Bit of a different safari coming up

The Safari is leaving Safari-land this week and venturing a little further afield for a change, so there’ll be no updates of ‘nothing new’ on Patch 2 and no news of any Peregrines that may or may not be sat on their favourite ledges on the tower for a few days or so. We’re off on a real life real adventure DOWN UNDER!

The self-sufficient Maroo’s brand new sustainable education unit is now well and truly open for business and about to be tested to the full by Yours Truly! Perhaps even to the extent of setting up future green tourism ‘holidays’.

“We don't want ‘just’ holiday makers, but are marketing to conservation and wildlife enthusiasts. We will cater just for small groups.

You get your own personal experienced wildlife guide, (yes that's The Safari).

We are not offering a holiday excursion for ‘holiday makers’ with some buffoon dribbling on about wildlife he knows nothing about :-) – we’ve been on some those and are never sure whether to pipe up and tell them they are wrong or keep quiet and snigger quietly to ourselves; one ‘guide’ (and we use the term lightly) we remember told his group a lot of nonsense about swans and them horror of horrors referes to ‘seagulls’ as nothing more than flying Rats - eejit!!! Our trips will be informative and allow you to get up-close and personal with the wildlife of your interest. This is an adults only opportunity so there won’t be any children frightening off the wildlife.

We want to market Maroo in such a way that only those who are totally bonkers about hiding out in hides to photograph Cockatoos coming in to drink, laying on your stomach in a paddock just to spot that Swamp Hawk raising her babies in the sedge. This is the type of holiday anyone who works in any environmental capacity will just love. We’ve even spent hours near at the water hole taking photos of bugs. Let’s face it we are appealing to people just like ourselves – anyone with a passion for wildlife who would relish the chance to get up close and personal with some of Australia’s weirdest and wonderfulest – is that a word?

It’s a great opportunity for birders and wildlife photographers. It’s not just birds although there is a fantastic range of endemics, there are unique mammals, unusual reptiles and enough invertebrates to keep a macro-photographer entertained for years and more exotic plants than you could shake a big botanical stick at!

On offer is good old Auzzie hospitality, eat with us, sleep with us, talk wildlife, drink and be merry. We want it to have the same feel as an environmental expedition, nothing fancy but damn good holiday. There may also be the chance to go out with professional researchers on their trapping and monitoring projects.

Our Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is going from strength to strength so who knows what animals you might meet. If you want to handle, feed, go on rescue runs with us then this can also be an option.

Think Rolf Harris’s ANIMAL HOSPITAL meets STEVE IRWIN (RIP) on an EXPEDITION HOLIDAY and you’ve got it in one.

This region is our biggest selling point; you do not have to travel thousands of kilometres up north into the distant outback when you have everything you want in our beautiful SOUTH WEST of Western Australia.

We need to save our many endangered species from extinction, (some far rarer than Giant Pandas!) by the end you will know that in a small way you have contributed to their survival.”

For all the goss on how we’re getting on keep coming back but if there’s no news on here try the Maroo blog...anything could happen over course of the next month!

Some pics nicked from mein host Aussie Glen - sure he won't mind!

We're gonna get educated in here

Kookaburra being treated



The reptile re-habilitation nclosure and volunteer

Roo gate demo by Aussie Glen

Skink


OK we're off to pack now and make sure we've got plenty of SD cards and spare batteries and a rain coat apparently it's cold and pouring down - so nothing new there then!...ciao for now as they say in Italy...where Young Un AB should be having a ball on his 'working holiday'...he tells us he's already seen a shed load of goodies like flocks of Bea-Eaters, and White Admirals, Swallowtails and more - nice one; hope we can emulate him.

These aren't in my outback - unfortunately

The safari has been unable to get out and about this week so there's some reminiscing about far flung tours today.

Most of these aren't my pictures and I hope the photographer doesn't mind me using them...So what is it?

This little creature is one of the rarest mammals on the planet, there are fewer of them than there are Giant Pandas. It is about the size of a squirrel and eats termites in the sclerophyll forests of Western Australia. It is a Numbat. Possibly my favouritest animal on the planet despite the fact I've never seen one in the wild.

Why are they so rare? Introduced predators especially Foxes and domestic Cats have had a huge effect but probably more-so has been habitat destruction.

Above is a Termite mound that has been attacked by the little chaps. They are one of Australia's few smaller diurnal mammals and spend the night curled up together in a fallen hollow log.

The marsupial below is a Woylie another extremely endangered creature with a population measured in hundreds. Again introduced predators and habitat loss are the main culprits but disease and or parasites may also be a contributing factor. I have several pictures of these animals but all are useless to show as they are very, very fast and all you get is a brown blur when the bag gets opened. Why are they being caught? There is a major study going on in the WA forests and the Woylies are being tagged to find out how far they travel, how long they live and bloods and ticks are taken for analysis. I am very pleased to have helped in a very tiny way with this project.

Sneaking about in the shed is a Bandicoot - originator of a host of computer games. I'm not sure of the exact species (Western Bandicoot springs to mind - someone correct me if I'm wrong please). These are still relatively common in some areas and their nocturnal activities are usually accompanied by a lot of loud snuffling sounds.

And finally to good old Western Grey Kangaroos captured on my mate's 'stealth cam'. Again these can be very shy creatures and I have only one photograph and that of a distant animal just before it vanished in to thick cover. In other parts of Australia they can be quite tame and invade parks , gardens and golf courses etc, but not here.

If you are in WA or even if not to help protect one of the rarest (and cutest) creatures on earth why not join Project Numbat

Where to next? The safari has a foreign trip coming up soon. What will we have to report from that?

In the meantime let us know what you have seen in your outback, does anyone have Numbats?

Bowland Foothills 5th May 08

Lancashire and Lakeland Outback Wildlife Adventure Safaris

Safari Report 5^th May 2008

This safari took us to the western slopes of the Forest of Bowland. It was a warm but muggy cloudy morning. Spring was in the air. For the first time this year the trees looked green rather than brown. Stepping out along the track birdsong was filling the air, particularly the loud fluty tones of a Mistle Thrush high in the canopy up on the valley side. A Nuthatch called repeatedly.

By the riverside is a particularly splendid Alder tree, which has been entered on to the Ancient Tree Hunt data base.

Following the river the woods were

alive with birdsong, although the new leaves were making spotting the singers a little difficult. The path meanders along the valley floor and we cut up a side path to climb the hillside. There the bracken is dense but the recent reduction of the numbers of sheep grazing has allowed the regeneration of a fair amount of Birch saplings. In this area we heard the rustle of dead bracken above us and looking up saw a fine Roe deer buck. He was

staring straight at us. The wind was not in our favour, nor were the scrunchy dead leaves underfoot. We had an excellent view of his face adorned by a decent pair of antlers. We watched for a minute or so before he bolted in to a thicket nearby. There he barked like a ferocious large dog and we could hear him thrashing around.

Moving on we rejoined the main footpath through the woods. The birds were still singing all around. I was hoping to be able to point out the trill of a Wood Warbler as there had been several on migration along the Fylde coast during the previous week. If they had reached their breeding grounds unfortunately they weren’t singing.

We did, however, get brilliant views of singing Blackcap, Garden Warbler and a Yellowhammer. Green Woodpecker was heard in the distance and a Skylark sung above us most of the morning.

Despite the warmth it was not sunny and there weren’t many insects about. Two Peacocks and one unidentified White were the only butterflies seen. Two Bright Silver Line moths were disturbed from the bracken covered hillside. In amongst the bracken plenty of Dog Violets were in flower.

Retracing our steps we came across our Roebuck again. With the wind more favourable we got superb views as he cantered across the fellside. Three Buzzards circled lazily over our heads as we watched him. We also came across one of his marking posts.

Chaffinches, Robins, Wrens, Blackbirds, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs accompanied us along with our superb songster the Mistle Thrush. A Cuckoo was heard by other visitors but not by us. Back by the river a pair of Nuthatches very obligingly investigated a potential nesting hole only a few feet a

bove our heads.

Before returning to base we had a brief quick look for the Kingfisher at a regular haunt be it wasn’t to be found. In its place was a nesting Dipper which secretly approached its brood by diving under water, something I’ve never seen before.

Passing through one of the local villages, being Bank Holiday

, it was too busy to stop

and admire the 300+ year old Oak tree standing by the roadside. It was also disappointing that there was too much water in the river to be able to do the 4x4 ford to end the day.

In the lanes not far from Base Camp was a beautiful male Kestrel sitting on the top of a telegraph pole watching for mice, voles or maybe just a tasty worm.

Where to next?