Our Wildlife News Blog
East Gippsland vines: flowers and fruit
In the rainforests of East Gippsland, the first flowers you see are on native vines. Vines and climbing plants cover rainforest trees and many have showy flowers and fruit. Glorious sprays of starry white Austral Clematis flowers cover the tops of Lilly Pilly trees. A...
Small Lizards (Skinks) of East Gippsland
Lizards are a little wildlife gem often seen at midday in East Gippsland, when other animals are snoozing or hiding. Our Wildlife Guides’ quick eyes pick up a rustle in the undergrowth, and soon find a shiny bronze Delicate Skink, or the humbug candy-coloured...
A future for the You Yangs region
Parks Victoria are putting together a Master Plan for the You Yangs Region. Submission deadline is 16 October. We, and the koalas, urgently need your input. An email letter is the best way to get your voice heard. You can say what you want about the You Yangs and...
5 Amazing Facts about Brushtail Possums
by Morwenna Petaia ‘Brushies’ are some of our favourite animal sightings on tours. Though considered common*, they are quite secretive and solitary in the Australian Bush, and seeing a Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula at night is a special and wonderful...
An Aboriginal Welcome to the You Yangs
There is something welcoming about the You Yangs. Other mountains exist, higher and more dominating, but the gently-rounded triple peaks of the You Yangs capture everyone’s attention. .. They rise, indigo, out of a sea of golden grasses on the plains west of...
Kangaroo mother and joey playing
Eastern Grey Kangaroos live in a matriarchal society, where mothers and joeys have a strong bond. Kangaroo females and their daughters have a long-lasting, very close relationship that usually lasts their whole lives. Wildlife Guide Dan took these beautiful...
A day in the life of a Koala Researcher
It's 06.57am and the first Whats App message comes through: “Weather 7-13 cloudy” The sun has just risen, and already a Koala Researcher is walking through the gum trees, looking. The morning is full of life – Laughing Kookaburras & Rufous Whistlers are yelling,...
Our new baby koalas of 2019!
Spring is an exciting time in the forests of southern Australia: its baby koala season! Koala joeys usually emerge from their mother’s pouch in July, August and September. They have been in there for six months, but mother koalas are experts at hiding their baby...
5 Amazing Facts: Beautiful Rainbow Bee-eater Birds
By Morwenna Petaia Rainbow Bee-eaters are beauty, brains and bravery combined. On the Wild Top End tour, almost every day we hear a guest exclaim with delight: “What is that beautiful bird?” Almost without looking we know it is a Rainbow Bee-eater. Even after...
Tiny Stars: Finches of the Northern Territory
Across a glary blue sky a flock of 30 tiny birds zipped past. They were silent, flying fast and straight, on a mission. All you saw was a flash of gold, or rosy-brown, or white. They were gone before you had a chance to wonder what they were. Oh well, back to watching...
Butterflies of Northern Territory, part 2
When I first wrote about the butterflies of the Northern Territory I was in the early stages of learning about these magnificent creatures. Back then, I only saw a few of the hundreds of species of butterflies present in the Top End. That first article opened my eyes,...
Cute and Playful Young Dingo
He looked at us, warily. We stayed still. We expected the cute young Dingo to run off, wary as most predators are. We have seen wild Dingoes in East Gippsland, Victoria, and they’ve always been very quick to disappear. He trotted away from us along the roadside for a...
Wild Cockatiels Flying
Some birds are best seen in flight. Wings slash through the air like a volley of thrown spears: fast, glinting silver and black. There’s no time to watch wingbeats. Flying cockatiels are the high-speed gazelles of the air. The natural phenomenon of wild flying...
5 Amazing Facts about the Australian Wedge-tailed Eagle
by Morwenna Petaia The Wedge-tailed Eagle is a majestic large eagle native to Australia. They are found throughout the continent, from the tropical Top End to Tasmania, and are regularly spotted by our experienced Wildlife Guides on the 21 day Maximum Wildlife Tour....
Red and yellow robin birds of Australia
Some of the most charming little birds of Australia, Australian Robins are perch and pounce insect-eaters that are familiar to most backyard gardeners and farmers. They will use a favourite perch over and over – darting to the forest floor to snatch an insect, then...
Wild Pigeons & Finches in Western Australia
A very special Maximum Wildlife trip to Western Australia's Pilbara & Exmouth regions. On the red rocky hillside, pebbles were rolling slowly down towards the water. But it wasn’t pebbles we could see, it was wild Spinifex Pigeons. .. It was our first morning at...
Unusual Australian Animals, part 1
On a trip to the United States years ago I met a family while waiting for some food. Chatting, the father asked me where I was from. “Australia,” I replied. He bent down to his small daughter and said: “Honey, this lady is from the place where kangaroos live.”...
Seeing Albatrosses in southern Australia
Australia is the land of the albatross. We are a nation surrounded by ocean – the Pacific to the east and north, the Indian to the west and north, and the wildest of them all – the Southern Ocean, to the south. The Southern Ocean is the only ocean that completely...
Best island for wildlife
Raymond Island, in the Gippsland Lakes National Park, is one of Australia’s best islands to see wildlife. On a recent Maximum Wildlife tour, an Echidna was calmly foraging in the picnic ground. We had come there to enjoy lunch, but the echidna photographing...
5 Amazing Facts: Australian Fur Seals
The Australian Fur Seal is only found along the south-east coast of Australia: in Victoria, Tasmania & South Australia. Due to historic hunting, it is one of the rarest fur seals in the world. If you haven’t had an Australian Fur Seal encounter yet, consider going...
Superb Lyrebird plumage & that amazing tail!
Superb Lyrebirds light up the dark rainforest on winter days with their thrilling song and flashy tail. One day in early spring I was walking with guests along a rainforest creek in the Snowy River National Park. We heard a male Superb Lyrebird singing at full...
East Gippsland vines: flowers and fruit
In the rainforests of East Gippsland, the first flowers you see are on native vines. Vines and climbing plants cover rainforest trees and many have showy flowers and fruit. Glorious sprays of starry white Austral Clematis flowers cover the tops of Lilly Pilly trees. A...
read more
Small Lizards (Skinks) of East Gippsland
Lizards are a little wildlife gem often seen at midday in East Gippsland, when other animals are snoozing or hiding. Our Wildlife Guides’ quick eyes pick up a rustle in the undergrowth, and soon find a shiny bronze Delicate Skink, or the humbug candy-coloured...
read more
A future for the You Yangs region
Parks Victoria are putting together a Master Plan for the You Yangs Region. Submission deadline is 16 October. We, and the koalas, urgently need your input. An email letter is the best way to get your voice heard. You can say what you want about the You Yangs and...
read more
5 Amazing Facts about Brushtail Possums
by Morwenna Petaia ‘Brushies’ are some of our favourite animal sightings on tours. Though considered common*, they are quite secretive and solitary in the Australian Bush, and seeing a Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula at night is a special and wonderful...
read more
An Aboriginal Welcome to the You Yangs
There is something welcoming about the You Yangs. Other mountains exist, higher and more dominating, but the gently-rounded triple peaks of the You Yangs capture everyone’s attention. .. They rise, indigo, out of a sea of golden grasses on the plains west of...
read more
Kangaroo mother and joey playing
Eastern Grey Kangaroos live in a matriarchal society, where mothers and joeys have a strong bond. Kangaroo females and their daughters have a long-lasting, very close relationship that usually lasts their whole lives. Wildlife Guide Dan took these beautiful...
read more
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