The Village is very pet friendly and residents have a variety of pets as well as a range of local wildlife which seem to enjoy visiting us…

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December 2022

Barbara reports;

“Just witnessed these two in my garden. Such a thrill. Blue tongue lizard ate a dead locust whilst I was watching. No wonder it looked so fat!! ”

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August 2021

Richard reports that Quinn is finally getting the message about isolating  at home and how boring it is….

August 2021

Brian and Kerrie had these cheeky and hungry visitors on their balcony rail at breakfast time..

August 2021

Barbara reports; “Not quite in the village but nearby down on the Waterfront.. this Cormorant was drying its wings in the sun”

July 2021

Richard Reports; “Quinn is not impressed at all with the extended lockdown”.

July 2021

Diane reports for Jude; “Little Priscilla is too small to walk too far, so now she rides in a baby carrier and loves it”.

Some of our village pets sure have a great life!!!!

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July 2021

This one is not exactly in the village but is near enough. With the Covid lockdown affecting us all the walkway just behind our village has become an important asset as we get our daily exercise.

Most who have walked the track will have seen the bicycle that was placed high up into a tree many months ago by someone with a strange sense of humour. Leonne and Danny walked past today and spotted this kookaburra that is now making good use of the high altitude bicycle.

And here is a closeup….

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May 2021

Dianne reports….
“We had a visit from this Tawny Frog Mouth last night….”

But he doesnt look very happy…. or do they always look like this??

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January 2021

Barry says…..”I don’t only grow plants in my hanging baskets ….Bazz”

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January 2021

Jean reports…..”A new visitor has taken up residence in our garden. He (?) is calling constantly – presumable for a friend – and so far one has arrived, then left! First thoughts is that he is a Pallid Cuckoo – but not sure, so any help in identifying him would be appreciated….”

Just to add a bit more to Jeans request for info.. she has now sent over a recording of the birds call..
This is the first time I have tried to post a sound recording on our website!!!
Just click to run the sound file below ..

And here are a few replies to Jeans request for information;

“Hi all. Looks like a female Koel to me……. Barbara”
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“I’m guessing a female long-tailed koel. See attached description……. Clare”

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“I agree with the “female Koel” thought. See picture below from a website. The male of this bird makes the sometimes irritating repetitive cooee call – often into the night. The call of the female has been described as  kek-kek-kek-kek. The photo below may help Jean to identify it more exactly…… Peter A ”

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And finally, thanks from Jean for all of your help and comments;

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December 2019

Dianne is an avid wildlife “spotter” and noticed this poor wet and bedraggled bird trying to dry itself off after a recent storm. It was flapping its wings furiously as can be seen…

November 2019

Dianne thought that this photo of a Willy Wagtail having a “bite to eat” near her balcony window was worth sharing..

October 2019

Jill sent in this photo of Robins much loved cat…

Nice photo!!

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September 2019

Joan opened the kitchen blind this very rainy morning and there were these two very wet and bedraggled looking pair of lorikeets sheltering out of the rain and cuddling together on our walkway.

June 2019

Barbara sent in this photo of a Tawny Frogmouth taken during one of her recent walks.

April 2019..

Helen D sent in this photo of her visiting friend….

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April 2019… John M and Jan C sent in these photos of Waterfront Willy, who enjoys making friends with residents. No doubt he picks up the odd morsel at times too…

Here are Johns photos….

And Jan added to this photo from when she was out gardening.

Anyone out gardening is automatically a “friend” of Willys..

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A beautiful tawny frogmouth, February 2019.

Thanks Kerrie and Gloria….

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Kooka’s on the rail, February 2019

Kerry also sent in this photo of Brian getting chummy with a friendly Kooka….

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Bird Baths, February 2019

Many residents maintain bird baths on their balconies and in gardens and these have seen plenty of action lately with our continuing extremely hot weather.
Barbara sent in these photos of her recent visitors thoroughly enjoying themselves..

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Bower birds Bowery November 2018

Jan forwarded this photo of a Bowerbirds nest over at the waterfront…

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Blue tongue lizard, November 2018

John sent in this recent photo of his resident lizard, Cody, who has been out and about enjoying the sunshine….

Did you know;
Blue tongue lizards are a great asset to have in your garden as they love eating snails, caterpillars and other pests. Using chemicals and snail pellets is the quickest way to wipe out your local Blue Tongue population. Blue tongues need plenty of places to hide such as rocks and logs on the ground, piles of leaves and low shrubby bushes. Old ceramic and poly pipes around your yard will also provide good hiding places and escape routes for your lizards.
Other main threats to Blue Tongues are cats, dogs, cars and lawn mowers. They do not run away when danger threatens, but puff themselves up and stick out their tongues. Not a good defence against a lawn mower. To protect your lizards, keep your cats locked up, take great care when mowing long grass and ask your neighbours to also not use chemicals. Dogs can be taught when young not to attack Blue tongues, but when older it can be difficult. One lady retrieved a dead Blue Tongue from her dog, covered it in a non toxic nail polish with extremely bitter taste designed to prevent nail biting, and then gave it back to her dog. This worked very well and her dog never touched another lizard, even though it would bark frantically at them.
Blue Tongue lizards can live as long as 30 years, and will become quite used to you and your family. They are a wonderful native animal to share your garden.

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Plover & 3 Chicks, August 2018

Spring must be in the air and John sent in this photo of a Plover with her 3 chicks on his lawn…

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Female Koel, October 2017

Barbara sent in this photo of a female Koel.

“I was sitting in the sunroom with my phone nearby when she landed at the bird bath but I wasn’t game to move any closer or she would have flown away.”

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Visiting Owl, June 2016

Dianne sure seems to attract a few visitors.

She wrote  “……. I don’t know who got the biggest surprise – came out one evening to walk Cooper and there he/she was on the railing outside my front door…….”

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Tawny Frogmouths, April 2016

Dianne zoomed in on these with her camera from her window recently..

They really blend in with the tree bark… Is that an attempt at camouflage???

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A cat and friend, April 2016

Rosemary sent in this photo of her cat and stick insect friend.. she claims ownership of the cat but not the stick insect…

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Tawny Frogmouths, December 2015

Rosemary and Dianne have taken interest in a family of three Tawny Frogmouths now resident in a tree near the Waterfront complex…. What a great variety of wildlife we get around here..

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Strange Bird, December 2015

Barry… reported a strange visitor to his backyard recently. Does anyone know what type of bird this is???

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The Stick Spider,  July 2015

Kay reports,
Last week I had a stick spider take up residence on my kitchen window sill. He was there for about a week moving from one end to the other. My grand daughters thought this was great.

But then he had a visit from a couple of lorikeets.

 Thanks Kay…

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Freddo the Frog, July 2015

Heather recently found this visitor in her yard….

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Bain the Dog, June 2015

Clive and Gloria have a house guest who has accepted their apartment as his own. Say hello to Bain if you see him around the village as he takes either Clive or Gloria for a walk. (Love the front teeth….)

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Million Paws Walk

Jan, George and Molly went for a stroll in the “Million Paws Walk” (to raise funds for the RSPCA) recently.  It was a beautiful day and they all completed the 4.5km walk around the foreshore at Gosford in one and a quarter hours, which was a great achievement. The three walkers – or should that be two walkers

Sometimes it’s just easier to not walk

And some just love to dress up a bit

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Heather J

Heather has a new houseguest.. That is really fat fur…

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Brian

Brian has not just reported one example of wildlife but estimates that there were around 50 of them….. They must love this village.

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Gloria

Gloria has advised that the village has a new resident called Tillie….

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Ian & Dorothy

Ian & Dorothy had a visitor who enjoyed this prime sun baking spot in their garden..

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Rosemary

Morpheus was not too sure about this… but it all turned out well in the end…

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Danny

This Kookaburra knows where to get a feed.. Danny has discovered that it just loves tucking into a feed of Chinese finger food.. But it is a messy eater and usually  leaves crumbs all over the balcony only liking the interior of a juicy dim sim.

This instant family arrived on a Sunday morning in Miriam & Pauls garden. Miriam had counted 19 eggs, but the ducklings bobbed about so much she can’t be sure if all are there. Life be in it.

This photo was taken by Hazel on her lawn.

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Robin

Robin has advised of some new residents nearby.

Robin reports “Two Tawny Frogmouth birds have taken up temporary residence at Alloura Waters in the driveway.  They were there all day yesterday when I took a number of photos.  This morning they were there again … holding on tight in the very strong winds.“

They do look a little the worse for wear after a dark and stormy night….

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