Brolga at the Reptile Park
Brolga
Over recent days I have been sharing photos and writing about our recent family visit to the Australian Reptile Park near Gosford north of Sydney. I’ve shown a few birds which were not in aviaries, and now I plan to show some of their captive birds.
Today’s photo shows a Brolga, one of our larger birds, once known as an Native Companion and even an Australian Crane. They are widespread in northern and eastern Australia, but are uncommon in southern parts of our country.
The bird in the photo was a captive bird in an enclosure at the reptile park. I have seen others in zoos, but only once have I seen this species in the wild. Many years ago a saw a dozen or so in a swampy area in the extreme south-east of South Australia.
Ducks at the Australian Reptile Park
Grey Teal
On our recent visit to the Australian Reptile Park near Gosford north of Sydney, I was constantly on the lookout for birds that I could photograph. When most people were having lunch in the park picnic area – which was very nice, by the way – I noticed that there were quite a few ducks also present.
This is a familiar sight in Australia; where people gather to eat, many bird species, including ducks, tend to gather. Unfortunately many people also feed the birds, ignorant of the fact that human food is not only unsuitable for our native species, too much can also be deadly to the birds’ health.
Of the prominent ducks present, I photographed three species in the picnic area: Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal and Australian Wood Duck. Also present nearby were a few Pacific Black Ducks, but I decided not to photograph those as I have plenty of shots of that species already.
Australian Wood Duck
Chestnut Teal
Lunch time at the Reptile Park
Australian Brush Turkey
During our recent family visit to the Australian Reptile Park near Gosford north of Sydney, we had some interesting lunch companions. In the very well appointed picnic grounds several Australian Brush Turkeys moved amongst the picnickers picking up scraps. They didn’t come too near to us; they wouldn’t have been given any of our pies, potato chips or hot dogs – well, maybe the grandchildren might have been tempted to feed them.
Our other lunch time companions were far more daunting, if the photos below are any indication.
Thankfully they are only models of extinct species.
A family visit to the Australian Reptile Park
Inside the entrance of the Reptile Park
Last Sunday we went on a family outing to the Australian Reptile Park near Gosford on the central NSW coast. Before going I thought that this was my first visit, but over lunch my son informed me that he could remember going there as a child. How the memory fades at this time of life.
Our grandchildren were particularly keen to go, having visited on other occasions in recent years. It was a fine treat for the last day of the school holidays. We arrived mid-morning in time for an informative talk about turtles and tortoises, including the Galapagos Tortoise shown below.
Just to keep faith with my bird loving readers I’ve also included a photo of a Cape Barren Goose below. This individual, the only one in the park, is a long way from its normal home. It is a resident of the park. In fact, it is more of a pet than an exhibit.
Galapagos Tortoise
Cape Barren Goose