Sydney Nimble had its first encounter yesterday with a wallaby joey, Olaf, at Symbio Wildlife Park.

Olaf is an albino and is indeed a rarity, with the chances of being born an albino estimated at 1 in a 100 00. He is the offspring of two proud red-necked wallaby parents!

Olaf was born seven months back but it took a while for zoo staff to recognise his albinism.

No they weren’t sleeping on the job, it just takes a while to pick out albino features as wallabies are on the tiny side at birth, around the size of half of your thumb.

This small joey is named after a character in the Disney film series franchise, Frozen.

We look forward to seeing Olaf becoming a full grown albino wallaby in the months and years ahead.

Whilst on the topic of joeys we couldn’t help but take a photo of a koala joey who was happily sleeping just before the 3pm koala exhibition. The arrival of fresh eucalyptus branches did however get the joey alert and moving.

Whilst at Symbio we came across a member of the Honeyeater family, an Eastern Spinebill. Note the long curved beak and warm colours.

These small pretty birds are not easy to photograph and move quickly so it was nice to see one first hand!

A staff member of Symbio made the task of taking a photograph easy as she was holding the Eastern Spinebill in the palm of her hand after the bird collided with a glass window at Symbio.

The bird was stunned and it was anticipated that the small bird would recover after a short period of rest, and fly off.

Fly birdie fly!

We wish the Eastern Spinebill a speedy recovery!

The final photograph from yesterday is of two dingoes who came unusually close to the fence. Its the closest I have been to a dingo!

a media star - announcement by Symbio was picked up local newstations and by several international media outlets

mum and son enjoying a grassy munch

so cute!

audience or no audience, happily dozing

a rare chance to see an Eastern Spinebill up close

another rare event - the dingoes do not generally come this close to the fencing at Symbio

Sydney Nimble is often asked about other places to visit in Australia. For this reason we will share some commentary and observations about a recent trip to the Queensland islands of Lady Musgrave and Lady Elliot.

These two islands are located in the Southern part of the Great Barrier Reef and are best suited to a person who has an interest in water activities. The two big activities on offer are snorkelling and scuba diving.

The snorkelling in both locations warrants a visit even if you do not wish to partake in diving.

Lady Musgrave Island

Overnight accommodation is available on the pontoon near Lady Musgrave Island although most visitors choose to limit their visit to a day trip.

Visitors to the pontoon are taken to nearby Lady Musgrave Island for a 45 minute island tour.

One bird that visits and nests on Lady Musgrave Island is the Black Noddy. This bird has a black body with white colouring on its head resulting in it sometimes being called a White-capped noddy. Same bird just a different name.

Black Noddies are called noddies because they repetitively nod their heads throughout their breeding display.

The relationship between Black Noddies and Pisonia trees on Lady Musgrave is fascinating. The seeds of a Pisonia tree are produced in large tangly masses with the resin on the seeds sticking to the birds when they brush the seeds as they fly near or through the tree.

The Black Noddies then disperse the seeds when they fly to other islands. So far so good.

However for some birds the sticky seeds are too sticky and they unable to leave the tree. They are trapped and eventually perish in the tree. The collateral damage left in the form of the hanging dead is a grim sight.

Lady Elliot Island

Lady Elliot Island also has Black Noddies and their singing is of such volume that guests will find a pair of earplugs in their room. Damn noisy!

Visitors to Lady Elliot arrive via a Cessna plane which reduces the travel time to the island (30 minutes) but does add to the expense. Most guests stay overnight on the island in cabins or up market tents. A day trip is also available.

We did an introductory scuba dive at Lady Elliot, thoroughly enjoying the experience (thanks Jai). Some of the marine life encountered included manta rays, schools of trevally, turtles, sting rays, a wide variety of tropical fish and coral of many types and colours.

The scuba dive was followed up on the next day with two sessions of snorkeling and it was exciting to see a black tip reef shark and more mantra rays.

The marine life at Lady Elliot is outstanding and was the highlight of our holiday. Interstate or overseas visitors take note!

Pontoon near Lady Musgrave Island

roots of a Pisonia tree

part of Lady Musgrave Island surrounded by a delightful blue ocean

Symphyllia coral spotted in the Lady Elliott lagoon

Lady Elliot sunset

Lady Elliot lagoon at low tide

We regularly spot a variety of Australian native birds on our Royal National Park tours.

The Australian Raven and New Holland Honeyeater are often seen whilst walking on the coastal track in the Royal National Park.

Australian Raven

The glossy black Australian Raven is found in many parts of Australia and is common in southwest WA and the eastern parts of Australia. If you see a bird in Sydney that you think is a crow it is much more likely to be a raven. The two birds are very similar in appearance.

Some physical differences include ravens being slightly bigger than crows and ravens have longer feathers around their neck (known as throat hackles). They also make different calls and a special feature of the Australian Raven is its distinctive call.  Between each call there is a few seconds of silence which is then followed by another call. The last note can be either the same or a longer drawn out wail: ….ah….ah….aaah or ah…ah…ah…ah - they are unmistakable!

Australian ravens have a white iris and black pupil although younger birds may appear to have a light blue eye colouring due to an inner blue ring around the iris.

A pair of ravens have based themselves at Eagle Rock in the Royal National Park and are comfortable with visitors provided you don’t get too close (four or five metres).

New Holland Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeaters are plentiful if you take the coastal walk to either Wedding Cake Rock or Eagle Rock in the Royal National Park.

The body of this small attractive bird is a mixture of black and white with a good dash of yellow on black feathers. They will often be seen flying in small flocks.

The New Holland Honeyeater is not an easy bird to photograph - if you get anywhere near them they quickly fly away. These birds dart in and out of bushes looking for nectar, fruit and insects and can scoop up nectar in less than a second using their brush tip tongue.

The time between getting your camera from your bag into hand seems forever and most often you will miss the shot - we’ve learnt that it’s best to have it ready, slung over the shoulder as you walk.

After many visits to Wedding Cake Rock it was exciting to get a few close up photos of these birds.

Two birds in the bush are worth more than a bird in the hand!

dead eye stare

glossy black feathers

perched and proud at Curracurrong Falls

inquisitive New Holland Honeyeater

and ever watchful

yellow tailed black cockatoo on the move

The Botany Bay Diamond Weevil (BBDW) generally comes in either green or blue mixed with black.

Whilst walking to one of gems in the Royal National Park, Eagle Rock, we had the pleasure of acquainting

ourselves with this little bug.

A chequered pattern of black and aqua made it stand out in the bush even though it is small (up to

2.5cms).

It is exciting to come across a new insect, particularly a striking one.

The BBDW was one of the first insects identified in the Botany Bay area by First Fleet Botanist, Joseph Banks.

A weevil is a type of beetle, which are known for their elongated snouts,

The snouts allow the weevil to chew holes in plants for food and to make holes for egg chambers.

It’s all about the snout

Love this place - good seating, plenty to eat

Why

Sydney Nimble recently went beyond day tour range and visited Muswellbrook, Aussie Ark and Burning Mountain.

The plan is to identify new places for a two or three day tour.  

Only the best will do!

Aussie Ark was identified as a ‘place of interest’. It is located in Barrington Tops.

Muswellbrook was chosen as a staging post from which to visit Aussie Ark as access is not currently available from Gloucester due to a landslide.

Burning Mountain came onto the radar after extensive researching of potential walks in Muswellbrook and nearby areas, that do not exceed 2 hours duration.

Muswellbrook wildlife of the flying kind

The spectacle that most captured our attention in Muswellbrook was the incredible number of flying foxes that had chosen to reside in the trees at the rear of our accommodation (The Remington).

It was hard to estimate their numbers but it is likely there were at least a thousand bats, maybe a lot more. A number of the trees were saturated with bats (see first photo).

Although bats generally make sounds that are too higher a pitch for humans to hear, the bats in the morning were making audible eerie high pitched calls, possibly indicating it was time to fly out.

Aussie Ark

It takes around two hours to drive to Aussie Ark from Muswellbrook but it could easily take longer if you stopped to enjoy some of the wonderful scenery.

On the drive through you will also come across the small country towns of Gundy and Moonan Flat, whilst there is a never ending parade of green hills and mountains, and the occasional volcanic cone.

For a Sunday morning the local pub in Gundy was busy on the outside lawns. Five stars for the name, Linga Longa Inn Hotel.

Having arrived at Aussie Ark we were ready for a two and a half hour Devils in the Wild Tour.

Aussie Ark’s vision is to create a long term future for threatened Australian species and it does this by providing secure sanctuaries for native wildlife.

As expected the stars of the show were the Tasmanian Devils and they become even more amazing when they gather as a group. This usually only occurs around feeding or mating time.  

Watching them devour a kangaroo is something not easily forgotten.

Various grunts and other noises are made by the devils when they literally tear the kangaroo apart. Flesh, organs, bone, muscle and fur are all eaten – nothing is left.

Another animal that is also a delight to see is the Eastern Quoll with its long tail and inquisitive look. These marsupials have a dark thick coat marked with roundish white spots.

A Potoroo encounter was also enjoyed with the Potoroo showing a lot of interest in the shoes of all visitors.

At the end of the tour we had the pleasure of meeting Rufous the Bettong. Initially he was a little reluctant to meet the group finding the nearby kitchen a more amenable place to hang out.

However he did warm to us and once in the mood was happy to be picked up and loved by adoring Bettong groupies.  

Aussie Ark is thoroughly worth the time and effort to visit. Highly recommended.

Burning Mountain

Burning Mountain (Mt Wingen) is located between Scone and Murrurundi.

A 30 metre underground coal seam is slowly burning, which according to estimates was lighted at least 5500 years ago.  

Once at the location you are likely to smell sulphurous smoke and see rocks bleached white from the heat.

On our visit we did not however see a lot of smoke just a few small wisps were observed from one or two rocks near the crest of the hill.

On the way to Burning Mountain a kangaroo bounded past at speed and we did see a few other kangaroos in nearby bush.

All in all an interesting walk with district views and a very unusual natural phenomena at the end.

New Tour

A visit to Aussie Ark will provide much joy If you like native animals and attractive scenery.

We combined it with a walk to Burning Mountain and a short visit to the Hunter Valley on the way.

A three day tour to this region is still being considered.

Alternatively take yourself on a mini driving holiday from Sydney. Allow around three days.

how many flying foxes can hang on a tree - a lot!

black and brown and never a frown

grand countryside

friend or foe - neither, the yawn is a sign of uncertainty or fear

making a meal of it

Shameless

Eastern quoll

how scorched is my earth

An option on our Royal National Park private day tour is a visit to Symbio Wildlife Park where visitors can see a number of unique Aussie animals.

One of our favourites is the Tasmanian Devil, one of Australia's most well known native animals.

It is a marsupial, which is basically a mammal whose young are incompletely developed at birth and typically carried in a pouch.

They are only found in the wild in Tasmania, becoming extinct on the mainland around 3000 years ago.

When you look at the Tasmanian Devil’s head and face there are no devilish horns and the standout features include a moist black nose, many whiskers, dark deep eyes, two fang teeth near the corners of the mouth and large flappy ears.

The devil’s body has an attractive colouring of black fur with a white band running across the chest.

Their front legs are larger than their back legs which helps with climbing.

This difference in the front and back leg sizes can result in devils looking like they are galloping or skipping when they run.

A keen sense of smell allows devils to find fresh carcasses at night and they may travel many kilometres seeking out the recently deceased.

A great Australian scavenger story!

Devils are inquisitive and may look you directly in the eye, or just stand and sniff the air.

Tasmanian Devils have extremely strong jaws allowing them to eat all parts of an animal – fur, muscles, organs and bones. Nothing gets wasted.

Their dietary requirements do not go beyond the living or recently living and include wombats, kangaroos, rabbits, possums, birds and even insects. Plants need not apply.

The animals ears are unusual being pink in colour that will turn to purple colour if the devil is agitated.

So why then are these creatures called devils at all?

The answer lies in the noises they usually make at night, being primarily nocturnal.

Devils will ferociously fight each other over food or finding and keeping a mate, making growling, blood curdling noises in the process.

This behaviour explains their naming as a devil, but I would suggest a very likeable one. 

standing tall

Why does Sydney Nimble keep visiting me?

born to sniff at Symbio Wildlife Park

cute brute

Sydney Nimble Tours visited Wedding Cake Rock yesterday.

We then left the Royal National Park and headed to Symbio Wildlife Park. One option available with our Royal National Park Tour is to include a visit to Symbio.

One of the favourite animals at Symbio is the koala, which is a herbivorous marsupial native to Australia.

It is often a rush to make the park by 3.00pm for the Koala Presentation. The effort to see the koalas in an active state is time well spent.

Koalas sleep a lot (up to 20 hours a day) due to the poor nutritional value of the food they eat (mainly gum leaves). Sleeping conserves energy.

We were very fortunate to get some close up photos of the koalas whilst they were with staff for a short period, after the 3.00pm presentation.

These guys are a joy to behold and one of the cutest animals on the planet.

I like the look of those gum leaves

this is my domain

khaki shirts are so easy on the claws

would you like a cuddle

Sydney Nimble visited the Symbio Wildlife Park (Symbio), with three clients yesterday. The name Symbio is a shortened version of the word symbiosis. Symbiosis is a relationship between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.

Symbio is a well run wildlife park and has a good mix of native and non native animals. The native animals include: kangaroos and wallabies, dingoes, echidnas (including an albino echidna), koalas, cassowaries, emus, wombats, goannas, Tasmanian Devils, and a variety of birds and reptiles.

When we parked at Symbio’s outside car park sulphur crested cockatoos were flying overhead and screeching loudly.

At certain times during the day there are presentations where a representative of the zoo talks about a particular animal. Koalas sleep a lot so feeding the koalas at presentation time brings these marsupials out of their slumber. Zoo staff advise that they get quite active at night. Unfortunately the zoo is not open!

Our small group also enjoyed the kangaroos and wallabies, which are remarkably tame and had no trouble with our presence. These guys are very relaxed.

The red pandas are cute and the monkeys (Tamarin and Marmoset monkeys from Central and South America) were not what we expected as they are some of the smallest types found. They looked very different to your typical monkey.

We give Symbio a big thumbs up.

Symbio is an excellent addition to our Sydney Royal National Park Tour. The only problem is deciding which part of the itinerary has to be dropped off to fit in the visit to Symbio.

We recommend allocating at least 90 minutes for a visit to Symbio, but you could easily spend more time here if you wanted to see a few of the animal presentations. Get in touch and we can provide a draft itinerary for a Royal National Park Tour which includes Symbio.

you looking at me - Bush Thick-knee

I am the king

prowling red panda

I know I heard something

You know you are fortunate when you drive down the street and not only are the Eucalyptus trees blooming but you also have Rainbow Lorikeets gorging themselves on the nectar loaded flowers. Rainbow Lorikeets are equipped with a hairy tongue which enables the extraction of sweet sticky nectar and pollen from native flowers.

The Rainbow Lorikeet is a species of parrot found in northern and eastern Australia and more lately in Western Australia (from 1960s) and is one of the most beautiful birds found in Australia.

The explosion of colour provided by a combination of this bird’s plumage and the bright red flower of a gum tree is extraordinary.

The trick to taking a photo is to get reasonably close to the birds without panicking a flight to safety. If successful you will be well rewarded. Both of the bird species below were photographed on the route of Sydney Nimble Tours’ Harbour, Northern Beaches and National Park day out https://www.sydneynimbletours.com.au/sydney-harbour-and-northern-beaches-tour/.

Another iconic parrot flocking around Sydney lately is the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. These guys make a raucous screech if they are in the mood.

In the second photo even the other Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are impressed by the precision of their friend’s landing. Three screeches for all!

explosion of colour

loud proud and great landing technique

a bird banquet of sweet sticky nectar

an item? - probably Rainbow Lorikeets commonly travel in pairs