And the bush has friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him, In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, And at night the wonderous glory of the everlasting stars.

Banjo Paterson (1889)

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Dryandra State Forest


My wife Liz makes a new little friend, a hungry young Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) looking for termites at Dryandra State Forest, one of our favourite places about 2 hours south-east of Perth.




He wasn't worried, he just wants to find a nice big nest of termites.




A Western Spotted Frog (Heleioporus albopunctatus) found on a track when we went spotlighting. Dryandra's a great place as there are so many tracks to go on at night without getting lost.


Congelin Dam is a good spot at Dryandra to hear the 'woop, woop' of Western Spotted Frogs calling on a autumn night, as well as being a great spot for birdwatching.



After looking under lots of rocks, logs and old tin we found a Gould's Snake (Parasuta gouldii). A fairly common small snake found in the Southwest of Western Australia. It is venomous but would probably only make you sick.


A regular visitor to the bird bath at the Dryandra cabins is this Carpet Python (Morelia spilota). From the feather and that bulge in his belly, I would say he just had breakfast, probably one of the many Ringneck parrots that come to the bird bath.

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