Not a Platypus - of course!

Each time I'm in Maleny I regularly walk beside the Obi Obi rive,r hoping for a glimpse of the rarely-sighted platypus.

As I walked, I blipped a bee on a bottlebrush tree, a lizard and some interesting lichens. Then I saw an elderly lady leaning on a bridge, gazing at the water while humming a tune. I stopped and talked to her - Kath was her name - and we discussed life and taking time to really see the world around us. I mentioned how I had never seen a platypus - only once I heard the splash of something the right size diving under water.

She smiled, then sang alittle song with the lines 'platypushka, say goodday'. To my amazement, up popped a platypus, on the surface. I managed one hasty blip before it dived again. Did she sing it to the surface? Who knows.

The resulting image is not great as I had to zoom then take the pic fast. You can see it

HERE

So, my actual bli of today is this Aussie ladybird-type beetle though three or four times the size of a European equivalent. Apparently this type feeds only of plants of the cucurbit family which includes cucumbers.