Mont Albert night life

Once upon a time the idea of night life would have conjured images of noisy crowded bars, loud conversation and the faint possibility that you would meet somebody you would still be talking to in thirty or forty years time.

Today, in suburban Melbourne, night life takes on a very different meaning.  At this time of year, the fall of darkness comes just before the kids bed-time, the perfect opportunity for a bit of night life spotting.

Although Opossums are found America, it is in Australia that the marsupials evolved the greatest diversity.  And, strange as it may seem, the manicured streets of Mont Albert are a great place to find some of them.  We may not have kangaroos and koalas, but our street is a paradise for possums. Australian possums (this is not a shortened version of the American name) take advantage of the jungle gym of wires and tree branches that criss cross our street, and the lack of leaves at this time of year makes it prime possum spotting time.

The most common possum we see is the Ring Tailed Possum -  about the size of a small cat, with a white tip to its tail.  The tip of the tail is prehensile, and its underside is bare of fur, presumably to improve the grip!

Ringtail Possum

Ringtail Possum

Ringtail Possum

Ringtail Possum

A much larger possum - The Common Brush Tail - is often heard at night clattering about on the roofs of houses, or often and much less popularly, inside the roof!  These possums are the size of large cat - and the males can grow to the size of small dogs!  They are not a small animal.  Given their name its hardly a surprise that that have a bushy tail - but its their size and large pointy ears that make them easy to tell from their smaller cousins.

Brush Tail Possum - showing pouch. 

Brush Tail Possum - with young one on board!

These possums are remarkably fast, even with a young one on board.  The couple in the image above ended up hanging under the wire, and just carried on as if nothing had happened!

But its not all marsupials.  This time of year offers a good chance to see a large Nightjar like bird called a Tawny Frogmouth.  These birds are often mistaken for owls.  You can see some of the good value features of this bird in these images - the fine hairs that extend around the beak and the in one shot you can see the birds second eye lid.

Tawny Frogmouth

Tawny Frogmouth

Tawny Frogmouth.

So, here ends my brief tour of the Night Life of Mont Albert.

You can find more images from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

SM