above) to Kirk while out walking on the campus of the Australia National University on our last evening in Canberra.

Wollemia nobilis

Bottle-tree

The wood of the Bottle-tree contains a jelly which is supposed to be nuitritious and the sap from the trunk is drinkable.  In addition, I learned that the seeds, young roots and shoots were cooked and eaten in Queensland in the past. Wollemia nobilis, my guide told me, belongs to a 2-million- year-old species of coniferous trees but was only discovered relatively recently (1994).   

Koalas in the zoo

Australian Water Dragon

We saw an Australian Water Dragon sunning himself on a rock in Manly, a beach town on the northeastern coast of New South Wales, a 30-minute ferry ride from the Circular Quay at Sydney.  And, speaking of the flora and fauna in Australia, how anyone can omit to mention koala bears and kangaroos!  We saw several of both in Taronga Zoo, among many other animals and plants native to Australia.  The kangaroos we saw in the zoo, lounging or standing still in the shade, were not particularly lively.  Luckily, we were told by Frank Jackson at ANU that wild kangaroos can be seen at dusk in the Botanic Gardens, which is conveniently located on one side of the ANU campus, at the foot of Black Mountain.  So the evening before we left Canberra, Kirk and I hastened to the Gardens a few minutes before closing time hoping to catch sight of some wild kangaroos. We were told by the gardener we met there that we could definitely see some of them on the "Eucalypt Lawn" near one of the trails, but that we had to hurry as the gate would be shut in 15 minutes.  We grabbed a map and ran like mad toward the area pointed out to us and, lo and behold, a kangaroo, hopping mindlessly along, stopped dead in front of us, with a look of surprise and uncertainty.  Here is a video of our roo-sighting at close range -

Roo-sighting