Encounters

Wild Dingo-Dog on the road from Mt. Kaputar National Park

 I had a surprise sighting on the long drive down from Mt. Kaputar National Park. The road tunnels through a forest of white-trunked Eucalyptus trees. Just where it starts opening onto patchy meadows, a dog broke from the underbrush and trotted across the road in front of me.   

It was built like a medium husky but with bright golden-red fur. I knew instantly this was no ordinary dog. It was a dingo—the wild dog found only in Australia.   

I stopped the car and kept the engine running (to avoid the sudden silence that often spooks wildlife), while the dingo slowed to a saunter about 40 yards into the meadow. Where, to my amazement, it turned sidelong and stared at the car.  Continue reading →

Eastern Gray Kangaroo in Warrumbungle National Park

It’s my last day in Warrumbungle National Park, a few hundred miles inland from the east coast in New South Wales and edging up toward the subtropics. Usually this is a dry, brittle place, but this year it’s humid and jungly. 

Luckily the campground has lots of trees and I’ve had my tent snugged under one that gives pretty good shade. When I took down the tent around ten this morning, it was already like an oven inside. Temperature’s about 95 degrees now, dense and muggy with only a slight breeze. They say Warrumbungle means “Crooked Mountain”, for the jagged volcanic peaks and plugs, but I figure it should mean “Sunstroke.” Continue reading →

Red bellied black snake visiting my campsite--highly venomous but shy

I’m camping now in Warrumbungle National Park, in the northern part of New South Wales, a couple hundred miles inland from the coast. This isn’t all that far from the huge floods in Queensland. I’ve always avoided going inland during midsummer here, but decided to give it a try. The forecast called for reasonably cool temps, but turns out that still means pretty hot. It’s probably in the mid-80s but very muggy, and the sun is extremely strong.  

Basically I’ve been lurking around all day from one patch of shade to another. Continue reading →

Black Angus on a cattle station in NSW, Australia

I’m on a cattle station in New South Wales in Australia, working on a program about cows.
I had an excellent time this morning with a little herd of about 35 black Angus cows and their calves, grazing in a broad, open pasture. I wanted to record their sounds, so I approached very slowly and then stood in one place for a long time.

Continue reading →