Ku-ring-gai chase - part 2

A spider of the genus Argiope.

A Glossy Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami). This is a threatened species of parrot that can be distinguisched from other species by its large and uniquely-shaped bill.

A Red-bellied Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) on which I almost stepped. It was lying curled in the sun right behind a small rock on the track. I must say that I was a bit excited if not nervous.. even though Sutherland writes about this snake in his book 'Venomous Creatures of Australia' that no adult human has ever been reported dead from a bite of this snake and usually it avoids contact with human beings, it is an encounter of the special kind. It has a very potent venom and is known for being terretorial during mating season and it appeared that specimens have chased people off for tens of meters.

Ku-ring-gai chase National Park

What a wonderful day! As promised by the meteorologists (yes, they can sometimes be right - sorry, Gerald, I don't want to offend anybody - not even you), today was sunny and relatively warm. We took that chance and a train of the CityRail to go to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. We got off the train in Berowra and did a 9 km walk to Mt Ku-ring-gai. That took about 4.5 hours and we saw plenty and amazing wildlife. Some of it you can see here:

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) female. We saw also two males which are much smaller.

We had to cross some small creeks and it was a bit of rock climbing but very easy. Over all, the track was nicely wild, we didn't meet other people until very close to Mt Ku-ring-gai and there was lots of diversity on the type of habitat we went through: Bushland, heath, open forest, mangroves, and more..

Cicada exuviae on a burned bark of a living Eucalyptus tree. The area is shaped a lot by bush fires and many trees wear 'scars' like this you see here. Often you find hollow trees that have burned inside but still survived!

Some Aboriginal art: Kurt was here maybe even before the first European settlers arrived!?

The rain didn't stop us..

The weather hasn't been good for a while now. Frustrating that is! However, we reminded our northern German ancestry (hoping evolution made our skin waterproof) and went out anyway. A day trip to the Olympic Park up Paramatta River turned out very nice as we had some one or two moments of sunshine and heaps of interesting birds, mangroves (incl. crabs), spiders and the biggest (though unfortunately very small) population of the Green and Golden Bell Frog in New South Wales which we did not see but the calls were everywhere and reminded me a bit of Gunung Mulu on Borneo.

Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) A breeding male. Wonderful, isn't it?

A young but not unimpressive Huntsman spider (Sparassidae) hiding behind Eucalyptus bark.

Australian Pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus) landing.

This small bank was full of birds: Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), Black Swan (Cygnus atratus), Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea), Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius) and an escaped House Goose.

Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus) male at the corner of the street.

Back we went with the ferry and even though we got a bit wet, our skin did its job and we are hoping for some good weather to come the next weekend!

Cheers!

Eek A Mouse!!!

Don't know if I already told that story.. The other day Jasmin and I were already lying in bed reading when this strange noise led to some confusion. It was a jangling sound as if somebody was throwing dice on a wooden floor. First we thought it came from outside in the corridor but when I got up to check, it first stopped and then started again but from inside our room. So we thought it would probably be our house mates in the room above ours playing dice on the floor. It seemed very unlikely, though, at this time of the day. Suddenly, we realized that the sound had its origin under our bed. So I lifted the mattress and got what I found was a chocolate frog (that Jasmin has given me as present some weeks earlier and that should have been lying in the wardrobe) which had suffered some nibbling and gnawing! There must have been a mouse or something just a second ago! First I thought it must be inside this wrinkle in the carpet in front of me. But the I saw it. A tiny mouse was running alongside the room's wall and hiding behind a box in the corner. Applying all our experience trained during intense field exercise, Jasmin and I beseiged the mouse in it's hide until it surrendered. We caught it alive and put it (together with the remnants of the frog) into an iron pot to proudly present it to our house mates next day. What an exciting evening! ;)
Cheers! T.

Long weekend

Huhu! Another week has passed and time is running - as usual. I have accomplished a lot already, although I sometimes feel, I could do better. However, Buz seems to be satisfied and I think that I have made a big jump forward in my PhD project. Buz and I have often times discussions about those tiny creatures I am working on and so he helps me a lot to learn about their morphology and, what it can tell us about the lives they live down in the deep ocean. That makes me happy and gives me some comfort. Without him, I have to say, I don't know when I would have reached this stage. I think I can foresee the results of this visit already: Two new species will be described completely with a ready-to-submit manuscript. And this will include some discussion on new insights in the development of macrostylid isopods. If I can manage, I will prepare a first phylogenetic analysis on this group as well.
But now it is weekend - a long one. We don't have 'Pfingstmontag' but Monday the 13th will be Queens Birthday - a national holiday. The weather is relatively bad - about what we expect Hamburg to be like in autumn. It rains most of the day, is cold (~15°C) and windy. Yesterday (Saturday) we went to the Sydney Aquarium. There we saw Platypus and Dugongs, sharks and many fantastic animals native to Australia. We liked it a lot. After having had a nice malay Laksa we went on to the Australian Museum. Its exhibitions are a nice combination of old dioramas and modern displays and multi media. And for the first time in a museum like this I even liked the anthropological and cultural history part of the exhibit. Right now there is a special exhibit about the birds of paradise, both about the animals and their importance for the native people in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Interesting - very interesting! On Queen's Birthday we'll probably check out a bird sanctuary near Olympic Park. We'll probably decide spontaneously, depending on the weather.
Well, folks, have a nice weekend and catch ya soon!
T.

Laughing Kookaburra

This bird species (Dacelo novaeguineae) is a gigantic kingfisher and very charismatic. Laughing Kookaburras hunt all sorts of prey, such as sausages and burgers freshly cooked from the barbie or a slice of ham from a sandwich on its way to a persons mouth. Jasmin and I have seen them hunting! And they make me think about my grand dad who has fed a Kookaburra here in Sydney years ago with cheese from his hand. The Kookaburra took the cheese, tasted it and then decided it wouldn't like it. He dropped the cheese. Beautiful, isn't it?

Me at "work"

Just to give you an impression of how "my" office at AustMus looks like.. This is the place where I sort specimens and do my computer work and the digital illustrations. It is an office with 7 benches in compartments. People are nice, it is quiet.. only, a window is missing. For the real microscopy I am working in Buz's office/lab.

A salad for dinner

We just had dinner. And when I looked at the salad I just had prepared I realized that it was pretty much solely made of vegetables that are suspects in Germany at the moment for carrying EHEC. Don't you people in Germany eat tomato and cucumber and sprouts anymore? What a shame! It was so tasty..
Don't panic!
T.

Another weekend to come...

Hey there! Despite having omitted to write on my blog I am still there and I am good. My knee is much better. And even though I certainly shouldn't drive it too far yet, I will go out and have a nice weekend again. Finally! The last weekend I stayed at home or went to the museum working. That is over now ;) and tomorrow we'll head towards the Hunter Valley again. This time we'll do an organized wine-tasting tour with Macquarie students. That'll be fun! catch ya later!
T.