# Easter with Bilbies! DUW



## jordo (Apr 21, 2009)

Volunteered up at a place called Scotia Sanctuary over easter, it's a large property in western NSW. Parts of the property have been enclosed by a large feral proof fence and they have got rid of all the rabbits, foxes and cats within it, allowing the re-introduction of some of our native mammals.

I'll start with the birds I managed to snap:
Yellow Thornbill, _Acanthiza nana_






Red-capped Robin, _Petroica goodenovii_





The fence and habitat





You'd swear there is nothing there during the day (except an overabundance of diggings and the odd wallaby) but at night it comes to life with bilbies, wallabies and bettongs.

Bridled Nailtail Wallaby, _Onychogalea fraenata_, these guys are a small wallaby named for the claw on the tip of their tails.










And the Bilby, _Macrotis lagotis_, these guys have to be the funniest animal I've ever seen, it was easy to see why they're nearly extinct haha. They're fairly slow runners and often bump into shrubs and stumble over grasses as they flee :lol: - I think this is partially due to being blinded by the car lights a bit (I hadn't yet been told they're sensitive to light when I took my photos, but it didn't seem to worry them).





"Boodie" aka Burrowing Bettong, _Bettongia lesueur_. These guys have a white tip on their tail.





"Woylie" aka Brush-tailed Bettong, _Bettongia penicillata_, mid stride. They have a bushy brown tail.





Although not native to the area, they also had "Mala" aka Rufous Hare Wallaby, _Lagorchestes hirsutus_, in a breeding pen as an insurance population. These guys were really cute with their little T-rex arms.





And if none of that was very exciting for you we did also come across a few herps!

Juv _V. gouldii_





_H. binoei_





Male _C. pictus_





_O. marmorata_ - thanks for the go of the flashes Adam





And lastly a very average-about-to-shed looking _P. nigriceps_


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## barbed_wire_dove (Apr 21, 2009)

some awesome shots!!
good job!!
i love the little Bridled Nailtail Wallaby, hes so damn cute!!


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## saratoga (Apr 21, 2009)

Great post, must have been a really interesting place to visit.

Are some of the animals they have reintroduced breeding yet?

Also roughly how big is the fenced area?


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## Cj3cooper (Apr 21, 2009)

nice pics jordo, thats a really good one of the red capped robin. might have to steal that lens off you next time i see ya hahaha


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## jordo (Apr 21, 2009)

Thanks for the replies, the nailtails are so cute. They had some orphanes there that would come up and lick you - wanted to steal one haha.

The whole sanctuary is about 65,000 ha in size according to the website but not sure how big the fenced areas are. There are 2 seperate stages - stage 1 has numbats, stick nest rats, boodies, woylies, nail tails and bilbies. Stage 2 has nail tails, woylies, and bilbies. Apart from the numbats and stick nest rats (for which they haven't done much work on yet so they don't know) everything is thriving and breeding. The woylies seem to be outcompeted by the boodies so they were introduced into stage 2 without the boodies to compete with.

Here's the site as well: http://www.australianwildlife.org/AWC-Sanctuaries/Scotia-Sanctuary.aspx


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## Acrochordus (Apr 21, 2009)

Awsome shoots, where there any Herps around?
Thanks for posting.


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## LullabyLizard (Apr 21, 2009)

Great pics


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## Acrochordus (Apr 21, 2009)

Acrochordus said:


> Awsome shoots, where there any Herps around?
> Thanks for posting.


 Sorry just seen your whole post thanks.


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## mark83 (Apr 21, 2009)

nice pics


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## ryanharvey1993 (Apr 21, 2009)

nice pics jordan, I would love to see a wild bilby one day, I have only seen a burrowing bettong out of those mammals you have photographed. thanks.


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## jordo (Apr 21, 2009)

Thanks.
Yeah Ryan, you should tee up a visit there one day, you have to drive 30kms/h just so you don't hit them.


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## Lozza (Apr 21, 2009)

Nice pics Jordo - looks like it would have been a great trip!
That little sand monitor is sooo cute


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## jordo (Apr 22, 2009)

Yeah it was a great trip. It's good to see a lot of different animals rather than just herps all the time.


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## wizz (Apr 22, 2009)

looks like you had a good time.....


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## kupper (Apr 22, 2009)

that C.pictus is awesome you where very lucky to geta photo of it the little buggers are like roadrunners


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## Cheesecake (Apr 22, 2009)

Great shots. Hmm... will definitely need to go back once finished studying. The bird photos are brilliant - which lens did you use?

Dave.


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## jordo (Apr 22, 2009)

kupper said:


> that C.pictus is awesome you where very lucky to geta photo of it the little buggers are like roadrunners


pfft, they're easy, you've never tried to get a sandy have you?



Cheesecake said:


> Great shots. Hmm... will definitely need to go back once finished studying. The bird photos are brilliant - which lens did you use?
> 
> Dave.



Birds and mammals with the 70-300mm.


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