A place where birds sound like cats

When one thinks of Australian wildlife, one generally thinks of kangaroos and koalas. I finally saw a few kangaroos -- from a great distance about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday as the train approached Perth. They were really far away, foraging in a field, and I couldn't get a picture of them. I've been much too far west and in the wrong type of surroundings (generally desert or urban) to see any koalas.

What I have noticed are the birds. They don't generally look all that exotic (although I have seen some sort of cockatoo-like bird flying around), but their cries are sure different. Except for the globally-ubiquitous pigeons, most Australian birds I've noticed are very loud, with strange (to my ears) cries. One even sounds like a cat in heat! (Check out an mp3 of the BirdCat.) Below, a poor-quality picture of the bird/cats.
My most intimate encounter with Aussie wildlife occurred in Adelaide the other day. I was walking by a cemetery trying to get some pretty pictures when I saw some huge ants and began to film them (turn sound up!):

I was fine, but I thought my unintentional comic timing was great!

Off to rent a car and risk driving on the left side of the road ...

(Wow, this was my 50th blog post!)