Brisbane Veranda

Queensland houses or 'Queenslander' have some architectural features which are just perfect for birdwatching: timber stumps that lift the building to provide ventilation during the hot summer months (let alone relative safety from floods) also provide for a high point of view to observe the surroundings from the front verandas and if trees are close enough you may have the impression of living right up in the tree canopy. Birds feel more comfortable to come and perch or feed on the wide verandas, giving excellent observation opportunities. These are some Sulphur-crested Cockatoo that usually come to our place.

Crimson Rosellas at the Lamington NP

The Lamington National Park is approximately 100 km south of Brisbane, declared in 1915 after Lord Lamington, the Governor of Queensland at that time. Remarkable for its 20500 ha, unique flora and fauna and the sheer beauty of its mountains and sub-tropical rain forests, the park was listed as a World Heritage Area in 1994.

 Walking in such an ancient forest encountering so many species of unique wildlife and massive trees was an amazing experience. Many of the encounters such as with the Albert's Lyrebird were fleeting, but Crimson Rosellas -Platycercus elegans- were very friendly and used to feed from people's hands.

View from the tree top

Rain forest waterfalls

View from inside a Strangler Fig

Fascinating feathers

From left: Barn Owl, primary; Laughing Kookaburra, primary; Masked Lapwing, tail feather; Figbird, secondary, Laughing Kookaburra, tail feather; Bush-stone Curlew, primary.

Primary feathers: outer feathers of the wing, provide thrust and propel the bird upward and forward;

Secondary feathers: provide lift by creating the airfoil shape of the bird's wing;

Tail feathers: help the bird to brake and steer in flight.

I've been collecting birds' feathers since I was a child, when our neighbours gave us the tail feathers of the Pheasant they killed and cooked. I still think I can give feathers a second chance to be admired, weather they come from a dead bird or are naturally shed when moulting. And I still wonder how far have they travelled, what places and the secret things they lived with their owner.
Here is a selection of artworks on feathers from my shop.

Playful Magpies

I was surprised to observe the behaviour of this family of Australian Magpies, Gymnorhina tibicen. The young one, in the middle with a stick, was playing around with it and the parents , darker in colour, were jumping all around him/her and lying down making strange moves. All three birds seemed to be very interested in the stick. Their behaviour reminded me of dogs playing with each other with a stick... funny Magpies..

Galahs

In Australian English (for non-Australian readers), a person may be called 'galah' when acting silly, probably because these birds, intelligent and curious, love playing and can be seen hanging upside down and pirouetting, all behaviours that may be perceived a bit eccentric to human eyes. Galahs - Eolophus roseicapilla

A very happy birthday!

Last October the 16th was this blog's first birthday, I am amazed by the wonderful community of people it has gathered so far, to all the followers and visitors I would like to say a big big THANK YOU. This painting is a rather old one, dated September 2007, long before I came to Australia, but I consider it kinda Australian as those feathers came from my budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) which are one of the most common pet birds and originally from Australia. In their native country, in the wild, they live a nomadic life following the rain and the abundance that comes with it. To see more about the amazing life of Australian parrots I'll give you this link, it is a beautiful documentary, let me know what you think if you had the chance to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQb2o0Lzomo

Until next time!

Rainbow Lorikeets

It is no wonder that when the 1500s Portuguese explorers, mapping the coasts of Australia, named it Psittacorum regio, the Latin for 'Land of parrots'. When I first come to Australia I was astonished to see how easily parrots can be seen in great numbers in any environment, city included. In this period of the year, southern hemisphere spring, trees are blooming very generously and lorikeets are very busy taking the best advantage out of this great food opportunity. The Rainbow Lorikeet is probably the most common Lorikeet in Australia, an icon from Darwin to Adelaide. They are also frequent visitors of bird feeders, but they are bold and aggressive to other species chasing every other bird away, this is in fact one of the reasons for the decline of some other bird species where Rainbow Lorikeets are numerous.  Their screeching calls are filling the air, sometimes harsh, sometimes full of joy, to see them darting in the sky is always a pleasure.

For the Italian readers, or anybody who reads Italian, I started writing for a website called 'I love Australia', written and managed by Italians in Australia, a website whose goal is to give information about anything related to this country, from immigration to nature, travel and holiday and more: http://www.iloveaustralia.it/

Until next time!       Matteo

Koalas

The pretty face of one of Australia's icons is very well used in any possible way. Yet the population has been nominated as national threatened, although populations vary according to areas. Dog attacks, car accidents, chlamydia and even illegal shooting... not to mention all the natural tricks and worries caused naturally by the Australian environment, make their lives hard. The Brisbane Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, http://www.koala.net/index.php , the oldest and largest (over 130 koalas) sanctuary in Australia, collaborates with Universities and the Government to research and protect koalas and to educate people to behave properly. Their motto is 'The Earth is not only for humans'.

I see koalas as beautiful even when not directly whatching us, which is pretty much most of the time.

Meeting the Bush Stone-curlew

I saw three Stone Bush-curlews at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. They are related to waders but they are actually terrestrial and found on any habitat with ground litter, from rain forests to open woodland, their face expression are very interesting and ever changing. As many other Australian animals they were not scared by close observers, probably because they rely on their camouflage and stillness, I was surprised to read that they are nocturnal birds ( no wonder the big eyes) in fact they looked kinda sleepy. After a bit of research I found a few interesting aboriginal stories related to the Bush Stone-curlew, you can read more following this link: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2010/09/27/bird-of-the-week-the-bush-stone-curlew-as-a-harbinger-of-death-and-more/

-Names- 

English: Bush Stone-curlew

Latin: Burhinus grallarius

Italian: Occhione willaroo

Aboriginal: Willaroo
Ps:  the feathers by the sketch are real, taped on the page. 

There will be more about these birds on this blog in the future...

Until next time!               Matteo

A soft spot for Botanical Art

Prints and greeting cards and bookmarks available.

There are more than 700 species of Eucalyptus native of Australia, I was attracted and inspired by the colours of those leaves found on the ground of a damp forest or just after rain, as they can reveal a wide range and variety of shades, bright and shiny. The colours will just vanish as the leaf dries so I took some photos just after picking. The journal pages, second image, are one of my earlier study of Eucalyptus leaves, the difference with the wet ones is evident. The following links provide beautiful examples of botanical art from a couple of friends: Hemlata Pradhan from India http://www.botanicalart.in/ and Vichi Lee Johnston from Australia http://vickileejohnston.blogspot.com/

Until next post!            Matteo