Can There Be Beauty in a Scientific Name?

Well yes, if part of it starts with cali or calo or cala (or the same with a double l). This is because they all derive from the Greek kallos for beauty. This time I'm the midst of the three-part series of An Alphabet of National Parks which has proved both satisfying and demandingly time-consuming, so I've opted for something a bit lighter for both of us. We could probably all do with a bit of simple beauty in a world that is rapidly becoming decidedly unbeautiful in many ways, so I've chosen to do a simple photo essay on some plants and animals whose beauty the scientist who described them thought deserved recognition. (Of course I could also describe just about any plant or animal thus, and beauty has been described or implied in scientific names using other words too, but as I've suggested I just wanted to keep it simple today, so cal- names it is.) Let's start at the top, so to speak.

Male Gang-gang Cockatoo Callocephalon fimbriatum, Canberra (where it is our
territorial bird emblem). This one means 'beautiful head' (actually literally 'beauty head'
but I'm going with the implication rather than the literal translation in each case). 
I can't argue with the name, though it does only apply to the male.

Oddly, it is quite possible that beneath it in a grassy summer understorey was a pretty native daisy with an almost identical genus name, meaning exactly the same thing.

Lemon Beauty Heads Calocephalus citreus, a common plant of native grassland -
a habitat which of course isn't at all common any more. 
(We know that no two plants or animals can have exactly the same genus name, 
but there is nothing to stop a plant and animal having the same name as each other, 
and these two almost achieved that.)

I have more examples of 'beauty' plants than animals today so we'll continue with them, and we might as well stick with daisies for now.

Two for the price of one in fact, both burr daisies in the genus Calotis which, somewhat
unexpectedly, means 'beautiful ear'. Coincidentally it was due to the purple one here,
C. cuneifolia (Purple Burr Daisy, obviously!) which apparently has 'ear-shaped pappus scales'.
(The pappus being the base of the individual floret which collectively form the flower head, 
on the off-chance that you were wondering.) The other is Yellow Burr Daisy (of course),
C. lappulacea; they were covering the ground in Cocoparra NP, in the NSW Riverina.

Unsurprisingly (to me at least!) there are prominent instances of beauty in orchid names. Perhaps the most familiar genus of Australian ground orchids is Caladenia which means 'beautiful glands'. Not the most romantic of names but apparently a tribute to the often ornamented labellums - the landing platform for pollinating insects that appears front and centre in these orchids. 

(I say 'these orchids' though there is still considerable controversy over the recent suppression of the application of detailed biochemical work which lead to this enormous genus being broken up into more manageable smaller genera, which also corresponded to intuitive sub-groups. It's the way of modern botanical taxonomy which favours massive lumps of genera and families, as opposed to the more nuanced approach of most zoologists. However for now I must follow the currently prevailing orthodoxy, with reservations.) For this reason I've offered two very different Caladenia examples here.

Exotic Spider Orchid (please don't ask me to explain that one!) Caladenia nivalis 
at Sugarloaf Rock in Leeuwin Naturaliste NP in the far south-west of WA.

Cowslip Orchids Caladenia flava, south-west WA. Yellow is a most unusual
colour in Caladenia, and this one is common and widespread. I miss them
when I leave the south-west after one of my too infrequent visits.

Another orchid genus which is especially dear to my heart is Calochilus, the beard orchids (and those who know me will readily understand the connection). This one means 'beautiful lip', another appreciative nod to the labellum, which is the most striking feature of the genus.

Mountain Beard Orchids Calochilus montanus Black Mountain NR, Canberra.

This might be an opportune time to issue a 'beware of false friends' warning here too. For instance it could be tempting to search for the beauty in the name of the fabulous Flying Duck Orchid Caleana major, but in this case the 'cal-' is part of someone's name. George Caley was a collector for Sir Joseph Banks in the early days of the 19th century in the Sydney colony, and it was named for him.    

But I can't say that without showing you a photo of one anyway, can I? Sorry!
This one was in the Blue Mountains.

And now I should be a little less self-indulgent and move on to other 'beautiful' plants. Probably the most familiar of these are the bottlebrushes Callistemon, which means 'beautiful stamens'. Nothing much to clarify here - the inflorescence comprises numerous individual flowers which in turn are primarily made up of showy stamens. I can see some out of my study window as I type.

Scarlet Bottlebrush Callistemon rugulosus, Wanilla CP, Eyre Peninsula,
South Australia. This beauty is found in south-eastern SA and western Victoria.
In line with my earlier comments on Caladenia taxonomy, there is a strong move to 
shove all of Callistemon, plus no less than eight south-western genera, into Melaleuca.

For the rest of the beauty plant genera, I'll just introduce them alphabetically.

Blue Grass Lily Caesia calliantha, Kama NR, Canberra. Here the 'beauty' is in the
species name and it is pretty straightforward - it simply means 'beautiful flower'.

Blue Tinsel Lily Calectasia grandiflora, Moore River NP, 100km north of Perth.
This one is not nearly so obvious, being 'beautiful development'. It seems that the great
Scottish botanist Robert Brown (who sailed with Flinders on the Endeavour) was 
referring to the spreading petals and sepals.

Black Wattle Callicoma serratifolia, south coast NSW. Callicoma means
'beautiful hair', a somewhat fanciful reference to the fluffy flower heads.
(The common name is a bit more problematic, as despite appearances this plant is in no way an 
acacia, but is in the same family as the NSW Christmas Bush, Cunoniaceae. It may be that 
the settlers mistook it for a wattle, or more likely I think they just didn't care about that and 
used the stems in the same way as they used those of wattles in 'wattle and daub' building.)

Black Cypress Pine Callitris endlicheri, Cooma, southern NSW.
The meaning of Callitris is a bit enigmatic. Today a taxonomist will generally
explain the reasoning behind their choice of name, but they are not obliged to
do so and in earlier times it was common to leave us guessing. It is generally 
asserted that it means 'beautiful trinity' for the scaly leaves which are 
purportedly in clusters of three, but it is sometimes reported that 'Jaeger'
(perhaps the German botanist Hermann Jäger?) claimed that it had
'no meaning' - or maybe he just couldn't work it out.

Garland Lily Calostemma purpureum, Weddin Mountains NP, south-western
slopes of NSW. The genus name is echoed in the common name; it means
'beautiful garland or crown'. It's a spectacular plant in the amaryllis family,
which shoots from a tuber then flowers in summer, sometimes covering the 
landscape with - well, garlands of flowers.

A one-sided bottlebrush (no specific common name) Calothamnus blepharospermus,
Kalbarri NP, near Geraldton, west coast WA; it is pretty much restricted to the park. 
Another perfectly straightforward one to translate; it means simply 'beautiful shrub'. 
I suppose that the effort of coming up with new names all day must sometimes get a bit much! 
This is one of those genera which some would shovel into the already bulging Melaleuca; 
see earlier comments under Callistemon.

Marri Corymbia calophylla, John Forrest NP, Stirling Ranges near Perth, WA.
The species name means simply 'beautiful leaf' but it's not at all clear why the eminent 
Robert Brown thought the leaves worthy of such praise (rather than say, the very striking 
fruits) but the comment under the previous photo probably applies here too. 

As I flagged earlier the 'beautiful' offerings among animal names are less bountiful, but I can offer four birds, two mammals and one each of insects, reptiles and frogs. Doubtless there are more out there but I'm limited to ones I can illustrate from my own photos.

Brown Barbet Caloramphus fuliginosus, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, a Borneo endemic.
Strangely its name means 'beautiful beak'... No, it's not obvious to me either, I'm 
just reporting. They always look a bit scruffy too; I do like barbets though!

Opal-crowned Tanager Tangara callophrys, Sacha Lodge, Yasuní NP,
Ecuadorian Amazonia; this was from the somewhat challenging Kapok
Tower up in the canopy of a huge old Kapok Tree at Sacha Lodge. 
callophrys means 'beautiful eyebrow', which seems fair.
(In fact it probably seems fairer than 'opal-crowned', though the nifty
opalescent eyebrow does stretch around the forehead too.)

Purple-throated Mountain-gem Lampornis calolaemus, Monteverde cloudforests,
central Costa Rica. This one's name is pretty indisputable too - simply 
'beautiful throat'.

Scarlet-backed Woodpecker Veniliornis callonotus, in the dry lowland forest
of Pomac in northern coastal Peru. Again the translation and meaning
are both pretty straightforward - 'beautiful back'.

And here are a couple of appreciated mammals with beautified names.

Common (or, more usefully, White-tufted) Marmoset Callithrix jacchus near São Paulo, 
southern Brazil. This time the genus name means 'beautiful hair', and it was based 
on this species. It is actually native to northern Brazil but there are populations
near São Paulo (and Buenos Aires), presumably deriving from escaped or released pets.

Plantain Squirrel Callosciurus notatus, Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Callosciurus is simply 'beautiful squirrel'. Many of the genus are actually pretty
plain, but this one's bright orange tummy makes it pretty smart. The genus though was
named for Prevost's Squirrel C. prevostii which is similarly orange-bellied.

And lastly the reptile, frog and butterfly.

Northern Green Tree Snake Dendrelaphis calligaster Iron Range, far northern Queensland.
I apologise for the awful photo - an ancient slide, poorly scanned - but it was my only 
option for a 'beautifully-named' reptile. The 'beautiful belly' of the species name
refers to its yellow undersides, not really visible here.

Red-eyed Tree Frogs Agalychnis callidryas, Piedras Blancas NP,
far southern Cost Rica. This much-photographed tree frog, more colourful than
this photo suggests, with blue belly and yellow sides, has a more classically
poetical name than other organisms we've met today. 
callidryas means 'beautiful wood nymph'.

Hydaspes Eighty-eight Callicore hydaspes, Iguacu Falls, Brazil. Almost every
aspect of this name is perplexing. Callicore apparently means 'beautiful maid', though I've also
seen it translated as 'beautiful thing'. Somewhere I also saw 'beautiful heart' suggested, though
that would mean an awkward mix of Greek and Latin, which wouldn't be the first time.
However it would also seem to be meaningless in this context. On the other hand so does
the English group name 'eighty-eight', which supposedly is the shape on the underwing. 
Hmm. But it's probably more evident in other species in the genus. And lastly hydaspes 
apparently refers to an Indian river with mythical connotations. Strange indeed.
It is a beautiful butterfly though!

Well I hope I've introduced a little extra beauty into your life, even if for only as long as took you to read this far. It was fun to put together so I hope it was fun to read - thanks for doing so.

Next time I'll be wrapping up the Alphabet of National Parks series for the penultimate post of the year.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 18 DECEMBER

I love to receive your comments and in future will be notifying you personally by email when a new posting appears, if you'd like me to. All current subscribers have been added to this mailing list and have already been contacted. This will mean one email every three weeks at the current rate of posting. I promise never to use the list for any other purpose and will never share it.
Should you wish to be added to it, just send me an email at calochilus51@internode.on.net. You can ask to be removed from the list at any time,or could simply mark an email as Spam, so you won't see future ones.
If you do leave a comment - and I love it when you do - please remember to click the
box below your comment that says 'Email follow-up comments to...[your address]'
so you'll know when I reply - and I always do!

An Alphabet of National Parks; #2 H to N

Recently I posted the first of what is to be a three-part series, effectively a tribute to nearly all the national parks that I've had the good fortune to visit and photograph. I've used 'national park' loosely to include any formally declared reserve of natural habitats on public land (terminology varies between the legislations of Australian states and territories, let alone from country to country). For me it's a bit of a nostalgic journey. However I'm of course hoping that it will serve that purpose for you too, as well as perhaps inspiring you to follow us to some of these wonderful parks. I've not imposed any particular guidelines on myself, so there are usually several parks per letter, and often more than one photo (eg a scene and an animal and/or plant) per park. The first post was well-received so I hope that this one will be too. Coincidentally we have the exact same count as last time - 34 parks across six continents. The parks are presented alphabetically within each letter, and where I have posted more fully on a park in the past I offer a link to that post.

 H

Last time I failed on the very first letter to provide an Australian park - this time it's the other way around, with no overseas parks that I could offer for the H. Indeed I can only find one Australian H park that I can (scantily) illustrate. 

Plumed Whistling Ducks Dendrocygna eytoni on Hasties Swamp National Park on the 
Atherton Tablelands of tropical Queensland. There are generally hundreds of these
gathered around the edges of the swamp where they roost by day and graze in the surrounding 
grasslands at night. Hasties Swamp is a very small national park - less than 60ha - but is a
very important wetland, attracting huge numbers of birds in the dry season.
We are serviced there by a most splendid two-storey hide but strangely I seem never 
to have taken a photo of it or the swamp itself!

I

Compared to the H's, the I's have it with regard to the parks, but not by many - there are some pretty good ones among them though.  

Yellow-footed Rock-Wallaby Petrogale xanthopus, Idalia NP, central Queensland.
Idalia is a favourite of ours though the first time we went there, long ago, a flash flood
came through the tent in the early hours of the morning, soaking our bedding and 
destroying my camera. It was a long night and an even longer drive out on wet clay roads.
More recently we've returned and had an excellent stay in the lovely quiet extensive
campground. These beautiful wallabies used to be relatively common in a couple of 
limited arid range distributions in South Australia and far western NSW, plus central 
Queensland, but they are now scattered in mostly isolated populations and seen 
readily only in the Flinders and Gawler Ranges of South Australia. In NSW they survive 
in two western ranges, and in Queensland they are restricted to ranges in the
 centre of the state, including Idalia. This was a thrilling encounter.

 

The walls of Ikara (also known as Wilpena Pound) from within the pound, Ikara-Flinders Ranges NP,
central South Australia. This park is an important one to me as I've been visiting it for 50 years,
especially when I lived in Adelaide. It comprises a semi-arid series of ancient sedimentary 
ranges running south-north for some 300km, getting drier to the north. This park is in the 
central part of the ranges, but there are other reserves both north and south of it. 
The pound is a huge crescent-shaped amphitheatre covering some 8000ha. 
The park also features impressive drives through broad gorges and spectacular views along the way.

 

A feature of the park, along the many (usually dry) creeklines, are truly ancient
River Red Gums Eucalyptus camaldulensis, such as this one near the Ikara campground.

Plateaus (which we'd probably call 'jump-ups' in Australia) and gorges are features of another
semi-arid sandstone park, but Isalo NP is in central southern Madagascar. It protects some 
80,000ha of dry woodlands and wetter vegetation in the sheltered gorges. Local guides are
required to access the park, so the local community benefits from it.

 Madagascar Ground Boa Acrantophis madagascariensis in Isalo NP. This beauty was close to
the largest that the species grows, about three metres long. Like nearly all Madagascan wildlife
it is under threat but there seems to be no immediate danger to its continued existence. It is not 
a true python but is in the same family as the South American boas and anacondas.

  

 K

Lots of Ks! We begin though (alphabetical remember) with a park that has a good claim to being Australia's premier national park, in size (the largest national park in Australia), wildness, direct connection to living ancient cultures, annual visitation and World Heritage listing among other criteria. 

Maguk Falls, Kakadu NP, Top End of the Northern Territory. Kakadu covers two million
hectares of sandstone country, with many rivers and waterfalls; this is one of the loveliest. 
For more on Kakadu see here; it will lead you to a second post too (these are on the wet and 
dry seasons respectively).

 

The pool at the top of Gunlom Falls - a true 'infinity pool' where you can refresh after
the slog up from the flood plains of the Alligator River far below and gaze out over them
from the edge of the pool. 

Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeon Petrophassa rufipennis on Burrunggui (often incorrectly
known as Nourlangie Rock). This unusual pigeon is restricted to the sandstone
escarpments of the Top End.

 

White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster gleaming against the louring 
storm clouds at Cooinda (or Yellow Waters). Soon after this the clouds
delivered on their threat!

Murchison River Gorge at Ross Graham Lookout, Kalbarri NP, Western Australia. 
The gorge extends for 80km through this, another superb sandstone park covering 180,000ha 
on the mid-west coast of WA, near Geraldton. In addition to the gorge and sweeping sandplains
exploding with flowers, there are spectacular coastlines; more on it here.

 

 

 

Tamala Rose Diplolaena grandiflora, Kalbarri NP. I think that this is a stunner,
but I could as readily have selected any number of equally spectacular plants
to represent the sandplains above the gorge.

Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park, near Coober Pedy, northern South Australia, 
above and below. Its 14,000ha protect a dramatic landscape of plateaus and eroding mesas
whose origins lie in 115 million year old marine sediments, coloured by iron compounds.
The silcrete caps visible in both photos slow the erosion process..

 

Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes resting on the rainforest floor in the wonderful 80,000ha Kibale NP
in south-western Uganda. My day there was one of my life highlights, and especially for 
spending (carefully monitored and limited) time with part of a large group of habituated chimps.
What a privilege! More on this amazing day and superb park here. 

  

The view of Killarney NP, county Kerry in Ireland, from the Ladies' View Lookout at the top of the 
range as you approach from Kenmare to the south, with loughs, heathland and bare rocky hills.
It's a grand landscape but like most of Ireland it's a degraded one, with the forest being 
increasingly cleared over thousands of years. However within its 10,000ha there are significant 
remnants of the diverse oak forests in the valleys, especially near Torc Falls, and they are said
to be the most extensive in Ireland.

Mighty Mount Kinabalu, dominating the Kinabalu Park in northern Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.
The 75,000ha protects significant tropical rainforest, but the habitat of course changes with
altitude, to 4100 metres above sea level. It's been a park for over 60 years. Many people make
the long arduous climb to the top but we were content to explore the lower forests for a few
hours, descending in torrential rain. Memorable all round.

 

Golden-naped Barbet Psilopogon pulcherrimus on Mount Kinabalu. The Asian barbets
are now recognised as forming a different family from both the South American
and African barbets. All are primarily colourful fruit-eaters. 
Maybe I'll do a post on them one day...

 

Poached Egg Daisy Polycalymma stuartii growing in its typical habitat on a red sand 
dune in Kinchega NP in far western NSW. The park is best known for the Menindee Lakes
system, fed by the Darling River when in flood, and the big historic woolshed,
but there are also large areas of semi-arid woodland on the floodplains and dunes.

Delicate fungi helping to return a rotting tree log to the forest floor in the dim rainforest
light of Korup NP in south-western Cameroon on the Nigerian border. It contains some
125,000ha of largely undisturbed rainforest, and is only accessible on foot. It's a 
memorable experience to be walking in such a vast forest, seeing Forest Elephant
droppings on the track and hearing (but rarely seeing) big hornbills flapping overhead; 
I saw surprisingly few birds there, though they were certainly present. The big 
attraction was the population of fascinating Grey-necked Rockfowl Picathartes oreas.
After a trek in drenching rain and a wait sitting on sharp-edged granite by a cliff face where 
they nested I did get a brief but clear view, which will stay with me forever - no photo though.

These extraordinary termite mounds with the mossy cap were all along the tracks.

Old Snow Gum Eucalyptus pauciflora with new bark gleaming in the rain in 
Kosciuszko NP in the Australian Alps in south-eastern NSW. Another park of 
very high significance, especially as it's co-managed with other alpine parks
in Victoria and the ACT. 'Kosci' itself covers 700,000ha, but the overall
alps system parks cover 1.6million hectares, a protected area of world significance.
More on the park in three shortish posts from long ago, starting here.

 

Treeless alpine heathland with flowering Hoary Sunray Leucochrysum albicans, above
Lake Cootapatamba on the walking track to the Mount Kosciuszko summit (the highest,
but still not very high) point in Australia. For more Kosciuszko wildflowers, see a slightly
more recent post here.

Variegated Green Skimmer Orthetrum sabina, Kranji Marshes Reserve, Singapore.
This is a typically Singaporean reserve, utilising overflow from a reservoir to
create a 54ha wetland reserve which is now bursting with life.

L

Half a dozen or so L parks... 

African Fish Eagle Icthyophaga vocifer flying over the lake at Lake Mburo NP,
southern Uganda. Found around water bodies throughout sub-Saharan Africa,
its wild yelping wailing call is for me one of the sounds of Africa. This is not a 
large park (only 26,000ha) though it used to be much larger; politics played a sad
and brutal role in its history. Nonetheless I enjoyed my brief time there and saw a lot
of wildlife. The official line is still that there are no lions left in the park, but I most
certainly heard a pride calling as it passed my tent in the early hours of the morning -
the tent felt even flimsier at that stage. Walking up to breakfast later in the dark
was an interesting experience too.

 

Pin-tailed Whydah Vidua macroura, Lake Nakuru NP, central Kenya, though it is
widespread across the southern part of Africa. This is a breeding male which flaunts 
its ridiculously long tail during courtship by hovering slowly over the intended female. 
She is a brood parasite, laying her eggs in the nests of grass finches.
The park is an unusual one in that it is bordered along the northern boundary by Kenya's
fourth-largest city, Nakuru, which is somewhat off-putting for a visitor. However there
are many large mammals present, including both species of rhino and giraffes, all
three of which have been reintroduced. It is also bird-rich, including huge numbers of
both Greater and Lesser Flamingos, depending on the lake water levels.

Northern Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis in thorn tree woodland at Lake Nakuru NP.
These animals were moved for safety from western Kenya.

Volcano Pomerape (across the border in Bolivia) and Volcano Parinocota 
in Lauca NP in far northern Chile, in the 'corner' between Peru and Bolivia. 
This spectacular park is high (lowest point 3200 metres above sea level), cold and dry,
within the Atacama Desert (though the desert's precise delineation is debated). It is
also big, protecting 138,000ha of altiplano ('high plain'), with grasslands, lakes and 
salt pans large and small. It's an extraordinary place. The wetland above is a bofedal - see below.

Two uniquely South American animal groups feeding side by side in a bofedal, a high altitude
complex wetland of small ponds and 'meadows' of cushion plants. They are a 
Southern Viscacha Lagidium viscacia and a Grey-breasted Seedsnipe Thinocorus orbignyianus.
The viscacha belongs to an old South American rodent group which includes the chinchillas.
The seedsnipe family contains just four members of aberrant shore waders which have
adapted to eating plant material, often in high and/or cold situations. 
I love this juxtaposition. More on the park and its wildlife here.

Mount Lesueur in Lesueur NP near the coast south of Geraldton in WA. This is one
of the botanically super-rich sandplain parks in this part of the world. Its 27,000ha
supports almost 1000 species of native plants, many of them (well over 100) 
endemic to the region. It is regarded as one of most botanically important 
parks in the state. Much of the park is dominated by sandy heathland, but
there are areas of woodland as well.

Scarlet Featherflower Verticordia grandis growing by the road in Lesueur NP.
This stunning plant is one of the northern plains endemics. The genus (in family Myrtaceae)
contains over 100 species, all but two, which also occur in the NT, being endemic to WA.
The genus name means 'heart turner' - works for me!

Lord Howe Island lies 600k east of the Australian mainland (off the north coast of NSW), a crescent-shaped island which formed from a volcanic eruption only seven million years ago. Every plant and animal native to the island is descended from ancestors which drifted or flew there in the past and then lived and evolved in isolation, so there are many endemic species. The island is legally part of NSW and over 70% of it (including the outlying Ball's Pyramid) is protected in the Lord Howe Island Permanent Park Preserve which is the equivalent of a national park (and no, I don't know why it isn't a national park!). The surrounding seas are protected in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park.

Flesh-footed Shearwaters Ardenna carneipes flying in front of the dramatic spire
of Ball's Pyramid. When you book a boat trip to the pyramid (you can't land on it)
there's a good chance you won't be able to go because of the weather. 
We were lucky and we're glad we were because it was a memorable day.

Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda soaring along the Malabar Cliffs on the
north shore of Lord Howe. It was an extraordinary experience to be looking down
on these exquisite birds. More about this walk here. (My blog posts back then
came out every few days, so were much briefer!)

Kentia Palms Howea forsteriana are among the world's most popular indoor plants
and garden plantings, but here they are growing in their natural habitat on Lord Howe.
Growing and exporting seedlings is a thriving industry on the island.
For more on the palms and the origin of their (and the island's) name see here -
one of the first posts I ever wrote, way back when.

Lord Howe Island Woodhen Hypotaenidia sylvestris. This is a flightless rail found only
on Lord Howe, where by 1980 it was teetering on the brink of extinction with only 15
birds left. A captive breeding program and the elimination of feral pigs which were
preying on the nests produced a wonderful conservation success story! Now you
can encounter these delightful birds just about anywhere on the island.

Lago Miscanti, one of the most beautiful landscapes I ever saw, Los Flamencos National Reserve,
northern Chile near the Bolivian and Peruvian borders. High in the Atacama Desert (over 4000masl)
the lake supports special species like the Giant Coot. The reserve covers 74,000ha of mountains, desert
and especially major saltflat lakes, fed from glacier melt from the mountains above.

Andean Flamingo Phoenicoparrus andinus, at Lago Chaxa which is at a lower altitude 
than Miscanti. The environment is ncredibly harsh, but several species of uncommon 
waterbirds live here, and the Andean Flamingo breeds here. It is a threatened species 
which lives only in a restricted range in the Andes from far southern Peru 
to northern Chile and Argentina.

Rufous Bristlebird Dasyornis broadbenti Lower Glenelg NP, south-western Victoria.
We enjoyed this lovely 27,000ha park for three nights in dubious circumstances in 2020. 
We were about to cross into South Australia for a family wedding when the full impact of 
COVID-19 struck and the border closed. We'd already booked a campsite and the park
gates closed (metaphorically) behind us so for the 3 nights we had the park to ourselves!
The bristlebirds comprise three species of old Australians, all in isolated populations
and all very skulky. This is the only photo I've ever managed of this shy bird.
More on the park and our time there here.

M

Swarms of butterflies of several species gather on the river banks, perhaps to access salts
where a large animal has urinated. The Manu Biosphere Reserve covers more than 1.5 million
hectares of wild forest and rivers in southern Peru, from the ridge of the Andes down to
the Amazon basin. It is a world biodiversity hotspot, with 200 mammal species and 
1000 each of butterfly and bird species - both far more than the whole of Australia.

A crucifix orchid Epidendron secundrum growing in misty cloud forest at 3600masl
at Acjanaco Pass on the ridge of Andes where visitors coming from Cusco first
enter Manu. From here it is a seemingly interminably winding descent of over 3000 metres
to the frontier town of Atalaya where the Tambo and Urabamba Rivers converge to form
the Ucayali. From here the only road is the river. Manu is a great adventure.
You can read a bit more about the orchids of Acjanaco here.

Tall wet sclerophyll forest with tree ferns Dicksonia antarctica, Monga NP,
in mid-southern NSW at the top of the coastal escarpment. It supported uncommon
lush temperate rainforest dominated by Pinkwood Eucryphia moorei but much of this - 
including the much-loved Penance Grove with a boardwalk and interpretation - were destroyed by
intense fire in the summer of 2019-20. The grove has been removed from the official
website of the park, and it is not clear if it will ever recover. However most of the park's
25,000ha is dominated by this wet eucalypt forest, and that will recover in our time.
Here's a brief post from long ago of Monga as it was.

Dense cloud forest from the wonderful canopy walk in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
in central Costa Rica. (Disclaimer: this is a private reserve, though fully open to the
public, so doesn't strictly meet my criteria for this post. However the Monteverde area
is dominated by a series of such well-run reserves, plus a national park, and it's too
magnificent to leave out!) Its history, which began in the 1950s with a group of Alabama
quaker dairy farmers, is too long for here, but I'm going to do a whole post on it soon.

White-throated Magpie Jay Cyanocorax formosus, a striking jay of the Pacific slopes
of central America, often but not always in dry forest. 

Mantled Howler Monkey Alouatta palliata mother and baby, seen from the canopy 
walk; it's extraordinary to be able to see canopy wildlife at eye level - or even from 
above, like this. 

Eyelash Pit Viper Bothriechis schlegelii again from the canopy walk; it is peeking at us 
from within the coils. This is a fairly regularly encountered snake in Costa Rica; young ones
are often found in bushes, but the adults climb into the canopy where they wait for weeks
if necessary to ambush a bird, small mammal or reptile.

Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius, Mount Hypipamee NP, Atherton Tableland,
in the Queensland Wet Tropics World Heritage Area inland from Cairns. This magnificent
giant just stood quietly in the rainforest gloom while we kept our respectful distance
and tried to find a viewpoint through the foliage. They are threatened in this part of
the world, by dogs, traffic and isolation due to clearing, but on our recent visit
we had the impression that there was some sort of recovery - that's only an impression though.
The park is tiny, a mere 360ha of rainforest around an extinct volcanic crater,
but that's the sad nature of the remnant rainforest relics on the tableland.

Mighty Ningadhun, a volcanic plug in the overall volcanic landscape of 
Mount Kaputar NP near Narrabri in the mid north of NSW. Its 50,000ha supports
an impressive range of habitats from dry woodland at the base of the range,
through tall eucalypt forest to Snow Gums and subalpine heath at the top,
1300 metres above the plains.

Hartlaub's Turaco Tauraco hartlaubi, in the wet forests of Mount Kenya NP in 
central Kenya (and the country took its name from the mountain, the highest in Kenya). 
This is a grand park, 70,000ha of rocky icy peaks and montane forest. This stunning bird
centres its range in the Kenya highlands, just going over the border into Uganda and Tanzania.

A family of Giant Forest Hogs Hylochoerus meinertzhageni coming to a feeding station
(we think) below the lodge at Mount Kenya. The odd lighting is provided by the lodge.
We stood on our balcony in heavy rain enthralled by these beauties, an animal I'd
long wanted to see. For more on Mount Kenya, see here. 

A big male Red Kangaroo Osphranter rufus, the largest living marsupial, in 
a saltbush plain at Mungo NP in south-western NSW. Mungo is best known for its 
ancient burial sites that go back some 40,000 years, but its 110,000ha of huge dry lake beds 
(such as the one this old roo is standing on), eroding sand dunes, woodlands and mallee
contain very many important natural values too. It lies wholly within a much larger
World Heritage Site based around the dry Mungo Lakes system.
Lots more information and photos here. 

The mighty Nile thundering into the final gorge below the last cascade at 
Murchison Falls in Murchison Falls NP, in western Uganda below Lake Albert.
This was my first experience with the Nile and I found it very exciting, having
looked forward to it for some time. After squeezing through a narrow gap in the cliffs
the Nile flows west for a short distance into the lake, then immediately north again.
The park is vast, covering half a million hectares of woodland, rainforest, the Nile valley 
and part of Lake Albert. I loved it and you can read quite a bit more about it here, 
including the role of the Tsetse Fly in its existence as a park.

Shoebill Balaeniceps rex in reedbeds on the banks of the Nile the next day, after a lot
of searching. This was one of the highlights of a highlight-rich trip, the only member of 
its entire family. It uses its massive flattened bill to catch big fish, especially catfish and lungfish.
For more about it see here.

Budgerigars Melopsittacus undulatus in the campground at Mutawintji NP, far 
western NSW. This is a delightful arid land park with high cultural significance to
the  Malyangapa, Wilyakali, Wanyuparlku and Pantjikali peoples who are now deeply involved 
with park management. The park is big, 69,000ha, plus a recently added adjacent 
59,000ha State Conservation Area.

Mulga woodland (Acacia aneura) stretching across the plain to the 
Byguano Range in Mutawintji.
You can read and see more about the park here. 

N

To our last letter for this post, and a relatively modest five offerings, four Australian and one African.

I'll start with the ACT's only national park, our 'backyard park', Namadgi NP that protects most of the southern ranges of the ACT, including the Brindabellas. It covers 106,000ha, almost half of the ACT; even more importantly it is contiguous with Kosciuszko NP in the NSW (see under K above) and thence to the Alpine National Park in Victoria. In total this covers some 1.6 million hectares, and is one of the world's great park systems. It's an important place to me; I've been involved with it since 1984 when I had the honour of serving on the advisory committee that was set up on its inauguration, and did so on various 'daughter' committees for the next 30 years. I could go on for some time - and in fact in early 2020 I do so, in the form of four posts on the park, prompted by another fire raging through it, only 17 years after most of it burnt. That series began here. Meantime here's a much briefer tribute to it!

Alpine Sunrays Leucochrysum alpinum carpeting the summer understorey of Snow Gum
woodland near the top of Mount Ginini. In winter this can be snow-covered. 

Small Royal Grevillia Grevillea diminuta, a somewhat silly invented common name,
based on the species name and the fact that it was formerly included in Royal Grevillea
G. victoriae. More interestingly it is almost an ACT endemic, growing mostly only 
along a few kilometres of the ridge line of the Brindabellas. I think this gives it
the right to claim the position of the ACT floral emblem but that's been taken...
(I wrote a brief provocative post on this a long time ago; here.)

White-lipped Snake Drysdalia coronoides, on the Yerrabi Track in the south of the park.
This pretty little snake is well adapted to life in the high country; it can even
be found above the snow line in adjacent Kosciuszko NP.

Male Splendid Ghost Moth Aenetus ligniveren in the high Brindabellas. 
One of the most amazing moths I have ever seen. And to add to this weirdness
is the fact that the larvae burrow into the host plant and come out to feed at
night - on the bark!

Tasmanian Pademelons Thylogale billardierii, Narawntapu NP, northern Tasmania.
These delightful small wallabies - whose close relatives are nearly all tropical, plus one subtropical
 - are still common in Tasmania. They used to be also widespread on the south-east 
mainland too but were exterminated in the 19th century, especially by fox predation.
Narawntapu used to be known as Asbestos Range (!) but for pretty obvious reasons
the name was changed in 2000, though there are better reasons for using local
traditional names than just PR. It's a small park at just 4300ha, but is popular
for its concentrations of kangaroos, wallabies and wombats.
It's on the north coast of Tasmania north-east of Launceston.

The next park was another lifelong ambition; morever the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is effectively two parks under the same management, so gets a couple of extra photos here. Both sections are famous in their own right and most people interested in wildlife and the story of humanity would know of both the Ngorongoro Crater and the Oldupai (or Olduvai) Gorge which are close together but have very different habitats and thus very different fauna. And I can't offer a link to a full post on these places yet, because I haven't written it! I will soon do so though.

The Ngorongoro Crater stretching out to the distant walls from a roadside lookout 600 metres above 
the floor. Covering 26,000ha it is said to be the largest 'inactive, intact and unfilled' volcanic caldera
in the world, forming a natural pound in which an estimated 25,000 large mammals graze and hunt.

A typical shot inside the crater - here we can see Thomson's Gazelle, Plains Zebras and
Cape Buffalo, but Grant's Gazelles and Blue Wildebeest are also abundant.

The Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum is a very beautiful crane
of dry sub-Saharan grasslands; it is also the national bird of Uganda.

Nearby Oldupai (or Olduvai) Gorge is famed as the site of decades of trailblazing research
into the early origins of humanity by the team led by Mary and Louis Leakey from the 1930s.
This is the gorge where many of the of discoveries were made. We were told on site that
Louis self-reported for mistranscribing the name as 'Olduvai', by which it is still most 
often known in English.

The habitat here is much drier than in the lower, sheltered crater. One typical inhabitant
is this smart little Speckle-fronted Weaver Sporopipes frontalis, a bird of the dry savannahs. 

Minyon Falls surrounded by subtropical rainforest, Nightcap NP, north-eastern NSW.
The forest was slated to be logged and cleared in the late 1970s, but the Terania Creek 
protests led to the preservation of this forest in Nightcap National Park in 1983, 
followed by World Heritage Listing in 1989! It is now part of the Gondwanan Rainforests 
of Australia World Heritage Site. I told the story here, on the 40th anniversary of the protests; 
it's a good story and an important one in Australian environmental history. 
You'll also find more photos of the park there.

Well-fed Carpet Python Morelia spilota slowly digesting its most recent meal in the campground.

Nitmiluk Gorge (also known as Katherine Gorge), the best-known feature of Nitmiluk NP,
near Katherine near the top of the Northern Territory. The other much-visited section is 
Leliyn (Edith Falls). You can read more about both sections here. This huge park
protects 300,000ha of sandstone country, gorges, pools and waterfalls, and dry
woodland on the plateaus. It is superb.

Freshwater Crocodile Crocodylus johnstoni from the well worthwhile boat trip
through the sinuous Nitmiluk Gorge. I'd seen many Estuarine Crocodiles before
I saw this smaller fish-eating relative, which is only found in northern Australia
(unlike the 'saltie' which is also found throughout south-east Asia).

And that's it for this somewhat daunting post!! If you're still reading I'm grateful to you. Again I hope that this has both brought back some good memories and given you some ideas for future adventures. Meantime I'll again offer a different topic next time, before coming back to finish this series in December.

 

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 27 NOVEMBER

I love to receive your comments and in future will be notifying you personally by email when a new posting appears, if you'd like me to. This will mean one email every three weeks at the current rate of posting. I promise never to use the list for any other purpose and will never share it.
Should you wish to be added to it, just send me an email at calochilus51@internode.on.net. You can ask to be removed from the list at any time,or you could simply mark an email as Spam, so you won't see future ones.
If you do leave a comment - and I love it when you do - please remember to click the
box below your comment that says 'Email follow-up comments to...[your address]'
so you'll know when I reply - and I always do!