Two spring haiku

bush warbler

shitting on the rice cake

edge of the veranda
                                            uguisu ya / mochi ni funsuru / en no saki,   Basho    Spring 1692

Swamp Wallaby

shitting on the path

eating our grevilleas                                                                                                          Spring 2015

The Swamp Wallaby is not a member of the same genus as the other Brush Wallabies. It is a generalist feeder and as well as grazing browses shrubs and flowers and causes more damage to the garden. It is much shyer than the eastern Grey Kangaroos that graze the grasses. If disturbed it bounds back into the forest. It will have a home a shelter down in the densely vegetated gully of Oyster Creek and emerges to feed out of the forest early morning and late afternoon.

It is a solitary animal (the roos are social) and its territory can be as large as fifteen hectares and the species has a wide range extending from Victoria to North Queensland, mostly coastal areas but can also be in Western NSW. (The Eastern Grey Kangaroo ranges even further, from northern Tasmania to Cape York). The Red-necked Wallaby is also present in this area and shares the similar broad range of habitats with the Swamp Wallaby.