Weird title, I know, but that’s what it looks like this young forester kangaroo is doing. The rainbow is actually a lens flare, courtesy of aiming my camera into the sun. It was early morning on Maria Island and I was just heading home for breakfast when I saw a group of forester (aka eastern grey) kangaroos going about their kangaroo business, backlit by the rising sun.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5 at 1/4000th of a second

I wasn’t sure which of these shots I liked best, so I figured I’d post the sequence. This is a Cape Barren Goose, native to southern Australia, including Tasmania. They were all over Maria Island, although as I mentioned last week when I posted the Tasmanian devil, they may not be there for long. The geese nest in open grassland, making their chicks easy prey. Many of them have taken to spending more time on the beach to get away from the devils. Some conservationists aren’t happy about the introduction of the devils to Maria Island because they weren’t there originally, but neither were the geese. They were introduced in 1968. Maria Island aside, the Cape Barren Goose is doing quite well in the rest of its limited range throughout southern Australia. They are very large and attractive geese that rarely swim, although they are capable of drinking saltwater.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/500th, 1/640th and 1/640th of a second, respectively

The common brushtail possum lives up to its name. I saw a lot of them — both in Tasmania and on my previous trip to Australia ten years ago. The Tasmanian version of the common brushtail, however, has a much different look than the ones I saw on the mainland. They are much more chocolate/brown in color, as opposed to silver/grey. And they tend to spend more time on the ground, rather than in trees. This guy, however, was nestled into a nice flowering pine, as if sitting on his throne, and waving to me as I took his picture. Like most of the wildlife in Tasmania, the common brushtail is strictly nocturnal — nowhere to be seen during the day, but once the sun went down, everywhere.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 3200, f/8 at 1/200th of a second

I’ve photographed echidnas before (on my previous trip to Australia back in 2006). Even so, they were at the top of my list to get photos of on this most recent trip to Tasmania. For an animal that seems to aimlessly wander around, and rarely picks its head up from the ground, they somehow still manage to pack a ton of personality into their little spiked bodies. They are monotremes — along with the platypus — the only egg laying mammals left on earth. This echidna gave me a rare treat by lifting his/her head up, allowing me to get a shot of the open eyes. The echidnas on Tasmania are the same species as the ones on mainland Australia, but they have less spikes and are furrier of face.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 220mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/15th of a second

Off the southern tip of Tasmania’s Bruny Island (or as the locals call it, the Bottom End) there are several rocky islands inhabited by colonies of both Australian and New Zealand fur seals. The two species are very similar, although the New Zealand fur seals tend to be a bit smaller and darker. The sea was very rough on the day that I visited and we weren’t able to maneuver the boat very close, but it was the perfect distance to capture landscape shots of the crashing waves below the colony.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/6400th of a second

Tasmania, like most of Australia, is a great birding spot. There are twelve endemic species on the island (meaning found only in Tasmania). All of them have never been recorded on the mainland. I was able to get decent looks at eight of the twelve. This is the only parrot that makes the list — the green rosella (although the endangered orange-bellied parrot and the swift parrot are known as breeding endemics — they breed only in Tasmania but migrate to the mainland outside of breeding season). Rosellas are beautiful birds, and in addition to the green rosella, there are five other species found throughout Australia and the surrounding islands (on a previous trip, I managed to photograph the crimson and the eastern rosella). The green rosella is the largest of the six species. They are actually a bit more on the yellow side, with blues, reds and greens mixed in. They typically feed on the ground and primarily eat seeds, berries, nuts, flowers and fruit, as well as the occasional insect. This guy was munching on a purple thistle weed and didn’t seem to mind all the prickers — at least not at the time.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second

I visited two islands off of mainland Tasmania. One was Maria Island and the other Bruny Island. Unlike Maria which is all national park with no vehicle traffic or accommodation other than camping (or staying in the old prison barracks), Bruny Island has more than just wildlife among its residents, and is a vacation spot for mainland Tasmanians and tourists alike. I went to the island primarily for the rare white wallabies that live there. They are actually Bennett’s wallabies, also known as red-necked wallabies. Most are a dark brown, but some exhibit a recessive gene that produces the white fur. I was hoping to find a few amongst the mob (that’s what you call a group of them) grazing outside my cottage in the early mornings and evenings. Not only did I find a few, but I came across this mother with her non-white joey. At first she was a bit skittish, but eventually went about her business, allowing me to take quite a few photos, both with existing light and with flash, and with the joey in and out of the pouch.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 220mm) ISO 3200, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash

In addition to all the great wildlife, Tasmania is an incredibly beautiful place. For an island that’s only about the size of West Virginia, there’s such a wide geographic diversity. I ended up taking a lot more landscape photos than I usually do. This one was at a place called Wineglass Bay in Freycinet National Park on the east coast. Freycinet is a fairly popular park by Tasmanian standards, but I avoided the crowds by hiking in just before sunset (which meant that I’d have to hike an hour and half back out — up a fairly steep and rocky trail — in the dark). It was well worth it to have the beach to myself as the sun dipped below the horizon. The orange lichen on the rocks is very characteristic of the north east coast of Tasmania.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 100, f/20 at 2, .5, 1, 4 and 8 seconds

Every trip I take, I seem to discover a new favorite animal. On this trip, that animal was the eastern quoll. These nocturnal, carnivorous marsupials are about the size of a small domestic cat. They come in two color varieties, both a light brown (referred to as fawn) and a near black, like this guy. Siblings can exhibit either color, with fawn being three times more common. Eastern quolls have been considered extinct on mainland Australia since 1963, but they continue to thrive throughout most of Tasmania, most likely due to the lack of foxes or dingoes. There are, however, three other species of quoll that live in Australia and another two that live in Papua New Guinea. On Tasmania there are two, including the spotted tail quoll, which I was also lucky enough to photograph. Quolls closest relative (and enemy) is the Tasmanian devil. The above eastern quoll was photographed in the wilds of north eastern Tasmania.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 290mm) ISO 500, f/6.3 at 1/200th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash