Wild Australia

July 31, 2020 / Jet Eliot / 103 Comments

Grey Kangaroos, Australia

Daintree River, North Queensland, Australia.

With travel suspended during this pandemic, let’s virtually cruise over to Australia and take a look at some of their wildlife. There is no place on this planet like Australia.

Azure Kingfisher, Australia

Indigenous to Australia, kangaroos are found nowhere else in the world. In taxonomically general terms, these marsupials come in all sizes, and there are many different kinds.

The adult Grey Kangaroo in the first photo was human size; whereas the rock wallaby below, also a kind of kangaroo, was only about calf-high. You can imagine how tiny her joey is.

Kangaroo Wikipedia.

Mareeba Rock Wallaby, Granite Gorge, Australia

Kangaroos go back tens of thousands of years as you can see from this ancient Aboriginal rock art.

Ancient Kangaroo Rock Art, Kakadu NP, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander

Two bird species as big as humans grace the “Land of Oz”: the cassowary and the emu.

Southern Cassowary, Australia

Emu, Mareeba Wetlands, Queensland, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander.

Smaller birds, i.e. not human-sized, are equally as spectacular, including parrots, cockatoos, and kookaburras.

Rainbow Lorikeet, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander.

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander.

Laughing Kookaburra, Australia

One year we were determined to spot a platypus in the wild. We did all our research as to where they live, and devoted an entire day to hiking back to a desolate place called the Black Swamp. It was over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit that day. We never found one.

But we were rewarded with this echidna who waddled out of a pile of dead leaves. This spiny mammal, pictured below, has its nose (“beak”) dug into the earth, hunting for ants.

Echidna, Kangaroo Island, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander.

Still determined to find a platypus in the wild, we returned to Australia 11 years later and hired a guide. We learned that platypus are rare to find, very shy, and prefer certain waterways on dark days. With the guide, we quietly skulked alongside a back stream in the rain, and were thrilled to find this one.

Platypus, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander.

On this massive planet, only Australia and New Guinea still have monotremes, like the platypus and echidna: a mammal that lays eggs instead of giving birth to live young.

Reptiles are also widespread on this hot and dry continent. Some are more menacing than others….

Dragon Lizard, Australia

Crocodile, Australia, Kakadu Nat’l. Park.

Flying foxes, which are bats, are one of my personal favorites. We saw them flying in large flocks at dusk on their way to hunt; in the daytime they could be seen roosting in some trees. Many Australians consider them pests, they damage trees.

There are different species across the continent; here are two, the grey-headed and the spectacled.

Grey-headed Flying Foxes, Sydney, Australia

Pair of Spectacled Flying Foxes, Australia

Nocturnal creatures in wild Australia are yet another world.

Rufous Owl, Australia.

This is a sugar glider, a marsupial flying possum. They are similar to flying squirrels, but not related.

Sugar Glider, Queensland, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander.

Even insects in Australia are extraordinary.

Ulysses Butterflies on Lantana, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander.

We’ll have to explore the underwater wild of the Great Barrier Reef another time.

With large marsupials hopping around and smaller ones gliding through the trees; birds that are every color of the rainbow, and some that are as big as humans; reptiles that can chew you to bits; and mammals that lay eggs, Australia has a very entertaining wildlife world.

Written by Jet Eliot.

All photos in the wild by Athena Alexander.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Sydney, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander.

Australia. Kakadu NP, Northern Territory.

The Macaw Lick

July 24, 2020 / Jet Eliot / 91 Comments

Boarding the boats, Manu Nat’l. Park, Madre de Dios River, Peru

Peru Village on Madre de Dios Tributary of Amazon. Photo: Athena Alexander

Our wildlife-seeking travel group had piled into motorized canoes and spent the next week on the Madre de Dios River, an Amazon tributary, exploring Manu National Park. The hike to the macaw lick was to be one of the highlights, and it was.

Found only in the New World, macaws are some of the biggest parrots on earth.

Scarlet Macaws, Manu Nat’l Park, Peru, South America.

Up to that point, we had been hearing them from our canoes, but they flew so high, they merely looked like ants way up there. The low, guttural squawk, however, made for easy identification.

Amazon river (near top) and jungle, aerial photo. Photo: Athena Alexander

In 1989 a research team began a macaw research project here. Big, bold and colorful, the birds had been diminishing for years, due to deforestation and illegal poaching for the pet trade.

The team chose an obscure section of riverbank for its natural mineral supplies that are important to the birds, and that’s where we were headed.

A macaw’s diet is primarily seeds, flowers, and fruits which have naturally-occurring toxins designed to protect the plant. The minerals in the riverbank clay, at this site, have a neutralizing effect on the toxic alkaloids the macaws ingest.

The research team had built a blind across from the Blanquillo Clay Lick to study the macaws. They prepared palm trees to provide nesting habitat, studied nesting patterns, and over the years steadily increased the reproductive output.

The Macaw Society aka Tambopata Macaw Project

To avoid disturbing the macaws, we left our campsite at dawn to arrive at the Macaw Lick ahead of the birds. We hiked the sloppy mud trail through a thick tangle of rainforest and moldy debris; walked through a small banana plantation, too. The Amazonian rainforest has lots of rain which means: mud, humidity, abundant wildlife, and a fast rate of decomposition.

Our bird group hiking to the Clay Lick. I’m in the center with blue backpack. Photo: Athena Alexander

This is the blind, below. You can see the clay riverbank in the back center (brown), stretching widely on each side of the blind, where the anticipated macaws were supposed to arrive if we were lucky.

The Blanquillo Macaw Lick blind, near Madre de Dios, Peru. Photo: Athena Alexander

We were told that once we were inside the blind, we would not be able to leave again until the birds had flown off. There was a toilet in there, and it had a door.

At first, for about an hour, there were no macaws. It was steamy and really hot inside this thatched hut, and biting mosquitoes were rampant. I kept myself distracted by studying whatever creatures came along. Those two empty chairs are where Athena and I sat.

Group inside the blind.

This beauty arrived, among many.

Julia Butterfly, Manu Nat’l Park, Peru

Then the thrill began. A few macaws flew in making a racquet, and landed in the palms. Cameras started clicking.

Red and Green Macaws on palm trees, Manu Nat’l. Park, Peru

Eventually more macaws gathered. They congregated in the palms, gregarious and animated.

Before long it was a cacophony of squawking and screeching, and a kaleidoscope of colorful macaws. They clung to vines and roots, and dug their strong bills into the clay soil.

Red and Green Macaws, Blanquillo Clay Lick, Manu Nat’l. Park, Peru

Red and Green Macaws

These blue-headed parrots also joined the party.

Blue-headed Parrots, Blanquillo Clay Lick. Photo: Bill Page

As the morning unfolded, the 100+ birds gradually began to move on, and eventually every bird had departed. They say the birds come every day, unless it’s raining.

A wonderful place in the river’s bend where birds can socialize and get their daily requirements, and humans can huddle on the sideline, bedazzled by this brilliant spectacle.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander and Bill Page, as noted.

Amazon Basin, Madre de Dios, Peru

Watching Lions

July 17, 2020 / Jet Eliot / 73 Comments

Lioness, Botswana

Lion at sunset, Botswana

Every single moment of watching lions is a privilege. The pure power of this animal is inspiring. It is easy to see why they are one of the most widely recognized animal symbols in human culture.

They are not, however, really kings of the forest, as the saying goes, because lions don’t live in forests. They live primarily in grassy plains and open woodlands, in sub-Saharan Africa. (See map at end.)

Panthera leo are as ferocious as we are led to believe, and are skilled hunters and scavengers. Even a simple yawn, like in the photo below, has us shaking in our safari boots.

Lioness yawning, Africa

In general, female lions do most of the hunting and protect the cubs; males establish territory and maintain dominance. But there are differences among prides.

Groups of female lions often hunt together. Their prey varies depending on where they live.

Lion cub with siblings, Botswana

In the Serengeti, my favorite place to watch lions, the prides generally hunt the common ungulates: impala, wildebeest and zebra.

During the day you may find the lions under a shade tree, or resting on rocky outcroppings or kopjes (pronounced “copies”).

Overview of kopje, Serengeti. Photo: Athena Alexander.

Lion cubs, Serengeti. Photo: Athena Alexander.

In Botswana’s Chobe National Park, where large populations of elephants live, lion prides are known to hunt elephants, which is unusual. They target younger, more vulnerable elephants or very old bulls, near Savute.

Lioness, Botswana

There’s a good reason juvenile elephants stay close to their mothers.

Elephant juvenile, Botswana

In the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, one of my favorite places on earth, different animals populate this enclosed crater than on the open plains. For example, no impalas live here.

We watched this lioness stalking four buffalo at the Ngorongoro Crater. She is calculating the energy cost and distance factors here. We waited about a half hour to see what she would do.

Lioness, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa

She aborted the attempt.

Buffalo seem like an animal not to trifle with….

Buffalo, Africa

Lions are heavy animals and relatively low to the ground. They can’t sprint like a cheetah, and they don’t have a big heart for long runs, like a hyena.

Instead, lions take their prey by surprise, the attack is short and powerful. They leap and pounce, pull the animal down by the rump, then deliver a strangling, fatalistic bite to the throat.

Most of the time they hunt at night. Often we would see the effects of a night of lion-hunting at dawn. Successful lions have noticeably full bellies, and are often seen lazing beside a water hole, or sleeping. Other lions might be licking a gash or nursing a wound.

At night we heard big booming roars that electrified the vast darkness. Roars can be heard from five miles (8 km) away.

This fully mature male shows signs of numerous fights on his scarred face.

Lion, Botswana. Photo: Athena Alexander.

Lions are also great scavengers. They will saunter onto a kill site where other animals are avidly engaged in devouring a dead animal and take over, as if it was theirs all along.

They will frequently respond to hyena calls, arriving at the scene of a hyena’s fresh kill. But hyenas are formidable and ferocious animals, too, and are not easily bullied, even by lions.

Spotted Hyena, Zambia

Lions are the only wild cat to have a social structure, and it is fascinating. Pride hierarchy differs from venue to venue, and local safari guides are always very familiar with each pride and its individual members. Guides enthusiastically tell you stories about the lion family as if it was their own flesh and blood.

Lion, Botswana

Lion Wikipedia.

With their piercing golden eyes, confident swagger, and feline agility, lions continue to be one of the most majestic animals on this planet.

Written by Jet Eliot.

All photos in the wild by Athena Alexander.

Lion Distribution. Red = historic, blue = present. Courtesy Wikipedia.

Lion populations continue to decline, mostly due to humans. If you are concerned, you can start by visiting here: African Wildlife Foundation on Lions

Tidepooling Point Lobos

July 10, 2020 / Jet Eliot / 92 Comments

Point Lobos, Monterey Bay, California

Point Lobos is a state park on Monterey Bay, and one of my favorite spots on California’s Central Coast. I’ve been there many times, most recently this past fall.

It is part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the largest marine sanctuary in the United States.

Monterey Bay’s underwater canyons provide cold, nutrient-rich waters that attract an abundant diversity of marine plants, invertebrates, and mammals. Everything from snails to whales cruise by.

Point Lobos, California

Kelp forests, one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on earth, are abundant here. They offer food and protection to marine wildlife.

With tectonic plates nearby, the granite and sedimentary cliffs and rocks at Point Lobos have evolved for over 80 million years, creating a shoreline mosaic of crevasses and holes perfect for collecting intertidal waters and associated wildlife.

Sea Lions, Point Lobos

Point Lobos, California

Hiking, birding, photography, kayaking and scuba diving rank high on the list of activities. But it’s also fun to explore the rocks and tidepools, discovering the sea creatures that make their home here. Once you get started, it’s hard to stop.

Tidepooling is like a seaside safari — so much to see and learn, and never a dull moment.

With changing tides and constant wave action, water continually whooshing in and out, there is something different happening every minute of the day.

My binoculars are with me wherever I go, and they come in handy at the tidepools. Here are a few close-ups.

Tide pool with sea urchins (purple), snails, limpets, algae

Sea urchins and anemones, crabs and starfish, sea palms, algae and other seaweed hang on tenaciously, riding out the pounding surf.

Tide pool with sea anemones above and below water

Crabs scuttle, sea birds forage, and marine mammals languish.

Black-crowned Night-Heron, Point Lobos

Harbor Seals on a bed of barnacles and algae, Point Lobos, California

Every tide pool is a different community, a different story. This whole rocky plateau is a world of tidepools.

Tide pools and tidepoolers (center), Point Lobos, California

Point Lobos has a long history of attracting humans in their various endeavors: Ohlone natives, abalone hunters, Spanish explorers, whalers and commercial fishermen to name a few. For a time it was a designated WWII defense site; then it was slated to be a residential housing development (which was nixed). Edward Weston photographed here, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” and over 45 other movies were filmed here. It’s not far from Big Sur.

The wild beauty and magnificence of Point Lobos still calls. And fortunately these waters are protected now–harbor seals and sea otters can live in peace. Humans can explore and picnic and revel in the briny world.

Twice a day every day, the water recedes and returns, in its infinite earthly rhythms.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.