Bart Bear's Blog

 

The Canberra weather has been cold and wet so we haven't been at the zoo for a while, but yesterday we made a special visit to see and photograph two of the new baby animals. My favourite critters are giraffes and zebras and new ones of both were born in the last month. The new giraffe, called Mkali (Swahili for Bright) is already standing proud and acting like she owns the enclosure. The parents are keeping a close eye on her. The zebra herd also has a new member, Ndefu (Long) just three weeks old. Mother zebra is keeping him close and not letting other members of the herd get close enough to bother him. If you look closely at the last image you will spot the latest member of the herd, yes, visiting small bears can join.

Labels: animals, Canberra, zoo

Two of my favourite animals are Giraffe and Zebra. As it happens, there are patterns for card models of both of these on the Canon Creative site so Dad and I just had to make them. The models are fairly large and took us many sessions with scissors, craft knife and glue. The results are great. Our zoo has many life-size statues along the paths and these are good climbing places for small bears. We have just started the cold part of winter here. The trees were at the prettiest stage of leaf colour during our last zoo visit and I collected a few samples of the big pretty ones, just an excuse to climb more trees.
 

Labels: animals, card making, zoo

We go to the zoo often, now that we are all Members. I sometimes cheat and ride in the front of Mum's walker instead of walking. The only downside of that is that I am sometimes lower than the railings and glass. Last trip we had better luck seeing some of the animals. I hadn't seen a tree kangaroo before but this time one was cleaning itself in a clear patch where the Oldies could get photos. I think Rhinos are great; a combination of strength, ugliness and laziness. This one spent most of the time dozing.The tigers had just been fed their lunch and were exercising by walking around their enclosure. One was evidently feeling the heat and had a cool-off in the pool.  Penguins are always fun to watch. I love the way they all run down to the water, then dither around waiting for one to take the plunge then all dive in. Most people think that penguins only live in Antarctica but there are colonies of these Little Penguins in some places all along our southern and south-eastern coast. Dad has snorkeled with these little guys and they are much faster swimmers than he is. At the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island you can watch the penguins coming ashore for the night and heading back to their nest burrows. They waddle uphill much faster than Mum can walk, she was overtaken by streams of penguins. There is lots more zoo to explore, I love it.
 

Labels: animals, zoo

The great thing about having zoo membership is that you don't have to see all of it in one visit. That's important when you are there with two Oldies in tow, they usually run out of energy fairly quickly. However, on our second visit last week they managed to do the longest trail in the zoo, round past the large African animals, some smaller cuties and some big cats. We saw one of the keepers cuddling a Cheetah, getting it ready to meet some visitors. The Tigers were always just moving away from where we were trying to photograph them, so this one going back into his den is the best one we could get. Zebras were moving around, but the White Rhinos were dozing. The best "horns" of the day were definitely the antlers on this Wapiti. Lemurs were hunting food and Meerkats, as usual, had sentries on duty while the rest of their family were busy digging and feeding. My favourites are the Giraffes. There was a new baby in the enclosure, but it never turned around to a good spot for a photo. The male was different, he came right up to the fence to see me. There are several places around the zoo where you can rest for a while in pretty picnic spots, very useful when the Oldies need a break.

Labels: animals, Canberra, zoo

Two weeks ago Dad had his 80th birthday. It is extremely difficult to think of a present for somebody who actually doesn't want anything special, but after much searching and discussion Mum and I had a bright idea - give him membership of the National Zoo and Aquarium right here in Canberra. Naturally we weren't letting him go by himself, so yesterday we also got membership. Now we can visit the zoo any time we like over the next year, just swipe our cards and enter from any of 4 gates. That's great because the zoo is fairly large and the Oldies are fairly slow so we don't have to see everything in just one visit. Yesterday we only saw about a sixth of the total. The zoo is well setup for visitors, the paths are mostly boardwalks and the landscaping provides the right amount of shady trees and open areas for both animals and people.These Squirrel Monkeys are right next to the main entry and cafe, great entertainment while you are downing coffee and ice cream. The zoo has two adult white lions and a small pride of ordinary ones. As usual on hot days the big cats were all either sun baking or snoozing in the shade. One of the Sun Bears was having his daily exercise climbing on the network of logs in the enclosure, his partner was sleeping in their den. The Otters were their usual busy selves, swimming in their pool (usually with the current) and running around their enclosure to find where food may be hidden. This one found a stash in a bamboo container, it was fun watching him trying to get it out and eventually eating the lot of it. There are some gates with signs like in the last image. Naturally, I had to see why. Dad caught me just before I got over the gate. Just as well because that is one of the places they feed the lions from. We will be back to the zoo often.
 

Labels: animals, climbing, family, zoo

Here are a few more of the fish. The ugly one hiding in the third image is a Stone Fish. If you tread on one of these it is agonizing, so we wear beach boots when wading in tropical waters. In row 2 there is a puffer fish. Scare one of these and it blows up into something that looks like a spiky football.The spotty one in the second row is a Moray eel. The one in the bottom row is a small leopard shark, pretty and harmless. There are some big lobsters and really blue crayfish, also crabs but I don't like them. There is also a section with tropical reptiles. You may not like lizards but I do. The displays in the aquarium are great, but the behaviour of visiting schoolkids was not. Hordes of screaming and yelling munchkins made some of our visit a bit unpleasant. Still worth the visit though.
 

Labels: animals, Cairns, fish

 

Labels: animals, Cairns, fish

There are loads of nice beaches north of Cairns. My favourite is Palm Cove. As the name suggests, there are lots of palm trees planted along the shoreline. Across the road near the beach are lots of cafes/restaurants and apartments. The beach is long, sandy and kept clean. You can see from Double Island almost right down to Cairns. Nice sand, calm water, warm day, so you may be wondering why there is nobody actually in the water. Dad showed me why. The sign he held me up to has warnings about marine stingers, including box jellyfish and irukandji. A sting from either of those can be fatal. There are also lots of other stinging jellyfish that don't kill you, just make you feel like you have been worked over by a maniac swinging a whip coated with acid. Stinger season is October to May so sensible swimmers head for the Barrier Reef, which is far enough offshore to be clear of the stingers, or just swim in resort pools. Oh yes, there is also the possibility of meeting a salt-water crocodile - that is not something to wish for. Some of you will remember that, despite my wish to surf and snorkel, Mum will not let me get wet. She has no trouble keeping me out of the sea when we visit beaches north of the Tropic of Capricorn in summer!!
 

Labels: animals, beach, Cairns

Dad and I usually build aircraft, ships and military vehicles from plastic kits and lighthouses or even the occasional building from card. We felt like making something different so when we found the template for this dragon on the web we just had to make it. 17 sheets of A4 card and lots of cutting and glueing this critter was complete.The result is something that I will not let him give away to any of the grandkids. This dragon is MINE. Now we really should (according to Mum) make a Chinese dragon to keep this European one company. I have found a template for it so Dad has no way out.....

Labels: animals, Canberra, models

Labels: animals, New South Wales, south coast

On Saturday we went on a koala hunt. Not real koalas, but a batch of koala sculptures that were hiding in the Australian National Botanic Gardens. There were also some at the zoo, the ANU and Old Parliament House. Here are 5 of the 12 that we photographed. The koalas were painted by local artists and each one had a plaque with its name and some nature facts. The aim is to teach visitors how important koalas and the plants that live in the same habitat are to us. The names of these guys are Carramar, Buzzy, Bushby, Gum Blossom and Captain Koala.The last photo is of a couple of my favourite denizens that live in the gardens. They are Eastern Water Dragons. They are fairly tame and the only visitors who disturb them are noisy kids; when disturbed they race off the rocks and jump into the nearest pond or creek. You can spend hours strolling around the ANBG, but be aware that the plants are Australian natives and to the overseas visitor they can look drab, dry and uninteresting (except for the short periods when they are in flower) as they are adapted to our (mostly) harsh climates.

Labels: animals, Canberra

On our day trip along the east coast of Oahu we were fortunate to see one of the most endangered animals in the world. Our guide, Kirk, spotted this Hawaiian Monk Seal sun-baking on the sand at Aukai Beach, Hauula. There are only about 1,200 of these Monk seals left and most of them live on the more northern islands of Hawaii, so we were excited to see this guy. Monk seals don't have external ears and they can't fold their hind flippers under their body to use as "legs" like most seals can. They get their name from their fat body and a head that looks like it is covered by a hood, like the caricature of medieval monks. There is another species of Monk Seal in the Mediterranean, and there was another in the Caribbean but is now extinct. While we were in Hawaii a couple of thugs stabbed a Monk seal to death; locals were keen to knife the thugs. Aukai beach is a typical east coast beach - fairly calm water behind a protecting reef, fine sandy beach with parkland, houses right behind the sand and no high-rise buildings as yet. Add those 3 palm trees and you have the classic tropical beach picture.

Labels: animals, beach, Hawaii

What a weekend it was. Two big outings for a small bear. The first one was on Saturday night at the National Dinosaur Museum. It was an open night for adults only, no noisy kids allowed. Naturally, being an adult small bear over 15 years old, I was allowed in. The museum has a huge collection of fossils of dinosaur bits and other prehistoric critters, plus gemstones and ores. I thought the rocks full of coloured crystals were pretty good, but what I really enjoyed was the life-size models of dinosaurs in the area outside the building. If you look closely you will see me bravely staring down a mob of hunting Velociraptors, riding a Stegosaurus, talking to a mother Triceratops and her calves (there are 2 of them, but one is hiding behind her leg) and yelling for Dad to rescue me before the baby T.Rex closes his mouth. A small bear with an active imagination can have great fun at the museum, and I guess most kids could too.

Labels: animals, Canberra

One of the places we visited in Western Australia was Cape Leeuwin. This is the most south-westerly point on mainland Australia, and has a magnificent lighthouse on it. It is the tallest mainland lighthouse in Australia and has been in service since 1895. Before you can get to the lighthouse you have to pass its fierce guardian, the Moorine Marauder. This pirate cow is complete with eye patch, rum keg, hook replacing a hoof (presumably lost in previous fighting), telescope and parrot. She keeps a sharp eye on all visitors coming up the path from the car park. She is one of the multitude of pieces of cow art made for the international cow parade in 2010, and is probably the only one remaining in her original location. I quickly made friends with her. She let us pass but would not let me sample her rum. More of the lighthouse next post.

Labels: animals, lighthouse, Western Australia

Occasionally I see a sign that worries me a bit, or makes me chuckle. Here's a couple of them. The first one was spotted near a Canberra petrol station. Just across the road is an empty paddock that sometimes has cows put in to keep the grass down. The truck parked here on this occasion must surely worry any cow that can read. You would expect them to be really anxious about their fate. Given the relaxed attitude of the cows near the truck, I guess that none of them can actually read. The second photo is of a seagull perched on a car in the parking area near one of the lighthouses we saw on our WA trip (photos soon). The car is a hire car from the "No Birds" company. Now either the seagull can't read or it is being deliberately disobedient. From my observations of seagulls and their behaviour, I strongly suspect that disobedience is the case.

Labels: animals

During our last visit to Brisbane we did a special river cruise. Fifty years ago, when Mum was a little girl, her parents took her to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and she cuddled a koala for the first time. Readers of my blog know that she has cuddled lots of them since then (search koala). Anyhow, it seemed like an anniversary that we should celebrate, so Dad and I shouted her the trip. It is a beautiful cruise up the Brisbane river to the sanctuary, lots to see, interesting commentary about the history of the river, and a great crew. The steep path from the jetty to the sanctuary entrance really tested the Oldies fitness, but they managed it. So here's Mum, 50 years on, cuddling an absolutely huge koala (not the one from 50 years ago). As most of the koalas are much bigger than me, I just talked to them whenever I could find one that was actually awake. Koalas sleep for over half the day and eat for most of the rest of it. Lone Pine was founded in 1927 and is the world's first koala sanctuary. Do visit it if you are looking for something to do when you are in Brisbane.

Labels: animals, Brisbane, cruising, Queensland

Apologies for the 10-day silence. I have been very busy looking after a very sick Mum. Anyhow, here's some photos of a happy Mum meeting some of the critters at Kula Nature Park in Fiji. This small zoo was close enough to the Warwick that we could get to it even though the major roads were flooded in several places. The aim of the park is to preserve Fiji's endangered animals and birds. The most spectacular things I saw there were the green iguanas. Mum made friends with a Banded Iguana called Kevin. He was quite happy to have visitors handle him, provided they washed their hands first. There are also Crested Iguanas at Kula, but they are too nervous for visitors to nurse, and they can run and climb really fast so they are kept in special enclosures. The aim is to breed and release these rare reptiles. Mum also played with a small Boa Constrictor. She is not scared of snakes, but I kept well out of the way; I didn't like the way it was looking at me. The large parrots are also now rare in the wild. The red guy is a Crimson Shining Parrot and all he was interested in was chewing a small log to bits. The Masked Shining Parrot in the next cage was much more suspicious and kept us under close observation the whole time. You can see lots of rare species at Kula Eco Park, so put it on your Fiji bucket list.

Labels: animals, birds, Fiji

Here are the most important people that I cruised with over Christmas. The big image is us meeting the Captain; left to right we are - Aunty Vicki, Dad, Captain Ryan, Mum (and me) and Unka Mark. The Captain was especially happy to welcome small bears on board. The bottom row are some of the short-term visitors to our cabin (sorry, stateroom). Every evening we found strange fluffy animals on the bed. Here are an elephant, bunny and kangaroo (with joey in her pouch). Strangely enough, when Dad grabbed a leg or and ear and shook hard, they all turned into towels and face washers. I guess that's what happens when your stateroom attendant is a magician.

Labels: animals, boats, cruising

The most impressive bit of statuary has just been placed in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial here in Canberra. It commemorates the work and sacrifice of Explosive Detection Dogs (EDDs) and their soldier partners. Dogs were used by the Australian Army as messengers in France in 1918, and as search dogs in 1944, but EDDs are real modern-day heroes. With their partners, they find explosive devices, weapons and ammunition. The dog finds the dangerous stuff and the soldier disables it. A number of these brave teams have been killed in Afghanistan and the statue is their lasting memorial. The expressions on dog and soldier, the bag with equipment including the tennis ball for the dog's "play reward", and the ominous explosive package are all there as part of the story. I have never seen a statue which brings out the feelings of absolute trust and love between partners the way this one does. I defy anyone to study it and not be moved.

Labels: animals, Canberra, heroes

Every year, about this time, Australia has a Red Nose Day. Proceeds of sales of red noses of all sizes (to fit people, cars, buildings, etc), pens, lapel badges and cuddly critters go to help research into SIDS. This is a terrible disease that kills otherwise healthy small infants almost instantaneously. Nobody knows what causes it, let alone how to cure it, so funds from Red Nose Day are very important; get out there, buy something, and wear or display it with pride. This little guy was sitting among the SIDS stuff at Woollies. He was begging to be taken home and loved, so what could Mum do? His name is Nosetradamus and he is giving predictions about the World Cup. He is just as accurate as his almost-namesake, i.e. not at all. So far his only accurate prediction is that there will be a winner and an almost-winner. In the same shopping mall, I found an exciting thing. Build-a-Bear is opening soon in Canberra (well, in Belconnen actually, but that's part of Canberra no matter what the locals think). I can hardly wait for this. Every time that the Oldies take me into a B-a-B shop I come out with interesting stuff. Hmmmm.... Maybe they offer work experience to small bears. I will check and get my name onto the list, pronto.

Labels: animals, Canberra, family