Gary Beilby - Wildlife - Science & Art

A flock of pigeons wheel over Forrestfield

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:58 +0800

I was riding home from a friend's when I saw this flock of 'feral' pigeons wheeling back and forth endlessly.

Jewel bug (Choerocoris paganus)

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:45 +0800

Specifically not a beetle - this lurid little lad is a true bug; that is to say he has an enlarged scutum that covers his wings and tilts up, car-boot like, when he wants to unpack the flying kit. Note the lack of an arse-crack down the back.

Bover boy

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 23:21 +0800

The male of a pair of Gang gang cockatoos we had at the hospital recently. I posted a pic of the female a while ago. The speed he could grind through a honky nut would put a dremmel to shame.

Another image of that gorgeous wolf spider

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:26 +0800

I find spiders often take on quite different appearances simply from different points of view. I guess that is because we can't help but anthropomorphise when looking at other living things, and these are just so morphologically different to us.

Australasian grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae), breeding plumage

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:41 +0800

Another sad post. Katie, our super-fit, super-smart kelpie x jack russell is turning into a monster. How does she even get hold of a small obligate water-bird like this grebe, in a fenced suburban back-yard, nearly 2km from the nearest pond? Poor thing was just alive when I discovered Katie was carrying it around (we had just returned from a trip to the cinema). By the time I had raced for my vet bags it had breathed its last on our kitchen table.

Eyes in the back of her head - Wolf spider

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:18 +0800

You are really not going to sneak up on one of these guys, right? I took a whole bunch of this little lycosidain but I had to post this one for the glorious reverse stare.

Daddy long-legs Spider, Pholcus phalangioides

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:37 +0800

The mythologically venomous daddy long-legs. An extremely successful recent settler in Australia - these guys originate from Europe. The kitchen myth states they have the most toxic venom of all spiders, but their fangs are too weak to penetrate human skin. Both these factoids have been shown to be bogus. They prey on other spiders, including redbacks, so that could explain the origin of the toxicity myth.

Female Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum)

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:43 +0800

It was the Ngunnawal or Wiradjuri people that originally gave this gorgeous psittacine its enigmatic name. To me - this lady and her partner are the Gang-gangsters. They have each completed a successful hit on me in the time they have been in the hospital. Beware these birds - they bite hard and fast.

Willy wagtail

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:47 +0800

It's not the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog, so the saying goes. These guys certainly don't let their diminutive stature get in the way of a ball-tearer aggressive attitude. I've seen these birds swoop and harry ravens, people, dogs, even cats!

Sacred kingfisher

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:26 +0800

Sacred kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) that survived a cat attack. He was a feisty little fellow.