April 12, 2005
This morning, we headed out into the city around 8.30, intending to start at the natural history museum. When we arrived, though, we discovered that the Australian Museum didn’t open until 9.30. We didn’t want to wait around that long, so we headed on foot in the direction of the opera house, which was our primary destination for the day. We did see some great birds in Hyde Park along the way, including White Ibis and strikingly-colored Magpie Lark.
On the way, we took a wander through St. Mary’s Cathedral (Eclipse hoped there would be a pipe organ, and wasn’t disappointed). It’s a beautiful church.
After the church, we continued north to the Royal Botanic Garden. This turned out to be my favorite of all the places we visited in the city – GORGEOUS gardens, the nicest I’ve ever seen (even better than the one in Edinburgh, which I LOVE). And birds . . . birds, birds, BIRDS. I was already in love with the birds in Australia, and at that point, I’d only seen the ones which can be found in the middle of a big city! I had a wonderful sighting of a Pied Currawong . . . I first spotted this bird in a tree, thinking it was a magpie, but I soon realized my mistake. As we walked by, the bird flew to the ground right in front of us. I think it might have been hoping for a hand-out, but then it picked up a worm or something which had been laying on the path, so maybe it was just not afraid of us. I got a fantastic up-close look, in any case.
Birds weren’t the only attraction at the gardens, however. Perhaps not even the most spectacular . . . we’d only been in the gardens for about 15 minutes when I heard a big racket coming from some nearby trees. Expecting some noisy exotic birds, I went to investigate and discovered not feathers, but fur. Bats. OMG BATS! The COOLEST bats I’ve ever seen EVER! Huge Grey-headed Flying Fox, each about a foot long with wingspans of at least 2 or 3 feet, and hundreds and HUNDREDS of them. Later, I found out that they’re actually considered pests because there are so many of them and they can destroy the trees where they roost, but I LOVED them (and so, of course, did Eclipse). There were also a few Black Flying Fox, although not anywhere near as many.
After wandering around the gardens for a couple of hours, we were all getting hungry, and Eclipse wanted to have lunch at the Opera House, so we began walking in that direction. The Botanic Garden is located right next to the harbor, and the opera house, which made a nice route for us. Along the way we saw some wonderful birds, including nesting Little Black Cormorant and Little Pied Cormorant, and Australian White Ibis feeding a fledgling. My first Australasian Darter flew overhead, and I was charmed by the gorgeous Rainbow Lorikeet feeding on Scarlet Grevillea.
We had lunch at the cafe on the lower level, and then took a guided tour of the opera house. Very interesting, especially when compared with the last opera house we toured (L’Opera Garnier in Paris). Two completely different buildings, but both really gorgeous in their own way. As the woman who gave our tour said, the Sydney Opera House is the “right building in the right location.” It definitely is. It’s so beautiful up close, and from far away . . . however, it would have been a flop in any other location. You couldn’t stick this building in the middle of a city – it needs to have the empty space around it which the harbor provides, in order to be seen to full advantage. Inside, it’s very plain – minimal decor, no ornate decorations or gilt or carvings – the opera house design itself is the primary focus. It’s a fantastic building, truly.
After the tour, we decided to head back to the hotel, again, via the Botanical Gardens. More birds, more bats, and another really cool encounter – with a couple of gorgeous Eastern Water Dragon near one of the greenhouses. COOL!
The other seriously cool thing spotted near the greenhouses were more Sulphur-crested Cockatoos – this time, a large flock of them, all screeching and flying and flapping around in the trees and on the grass. At least 30 of them, a noisy bunch of birds and oh so pretty! I’m still madly in love with these birds, and it was even more fun to see this large flock than seeing the two we’d spotted the previous day.
Even though it was still fairly early (only about 4.00), we were all starting to feel the effects of the jet lag again, so decided to stop by the hotel and freshen up, and then go to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. After dinner, back to the room. Walking through Hyde Park, I caught a glimpse of a marsupial – perhaps a Brush-tailed Possum, but my photographs were far too blurry to help with an ID. We managed to stay up a tiny bit later that evening, and I made a trip to the Kinko’s around the corner from the hotel, to check e-mail and make a quick post to LJ, so everyone would know we’d arrived safely. We were all asleep by 8.30.
Species List
Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca), Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca), Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae novaehollandiae), Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala), Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis), Southeastern Black-backed Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen tibicen), Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina), Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca), Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala), Grey-headed Flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides coronoides), Maned Duck (Chenonetta jubata), Black Flying-fox (Pteropus alecto), Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa tenebrosa), Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis mellori), Orchard Swallowtail (Papilio aegeus), Tiger Spider (Trichonephila plumipes), Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus moluccanus), Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa superciliosa), Pacific Black Duck x Mallard (Anas superciliosa x platyrhynchos), Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca), Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris), Australian Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius hypoleucos), Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos melanoleucos), Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita galerita), Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae novaehollandiae), Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra australis), Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena neoxena), Australian Long-finned Eel (Anguilla reinhardtii), Rock Dove (Columba livia domestica), Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae novaehollandiae), Eastern Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii lesueurii), Cuscuses and Brushtail Possums (Phalangeridae)
Ornamental Plants: Urn Plant (Aechmea fasciata), Queensland Bottle Tree (Brachychiton rupestris), Scarlet Grevillea (Grevillea banksii), Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla)
Let me know what you think!