The Hacking River Valley in Royal National Park is one my favourite places on earth. Here, the awesome Blackbutt, Eucalyptus pilularis reigns supreme . . . #ThickTrunkTuesday #nature #nationalparks

Around Sydney, we frequently see Yellow-throated Scrubwrens attending lyrebirds as they forage. This is generally thought of as a commensalism. However the lyrebird also benefits as the scrubwrens will alert the lyrebird to any approaching danger with their sharp "tack" call before departing. #birds

The Superb Lyrebird males have been quiet for the past three weeks as most have commenced tail moult.There are now many males in the forest with stumpy tails but they regrow with surprising rapidity and within the next couple of weeks they will be back to their former glory! #birds #nature #birding

Three ages of Variegated Fairy-wrens: 2nd year blue faces and red shoulders, 3rd year full colour but grey on the cap and nape and 4th year mature adult, bright all over with deep violet cap and nape. All but the 4th year bird will return to dull plumage at the end of summer. #birds #birding #nature

STEWART: “Comedy doesn’t change the world, but it’s a bellwether— we’re the banana peel in the coal mine… authoritarians are the threat to comedy, music, art, thought… progress.” Nailed it.

A Green Catbird snacking on some berries on the forest floor in Royal National Park this morning. Catbirds are members of the bowerbird family, however, the males don't construct a display bower. #birds #birding #nature

This sleepy Powerful Owl in Royal National Park is keeping a firm grip on last night's prey . . . a hapless Ringtail Possum. #birds #birding #nature

A couple of moments of not great quality footage of a Striated Thornbill taking nectar and invertebrates from a small grevillea today. These birds are inner canopy foragers where they largely feed on invertebrates and lerp. When nesting they come down to build their nests in the mid storey. #birding

This century is downright weird . . .

Blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis) Lady Carrington Drive, Royal National Park . . . The real carbon capture and storage technology. #ThickTrunkTuesday #nature #naturelovers

One of may male Variegated Fairy-wrens I encountered today. You can tell he hasn't reached full maturity as his crown is still grey, not the vibrant violet blue typical of fully mature males of this species. He's also probably pretending to be a helper but is mostly here to cuckold the alpha male.

It would appear that one of my local Satin Bowerbirds is going for a more yellow theme this spring. I dropped a bunch of beautiful blue Crimson Rosella primaries and rectrices into his bower a week or so back but it appears that some of his thieving neighbours have made off with them. #birds #nature

Working in a zoo I meet hundreds of people from all over the world every day. Every single one of them reacts the same way when they come to the Koala nursery and see this . . . We need to stop letting the media, crooked politicians and the most ignorant among us divide us over race and culture.

One of the many Rufous Bettongs I once kept when working for Earth Sanctuaries around 20 years ago. These small macropods were a pure delight to observe foraging, often squabbling as they competed for the best mushroom and truffle patches. They were super fast when they got upright and bounded away.

The need of the hour . . .

This is how they do it.

A little time line cleanse . . . "Does this make me whole?" I believe this is the question we must ask to help us make choices which will ensure we live our best life. Because it's ultimately wholeness which we seek. And, of course, always bring our A Game. #nature

Meanwhile in a more peaceful place . . . (Female Superb Lyrebird, shot during a tour in Royal NP yesterday morning.) #birds #birding #nature #naturelovers

I was inspired to create this in memory of a day 2006, when visiting the Taronga Zoo Free Flight Bird Show. There I met a Peregrine Falcon up close on a trainer's wrist. The intelligent sentience in her dark eyes was devastating. Her power, beauty and majesty made for an unforgettable moment.

SOUND UP! Just a few moments of many from another fab morning of birding and immersion in the living world at Royal National Park . . . What a joy to be alive to witness and savour such things. #birding #birds #nature #naturelovers

Clouds burst, rain falls and the forest magic intensifies. Puddles form, streams, rivulets - rivers roar. Everywhere is the music of a billion raindrops pattering upon a billion leaves, each creating a tiny diamond in the moment it catches the light. There's nothing like a rainy forest walk. #nature

I run a range of nature walkabouts in Sydney's Royal National Park. Immerse yourself in the stories, the wonder, beauty, diversity and abundance . . . connect with the sights, sounds and fragrances as we walk these sacred landscapes. more info: aussiewild.com.au/nature-walka... #nature #naturelovers

The Biodiversity Council welcomes Minister Watt’s move to fast-track assessment of SA’s toxic algal bloom but warns data gaps may hinder threatened species listing. More funding is needed to tackle the drivers of the algal bloom and to establish long-term monitoring of the Great Southern Reef 🦑

A Lewin's Honeyeater living his best life in Royal National Park this morning. I observed him copulating with his girlfriend before flying down and gorging upon the nectar of the flowers of this Grevillea diffusa. I observed many bird species enjoying the nectar of these plants today. #birds #nature

And on #ThickTrunkTuesday we celebrate this leviathan in Royal National Park . . .

Aussie Wild Nature Discovery acknowledges the Dharawal people's custodianship of the lands we visit and their part in the longest living culture on this earth. We pay our respects to their elders past and present.

So a female pale form Orange Palm Dart turned up on my driveway. She seemed to fresh to be on death's door so not sure if she was sick/poisoned. I hope not. I popped her onto a plant. #butterfly #nature #naturelovers

A walk in nature is comprised of a million moments of joy, wonder and brief, confidential encounters. Each moment one may spend in contemplation about the complexity, diversity and abundance all round and how random mutation, natural selection and geophysical forces have forged it all. #birding

Sound up, the beauty of Bola Creek in Royal National Park . . . #nature #wildoz #tranquility

The rain was so beautiful in Royal National Park this morning, and then this stunning and somewhat confusing performance. I can't recall ever seeing a Superb Lyrebird putting on a performance like this . . . I have seen Galahs doing this on power lines in the rain tho . . . #birds #birding #nature

Wind farm bird protection tech a success, with no new eagle deaths and barely a dent in revenue reneweconomy.com.au/wind-farm-bi...

The home of Angie and David Leafstrider, two Yellow-throated Scrubwrens whom I study, in the rainforest of Bola Creek in Royal National Park. Their neighbours are Derek and Layla Proudmimic (I suspect David is Derek's offspring) and Karen and Richard Leafscruffler.

Among the many treasures I encountered along the Walumarra Trail in Royal National Park today was this gorgeous family of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos who provided an excellent lesson in behavioural and structural adaptations working in tandem. #birds #birding #nature #WildOz

The White-browed Scrubwren turns leaves and climbs through the ground cover in search of food, whereas the Yellow-throated Scrubwren is more opportunistic, barely ever turning a leaf (though won't complain if a lyrebird does the work). This is niche separation on the rainforest floor. #birds #nature

This fungus on the Walumarra Trail in Royal NP is doing it's very best to convince us it's some chunky forest floor grey broccoli! I've never seen this variety before. #nature #fungi

The light and the birding was gorgeous today in the tall forested stretch of the Walumarra Trail in Royal National Park. I honestly would not have wanted to be anywhere else on earth. #nature #naturelovers

This stunning bracket fungi on the Walumarra Trail in Royal National Park looks like it might be of the luminous variety. I'm going to head down one night this week to check it out. It's also a good opportunity to do a little Sooty Owling, as they frequent the locality. #nature #fungi

This week I'll be heading to this amazing coastline to catch the northward migration of the Humped-back Whales. This enormous stretch of coastal heath is a global treasure. Right now, the ripening seeds of the Banksia robur pods are attracting 100's of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos to the locality.

It was freezing in Royal National Park yesterday. I was getting observations of Yellow-throated Scrubwrens to determine the week when the males begin feeding the females. Currently, they're mostly staying separate and communicating with their distance call and the occasional territorial song. #birds

Donald Trump is always the dumbest person in the room.

It seems this demands regular repetition: A theory is a rigorously established explanation which is supported by abundant lines of evidence and refuted by none. A theory is also a powerful predictive tool and capable of explaining and enhancing our understanding of a range of phenomena.

"Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Look at all these twigs and bark pieces which the ants have pulled over their nest in the summer here in Sydney. In the winter, which we're in the midst of right now, you're more likely to see small dark pebbles around nests, no doubt to warm things up when the sun hits them. #ants #nature #WildOz

There's nothing like using all your skills and know-how to track down and observe a bird which is very rare and difficult to find in your locality . . . Adult female and juvenile Australian Logrunners foraging in the leaf litter of a rainforest in Royal National Park.

Photographs of a leopard snapped by camera traps in forests in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts have raised hopes among conservationists working to save the critically endangered species.

When I hear someone like JK Rowling calling for the exclusion of trans women because women's safety is being impinged upon in all kinds of imaginary ways, it sounds a lot like an ambulant person complaining we shouldn't have wheelchair ramps because they take up the space we need for stair cases.

If I say the evidence for the existence of unicorns, god and Jesus is the same nobody ever says "OK then prove that unicorns don't exist!" . . .

Here's an Echidna slurping up some ants . . . #Echidna #nature #naturelovers #wildoz

I love lichens! They're a mini holobiont of fungus, algae and cyanobacteria working together to thrive as a symbiotic whole, nutrient cycling nitrogen from the atmosphere to soils, breaking down rocks and dead wood to enrich soil and offering a food source to an abundance of animals. #nature

A gorgeous Fiddler Beetle feasting on the pollen and nectar of Angophora hispida blossoms in Royal National Park. I saw this repeated dozens of times by maybe a hundred of these amazing pollinators on that day. #beetles #invertebrates #nature #WildOz