Cat Davidson

Some days the weather is perfect .... you find just the right bridge, at just the right time .... and Platypus magic happens.

#TourGuide #Tasmania #Platypus #NotABird

We found this adorable family of Tawny Frogmouths high above us on a branch. The parents continued to snooze and act like perfect mottled tree trunks, while the fluffy chicks boggled at us with their big yellow eyes.

#Birds #BirdGuide #TawnyFrogmouth

Tiny, ginger fluffball with a red-bald cap - the ever adorable Eurasian Coot chick!!

#Bird #BirdGuide #EurasianCoot

In the South-West of West Australia there are some tough to find local birds known as 'The Big Three' - tricky due to their cryptic colours and skulking nature.
This was a fabulous view we had of the Western Bristlebird, sound on for its very lovely sweet song
#Birds #BirdGuide #WesternBristlebird

A stunning Australian Hobby ripping up its lunch while perched over a creekline in the Northern Territory. The Hobby is in the Falcon family and hunts diurnally and crepuscularly on mainly birds, bats and insects.
Sound on for a bit of drama.

#Birds #BirdGuide #EcologyGuide #Hobby

This teeny tiny Little Kingfisher (Ceyx pusillus) measures a minute 12cm high and just over 10g We spotted one on South Alligator River and would have danced a jig of joy, would it not have upset the boat and tipped us in with the Salt Water Crocodiles..

#LittleKingfisher #BirdGuide #Birds

Well this very nice thing just happened where I won Australian Tour Guide of The Year, I am chuffed to bits. Who knows where this may lead, but I am excited to find out 😀

#BirdGuide #EcologyGuide #TourGuideOfTheYear

Glorious Spinifex Pigeons engaging in a courtship ritual involving a "kiss" where the male presents his open beak for the female to insert hers. Watch to see the male regurgitating into the female's beak, a pair bonding behavior used later for feeding young.

#BirdGuide #Birds

The impressive, & slightly aggressive pre-mating dance of the Western Bowerbird beside his incredible bower packed with special white and green treasures - she seemed pretty impressed with his rizz.
Do admire his pink erectile-crest blossom of neck feathers!

#BirdGuide #WesternBowerbird

Thought I'd swing by and say what a fantastic style of interview you do. You research the bejeezus out of a topic and then balance two people's input beautifully, listening and responding to what they say in real time while planning your next prompt. It is a delight and an education to listen to you

Bronzewings are beautiful Australian Pigeons with a rainbow shimmering within their wings. They fill the spring and summer soundscape with their lovely relentless ooom ooom ooom ooom ........

#Birds #CommonBronzewing #Tasmania #BirdGuide

Smiley me on a blue bridge with my award

Tickled pink to win the 'Tasmanian Tour Guide of the Year' Award. Thrilled that guests seem to like my science sass.
I took some chilly photos in the glowing blue bridge lights in Launceston to celebrate.

#Tasmania #EcologyGuide #BirdGuide

I agree, it has a very voley vibe 😍

Yes indeed, I always wish it was not a 'Rat'. I often just call them Velvet-furred and don't finish the name on purpose.
Hopefully one day we will widely use its Aboriginal name again like we have done with the Rakal. I have read that it is known as Koota in Victoria 🙂

The sweetest wee Velvet-furred Rat native to Australia, living its best life in a Baurera bush.

#Tasmania #EcologyGuide

That sounds fabulous, I had no idea this conference was on. Strategizing how I can talk someone else into running my tour so I can come.

The male Scarlet Robin brings a glorious splash of red as he arrives with a flutter and a merry trill to see if we have disturbed any tasty insects.

The male Scarlet Robin brings a glorious splash of red as he arrives with a flutter and a merry trill to see if we have disturbed any tasty insects.

#birds #birdguide #Tasmania #Petroica

A Black Swan cygnet in southern Tasmania.

In the winter months I always miss the presence of these fluffballs - A Black Swan cygnet in southern Tasmania.

#Birds #BlackSwan #Tasmania #BirdGuide

I'm doing a talk on the nightlife of Bruny Island, do come along if you happen to be nearby.

An engaging presentation that will unveil the fascinating lives of the island’s nocturnal residents.

10th May - 6pm
Adventure Bay Hall, South Bruny
$10 per person

www.eventbrite.com.au/e/after-dark...

For ongoing information on our wonderful Swift Parrots and some devastating & important new research, follow the fabulous @teamswiftparrot.bsky.social

A critically endangered Swift Parrot chick sheltering in the pouring rain under the luminous orange flowers of a Eucalyptus ficifolia

A critically endangered Swift Parrot chick sheltering in the pouring rain under the luminous orange flowers of a Eucalyptus ficifolia.

#birdguide #birds #Tasmania

The cheerful and charming Beautiful Firetail with its rocket red bum and tiny cartoon robber facemask. Tasmania's only native finch, I beam with joy each time I discover one.

#birds #birdguide #Tasmania

A perfectly pinstriped Striated Fieldwren singing its heart out on top of a sun-drenched Richea pandanifolia in Cradle Mountain National Park.

A perfectly pinstriped Striated Fieldwren singing its heart out on top of a sun-drenched Richea pandanifolia in Cradle Mountain National Park.

#birds #birdguide #ecologyguide #tasmania

Camouflaged, beautiful, fierce - a fabulous Brown Falcon in the central highlands of Tasmania.

Camouflaged, beautiful, fierce - a fabulous Brown Falcon in the central highlands of Tasmania.

#birds #birdguide #Tasmania

A beautiful male Pink Robin, a pop of powder-puff pink in amongst the shady temperate rainforest on Bruny Island.

#birds #birdguide #tasmania #brunyisland

A flock of Hoary-headed Grebes passing by in the beautiful liminal light just before sunset on Bruny Island Tasmania.

#BirdGuide #birds #Tasmania #BrunyIsland

A beautiful mother and joey Tasmanian (Red-bellied) Pademelon in the dappled shade of the Eucalyptus trees on Maria Island. At this time of year, most joeys are fully weaned, but still spending time feeding near their mums.

#ecologyguide #tasmania #macropods

A recent tough, yet fascinating view of the final minutes for a White-lipped Snake as it was killed and eaten by a Kookaburra.

#birdguide #birds #tasmania

A tiny endemic Tasmanian Thornbill with its wee white underpants, copper highlights and faint chest striations bopping about in a Richea scoparia in the alpine lake in Tasmania.

#birds #birdguide #tasmania

A Great Egret with its wings extended out and a Great Cormorant with a curious expression, sharing the same sculptural dead tree.

An elegant Great Egret and a poised Great Cormorant sharing the same sculptural dead tree at a Hobart lagoon.

#birdguide #birds #tasmania