Healesville Sanctuary
On Monday Maggie and I headed off to the Healesville Sanctuary, a native wildlife zoo about 1.5 hours from Melbourne. It was raining off and on, but we hoped it would be clear at our destination (and it was). To get there, we drove through gorgeous temperate rainforest and lush countryside. Despite the green-ness, the area is still technically in a drought, not having received average rainfall in 12 years. In my next post I'll show a picture of the very low nearby water reservoir, which effectively communicates the degree of drought.
That's Maggie's car on the right (on the left side of the road, of course!).
Peonies.
A moody fog settled on the area as the rain lifted.
Gum trees in the background, and Arum Lilies in the foreground, considered a weed here.
Gum tree bark.
Gum tree canopy.
My first wild parrot -- an Eastern Rosella!
After arriving at Healesville, I immediately had to do the tourist thing.
(Maggie and I had four cameras between us, anyway, so we might as well)
This guy was feeding the emu bits of his apple.
I pet the emu briefly -- it was very soft. A very soft living haystack.
Koala! Soooo cute, but according to Maggie, not very cuddly.
Another one sleeping.
Just hanging out.
The reason why they are not very cuddly.
White Ibbis.
Echidna! Ridiculously cute, AND cuddly. Forget about a koala... I want one of these!
Wallabies.
"Dude... look at my hands... they're like, HUGE..."
This Red Kangaroo should be a depressing country singer. Maggie says they are also known as the "emo roo".
Swift Parrot, one of the fastest flying parrots.
An Orange-Bellied Parrot, of which there are only 200 left... the most endangered animal in the world.
Juvenile Orange-Bellied Parrot.
Rose-Crowned Fruit Dove.
Whip-Bird (he had a very loud song!)
Another Swift Parrot (or maybe the same one... too fast!).
Gang Gang Cockatoo.
Bush-Stone Curlew.
Crow. Doesn't he look like he's made of plastic?
Platypus! It was very dark in there, so even shooting at 3200ISO, I could hardly capture the fast-moving creature.
Moor Hen.
Satin Bowerbird.
You can see his "nest" that he uses to woo the ladies in the upper right.
They are attracted to blue objects -- thus the blue pieces of plastic, etc. in the foreground.
Sacred Kingfisher.
Spot-Tailed Quoll.
Swamp Wallaby (they like to live in dense, wet forests).
Brolga.
Blurry pic of a wombat. Maggie says it's like hitting a rock if you schmuck one with your car.
Tasmanian Devils... a cute baby with his momma.
We stayed right til close, and then on the way home we saw more animals -- foals! -- and just had to stop for some shots.
That's Maggie's car on the right (on the left side of the road, of course!).
Peonies.
A moody fog settled on the area as the rain lifted.
Gum trees in the background, and Arum Lilies in the foreground, considered a weed here.
Gum tree bark.
Gum tree canopy.
My first wild parrot -- an Eastern Rosella!
After arriving at Healesville, I immediately had to do the tourist thing.
(Maggie and I had four cameras between us, anyway, so we might as well)
This guy was feeding the emu bits of his apple.
I pet the emu briefly -- it was very soft. A very soft living haystack.
Koala! Soooo cute, but according to Maggie, not very cuddly.
Another one sleeping.
Just hanging out.
The reason why they are not very cuddly.
White Ibbis.
Echidna! Ridiculously cute, AND cuddly. Forget about a koala... I want one of these!
Wallabies.
"Dude... look at my hands... they're like, HUGE..."
This Red Kangaroo should be a depressing country singer. Maggie says they are also known as the "emo roo".
Swift Parrot, one of the fastest flying parrots.
An Orange-Bellied Parrot, of which there are only 200 left... the most endangered animal in the world.
Juvenile Orange-Bellied Parrot.
Rose-Crowned Fruit Dove.
Whip-Bird (he had a very loud song!)
Another Swift Parrot (or maybe the same one... too fast!).
Gang Gang Cockatoo.
Bush-Stone Curlew.
Crow. Doesn't he look like he's made of plastic?
Platypus! It was very dark in there, so even shooting at 3200ISO, I could hardly capture the fast-moving creature.
Moor Hen.
Satin Bowerbird.
You can see his "nest" that he uses to woo the ladies in the upper right.
They are attracted to blue objects -- thus the blue pieces of plastic, etc. in the foreground.
Sacred Kingfisher.
Spot-Tailed Quoll.
Swamp Wallaby (they like to live in dense, wet forests).
Brolga.
Blurry pic of a wombat. Maggie says it's like hitting a rock if you schmuck one with your car.
Tasmanian Devils... a cute baby with his momma.
We stayed right til close, and then on the way home we saw more animals -- foals! -- and just had to stop for some shots.