Repeated calling gave the location

I have heard this bird calling in the vicinity for quite a few weeks but never close enough to see  or photograph. However it repeats its distinctive call often an I I identified it as a Bar-shouldered Dove. Today the calling seemed reasonably close and I saw the bird fly from one tree into another.Fortunately it stayed in position long enough for a photo, although the light was behind it which required the back ground to be over exposed to see the bird's features. 

 

These birds' habitat is eucalyptus woodlands, mangroves, scrubby bush and some urban areas. Their range is from the wooded areas of the top end down the east coast woodlands into NSW.

Heart shaped insect

Photographed and unusual looking insect that I hadn't seen before and was able to identify it as a Silky Lacewing Psychopis insolens  a delicate insect found in coastal regions of Queensland and NSW.

 

Out of the swamp

 First day of 2024 and a photo of a snake that I have seen a few times on the property but this was the first photo opportunity.

It is a Black-bellied Swamp Snake Hemiaspis signata also called a Marsh Snake, a smallish venomous snake with a painful bite but not considered dangerous. As their names suggests their habitat is generally marshy land or around water like farm dams, creeks etc where they feed on frogs insects and small rodents.

However they are also found in garden areas around homes, as was the case with this one, on a path between two garden beds.
 

They are quite widespread on the east coastal regions from tropical Queensland though to southern NSW. 

 

Tiny Mantis

Tiny mantis (3cm) on the railing of the deck this morning which I have found the ID as one of the Bolbe genus and this one found in Australia is known as the Pygmy Ground Mantis.

 

Night Heron at the small dam today

Today I had the second sighting of a young Nankeen Night Heron Nycticorax caledonicus at our small dam, that is amongst the trees behind our shed. The previous time I surprised it and it flew off the perch on a tree branch, some distance from me and I only had my phone, so the photo I took was poor quality and difficult for identification. However I thought it looked like an Australasian Bittern based on the colouring and markings. Today I had my camera with me and although I spooked it and again it flew to a branch in the same tree as previously I was able to get a better photo (not the best, as I was on full zoom and handheld)

 The markings are similar to the Australasian Bittern as this is a juvenile with very different plumage to the adult which has a black crown, with rufous upper body and a white belly and breast.

They range through most of Australia other than some of the desert regions, also New Zealand, New Caledonia, Micronesia, Philippines and some Pacific Islands.. As the name suggests they are active at night feeding around swamps, dams, rivers and creeks where frogs and night insects are their prey. During the day they roost in trees near the water sources