Roadtrip to Queensland

In November I  went on a roadtrip to Qld. these are some of the photos I took while I was away.

Blue butterfly, Shoalhaven, NSW.

Shouldered Brown Butterfly, Shoalhaven, NSW.

damselflies, Snowymountains NP. NSW. 

     mating grasshoppers, Cooloola Cove. Qld.

a weary female turtle makes her way back to the ocean after spending the night digging a hole and laying her eggs. Heron Island, Qld.

Eastern Water-dragon. Shoalhaven. NSW.

Water-skink. Shoalhaven, NSW.

Brush Turkey, Qld. This one was the boss turkey, he chased most of the others away....his colours were way brighter than all of the others.

Black-fronted Dotterel  Qld.

Glossy Black Cockatoo. Qld.

Dusky Moorhen.

Eurasian Coot

Bar-tailed Godwits, terns and Eastern Curlews. Cooloola coast. Qld. (migratory wader birds) ..resting in the RAMSAR protected area on the Fraser Coast.

Bar-tailed Godwits.

Great egret.

Little Lorikeets. Qld

Magpie Geese,

terns Cooloola Cove. Qld.

Sooty oystercather haveing a feed. Shoalhaven. NSW

yellow-billed spoonbill

Noddy terns, Heron Island

Satin Bowerbird (male) NSW.

Satin Bowerbird (female)

Juvenile Satin Bowerbird. NSW

Satin Bowerbird, female. NSW.

Bridled Tern, Heron Island Qld.

Brown Booby. Heron Island. Qld.

                                                         Buff-banded Rail.  Heron Island. Qld.


Cattle Egret with breeding plumage gathering nesting material. When they are not breeding they are all white.

Cattle egrets nesting, NSW.

Cattle egrets in  breeding plumage. NSW.

Crested Tern, and smaller Black-naped  terns, Heron Island. Qld.

Eastern Curlews. Fraser Coast.  Qld.

Figbird. Gladstone. Qld.

Migratory Waders coming in to roost n the Cooloola coast Qld.

Bar-tailed Godwits. Coolooola coast.

                                                       Grey tailed tattler. Heron Island. Qld

                                                                     Corella,  Maryborough  Qld  Long-billed???
                                                                 

Little Corella, Maryborough  Qld.

Rainbow Lorikeet. Qld.

Red-rumped parrots. Narabri. NSW.

 Black-napterns, Heron Island.

Eastern Greys kangaroos on the beach in NSW.

Flying foxes, Yeppon, Qld

This is a female and under the wings she is cuddling her youngster. Many of the bats had babies but hard to see most of the time as they kept them hidden under their wings.

Soft coral Heron Island. Qld.




Giant Clam, Heron Island. Qld.

purple sponge, Heron Island Qld.

Mud Crab, Cooloola Cove. Qld. These are very good eating. They have very strong claws and would easily cut through a finger if handled incorrectly. 

Crown of Thorns Seastar.  These large sea stars eat coral. In large numbers they can be very destructive.  Heron Island. Qld.

Coral with polyps out to feed. Heron Island, Qld.

Semi circle angel fish.  There use to be so many fish around Heron Island that no matter where you point the camera there would be fish. This trip was very different.....very few bigger fish. Disturbing! Heron Island is right at the southern end of the great barrier reef and takes a few hours to get out to it by boat.  it is not right on the mainland coast.
 

colonial sea squirts...very simple animals but they have the very first sign of  very early backboned creatures in the form of a notochord... the very beginnings of chordates (back-boned creatures) . the picture below is also a sea squirt but this one is not a colonial species.

anemone and resident skunk anemone fish. these little fish live in the anemone and gain protection from it. the anemone has stinging cells that keep other fish away. the anemone fish have a protective coating on their skin to protect them making  it possible for them to live in amongst the anemone

battalions of  soldier crabs scour the sand at low tide to find food. Fraser Coast. Qld.

yellow coral. Heron Island. Qld

very old grasstree: they only grow about a cm a year. This one is about 3 m tall!

Lambertia formosa, or mountain devil. Snowy Mountains NP. NSW

orchid - Diuris family.Cooma,NSW

Water-lilies. Qld.

Sun Orchid. Thelymitra family. Snowy Mountains NP  NSW.

Heron Island. Qld