A Pied Oystercatcher, a black and white bird with a bright red bill and a red ring around its eye walks in shallow water looking for invertebrates around the tide line. These birds lay well-camouflaged eggs in a shallow scrape above the high tide mark on the beach, where they are easily crushed by cars, sniffed out by free-roaming dogs or trampled by people. The prey they feed on is also killed by vehicular traffic on the beach. In Australia these birds are regarded as vulnerable.

Do you know why Pied Oystercatchers have such strong opinions? Because they're shore birds.
They certainly would hold strong opinions about vehicle traffic on beaches, unrestrained dogs and climate change, because they only nest on shorelines. They need beaches far more than we do. #OzNature

With long antennae and green wings bearing a striking similarity to leaves a Katydid sits on a Eucalypt.

This Katydid, Narea elongata was photographed near Kanangra in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney back in January 2004. I don't believe there are many photos of this leaf mimic. #Orthoptera #OzNature #Ozinverts. @nvolpe.bsky.social Have you seen one?

A female green Katydid bends her abdomen forwards and presses her dagger-like ovipositor into a tiny crevice on a rock outcrop in central Australia.

Way back in 1991 I was working as a zoologist for CSIRO CAZR and I photographed this Katydid in the West Macdonnell Ranges, NT using its ovipositor to lay its eggs in a crevice. I have not seen this since. #OzInverts #OzNature #Inverts

Cunninghams Skinks (Egernia cunninghamii) at 14 months (left) and 26 months (right) basking on a stick placed in a rockery for the purpose. The younger lizard is getting the warmth from the sun and stealing the warmth from its older sibling, who moved off in a huff shortly after this photo was taken.

A juvenile Cunninghams Skink (Egernia cunninghamii), one of seven born on 25 January, basking beside a sibling born the previous year.

Eric, an 18 year old Cunningham's Skink (Egernia cunninghamii), who has fathered 17 young with his wife Glenda. I'd probably look like this if I had so many kids.

Every morning my wife and I sit drinking our coffee and watch the family of Cunninghams Skinks (Eric, Glenda and the 14 kids spanning three years of their offspring) that live wild in our yard catching the sun. They bring us enough joy to make us feel like millionaires. #Lizards #Herps #OzNature

A dark, brownish-grey bird with a rufous face, long, sharp bill, a pale throat, white streaks on the breast and a black-barred tail sits on a branch.

Treecreepers live up to their name by hopping up tree trunks and major branches looking for tasty invertebrates. This is a Red-browed Treecreeper from the south coast region of NSW. #Birds #OzNature #WildOz

A Fleay's Barred Frog with yellow flanks, rich brown skin, large black eyes and black bars on the limbs perches on a small rock by a rainforest stream.

How awesome are Fleay's Barred Frogs (Mixophyes fleayi)? The Faunaverse team explored their habitat and in spite of a recent flood there appeared to be good numbers of these beautiful frogs. #Frogs #Herps #WildOz #OzNature

An immature Cunninghams Skink (Egernia cunninghami) on a cushion looks at the photographer with a mix of suspicion ("Are you going to eat me"?) and hope ("Are you going to feed me?"). These long-lived lizards live in family groups and are one of the few reptiles known to show parental care. I have personally observed this lizard's mother attack a venomous Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis) that was easily big enough to eat her, and drive it out of the yard.

We have a resident population of Cunninghams Skinks (Egernia cunninghami) living around the property and as it gets cooler they often include the house in their explorations before overwintering under the hot water heater. This lounge lizard is about 13 months old. #Lizards #Herps #OzNature

A male eastern water dragon, a blue grey lizard with a black streak fringed with yellow running backwards behind its eye to above its shoulder, and black patches over its spine, an a red flush on its chest and lower throat. The lizards eyes are bright and fully alert as it basks on a moss-covered rock.

I think that everyone should know that although I am interested in a very wide range of topics, I really, really like lizards. Especially lizards in the wild, such as this male Eastern Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii) photographed in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. #Herpetology #OzNature

Loves Creek Station, Northern Territory, with Mulga woodlands, open mixed grasslands and eroded rocky ranges, all in beautiful pastels.

Loves Creek Station from the top of a hill, with eroded rocky ranges decorated with scattered trees, and open plains punctuated by rocky hills stretching to the far horizon.

Back in the early 1990s before OH&S departments got so overzealous they killed common sense I worked as a zoologist in the Australian deserts. This is before the days of GPS and I had to use my bush skills and not die while walking miles by myself. #OzNature #Deserts #Zoology

The She-oak Skink gets its common name from its Latin specific name Cyclodomorphus casuarinae. However, the "ae" epiphet on the specific name is feminine, and there were no French women called Casuarina at the time they were described or collected from Bruny Island (during the Baudin expedition). However, after a bit of digging I discovered that the French had purchased a smaller boat called the Casuarina when they were in Sydney. This is one of two Australian lizards (that I know of) that were named after boats, the other being Nactus cheverti, named after a US vessel. She-oak Skinks can reach a total of about 30 cm and give birth to live young. When threatened, they often hold their front limbs along the sides of their bodies and rapidly flick their tongues, which makes them look very snake-like. That's not a bad idea as long as the creature harassing you isn't a Tasmanian with a shovel. These lizards are quite harmless and one of my favourites.

In Tasmania there is a lizard that everyone thinks is named after a tree that was, in fact, named after a boat. The She-oak Skink (Cyclodomorphus casuarinae) is a usually secretive live-bearing species that occupies dense vegetation across Tasmania. #Herpetology #Reptiles #OzNature

A brownish gecko with rough skin and a brown mottled pattern looks at the photographer. The gecko has a carrot-shaped tail that had broad black and white bands.

A brownish gecko with rough skin and a brown mottled pattern looks at the photographer. The gecko has a carrot-shaped tail that had broad black and white bands.

How awesome are Border Thick-tailed Geckos (Uvidicolus sphyrurs)? These Carphodactylid geckos (found during a fauna survey conducted under permit) live where there is heavy woody debris, deep crevices in generally long-unburnt habitats. #Reptiles #Geckos #OzNature

Adult female wolf spider looking at camera while absolutely covered in tiny babies.

Adult female wolf spider so covered in tiny baby spiders that her body's shape is unrecognisable.

I have seen a lot of wolf spiders in my life. But I have never seen a mother wolf spider so laden down with babies as the one I saw tonight! #Spiders #OzInverts #Lycosids #OzNature

A small cute spider with ridiculously large eyes and strong black and white transverse bands looks like an Anime cartoon- but it isn't.

Here's my #EmotionalSupportSpood, a Pellenes bitaeniata from the north-west slopes of NSW Australia. #Spiders #OzNature #Cute #Salticidae

Read the alt text. #biodiversity #Oznature

Happy New Year from Team Faunaverse and our very pregnant Cunninghams Skink Glenda. #Lizards #Nature #WildOz #OzNature

A gecko hangs upside down beneath a narrow branch, its rear limbs wrapped tightly, its front legs extended, its head bent towards the branch with a slightly open mouth. The lizard has a pale belly with small, regular scales, and where its head is bent towards the branch the skin is folded at its throat. Its eyes are like black jewels and each of its toes has a rounded pad at the end, with a small claw sticking up from near the end of each digit. Only the gecko and the branch is illuminated by the small flash, leaving the background mostly black, apart from some of the closer leaves.

Night time is when it all happens and I strongly recommend folks put on some covered shoes and venture forth with a torch (preferably a fairly dim one) to see what you can find. This was at Faunaverse HQ tonight. A native Dubious Dtella (Gehyra dubia) feeding on sap. #wildoz #oznature #gecko

A suspicious lump of seaweed moves across the bottom of a rock pool. Or IS it a suspicious lump of seaweed? Decorator Crab (from “Faunaverse Wildlife in poetry Tasmania”) Those creatures in the rockpools have to put up with a lot, like stormy seas producing waves that crash, or a low tide on a summer's day that makes the water hot, it's a wonder they don't come out in a rash! Look in these water gardens and you may be quite astounded, that so many things can live in such a place; You'll see algae-grazing limpets that to the rocks are grounded, sea-anenomes that wave their arms with grace. But predators patrol these pools, there's gulls and hungry fish, that are quick to spot and eat unwary prey, but if you're quick or clever, you might not end up as a dish, or breed before you do so anyway. Let me introduce a friend, a master of disguise, who you might find in Tassie, if you seek, but you'll have to look so carefully, as this beast can fool your eyes, with its mastery of camouflage unique. The Decorator Crab is really very hairy, and each hair on his body bears a hook, and by this short description, it sounds a little scary, but you'll only see one if you really look. They use the hairy hooks to hold their camouflage in place, seaweeds plucked from pools that they inhabit, and although perhaps not pretty, like silk or bits of lace, a gull that cannot see it will not grab it.  So they don't attract attention, these crabs are never swift, and look just like the seaweed moving there, and to the most observant they are an unexpected gift, a clever crab with seaweed in its hair. ©Alexander Dudley

Merry #Crusmas - I present the Decorator Crab, Notomithrax ursus, and a #Poem about this amazing crab under alt text. #Oznature #zoology #wildlife #invertebrates

A small, pale, copper-brown skink with irregular darker blotches leans diagonally from a rock crevice. It has raised its slender body to avoid the heat radiating from the rocks and is looking at the photographer with its right eye, which is very large for the lizards size but covered in a transparent scale to avoid moisture loss. This scale is the remnant of its lower eyelid which is permanently closed, and one of the common names for this group of skinks is Snake-eyed skinks, because, like snakes, they can't blink.

Lizards that have evolved to live primarily amongst rocks often have longer limbs and digits than their more terrestrial cousins. This saxicoline (or should that be sexycoline) skink from the Gulf country of north-west Queensland is Cryptoblepharus zoticus. #wildoz #oznature #herps #lizard

A scene of differently-sized, slightly-rounded pebbles on a surface of clay. Some pebbles are yellowish, some are reddish, some ar shades of brown. There are scattered narrow leaves and small sticks on the ground, and amongst this chaotic scene is a small male reddish-brown gecko, which has twisted itself into a very un-gecko-like shape, its short fat tail curved into a sideways hook. The lizard is very easily overlooked among the other colours.

How good is camouflage? This Tessellated Gecko (Diplodactylus tessellatus) is using not only colouration to blend in, but posture to disguise its lizardy goodness. Can you see it amongst the pebbles and clay? #FindTheLizard #oznature #gecko #wildoz

A badge huntsman spider with alternate half-bands of yellow, black and blue beneath its legs, and black shiny fangs. It is clinging to the underside of a plantain leaf.

For all those who decided to follow team Faunaverse, Fangs a lot! #invertebrate #spider #oznature #wildlife

Team Faunaverse have a little colony of Eastern Broad-nosed Bats Scotorepens orion living under the capping of the post supporting the clothes line. #HollowsAreHomes #oznature #wildoz

A Box-patterned Gecko in an upright position clutching onto thin grass stalks looks at the photographer with large eyes. The upturned corners of the mouth make the gecko look as if it is smiling. The gecko is reddish brown above with a pattern of milk-coffee reticulations on the head and dots and dashes along the back. The belly is nearly white.

I went for a walk last night to see what I could see. Night time is when all the action takes place in the bush in summer. I found this delightful Box-patterned Gecko Lucasium steindachneri posing on a tussock. #WildOz #oznature #gecko

A large rough-scaled brown skink lounges lazily in an open crevice made by two planks of wood. She has white spots on her lips which fade along her body which is covered in keeled scales which form small ridges running along her obviously swollen body. Her tail is relatively short and tapering, and the keels are much more spinose. Her left front limb dangles lazily over the edge of the wood. Her demeanor is relaxed but her eyes are alert.

Unless I'm very, very much mistaken, the resident matriarch of our Cunninghams Skink family, Glenda is up the duff. Bebbies due to be born in early February. Don't be fooled by her calm appearance, I have seen this lizard attack and chase off a Brown Snake big enough to eat her. #wildoz #OzNature

A jumping spider, identified by two large forward facing eyes, clutches a tiny fly to its face with elongate dark and shiny front legs. The spider has a black head with a rich brown band on either side and across its face which encloses its six eyes. Its abdomen is a metallic brown colour. The spider is small, about 14mm in length and is clinging to a vertical leaf. Much of its lower face is hidden by the fly it is eating.

Faunaverse HQ is in a tiny town of about 20 houses in the middle of nowhere. Jane and I (Alex) enjoy a quiet life, but there is always drama and wonder to be found about the yard should we seek it out. Like this jumping spider of the family Salticidae feeding on a fly. #OzNature #OzInverts.

Team Faunaverse loves lizards, and fortunately our yard has a resident family of Cunninghams Skinks Egernia cunninghami, a large, social species of lizard that demonstrates care for the offspring by chasing off predators like Brown Snakes. How Many can you see? #FindTheLizard #OzNature #Lizards

A purplish-grey gecko with almost flourescent yellow bands across its back and a plain, grey tail. The gecko has very has large dark eyes and the upturned corners of its mouth make it look as if it's smiling. Which it isn't. When you live in a harsh environment and everything wants to eat you that is more likely to be a grimace than a smile. Besides these geckos eat centipedes and scorpions, and not many people smile when chowing down on something with too many legs that can bite back.

One of the most striking geckos Team Faunaverse has ever seen is this juvenile Gulf Velvet Gecko, Oedura bella. This one is regrowing a lot tail. #OzWildlife #WildOz #Lizard #Gecko #OzNature

Correct. The most commonly observed is Argiope keyserlingi because it lives near major cities but check out this fancy-pants spiral lady. #Spider #OzNature.

It's summer, and time for the March Flies to become active and somewhat annoying. But is there more to these maligned insects than meets the eye? Let the Faunaverse team introduce you to Milena, the heroine of pollination! #WildOz #OzInverts #OzNature. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkHD...

A small insect with semi-transparent heavily-veined wings three times its body length, held up at about 80 degrees. It has compound eyes and well-developed legs and a hunched body shape.

I thought I was pretty good with insects, but I've lived on my little block for over 21 years and haven't seen one of these before. Coolatai NSW. #OzInverts #OzNature #WhatsThisBug

A black wasp with cream bands drags a paralysed Wolf spider through the grass by its belly. The Spider's limbs are relaxed, raised behind it, its limb-like pedipalps on either side of its head are raised, giving the spider the appearance of having its head thrown back. Beware the wasp, little Spiderling, for she is your nightmare, She'll sting you and bite off your legs, then drag you to her lair. Within that darkened crypt my child, she'll lay a single egg, And when that egg should hatch, my child, for death you'll surely beg. You cannot move, you cannot scream, you cannot scratch or bite, You can't escape this horrid dream, this larval parasite. And as you shrink her young will grow, nestled close and feeding, All your thoughts, and all you'll know, is pain, and fear and bleeding. ©Alexander Dudley/Faunaverse

A lot of people don't particularly like spiders, but spiders are eaten by so many things that you have to have some sympathy for them. Especially when one those things is a Pompilid wasp larvae that feeds on the immobilized but still-living spider in a darkened cell beneath the ground. #OzNature