Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Australia

Yesterday afternoon, I called in again to see the two Koala Bears that recently arrived at the Calgary Zoo. Both animals are usually sitting in "trees" right at the back of the enclosures, fast asleep with their backs towards the visitors - of course, ha, ha. However, I was lucky that one of them (4 years old) was closer and partly facing outwards. Still fast asleep though : ) The two male Koalas - Mundooie and Budaru - will stay at the Zoo's Australia exhibit until just after the Labour Day weekend. The pair are on loan from the San Diego Zoo, which has more than 20 Koalas. Koalas sleep for 18-20 hours a day, basically waking only to feed : ) As Koalas are solitary animals, each has his own separate enclosure. Under the Koala loan program, our Zoo pays a monthly fee to the San Diego Zoo, which it sends on to a conservation organization in Australia. Sounds good to me. (Uncropped). www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/iphone/news/calgary/story.h...

I love photographing these Australian Stone Curlews at the Calgary Zoo. They pose so nicely and are quite amusing when they tilt their head to one side while looking at you : ) The background is awful, I know, LOL. In the wild, it would make excellent camouflage, but is certainly not the best for a photo. Seen through glass.

I was excited when I happened to notice this strange bird behind glass and in a rather dark enclosure in The Creatures of the Night building at the Zoo. At first, I thought it was a new (for me) kind of owl, but it is a Tawny Frogmouth! I had seen several people post photos of this very strange looking bird on Flickr and always thought it would be an interesting species to see. "Found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania and southern New Guinea. The Tawny Frogmouth is often thought to be an owl. Tawny Frogmouths hunt at night and spend the day roosting on a dead log or tree branch close to the tree trunk. Their camouflage is excellent — staying very still and upright, they look just like part of the branch. Tawny Frogmouth pairs stay together until one of the pair dies." From Wikipedia.

This guy/gal was resting (what else do they ever do, anyway, LOL?) in its aquarium in the Creatures of the Night building at the Calgary Zoo. The scales on the throat and head are pointed, as are the scales on the sides of the body. When threatened, the Dragon opens its mouth and flares out its throat.

Nice to get a chance to see an Australian Kookaburra, at the Calgary Zoo. Taken through glass.