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Glow in the dark Scorpions
August 5, 2021When the sun goes down in the Australian outback a completely new suite of animals come out of hiding. This includes Urodacus macrurus, a large (up to 10cm in length) species of scorpion that occurs throughout central Queensland. These scorpions avoid the harsh sun during the day bunkered down in their burrow. Instead, they prefer… Read more »
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Eastern Snapping Frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae)
April 6, 2021While we acknowledge that there are still some parts of western Queensland that have received little or no recent rain, the downpours in areas such as Roma have stimulated frog activity that I haven’t seen since the last big wet years between 2010 and 2012. Standing on our home deck last night I could hear… Read more »
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How We Support Earth Hour
March 22, 2021Boobook (Ecological Consulting & Ecotours) based in Roma, Outback Queensland, supports Earth Hour’s #SwitchForNature campaign by implementing actions that encourages renewable resource use within our work place. Possibly one of our biggest energy saving projects has been the installation of solar panels at our main business premises. For us the decision was easy as it… Read more »
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Life’s Never Boring – Community Involvement
August 11, 2020Over the years I’ve been involved in many community groups in Roma Queensland – taking on various volunteering roles like President, Secretary, Treasurer, Coordinator and active member. Community involvement isn’t for everyone and it’s a personal choice whether one steps up to participate or not. Volunteering also depends on people’s passion/s, their community mindedness, financial… Read more »
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Life’s Never Boring – Meet Bonnie & Bronte
August 6, 2020We are cattle producers, however also do run a couple of pet sheep. Friends (who run a lot of sheep) gave us Bonnie who is now entrenched as part of the family. I always wanted a pet lamb – not sure that I do now though! About a month after Bonnie, these same friends organised… Read more »
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Where did Boobook tours get its name?
June 15, 2020Growing up on a farm in the South Burnett area and at the tender age of twelve I started my own business, being a Poll Hereford cattle stud. When registering my stud I had to decide on a prefix. Most nights after the radio and T.V. were turned off, and you were lying there listening… Read more »
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Sugar Gliders – Gliding through the Night
June 9, 2020You need to get the spotlight out at night to try to find these little critters. Widely spread across northern and eastern Australia, the Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps) is common within the Maranoa Local Government area and around the township of Roma. Belonging to the gliding possum family, their most distinguishing feature is the flap… Read more »
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Dining with the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo
May 25, 2020There are many amazing things about the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus ). One of these is its ability to find its favourite foods – wood-boring grubs! These are the larvae of beetles and moths which tunnel into various trees such as gum trees and wattles. In this snippet of footage, a male Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, uses… Read more »
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A Sting in the Tale…
April 15, 2020In the past few weeks several residents of Maranoa have asked us about busy swarms of wasps patrolling their lawn. The most abundant of these is variously called the Orchid Dupe Wasp or the Dusky-winged Ichneumonid Lissopimpla excelsa. These are small, red wasps with iridescent, charcoal-blue wings. If one lands for a moment, you may see… Read more »