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Wild Portraits Australia Hi! This page showcases my Australian nature-based art, photography, publications and articles. Thanks for visiting ,
Craig Boase

A Grey-crowned Babbler giving me Treecreeper vibes.Chiltern, Victoria. Unfortunately this bird is listed as threatened i...
05/03/2026

A Grey-crowned Babbler giving me Treecreeper vibes.
Chiltern, Victoria.

Unfortunately this bird is listed as threatened in Victoria and now has only a patchy distribution in the northern areas of the state. Historically, Grey-crowned Babblers were originally found south to Geelong, Mornington Peninsula, the Grampians and Little Desert.

Pilotbird. Mt Worth, Victoria (sound on for videos). Read moreπŸ‘‡Such an amazing experience to run into a pair of Pilotbir...
23/02/2026

Pilotbird. Mt Worth, Victoria (sound on for videos). Read moreπŸ‘‡

Such an amazing experience to run into a pair of Pilotbirds deep in the wet forest at Mt Worth on the weekend.

As well as their usual piercing 'guinea-a-week' call and duet (the audio heard in the first video), they made a strange call which I've never heard before (as you can hear in the last video). I cannot find any reference in any literature to them making this call. Could it be mimicry? Has anyone heard this strange call? The last syllable reminds me of a Bell Miner but the nearest population is nearly 20km away and not linked by forest.

Anyway, a great encounter with this threatened species. This bird is restricted mostly to wet forest gullies of eastern Vic and south-east NSW.

The Sword-grass Brown π˜›π˜ͺ𝘴π˜ͺ𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘒𝘣𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘒.Gippsland, Vic.This beautiful butterfly is found in forest and sedgeland of easte...
16/02/2026

The Sword-grass Brown π˜›π˜ͺ𝘴π˜ͺ𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘒𝘣𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘒.
Gippsland, Vic.

This beautiful butterfly is found in forest and sedgeland of eastern Australia. It lays it's eggs on 𝘎𝘒𝘩𝘯π˜ͺ𝘒 sedges (last photo) and the larvae feed and eventually pupate on the leaves of this plant.

Coast Mistletoe π˜”π˜Άπ˜¦π˜­π˜­π˜¦π˜³π˜ͺ𝘯𝘒 𝘀𝘦𝘭𝘒𝘴𝘡𝘳𝘰π˜ͺπ˜₯𝘦𝘴, an endangered species in Victoria. On π˜‰π˜’π˜―π˜¬π˜΄π˜ͺ𝘒 π˜ͺ𝘯𝘡𝘦𝘨𝘳π˜ͺ𝘧𝘰𝘭π˜ͺ𝘒, Gippsland Lakes, V...
03/02/2026

Coast Mistletoe π˜”π˜Άπ˜¦π˜­π˜­π˜¦π˜³π˜ͺ𝘯𝘒 𝘀𝘦𝘭𝘒𝘴𝘡𝘳𝘰π˜ͺπ˜₯𝘦𝘴, an endangered species in Victoria.
On π˜‰π˜’π˜―π˜¬π˜΄π˜ͺ𝘒 π˜ͺ𝘯𝘡𝘦𝘨𝘳π˜ͺ𝘧𝘰𝘭π˜ͺ𝘒, Gippsland Lakes, Vic.

This species is found in dune and coastal scrub from the Gippsland Lakes region to Qld. Like most other mistletoes they are hemiparasites, relying on host plants to be able to germinate and grow on their branches.

They grow mostly on π˜‰π˜’π˜―π˜¬π˜΄π˜ͺ𝘒 and 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘀𝘒𝘴𝘢𝘒𝘳π˜ͺ𝘯𝘒 but factors such as frequent or catastrophic fires, dieback disease affecting their host plants, climate change, and habitat clearing are causing populations to become very fragmented and with little or no gene flow.

I was lucky to locate a patch of several of these plants on Coast Banksia that seem to be doing ok and these could be some of the most westerly distributed plants currently in Australia.


An absolute treat to see 3 Sooty Owls near Cape Conran in Victoria last weekend. These were a first for me. Such a uniqu...
27/01/2026

An absolute treat to see 3 Sooty Owls near Cape Conran in Victoria last weekend. These were a first for me. Such a unique little owl!

An incredible sight of a mixed flock of 1000s of woodswallows just before a storm at Nombinnie Nature Reserve in central...
01/01/2026

An incredible sight of a mixed flock of 1000s of woodswallows just before a storm at Nombinnie Nature Reserve in central NSW a couple of months ago. The video at the end sort of gives the scale of at least some of the feeding flock.

This enormous flock was made up of White-browed and Masked Woodswallows and there were quite a few juveniles too. They were mostly feeding on the huge abundance of lerps (psyllid insects) on the leaves of the eucalypts in one small area. Some of the photos and video show them picking off the lerps from the leaves.

I've seen massive mixed flocks of White-browed/Masked Woodswallows like this in Big Desert one year but not in such a small area like this.

Fantastic to watch!

You can also find me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/wildportraits_australia

Well, to say 2025 was incredible is an understatement! So many wonderful memories and experiences and thanks to everyone...
31/12/2025

Well, to say 2025 was incredible is an understatement! So many wonderful memories and experiences and thanks to everyone who was part of it and for the support. I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable 2026!πŸŽ‰

Major highlights for me were:

*Seeing a range of threatened and endangered species including Numbat, Woylie, Noisy Scrub-bird and Western Bristlebird in WA; Powerful Owl, Barking Owl, Australian Masked Owl, Eastern Barred Bandicoot, Squirrel Glider, Yellow-bellied Glider, Eastern Curlew, Fairy Tern, Grey Goshawk, Redthroat and Superb Parrot in Vic and Ground Cuckoo-shrike in NSW. Plus 3 endangered orchids in Vic, the Cobra Greenhood, Eastern Spider Orchid and Fringed Helmet-orchid.

*Seeing and photographing a Tawny Grassbird on the Bass Coast (only a handful of records in Vic).

*Leading some birdwatching tours in Vic.

*A photography expedition to northern Sumatra (what an incredible place!)

*Trips to south west WA and central NSW with good friends and family.

*Doing a threatened species talk and presentation to a government client.

*Undertaking a number of fauna and threatened species surveys at ID Ecological Management.

*...and somehow in between all this I managed to publish a book! 🀷

Phew!πŸ₯΅ 100% worth every second though!😊

Squirrel Glider π˜—π˜¦π˜΅π˜’π˜Άπ˜³π˜Άπ˜΄ 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘀𝘦𝘯𝘴π˜ͺ𝘴, Chiltern-Mt Pilot NP, Vic. On a recent quick trip to northern Vic after Christmas...
29/12/2025

Squirrel Glider π˜—π˜¦π˜΅π˜’π˜Άπ˜³π˜Άπ˜΄ 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘀𝘦𝘯𝘴π˜ͺ𝘴, Chiltern-Mt Pilot NP, Vic.

On a recent quick trip to northern Vic after Christmas I had a few target species and the Squirrel Glider was one of them. This is a threatened species in the state and the woodlands of central and northern Vic are a hotspot for them, though they can be more common further north into NSW and Qld.

They are very similar to the Krefft's (Sugar) Glider but the Squirrel Glider is slightly bigger, has a bushier tail and the face is more pointed.

So happy and privileged to get such a close encounter with this guy.

White-browed Treecreeper, a threatened species here in Victoria. In the state it is restricted to the far north west and...
14/12/2025

White-browed Treecreeper, a threatened species here in Victoria. In the state it is restricted to the far north west and inhabits old growth woodland consisting of native pine and sheoaks.

If you want to find out more about this and other unique mallee birds, don't forget my new book 𝘝π˜ͺ𝘀𝘡𝘰𝘳π˜ͺ𝘒'𝘴 π˜”π˜’π˜­π˜­π˜¦π˜¦ π˜‰π˜ͺ𝘳π˜₯𝘴 is currently 20% off until today 15/12/25.

www.wildportraits.com.au/xmas-sale

Some birds from a very quick trip through Victoria's mallee country at Hattah-Kulkyne and Wyperfeld NP's and Lake Tyrrel...
07/12/2025

Some birds from a very quick trip through Victoria's mallee country at Hattah-Kulkyne and Wyperfeld NP's and Lake Tyrrell last month.

Don't forget, my new book 𝘝π˜ͺ𝘀𝘡𝘰𝘳π˜ͺ𝘒'𝘴 π˜”π˜’π˜­π˜­π˜¦π˜¦ π˜‰π˜ͺ𝘳π˜₯𝘴 is currently 20% off until 15/12/25 if you want to find out more about our unique mallee birds.

www.wildportraits.com.au

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