#191 Pied Currawong

Strepera graculina
IUCN Redlist: Least Concern
Location: Ferntree Gully, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Australia
Time: 1645 AEST April 23, 2012

#190 Swamp Wallaby

Wallabia bicolor
IUCN Redlist: Least Concern
Location: Ferntree Gully, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Australia
Time: 1625 AEST April 23, 2012

#189 Masked Lapwing

Vanellus miles
IUCN Redlist: Least Concern
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Time: 1510 AEST April 23, 2012

I spotted this pair on the forecourt of a petrol station, shortly after heavy rain.

Masked lapwings are a widespread species, found in southern, eastern and northern Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, and they have recently (relatively speaking - 1930s) self-introduced to New Zealand. They are also found as vagrants in New Caledonia and Fiji.

They are also commonly known as spur-winged plovers, particularly in New Zealand, so named for a bony spur on the leading edge of each wing. They use these spurs to defend their nesting sites against any and all intruders.

References


BirdLife International 2009. Vanellus miles. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 April 2012

#188 Crimson Rosella

Platycercus elegans
IUCN Redlist: Least Concern
Location: Sherbrooke Forest, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Australia
Time: 1145 AEST April 23, 2012

These rosellas were feeding at Grant's Picnic Ground alongside the sulphur-crested cockatoos, galahs, and a few other birds.

Later I saw a group of three juvenile crimson rosellas, which are mainly green, with red on the forehead and breast, and the same blue throat patch as the adults.

Juvenile crimson rosella

#187 Eastern Yellow Robin

Eopsaltria australis
IUCN Redlist: Least Concern
Location: Sherbrooke Forest, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Australia
Time: 1130 AEST April 23, 2012

#186 Superb Lyrebird

Menura novaehollandiae
IUCN Redlist: Least Concern
Location: Sherbrooke Forest, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Australia
Time: 1100 AEST April 23, 2012

It was very dark in the forest where the superb lyrebirds were feeding, so when I tried to take a still photo, all I got was this rather elegant looking blur. I did manage to get a decent video though, which is embedded below:

This male lyrebird was the first of three that I saw at Sherbrooke Forest, but the only one that I got photos or video of. The second was a female or young male that ran across the path in front me, and the third was another male that I saw as he disappeared at speed into the undergrowth.

#185 Laughing Kookaburra

Dacelo novaeguinae
IUCN Redlist: Least Concern
Location: Sherbrooke Forest, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Australia
Time: 1000 AEST April 23, 2012

While I saw many more cockatoos, and other birds that travel in flocks, I saw more kookaburras on separate occasions than any other bird over the course of my day in the Dandenong Ranges. However I usually saw them as they were disappearing into the trees, so I only got a few photos, the best of which are here.

Kookaburra showing the blue patch on the wing

#184 Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Cockatoos feeding on birdseed at Grant's Picnic Ground, Sherbrooke Forest

Cacatua galerita
IUCN Redlist: Least Concern
Location: Sherbrooke Forest, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Australia
Time: 0950 AEST April 23, 2012

Below is a picture of some sulphur-crested cockatoos in a tree, which is where I first encountered them. Later I walked to Grant's Picnic Ground where they have seed on sale, and where other visitors to the forest had been feeding them and other birds. This made it a lot easier to get close up photos, like the one at the bottom of a cockatoo clearly displaying its crest.

Cockatoos being raucous in a tree

#183 Southern Water Skink

Eulamprus tympanum
IUCN Redlist: Not Evaluated
Location: Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne, Australia
Time: 1650 AEST April 13, 2012

My third lizard species from an afternoon at the park.

#182 Garden Skink

Lampropholis guichenoti
IUCN Redlist: Not Evaluated
Location: Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne, Australia
Time: 1500 AEST April 13, 2012

This is a species with several names. The two guidebooks I have give garden skink and grass skink, while my favourite comes from wikipedia, which is the Pale-flecked Garden Sunskink

#181 Delicate Skink

Lampropholis (Allengreerus) delicata
IUCN Redlist: Not Evaluated
Location: Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne, Australia
Time: 1330 AEST April 13, 2012

Raymond Hoser (2009) proposed a new genus, Allengreerus, for this species, and others within the L. delicata species complex, including a newly described species Allengreerus ronhoseri. The change doesn't seem to have been widely adopted, but these things take time.

References
Hoser, R. 2009. A new genus and a new species of skink from Victoria. Australasian Journal of Herpetology 3, 1-6

#180 Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard

Tiliqua scincoides scincoides
IUCN Redlist: Not Evaluated
Location: Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne, Australia
Time: 1810 AEST April 1, 2012

These are pretty marginal pictures, but still identifiable, based on location, and what can be seen in the photo and video.

Here's a video of it disappearing under the rock.