Gayle Marien

The bird next door

3/6/2026

Off, off and away ... a male house sparrow. Photos: Gayle Marien

By Gayle Marien

WE HAVE so many wonderful birds on the Bass Coast that it’s easy not to notice the humble house sparrow. When I lived in the city, there were always sparrows scavenging for crumbs around cafe tables. Some were bold enough to steal a tasty morsel from our plates. As close as they came, I never took the time then to appreciate what enchanting little birds they are. It’s true they’re not a native bird, but they’ve been in Australia since the 1860s.

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Beetle vs spider

16/4/2026

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Feather-horned beetle, Wonthaggi Wetlands. Photos: Gayle Marien

By Gayle Marien

I WAS in the Wonthaggi Wetlands Conservation Park with my camera in mid-March, searching the bushes for insects to photograph, when I came upon a feather-horned beetle in a swamp paperbark tree.

Although I’d seen pictures of these beetles, this was the first time I’d sighted one. Its shiny black back was covered in white spots, and its upper legs were orange, but it was the large feather-like antennae that made it spectacular. The males use these to locate female beetles for mating.

The beetle flew from one branch-tip to another, expertly balancing on the narrow needle-like leaves. It would land for a moment of quick exploration before taking off again.

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The gardener’s friend

12/12/2025

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Gayle Marien welcomes the return of the not-so-humble hover fly

By Gayle Marien

The hover flies are back! I went to the wax-flower bush in our garden when it came into bloom earlier this month looking for honey bees to photograph and discovered an abundance of hover flies.

As soon as I spotted them, I raced inside for my camera and switched to my macro lens. I was hopeful these tiny insects with their oversized eyes, black-button noses, and their black and yellow stripes would strike a pose on a flower. They are tricksters dressed to resemble bees, but there is no cause to worry; they are harmless as they have no stinger. I got as close as I could without spooking them.

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Tricks of the trade

16/9/2025

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The fan-tailed cuckoo ... A charming visitor with a sweet song who cons the locals. Photos: Gayle Marien

By Gayle Marien

THERE was a time I thought the cuckoo was a European bird, but Australia has its share of these cunning tricksters. I first glimpsed a fan-tailed cuckoo amongst the eucalypt trees in the Wonthaggi Wetlands Conservation Park in October last year.

Its unusual colouring caught my eye. The cuckoo had a slate-grey head, back, and wings, a soft orange-cinnamon breast and belly, a tail with black and white bars, and yellow-rimmed eyes. It had a melodic call, somewhat of a trill, and I was treated to a performance at close quarters. My camera was working overtime.

I could barely wait to get home to identify and research the bird. I was surprised to learn it was a cuckoo and intrigued that something so elegant had a sinister side.

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A Day in the Life of the Wonthaggi Wetlands Conservation Park

7/4/2022

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A different kind of summer visitor

7/3/2022

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By Gayle Marien

I LOOK forward to February; it’s the time of year the leaf-curling spiders (Phonognatha graeffei) begin to arrive. They make their curled-leaf homes in our lily pily trees and rarely venture out, so it was a real treat this year to see one of them in the open, weaving her leaf closed.

As I watched her, a story unfolded, a story of the ‘Trials and Tribulations of Home Building.’

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The bird next door

​Beetle vs spider

​The gardener’s friend

​Tricks of the trade

A Day in the Life of the Wonthaggi Wetlands Conservation Park

A different kind of summer visitor

Beetle vs spider

The gardener’s friend

Tricks of the trade