B is for Bilby

A Family Visit

On the weekend, Uncle Tim flew West from Brisbane. K and I went to visit Nanna and Uncle Tim for a short while. We planned to visit the Barna Mia Animal Sanctuary, to hopefully see some bilbies and other native, endangered animals.

We prepared during the week by reading about bilbies, looking at photos and creating our own pictures.

We used different coloured sand we found in the garden to glue and create what we thought a bilby might look like.

The dalgyte or bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is a gentle animal with soft, blue-grey fur, long ears and a decorative black and white tail. It spends daylight hours in a deep burrow and emerges after dark to feed on insects, grubs, seeds, fungi and bulbs.

We headed out to Barna Mia just on dusk, taking plenty of care to drive slow on the gravel roads and avoid any kangaroos.



We stopped to take a photo in the woodland along the way.

At the animal sanctuary, we viewed an introductory slide show and talk on the breeding program and the current state of the animals the Department of Environment and Conservation are trying to save.

 

There was a large mural on the wall and K enjoyed trying to find, name and touch the animals.

The tour itself was under darkness with the guide using special red lights - so no photos. We were warned that because the moonlight was quite bright, it was unlikely we would see any bilbies (as they only come out when it is completely dark). We were lucky enough that one shy bilby did come to the feeding station for a short while. K did very well to contain her excitement and not move or speak (we had to be very still and quiet). 

We also saw a lot of boodies.The boodie or burrowing bettong is a social, vocal marsupial that lives in communal burrows. Once common in semi-arid parts of mainland Australia, it is now only found on a few small islands and mainland enclosures.

K was happy to use the $2 she had in her pocket to purchase this small souvenir.

The next morning, we made a quick trip to Yilliminning rock for a walk - a granite rock 48 metres high.

We climbed (walked) to the top with Uncle Tim.

K had fun pointing out what she could see in the distance.

We looked for shapes that we could identify.

On the drive home, we stopped to take some photos of the canola crop. K was fascinated by the masses of yellow flowers and kept exclaiming how beautiful the paddocks were. Thursday had to join in the photos as well.

I think this week we will read some more about bilbies and boodies, and also learn some more about canola crops (just right for practising our letters b and c). Although I grew up on farms, it has been a long time since I saw a canola crop being harvested.

Thanks Uncle Tim for joining our adventures. We hope to visit you, Aunty Melina and cousin Ethan in Brisbane one day soon.