Koala and other Creatures in our Garden

A little while ago now, the Magpies were very disturbed and were making unusual calls. It was almost as though they were asking questions....so I hurried outside to see what was making them so anxious... and after a little while I saw this Koala in our tree. This is the very first time we have ever seen a Koala in our garden. So I promptly hurried back into the house to get my camera.... he looked most surprised when I started photographing him and he turned around to show me his best side.... such a handsome fellow he thought he was, and so he was....
He came all the way from Willunga where he had been seen on the golf course. This is about two kilometers from our place so he had walked quite a  long way......

In the right hand picture you see a long necked Turtle. It appeared one summer evening when we were sitting on the front verandah cooling off after a hot day. It was walking across the open part of our garden which is full of ox tongue thistles which are very prickly It did not like to be photographed and hid its head under its carapace. They are native to our area and live in the Willunga creek and move around quite a bit.
I don't really want one in the pond as they are rather dirty creatures and pollute a still water pond very quickly... so I was pleased he walked on after he realized he was no longer under investigation....

This afternoon, just now,how exciting to see a  Straw necked Ibis on our pond... click on the photo and see his ginormous feet.... the kitchen window is a great place to see and observe creatures which come in to have a drink, or a bath or both. Our Wattle birds and the little green honey eaters have this amazing capacity to dive off the Holm oak branch into the pond and fly out again, shaking their feathers when they are back in the tree. The other day a Willy Wagtail was watching this performance and he thought he could try this too... he tried, poor darling but didn't quite do it right, but he did sit on a rock and shook its feathers there....it does make you wonder if they learn from each other....