Susan Jochum
susan@sjochum.com
720-290-6762
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I recently went to Australia as part of an Earthwatch expedition.  I spent time in the cloud forest in North Queensland assisting researchers in surveys of birds, reptiles and mammals.   
A Metallic Starling in Cairns, Queensland. There were over a hundred of these in a tree I was standing close to and when they were spooked, they would all take off in unison, fly in a large circle and then return. The sound of their wings when they took off was mind blowing.
Another Metallic Starling. Most of them were all black but a few had white breasts.
A type of Bird of Paradise. Several of these were in a ditch along side the road near Cairns. They were just hanging out among the weeds.
No story behind this; I just like the photo.
Ditto
My friend Kermit. On a rainy night, sitting under a tarp with other volunteers, recounting the day's events and drinking wine, this Orange-legged tree frog jumped on my lap and just hung out with us until bedtime.
Scott was jealous of my pet so he found his own. It's a Leaf-Tailed Gecko
A Giant Centipede. This crawled onto my face one night in my tent right after I turned off my flashlight. I brushed it off thinking it was my hair and immediately knew it was a creepy crawly and not just a misplaced tassel of hair. I was able to take pictures while contemplating the best way to shoo it out of my tent. Cut and paste this into your navigator and watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf8pAwGsuF4
A tiny little frog. It was probably half an inch long.
Yellow Oriole. I guess you could say the oriole was the camp mascot. Several of them were always around. This particular one seemed to have Alzheimers. It would appear with fluff in its beak and would hop from limb to limb looking in all directions for its nest.
This was the neighborhood swimming pool. Beautiful, cool, clear, clean, rainforest water. The big limbs you see at the far end were great diving boards
Part of a web shared by several spiders. No spiders in this pic, I just like the design.
Skink, We surveyed these (counted them). They stayed well hidden until the survey was over for the day; then they were everywhere..
A stick insect in the hotel room. Wave bye-bye.
Two Rainbow Lorikeets. This was in Port Douglas. Rainbow Lorikeets are very common and were everywhere I went. Very noisy.
Red Dragonfly
I just thought this was funny
Mina Bird. Didn't see these in the rainforest but were in every city I visited.
Crimson Rosella?
Yes, this was at the zoo. I didn't see any Koalas in the rainforest.
At the zoo. This was an angry Black Swan. I learned my lesson from the trigger fish and when an animal gives me the eye, I kept my distance...but not before I get a good picture.
At the zoo. Laughing Kookaburra.
At the zoo. A Meerkat. And you thought meerkats were cute.
At the zoo...thank goodness...this is one of the deadliest snakes in the world. The Taipan
At the zoo. The blue tongue lizard...I wonder why they call it that.
A kangaroo at the zoo
So, I was diving at the Great Barrier Reef and examining some pink sand when my lights went out. Next thing I know, I'm reaching for my regulator which is floating at my side. Someone grabs me (I can't see) and takes me to the surface. My mask is shattered and I have glass in my eyes. It turns out I was looking at the eggs of a very angry Titan Triggerfish, she rammed me right between the eyes!!!
This was in the Cooktown park. I met a lady that rescued this baby Wallabee. What a joy!!!!
Me, at Australia's greatest sports celebration, the Melbourne cup. Well, the Derby wasn't in Sydney, but the party was!
Be sure to read my comments; some will make you laugh, squirm or just make you want to go down under.
(Don't worry, neither I nor the triggerfish were injured)
Read an interview from one of my 
fellow volunteers on the earthwatch expedition     >
I also did some scuba diving at the great barrier reef and spent a few days in Sydney.  Check out the photos.