Pajareo sin fronteras

After visiting  Jerrabomberra Wetlands , the next place I was hoping to visit in Canberra (for nature things at least) was the  National Botanic Gardens , another one of the best-known places for wildlife in the ACT. It was only a short walk from the ANU campus where we were staying, but our visits kept getting delayed for various reasons- at least in part because the sun sets annoyingly early in Australia during the wintertime, and it kept getting dark before we had time to visit.  Finally, we ended up managing our time properly and getting there, though it was with only 40 minutes until the sunset, not nearly enough time for a full tour of the gardens. Nonetheless, it was just enough to see some of the iconic Australian birds I hadn't seen yet, starting with the beautiful female Satin Bowerbird we saw hopping on the ground next to the path. Hard to get more Australian than a bowerbird after all, and these ones were lovely and approachable, though they were also goo...

My first full day in Australia was partly spent seeing the sights in Canberra, but the morning was (of course) dedicated to some time in nature. Nikki and I took a bus out to the Jerrabomberra Wetlands, a nature preserve just a little bit out of town that's supposed to be one of the best birding (and general wildlife) spots in the Australian Capital Territory. Even though we were in the quiet (and cold!) winter months, it proved to be excellent, with an introduction to yet more strange and beautiful Aussie wildlife, including some surprises. Even before we entered the preserve, there were some new birds seen along the entrance road, including a group of Straw-necked Ibises chasing each other around in a field, a Willie Wagtail (Australians have the best bird names) watching us from a fence post, and a Yellow-rumped Thornbill foraging on the ground. Straw-necked Ibis Willie Wagtail- actually a type of fantail. Australians are better at creative names than they are at accu...