Wildlife Australia - Autumn 2006 - Rivers

It’s not unusual to see a white-necked heron, especially near water, but you might be surprised to see a fish-eating bird in arid central Australia – unless you’ve read Angus Duguid’s article ‘Jewels in a necklace of sand’ in this issue and know how inland rivers such as the Finke, with its permanent water holes, can support birds such as osprey, pelicans and heron.

Rob Gray caught this bird checking out the fishing situation around the headwaters of the Finke River and also photographed the cormorant, pelican and Port Lincoln parrot featured in Angus’s article.

 

 

Contents...

Jewels on a necklace of sand: the Finke River of central Australia

By Angus Duguid

How old is the Finke River? Does age really matter compared to the beauty and importance of its permanent waterholes? The Finke River is an arid zone watercourse. In dry times, which are frequent, the surface of the riverbed is sand rather than water; however, there may still be water flowing below the surface.

Spring-fed permament and semi-permanent waterholes are the ‘jewels’ that keep the Finke River alive and support a range of wildlife even during times of low rainfall.

The Undergrowth interview

With Mike Salisbury

The incomparable Sir David Attenborough, master of the nature documentary, has led us through many journeys of discovery, including Life On Earth, The Living Planet, Life In The Freezer, The Private Life of Plants, The Life of Birds and The Blue Planet. Now he’s taking us to meet invertebrates.

WAM goes behind the scenes of Life In The Undergrowth in an interview with Series Producer Mike Salisbury.

River of sand: how Queenslanders can surf on Antarctic beaches

By Ron Boyd & Kevin Rumey

Sun, sand, surf: beach life is laid-back, yet exciting and dynamic. The sun rises, blazes, sets; waves lap or crash; winds and tides shift. Sand pauses long enough for us to stab it with beach umbrellas, then keeps travelling along the shore and, eventually, out to sea. New research entices us into absorbing discoveries about the astonishing journey of sand along Australia’s east coast.

Digging the future: a taste of life in yaminon country

By Saren Starbridge

A precious glimpse of one of the world’s rarest mammals in the wild. Seconds later, this yaminon had bolted down a runway to its burrow and disappeared from view.

Established to protect the last known population of yaminon, or northern hairy-nosed wombats, Epping Forest National Park in central Queensland provides sanctuary for a range of arid zone plants and animals.

Trash and treasure

By Lee K. Curtis

Seven sisters of volcanic tuff and their big brother crater, Mt Quincan, watch over Yungaburra. Nestled serenely on Far North Queensland’s lush tropical Atherton Tableland, the village boasts more quaint Heritage Trust-listed buildings than any other small Queensland town.

Nice town; shame about the waterway. But after a century of neglect, residents have rediscovered the treasure of Peterson Creek and its natural mabi forest setting.

Only when it rains: outback frogs

By Steve Wilson & Angus Emmott

A dry frog is a dead frog: these amphibians are adept at finding or creating pockets of moisture in an arid climate.

Outback Australia is hardly friendly to an animal we associate with lily pads, ponds and streams, but heavy rains bring frogs bubbling out in droves. Where do they come from?

 

Wildlife Australia CyberJungle

• Russell’s burrow
• Wikipedia
• Catalyst
• Wombania
• Frogs Australia Network
• Central Australia pictorial

Also in this edition:

Editorial, Comment, City Animal, NatureWatch, Books Reviews, Autumn Skies, Young and Wild, Wildside, Scratchings and Rustlings, WPSQ in Action, Letters, Swamp Cartoon and our regular environmental crossword.

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