Steve A

Thanks Martin for identifying the Lacewing for me. Cheers +1

Thanks Staccyh, I was still getting used to the new macro lens, so everything in my garden got photographed.

Gary, this was a captive bird with licensed raptor rehabilitators. The owl was part of a display that was held in Treasury Gardens at the time. :-)

Thanks strang-oceanography14 (I think). Could someone translate for me please as I'm hopeless with language and Google tells me that is "Damn Son!" which seems a bit strange!

Hi Gilma, the survival rate of bats of this age are low. They are maintained at constant temperature and humidity, and are fed a formula diet - usually by a specialist bat carer. Some species are more resilient than others and have a better chance of survival. Bat carers will persevere regardless of these odds. In this case this little one did not survive. Nature can be ruthless despite our best efforts.

Thanks CindyCor, Little Red Flying-foxes are a bit skittish, so this one was keeping a very close eye on me, just in case it had to bolt for safety :-)

@KarenL Thanks - It is a great Blog article and very timely. The Qld Government (where this photo was taken) has re-introduced shooting bats to "protect crops" - as incredible as that sounds. This coming weekend (Nov 2 2012) there will be protest events opposing this. You can see details at www.thegreycross.org and www.dontshootbats.com

Update - after nearly 6 months in "rehab" looks like this grumpy goanna may be ready for release in a few weeks

@JasonHarris - It could be smiling?

Such an interesting animal. Such a pity that the Queensland Government has decided to reintroduce shooting these threatened animals "to protect crops" :-(