#19 Australia's Flesh Eating Sundew

Ok so, they don't really eat 'flesh' per say, their main prey is insects but they have been known to trap small animals sometimes. I'm talking about carnivorous plants. Especially native Australian ones. Did you know that 187 species of carnivourous plants are endemic (only found in) to Australia? I didn't!

I have just recently gone back to my local library to borrow some books when I spotted a book about Australian carnivorous plants. It had amazing photographs and great information. It reminded me of the Sundew (genus: Drosera) I spotted last year on my ecology field trip. They were the most amazing little things I had ever seen! I have always wanted to see other carnivorous plants other than the Venus fly trap but I had no idea they grew in Australia. As you could imagine, I was half in shock, half completely excited. My first native carnivorous plant. Gosh, I love Australia.

Spoon-leaved Sundew (Drosera spatulata) - Photo taken by Jennifer Vu (me)

Here are my photos of the very first species of Carnivorous plants I found. This is a species of Sundew, commonly known as the Spoon-leaved Sundew (Drosera spatulata).

Creatures I've Discovered Recently

I've been lucky enough to spot some really cool creatures in the past week. I have posted all these photos onto a website called Project Noah. A website that hopes to document all the world's organisms with the help of everyone on earth who are willing to share their captures. They hope that by making it easy for people to upload and share their encounters with nature, they can build a ecological data collection which will serve as an important educational tool for wildlife awareness and preservation. If you enjoy finding little creatures in your backyard or out in the 'wild', I greatly encourage you to join in and help us discover the great diversity of organisms that live on this Earth.

And here are the little guys I've discovered.

My Trip to the Zoo - 17th of July

On Tuesday (17th of July), I had a trip to Taronga zoo in Sydney with a uni friend of mine. We were luckily enough to have gone on tuesday because the weather was absolutely perfect. It wasn't too hot and because the weather is much cooler (since it's winter in Australia) a lot of the animals which are used to cold temperatures were up and running about. All my photos were taken with a 60D.

The first animals we visited were the koalas. Luckily enough, not all of them were sleeping. One of them was happily munching away on some eucalyptus leaves. It would place one leaf in it's mouth, and without using it's hands, munch continuously until the whole leaf was gone. It kinda looked like an old grandpa chewing without teeth.

#18 Manatee or Dugong?

I often get confused between Manatees and Dugongs. I have seen them at various zoos and aquariums and wonder why a creature is being called two different names when they look exactly the same? Well, today I'm going to fix up this mix up because, manatees and dugongs are different.

Dugong or Manatee? Find out by clicking the source link --> Source: wikipedia

So I've read that Manatees and dugongs are quite closely related, like cousins. So to be able to compare what's different and to be able to identify one from the other, I am going to write a list of 10 facts about each animal.

Even More Peacock Spiders

Back in February I interviewed the Peacock Spiderman: Jurgen Otto (can be read here). Today I'm going to revisit Peacock Spiders (Maratus sp.)and show you the photos of the many other species discovered in Australia. The majority of these spiders have only been recently discovered and photographed. Some species still don't have names.

Maratus volans

Source: Jurgen's Flickr

This was the first peacock spider which Jurgen captured it's courtship dance on video. 

This species is found in Sydney.

#14 The Australian Easter Bunny

Yesterday I went to the Sydney Royal Easter show and there was a tent for Featherdale Wildlife Park. There I learnt a horrible fact....that there was only about 400 Bilbies in the wild. This shocked me so much that it has inspired me to write about bilbies and how everyone can help with their conservation and protection from extinction.

Source: natureswonderland.com.au

The bilby is a native Australian animal which is endangered. There was once two species of bilbies but after the European colonisation of Australia, the lesser bilby became extinct by the 1950s. Now the greater bilby, the largest of the bandicoot family, is left but is still considered endangered. Of the six bandicoot species that once lived in Australia's arid lands, the blby is the only one left.

10 Most Interesting Looking Orchids

In the "The Private Life of Plants" series by David Attenborough, he talks about a whole range of orchids which have managed to mimic a female wasp or bee. Apart from these sexual deceptive orchids, there are a whole variety of them, all ranging from different sizes and colours. So, here is just a small collection from the 26,049 accepted species of Orchid.
1. Bee orchid

Source: thenaturalstone.blogspot.com.au

#10 The Dancing Peacock Spider - Interview With Jurgen Otto

In the bushlands of Sydney, lives an most unexpected resident. It is rarely ever seen but if you keep your eyes open, you may spot it. It's a 4mm long spider with the most spectacular array of colours and an even more spectacular dance. This tiny jumping spider is the peacock spider (Maratus volans).

Photo taken by Jurgen Otto Source: Jurgen's flickr

The 10 Best Ways To Attract a Mate (Bird Style)

1.     Serenade them with a love song.

2.     Show her your dance moves. Every girl can’t help but fall for a guy with the smooth moves. Like this Bird. It can moonwalk.

Watch more about it here.

#8 The Lying Lyrebird

This bird really knows how to copy other peoples sounds. The Lyrebird is native to Australia and it's name really suggests what it's capable of (sounding like a lyre/being a liar).

Male Lyre bird - Photo taken by Flagstaffotos Source: wikipedia