nick_rogers's Favorites

A magnificent specimen: probably just under 2 metres long (judging from length of snake compared to width of standard-width pathway). It moved from west to east, emerging from long grass and shrubs on one side and disappearing under cover in long grass on the other.
Resident: seen before in this location by me and by others.

This skink is so consistently seen at this location that he might as well have a postal address! Final two photos are panned back to show landscape context/ habitat; the skink IS still visible in both if you zoom in.

I am reasonably sure of the identification; I saw it in flight when it was flushed from one tree, before it 'went to ground' in the tree in which I photographed it (where it was being harassed and scolded by a mixed mob of noisy miners, currawongs, crows and blue-faced honeyeaters). I did not actually see it properly in the viewfinder when I took these photos; I was pointing the camera at the 'epicentre' of the bird fuss and hoping for the best...

I was talking with Adrian Paterson in my office when, to our huge surprise, this painted lady butterfly(European Small Tortoiseshell!!!) flew in through my open window. I've only seen three of these butterflies before in Canterbury, and never in the winter. Very odd!

Possibly hybrid? - no red on the underside. In a tree then it flew down to the water to get a drink; I was hoping it might hop in for a quick bath and I would get some cute pix but instead it flew off to the southeast after drinking.

A pair of Oarfish spotted while onboard the RV Investigator off Stradbroke Island. Roughly 2m in length. They hung around the CTD cable for roughly 2 hours.

Coordinates were 27 17.38 S 154 08.89 E and water temperature was 21.92 degrees Celsius.

First time in my whole life that I have seen a platypus in the wild. Note: first photo is one of the best in the set, posted as 'cover'; remaining photos are in order as taken; I included some photos of the typical ripple pattern made when the animal submerged, as it was submerging and then coming back up; and have included some of the 'not-so-great' images.

Rakali swam south along the east side of a small pool then climbed onto a low weir then went back into the water and swam to the western bank of the same pool. At one point he or she was only about a metre away from me.