The Noisy Miner or Mickey [Monorina melanocephala] is a very common bird in our area. It is conspicuous by its constant chatter. They also make a racket when other birds, humans, or cats are around. They are also an early detection system for snakes, although in my experience they are not as reliable as a butcher bird where snakes are concerned! They just chatter all the time...like the little boy who cried snake! They are a very territorial species that have no problem taking on much bigger birds, even hawks or kookaburras. More >>

I know my 'night noises' pretty well. But I had never heard one like this. So I grabbed my torch and started looking for the origin of this guttural 'gurgle'. When I looked up into a native frangipani that I had planted near my shed, I saw two reflective eyes, and an absolutely beautiful little animal. More >>

I took these photos in my shed last night. The frog is a green tree frog [litoria caerulea]. This is a very common frog in the Biosphere. They can grow up to 100mm long, and be green or brownish, and be quite chunky. They have a really 'dreamy' look to them. They can live for up to 20 years. It is a very popular 'pet' throughout the world. Very docile, they are generally nocturnal: with a distinctive call....a sort of Waark, Waark noise, which often echoes in downpipes. They also have an alarm call which is a loud screech. They mainly eat spiders and insects. Predators include snakes, birds and some lizards, however we can add cats and occasionally, dogs to this list. More >>

Thursday 19th May saw a hardy band of volunteers gathering at the ferry ready to take on some of the weeds causing havoc on Noosa North Shore. Noosa Integrated Catchment Association [NICA] have been successful in securing funding under the Federal Government's Caring for our Country program to treat weeds on a large area down towards the Noosa River mouth.  More >>

My partner's 10 year old daughter, Molly has grown up in the bush. She has been able to see lots of animals that city kids don't get to see. Sometimes we forget how wonderful our Biosphere really is.  More >>

The contract  crew at Noosa & District Landcare are out in the bush all the time. Mostly they are planting native plants or killing weeds. Whilst doing this they come across all sorts of interesting critters lurking in our Biosphere. Birds, snakes [lots of snakes!], insects, ticks [lots of ticks!], and all sorts of things.  More >>

At Noosa Landcare's Pomona office, we are very lucky. We have a lease on five acres just north of the town, and it has some really wonderful trees on it, and a lot of grass. It is in the grounds of the Noosa District High School [Pomona campus]  More >>

This year has seen some mighty fine orchids displaying their flowers in our biosphere. I have one in a Hickory wattle at my place, and it usually looks pretty average...just a whole heap of strappy leaves. This year it flowered spectacularly. It is Cymbidium Sauve, or Scented Orchid. It is quite common in forks in trees and old logs. It is epiphytic and has green/yellow flowers in large sprays. More >>

In a blog post I wrote in April I took a photograph of a snake near my shed, which was a freshwater snake [Tropidonophis mairii], sometimes called a keelback. A friend sent me two photos yesterday which were much better than mine! I mentioned in April that freshwater snakes seem to be able to eat cane toads [Bufo marinus] with impunity.  More >>

Snow wood s a much better common name than Stinkwood!
Stinkwood is the unflattering name given to Pararchidendron pruinosum, and I prefer snow wood, which aptly describes the flowers when they first appear. "Stinkwood" refers to the smell given when the tree is cut down... all the better reason to leave it alone!  More >>