canberrabirds

Wotsit No. 233 - a little story

To: <>
Subject: Wotsit No. 233 - a little story
From: "Geoffrey Dabb" <>
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:53:45 +1000

Not so hard after all.  All got to a bear.  Paul Tay was quick off the mark with a Sun Bear, and Paul Ty got the actual subject, being the photogenic ursid at the National Zoo and Aquarium.

 

I had a couple of hours to fill in yesterday so went to the Bot Gdns but found this full of rampaging fourth formers more keen on social inter-action than studying the flora, so thought I’d drop into the NZA.  The Sun Bear had got hold of a Brush-tailed Possum which was an enormous treat, not only for its snack value but for the games it offered, like lying on its back, holding the tail in its hind-claw and sucking the partly-skinned front part.  I have spared the chatline the snaps of the actual ex-possum, although veteran ANBG owl-watchers will be hardened to such sadder aspects of the cycle of life.  According to the management the possum event   does happen occasionally, as many possums scuttle along the  enclosure fences, no doubt attracted by the surplus fodder.

 

This also attracts various birds, the zoo being a reliable spot for double-bars, as well as the source of such LBG rarities, chatline members will recall, as the Egyptian Goose.  A fair showing of peafowl, but not quite as many, or as animated, as in Upper Narrabundah.

 

Of particular interest, I thought, was the number of magpies, at least 20,  in the Invisible Cheetah enclosure.  These were attracted by the remains of the breakfast of some carnivore, possibly the Invisible Cheetah itself, although the many confusing signs erected by the management tantalising leave open the possibilities that there might or might not be such an animal as a cheetah (bearing in mind that the Canberra Times, with its notorious inaccuracy on wildlife matters, recently published a photo of a leopard as a purported ‘cheetah’ – Monday, August 18, p5).

 

ex-wildebeest.jpg

 

 

 

   

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the Canberra Ornithologists Group mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the list contact David McDonald, list manager, phone (02) 6231 8904 or email . If you can not contact David McDonald e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU