The white-necked laughingthrush (Garrulax strepitans) is a species of passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae, native to Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and the Chinese province of Yunnan. It is about 32 cm (13 in) long and has a chestnut-coloured crown, a brownish-black face and throat, and a rather diffuse white collar separating these from the body. Typically birds of forest and woodland, laughingthrushes are difficult to observe in the dense vegetation they prefer. They are noisy birds, and their characteristic laughing calls are often the best indication that these birds are present. This white-necked laughingthrush was photographed in Mae Wong National Park, in Thailand's Nakhon Sawan Province.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The Australian raven (Corvus coronoides) is a passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae, native to much of southern and northeastern Australia. Measuring about 50 cm (20 in) in length, with a 100 cm (40 in) wingspan, it is Australia's largest species of corvid. The bird's white iris contrasts with the entirely black plumage. Feeding largely on insects and other invertebrates, it also consumes eggs, nestlings, roadkill and carrion, as well as vegetable material. Farmers sometimes persecute it on the grounds that it kills lambs, but a healthy lamb is probably beyond its capabilities, although it does eat lamb faeces and stillborn animals. This Australian raven, perched on a rock encrusted with barnacles, was photographed at Doughboy Head in New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The golden-headed cisticola (Cisticola exilis) is a species of warbler in the family Cisticolidae, found in Asia and Australia. An unobtrusive bird, it forages for invertebrates, such as insects and small slugs, near the ground, but supplements its diet with grass seeds. Both sexes construct the rounded nest with a side entrance in a grass tussock or among tangled herbage. Built of green leaves and fine grasses and lined with soft plant down, it is stitched together with cobweb silk and camouflaged on the outside with further herbage. The female incubates the eggs and the male drives off intruders, but despite this concealment and care, only 32 per cent of the eggs successfully hatch. This golden-headed cisticola was photographed near Cornwallis, New South Wales, in Australia.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The yellow-faced honeyeater (Caligavis chrysops) is a small-to-medium-sized bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, native to southeastern Australia. Its typical habitat is open sclerophyll forests, as well as woodland, riparian corridors, parks, orchards and gardens. Although some populations are resident, others migrate, using geomagnetic fields to navigate. Comparatively short-billed for a honeyeater, it has adapted to a mixed diet including nectar, pollen, fruit, seeds, honeydew, and insects. It is considered a pest in some areas because of the damage it does to fruit in orchards and urban gardens. This yellow-faced honeyeater was photographed near Lake Parramatta in New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The white-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) is a tree kingfisher, widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai Peninsula east through the Indian subcontinent to the Philippines. Seen here in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, it perches conspicuously on wires or other exposed perches within its territory, and is a frequent sight in southern Asia. This species mainly hunts large crustaceans, insects, earthworms, rodents, snakes, fish and frogs; it bathes in water but rarely drinks.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The hardhead (Aythya australis) is a species of diving duck found in Australia. Also known as the white-eyed duck, its plumage is chocolate brown in both sexes, but only males have the distinctive white eye. The common name "hardhead" has nothing to do with the density of the bird's skull, instead referring to the difficulty encountered by early taxidermists in processing the head. These female (top) and male (bottom) hardheads were photographed at Hurstville Golf Course in Mortdale, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The noisy pitta (Pitta versicolor) is a species of bird in the pitta family, Pittidae, found in eastern Australia and southern New Guinea, where it mainly occurs in rainforest, but sometimes in drier woodland and scrub. It is a shy bird, and its distinctive call is heard more often than the bird is seen. It forages on the forest floor, bobbing its head up and down and flicking its tail, searching for insects, woodlice, snails and other invertebrates. Its diet includes some fruit, and it cracks open the shells of molluscs on an anvil. This noisy pitta was photographed in Kembla Heights, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The red-rumped parrot (Psephotus haematonotus) is a common bird native to south-eastern Australia. About 28 centimetres (11 in) long, the male's plumage is a bright emerald-green with yellow underparts, a brick-red rump and blue highlights on the upper back and wings; the female is altogether more dowdy, having dull-green wings and back, bluish-black wingtips and pale-olive underparts. These parrots are typically found in pairs or small groups in open country with access to water, including in suburban parks and gardens. These male and female red-rumped parrots were photographed in Cornwallis, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

Gliophorus chromolimoneus is a species of agaric fungus in the family Hygrophoraceae found in New Zealand and Australia. The yellow fruiting bodies are sticky to the touch, and appear among the leaf litter under Nothofagus, Kunzea ericoides and Leptospermum scoparium trees. These two G. chromolimoneus fruiting bodies were photographed in Ferndale Park in New South Wales, Australia.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The willie wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) is a passerine bird native to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and eastern Indonesia. It measures about 19–21.5 cm (7+1⁄2–8+1⁄2 in) in length. The willie wagtail is insectivorous and spends much time chasing prey in open habitat. Its common name is derived from its habit of wagging its tail horizontally when foraging on the ground. Aggressive and territorial, the willie wagtail will often harass much larger birds such as the laughing kookaburra and wedge-tailed eagle. It has responded well to human alteration of the landscape and is a common sight in urban lawns, parks, and gardens. It is widely featured in Aboriginal folklore around Australia and New Guinea in a variety of roles, from stealer of secrets and liar to a good omen for successful crops.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison

The diamond firetail (Stagonopleura guttata) is a species of estrildid finch that is endemic to Australia. To safeguard their eggs and nestlings, they are often recorded building their nests into the base of the large stick-nest of a bird of prey, such as a whistling kite, white-bellied sea eagle, wedge-tailed eagle, brown falcon, nankeen kestrel, or square-tailed kite; one recorded nest of a whistling kite contained nine diamond firetail nests within. This diamond firetail was photographed in Glen Alice, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The diamond firetail (Stagonopleura guttata) is a species of estrildid finch that is endemic to Australia. The species generally inhabits drier forests and grassy woodlands west of the Great Dividing Range, and can be distinguished by a black band on a white breast. Their flanks are black with white spots with a scarlet rump and a black tail. This diamond firetail was photographed in Glen Alice, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The noisy friarbird (Philemon corniculatus) is a passerine bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southern New Guinea and eastern Australia. It is one of several species known as friarbirds whose heads are bare of feathers. The species is brown-grey in colour, with a prominent knob on its bare black-skinned head. It feeds on insects and nectar. This noisy friarbird was photographed in Glen Davis, New South Wales.

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Photograph credit: John Harrison

The eastern yellow robin (Eopsaltria australis) is an Australasian robin found in coastal and sub-coastal eastern Australia. The extent of the species's residence is from the extreme southeast corner of South Australia through most of Victoria and the western half of New South Wales and north as far as Cooktown. Birds in tropical northern Queensland are mainly restricted to the warm heights of the Great Dividing Range. This eastern yellow robin was photographed in Yengo National Park, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The painted buttonquail (Turnix varius) is a species of buttonquail, the family Turnicidae, which resemble, but are unrelated to, the quails of Phasianidae. The painted buttonquail is native to Australia. Its range extends from Queensland southwards to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. A separate population is present in the southwestern part of Western Australia. The subspecies T. v. scintillans is endemic to the Houtman Abrolhos, a chain of islands off the west coast of Australia. This painted buttonquail was photographed in the Castlereagh Nature Reserve near Sydney, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The white-headed pigeon (Columba leucomela) is a species of pigeon native to the east coast of Australia, belonging to the same genus as the common pigeon. It builds a nest generally consisting of scanty twigs, usually placed high in the canopy up to 18 metres (59 ft) above the ground, and tends to lay one cream-white egg. Breeding takes place mostly from October to December. The species is often found alone, in pairs or in small flocks. They are very quiet and elusive, and their flight is swift and direct. Its call is loud and gruff, sounding like a whoo followed by a gruff inhalation like uk (repeated three times). Sometimes the call is a low oom. This male white-headed pigeon was photographed near Brunkerville in New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The black-faced monarch (Monarcha melanopsis) is a passerine bird in the family Monarchidae found along the eastern seaboard of Australia, and also New Guinea where most birds migrate to during the austral winter (May to August). It was originally described by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1818 from a specimen collected in New South Wales. This black-faced monarch was photographed near Brunkerville.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The white-naped honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus) is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to eastern Australia. It dwells in dry eucalypt woodland with long periods of dryness and heat, with a diet consisting of nectar from various flowers, and it also feeds on insects. The species is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This white-naped honeyeater was photographed in Glen Davis, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The double-barred finch (Stizoptera bichenovii) is a species of estrildid finch found in dry savanna, tropical (lowland) dry grassland, and shrubland habitats in northern and eastern Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Bicheno's finch or the owl finch, the latter owing to the dark ring of feathers around the face. This double-barred finch perching on a branch was photographed in Glen Davis, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The red knot (Calidris canutus), or simply known as the knot in English-speaking Europe, is a medium-sized shorebird that breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large sandpiper in the genus Calidris, second only to the great knot. Six subspecies are recognised. Its diet varies according to season; arthropods and larvae are the preferred food items at the breeding grounds, while various hard-shelled molluscs are consumed at other feeding sites at other times. North American breeders migrate to coastal areas in Europe and South America, while the Eurasian populations winter in Africa, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand. The species forms enormous flocks when not breeding. This red knot was photographed in Boat Harbour in New South Wales, Australia.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The spiny-cheeked honeyeater (Acanthagenys rufogularis) is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae, the honeyeaters, and the only species in the monotypic genus Acanthagenys. It is large for a honeyeater, ranging from 22 to 27 centimetres (8.7 to 10.6 in) in length and weighing around 52 grams (1.8 oz). A common species throughout most of Australia, the birds are sociable and aggressive, and often observed foraging in large flocks. This spiny-cheeked honeyeater was photographed near Patchewollock in the Australian state of Victoria.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The brown-headed honeyeater (Melithreptus brevirostris) is a species of passerine bird in the family Meliphagidae, the honeyeaters. Endemic to Australia, its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. Insects form the bulk of its diet, and like its close relatives, the black-chinned and strong-billed honeyeaters, it forages by probing in the bark of tree trunks and branches. This brown-headed honeyeater was photographed perching on a branch in Patchewollock, Victoria.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The buff-breasted paradise kingfisher (Tanysiptera sylvia) is a bird in the tree kingfisher subfamily. It migrates in November from New Guinea to its breeding grounds in the rainforest of North Queensland, Australia. Despite its bright colours, the buff-breasted paradise kingfisher is often difficult to see in the rainforest and is best located by its distinctive calls.

The buff-breasted paradise kingfisher hunts on the ground and from the foliage in the middle to lower levels of the forest canopy. It feeds on phasmids, earthworms, beetles, insect larvae, spiders, skinks and small frogs, snails and one was observed holding a small tortoise. The young are fed by both parents.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison

The eastern bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus) is a species of bird in the bristlebird family, Dasyornithidae. Endemic to Australia, its natural habitats are temperate forests, shrublands and grasslands. It is considered to be a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and listed as endangered in Australian legislation, being threatened by habitat loss and a lack of genetic diversity. This eastern bristlebird was photographed near Currarong, on the coast of New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The rose robin (Petroica rosea) is a small species of passerine bird native to Australia. It tends to feed in the tops of trees, with insects and spiders forming the bulk of its diet, most being caught while it is in flight. Unlike other robins, it does not return to the same branch while foraging. Its prey consists of a variety of spiders and insects, including caterpillars, wasps, bugs such as cicadas and cinch bugs, beetles, weevils, flies and ants. This rose robin was photographed in the Blue Mountains National Park, near Woodford, New South Wales.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia, where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. The emu's range covers most of mainland Australia, but the Tasmanian, Kangaroo Island and King Island subspecies became extinct after the European settlement of Australia in 1788. Emus are soft-feathered, brown, flightless birds with long necks and legs, and can reach up to 1.9 metres (6.2 ft) in height. Emus can travel great distances, and when necessary can sprint at 48 kilometres per hour (30 mph); they forage for a variety of plants and insects, but have been known to go for weeks without eating. They drink infrequently, but take in copious amounts of water when the opportunity arises. This emu was photographed in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve in the Australian Capital Territory.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The blue-billed duck (Oxyura australis) is a small Australian stiff-tailed duck, with both the male and female growing to a length of 40 centimetres (16 in). The male has a slate-blue bill which changes to bright-blue during the breeding season, which gives the duck its common name. The male has deep chestnut plumage during breeding season, reverting to a dark grey. The female retains black plumage with brown tips all year round. The duck is endemic to Australia's temperate regions, inhabiting natural inland wetlands and also artificial wetlands, such as sewage ponds, in large numbers. It can be difficult to observe due to its cryptic nature during its breeding season through autumn and winter. The male duck exhibits a complex mating ritual. The species is omnivorous, with a preference for small aquatic invertebrates. This male blue-billed duck was photographed near Penrith, New South Wales, in 2020.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

The scarlet robin (Petroica boodang) is a red-breasted passerine bird in the Petroicidae family (the Australasian robins). The species is found on continental Australia and its offshore islands, including Tasmania. With a length of 12 to 13.5 cm and a mass between 12 and 14 g, the male scarlet robin is black on the head, back and tail, and has a white belly and scarlet breast, with black and white wings. The female matches the male in pattern, but is duller, with brown plumage instead of black and a much more washed-out red on the breast. The scarlet robin feeds on arthropods, such as insects and spiders, adjusting its foraging behaviour seasonally – it feeds mostly on the ground during the winter, but during the summer and spring prey is more commonly snatched from bark and foliage. It is a territorial and monogamous species and defends its nesting territories both from others of the same species and from pairs of the related flame robin. This female scarlet robin was photographed in Blackheath, New South Wales, Australia.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison

The yellow-throated miner (Manorina flavigula), also known as the white-rumped miner, is a species of colonial honeyeater endemic to Australia. It is a medium-sized, grey passerine bird with yellow throat markings, legs, and bare patches around the eye. The common name miner is an alternative spelling of the word myna, and is shared with other members of the genus Manorina. Though miners were originally named due to their resemblance to the common myna of India that shares similar yellow eye-patch and legs, common mynas are from the starling family and are not closely related to the honeyeaters. This yellow-throated miner was photographed in Sturt National Park in New South Wales, Australia.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison

The mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum), also known as the mistletoe flowerpecker, is a species of flowerpecker native to most of Australia (though absent from Tasmania and the driest desert areas) and also to the eastern Maluku Islands of Indonesia in the Arafura Sea between Australia and New Guinea. The mistletoebird eats mainly the berries of the parasitic mistletoe and is a vector for the spread of the mistletoe's seeds through its digestive system. The mistletoebird is small, being 9–10 centimetres long and 7.5–11 grams in weight. The male is glossy blue-black above, with a red chest and a slight red under-tail, and a black centre stripe running down its white belly. The female is dark grey above, with a white throat, light grey underparts, and just a touch of pinkish-red under the tail. The eyes, bill, and legs are black; the bill is just over a centimetre long, slender, slightly down-curved and sharply pointed. Immature birds are similar to the female, but have an orange-pink bill instead of black. This male mistletoebird was photographed in the Round Hill Nature Reserve in New South Wales, Australia.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison

Aragonite is a carbonate mineral and one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), the others being calcite and vaterite. It is commonly found in Spain, with some deposits also occurring in France, Slovakia and the United States. Aragonite is formed by biological processes, including precipitation from marine and freshwater environments. It is used in aquaria as a means of replicating reef conditions, and as an agent in the removal of pollutants such as zinc, cobalt and lead from contaminated wastewater. This aragonite specimen, measuring 4 by 3.6 by 3.5 centimetres (1.6 in × 1.4 in × 1.4 in), was mined in Los Molinillos in Cuenca, Spain.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison