Sunday, October 9, 2011

La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary

Visit to the La Trobe Indigenous Plant Nursery and then a walk around the wildlife sanctuary.

The day was grey, and so was much of the wildlife.
Male Eastern Grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) in foreground. The one in the background may be a male as well, it was about the same size.
Female Eastern Grey kangaroo - much smaller than the male.

Mother duck and five ducklings snoozing in a fleeting patch of sunshine:
Not sure what species they are, but they were well-hidden. Very hard to see unless they moved.

Noisy miners (Manorina melanocephala) are very territorial. It seems one of them strayed into territory where he didn't belong:
That's seven against one. The victim (who is upside down with its legs in the air) was being held down by one bird (the one whose wings are spread out towards the camera), while the other six darted in and pecked him. Just after I snapped this not-quite-in-focus shot, the victim broke loose and flew off, with the others in pursuit. And yes, they were indeed very noisy.

The wildlife sanctuary is definitely worth a look if you are in the area. Entry is by gold coin donation, which makes it a cheap outing.

1 comment:

kaiteM said...

you got very close to mother and baby ducks, and those miners look very fierce with their yellow and black eyes. i pity the victim.