Christmas in Australia often means Christmas beetles, and a bunch of hungry Christmas beetles means a Christmas battle! Christmas beetles are in the scarab family, with a number of species found around Australia. Their larvae stay in the ground for a year or more before moving...
Last week, at the tail-end of peak grassland blooms, Greg, Sheryl and myself got along to Woorndoo on the Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP) for a grassland restoration info day. The grasslands of the VVP have been almost totally cleared due to their suitability for agriculture, and...
Toward the end of spring, as the wildflowers are fading out on the plains, they can still be in full swing up on the cooler and moister hills. At about 900m elevation on the Major Mitchell Plateau last weekend we came across this mass flowering...
Photographing Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) can be a challenge at the best of times. Your best chance at seeing a range of species is in and around wetlands, and while you wade gently through the shallows, gripping your fancy camera as you try to sneak...
Now you see it… This little Marbled Gecko (Christinus marmoratus) was found during monitoring of a roofing-tile grid in the Wimmera area. If you get close to one, you can pick it apart from most other geckos in the region by the large pads on the...
Ewens Ponds is a true underwater garden and one of the aquatic highlights of South East SA. This karst rising-spring system pushes incredibly clear water through a linked chain of three sinkholes, before joining Eight Mile Creek to terminate at the ocean about 2km south. The...
Isn’t camouflage amazing? While some species were born to be stars and will pull out all the stops to stand out (we’re looking at you, rainbow bee-eaters), others seek to blend in, trying to living out their days in relative peace. This bark moth (probably Scioglyptis...
Like many of the plant species remaining on the Victorian Volcanic Plain, the endangered Basalt Leek-orchid (Prasophyllum viretrum) is threatened by clearance, fragmentation and degradation of habitat. Despite this, it's hanging in at a handful of grassland sites near Warrnambool and can be seen flowering en...
This photo of a young Black-headed Monitor (Varanus tristis) was taken while volunteering on a recent fauna survey up in Arnhem Land, NT. Black-headed Monitors grow to a length of 50 to 80cm, making them relatively small by monitor standards. While they may be on the petite...
If you’re out and about in damp woodlands this time of year, you may run into a mysterious structure on the ground that looks a bit like a gherkin standing straight up in the leaf litter. Another of the many strange cousins in the fungi...
