tiabunna's photos with the keyword: rare

Although the Wollemi is usually referred to as a "pine" , it isn't. These trees were first discovered as recently as 1994 only 150km or so from the city of Sydney, having previously been known only as fossils - some dating back 200M years! The most recent known fossil was 4M years old. The Wollemi gains its name from the National Park where about 100 surviving trees were found in a hidden canyon: since then, they have been intensively propagated for parks and domestic gardens. These are images (also PiPs 1,2) of our potted example. Worryingly, the giant bushfires running in Australia are also through the Wollemi National Park (report screenshot PiP3) - I hope the last wild Wollemis are unaffected. UPDATE: I've now updated PiP3 with the latest report - the fire area is now larger than Greater London. I also highly recommend viewing this great video of a recently arrived DC10 aerial tanker dropping fire retardant. Explored.

Silvery Gibbon portrait. Taken at our local zoo, which is involved in a global breeding programme of these endangered Indonesian animals (between 400 and 4000 estimated in the wild and with diminishing habitat). A musical link (and a PiP).

The only word for the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre is "stunning" and that is by no means an overstatement! From the range of remarkable early aircraft to the presentation of the exhibits, everything is extremely high quality: it might just be significant that this is a pet project for Sir Peter Jackson, better known as the director of the "Lord of the Rings" movies and an aviation enthusiast. For more information, I would recommend visiting the Centre's website. This Italian-built Caproni CA.22 dates from 1913. It is original, not a reproduction, and is the only one of its type still in existence.

From an old slide. Looking out across the pack ice past the Bell 47 helicopter and Beaver aircraft, in near whiteout conditions.

From an old slide. Ross Seals are the rarest of the Antarctic seals. This was only the second seen by ANARE expeditions, though the base at Mawson had been operating for 13 years at this time, so we were fortunate to encounter it. Wikipedia gives an estimated total population of about 130,000 (give or take 100,000 !). They have the strange habit of inflating their throat like a bullfrog when disturbed.