There are over 1,500 species of “true blue” Australian native bees. Australian native bees can be black, yellow, red, metallic green or even black with blue polka dots!: Australian Native Bee Research Centre
Feral cats have been in Australia since European settlement. They live independently of humans and are found in all habitats ranging from rainforest to desert throughout the Northern Territory.
Someone suggested that we could call this leatherback camp dog “Jenny” as a tribute to Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin – but “Fluffy” is more suited to her undoubted charm and character.
I stopped, turned and bore witness to the death of this small wonder.
Acclimatisation societies were found throughout the British colonies of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US – being particularly influential in Australia and New Zealand in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
The successful man would be declared Tangata-Manu, would take the egg in his hand and lead a procession back to his homeland. Once in residence there he was tapu (taboo) for the next five months of his year long status, and allowed his nails to grow and wore a headdress of human hair.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Birds, Birds and people, Religion
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Tagged Easter Island, Follore, Jo Ann Van Tilburg, Katherine Routledge, National Geographic, Orongo, Rapa Nui, Society of Ethnobiology, Tangata Manu, University of Arkansas
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Maybe instead of blaming the animals we should be saying “I committed a murder of a kangaroo today”, “I was driving too fast to let the Wedge-tailed Eagle get enough height to get off the roadway” or “I didn’t slow down to let that Goanna cross the road safely”.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Art, Birds, Some places I've been, Stupidity, Writing and writers
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Tagged Alice Springs Writers' Festival, Jennifer Mills, Mary Anne Butler, Narelle Autio, Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Richard J Franklin, Roadkill, Shane Maloney, Swamp Jockeys, World Press Photo Award
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The Crested Bellbird has a very distinctive call, from which its Warlpiri name of Kanpanparlala is an onomatopoeic derivation.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Birds, Birds and people, Indigenous land management
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Tagged Anangu Tours, Bird Observers Club of Australia, Crested Bellbird, CSIRO, Herbert Basedow, Kanpanparlala, Kurdaitcha men, Lasseter, Lasseteria, Mark Kuliitya, Megan Hatton, National Museum of Australia, Oreoica gutturalis, Paku Paku, Panpanpalala, Rachael Kohn, South Australian Government North-west Prospecting Expedition, The Spirit of Things, Uluru, Warlpiri dictionary
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…sometimes it seems from White’s journal entries and from the letters in Selborne that just about everyone abroad in the Hampshire countryside was armed and looking to shoot something.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Some places I've been, The Arts, Writing and writers
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Tagged BBC 4, Complete Works of Shakespeare, Gilbert White, John Mayfield, Micahel Wood, Moose, Paul Foster, Pilgrim's Progress, Selborne, Storyteller's World, The Bible, The Century That Made Us, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, The Naturalist's Journal, Thomas Pennant Esq, Wakes
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The latest edition of the National Library Magazine, from the Australian National Library in Canberra has a fascinating article by Penny on the life and works of the French naturalist and ornithologist François le Vaillant.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Art, Birds, Birds and people, The Arts, Writing and writers
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Tagged Australian National University, Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dr Penny Olsen, Feather and Brush, François le Vallaint, Glimpses of Paradise: The Quest for the Beautiful Parrakeet, Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets, National Library Magazine, Natural History Museum Leiden, Wedgetailed Eagle
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