Having been lucky enough to get some new gear, one naturally wants to test it out and see what you can do with it, but this time with some Australian natives in a bush setting.
First stop for us at Healesville now is the new Koala and Echidna enclosure:
While the Echidna was enjoying a good forage and wandering around a lot, the Koalas were softly dozing in the early morning coolness (it was about 10 degrees) waiting for the sun to warm them up:
Although I think this one may have heard my shutter going and gave me a “Who disturbs my slumber?” kind of look…
Got really lucky in the Lyrebird enclosure too. There are lots of different kinds of birds in this enclosure and many seem relatively unconcerned with people wandering about (provided they don’t get too close of course). The Lyrebirds, however, are regularly hard to find, often hiding in the undergrowth away from sight and avoiding people. Since there was no-one else there to disturb them, they happily wandered around in front of the camera foraging and even approaching to within about 1.5 metres of the end of the lens! It was just so magical and reinforces the fact that you really need to go early to the zoo.
The Dingoes seemed to be looking around for something too, or maybe they were just posing:
Naturally, a visit to the reptile house was in order:
One of the best parts about Healesville Sanctuary is the fact that it is surrounded by natural bush habitat and so there are animals who are not actual exhibits that appear from time to time, such as the beautiful Superb Fairy Wrens who turned up in the Tasmanian Devil enclosure:
There are some dedicated bird enclosures where you can see some of the more iconic Australian birds, like the Kookaburra:
and the Brolga:
