Koalas, Kangaroos, and Kookaburras

I think that sounds better than "Ticks and Leaches." More on this disgusting part later...

It's been three weeks in the land down under, and it been a real enjoyable trip all around. The first five days in Brisbane were a nice change from Maine and New York. Ocean breezes, River views. And lots of parklands nearby to go leisure birdng. Oh, and the 85 degree weather is nice too.

Two of the crew were already there when I arrived. We met up the morning I flew in, and I managed to survive most of that day...but I collapsed sometime in the afternoon after a brief birding excursion. The next day we were all rip roaring ready to go, and went out, you guessed it, birding again.

Even the common birds are nice and exotic! Those first few days had a quite a few new birds for me (I am much farther south than my last trip here). I also saw some familiar friends, like the rainbow lorikeets and the Laughing Kookaburra (you did know that was a bird, right?). I never get tired of their call.

By the 13th of October, 5 of the 6 of us had met up in Brisbane, so we had a last hurrah and did a day trip to birdwatch and koala watch. And yes, I have seen a wild koala! We also managed to see a Tawny Frogmouth, as well as the Variegated Fairy Wren, among other new birds. It was a great way to spend our last day in Brisbane. This day ended with us all going out to eat dinner and ice cream too, knowing it would be our last chance till near Christmas (Chrissy, here). Then it was off to Wallaby Creek on the 14th...

Our two weeks up here have had lots of fun things, and some not so thrilling things. Ticks, for one. Leeches, for two. At least the both of these itch...so one finds them soon enough. Removal is another thing.

The Bowerbirds, Kangaroos, and Joeys make up for that, though. I pass a mob of Kangaroos twice a day on my bower route. And it's always fun to see the unusual things some of these birds collect for their bowers. I have found a cow ear tag, legos, clothespins, candy wrappers, pens, and other man made objects, in addition to the natural objects like feathers, snail shells, and flowers.

The other advantage of my route walk is getting very fit and well prepared for future backpacking (tramping) in New Zealand. Carrying an 8 kg (17 pound) battery (sometimes 2) up a hill nearly every day sure helps build leg muscles rapidly. yesterday was the first day I noticed a difference in fitness...I felt like I was flying up the hills without the batteries.

Not much else new to report. No pictures to be posted anytime soon - our connection is slow, and I am one of seven needing to use this thing today. I have plenty of photos though, including the aforementioned Koalas, Kangaroos and Joeys, and Kookaburras. And today I got good shots of the wedge-tailed eagle.

The best things so far? It's a toss up, but the Fairy-wrens on our front porch rank up there. And the Rosellas (parrots) seem more vivid and colorful than anything I saw in Costa Rica or Ecuador - including the Scarlet Macaws. Though they don't quite match the hummingbirds.

World bird list update. I have seen about 40 new species of bird so far this trip. There are plenty more "common" birds I haven't gotten yet...I expect once I start some bird blind watches, I should see them. I should not have a problem reaching the goal of 1200 for this trip. The best life birds are the two fairy wren species, and the rosellas.

Another end, another beginning...

End of field jobs are always a bit, well, sad. I know I have a choice in the matter in how I go about making a living, and I really enjoy all these jobs I have had.

And you can probably tell that Maine was awesome. It is hard to put into words. My coworker and I got along famously. And it was great that it was just the two of us on the island most of the time. It allowed lots of time for meditation, relaxation, and just chillin'. And cooking, too.

It was hard to leave. I hadn't been that relaxed on a field job in a long time.

It was hard to say goodbye to Metinic. I am a 'mountain lover'...yet, that island has a strong draw. It wasn't just the lack of insects, lack of ticks. It was all the little things, that taken individually, aren't much, but together, were so much more.

It was the lack of TV and internet. It was having only the noise of lobster boats during the morning, and after that just the gulls and surf. It was incredibly nice neighbors. It was the odd song sparrow song. The occasional chickadee calling. It was the infinite stars at night. It was the sunsets and sunrises.

In sum, a northeast paradise.

Farewell, Metinic. I hope I have an opportunity to come again.

And so now, here I am. It's 2 am...and I am restless again. I fly out in about 6 hours for another grand adventure.

I hadn't planned on doing any more volunteer jobs. Ecuador and Costa Rica were awesome ways to contribute my own money to conservation causes (well, the airfare, anyway). Ecuador gave me more refinement in field identification...and totally got me hooked on listing. Costa Rica gave me a great idea of how many birds can be found in just a small area.

After guiding this past winter (my god, was that really 6 months ago I was there?!?!), I definitely feel guiding will be my future. To that end, I was planning to devote this winter to guiding applications, and trying to make it work. And then my friend sent an e-mail...

...and life threw one of those unexpected curveballs...

...without going into too much detail, I was on my last night in Costa Rica, and my friend asked me to come down to Australia to help with her Master's project. I had tried to go last year as well...but funds were falling way short. I told her I would consider it after I looked at airfares...

...I took the cheap airfares, good pay in MO, and my 11 years of longing to go back as the sign to go. So I'm going. With a trip to New Zealand tacked on the end for fun.

It will be hard to again be away from family and friends for the holidays...and this year I will be missing all of them. But camping out in New Zealand on New Years Eve sounds like a fantastic idea...and perhaps it is a sign that 2010 will be another good year.

And thank you, again, AC. You know who you are and why. You put things into words that I feel, but can't seem to express. It makes me feel better about these choices I am making.

And thank you to everyone else...this amount of travel is tough at times. Living out of a suitcase isn't all that fun at times. But because many of you take the time to send me an e-mail here and there to say that you are enjoying reading about my adventures, it helps so much. I don't feel so far from home when you do that.



I bid you g'day.