Nature

An array of colourful flora has transformed Western Australia's countryside despite fears this year's wildflower season would be a bust.

Retiring WA Labor MP Chris Tallentire breaks ranks to raise concerns about "a concerted effort by interest groups" to influence state and federal environmental protection laws.

Akin to the famous Van Gogh painting, the starry night peacock spider highlights the rare species' beauty. But some people are concerned not enough is being done to protect the arachnids.

David Crust, who oversees the management of a million hectares of the Blue Mountains, says he's never seen the level of destruction wrought by the elements over the past five years.

The death of a friendly beluga "spy whale" with a mysterious past shows the complex relationship between humans and wildlife, with conservationists split on how best to protect the animal until the end.

Wildlife rangers are urging visitors not to feed cassowaries after shooting video of a pair of the big and potentially dangerous birds getting too close for comfort. 

When a scientist at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria discovered a tiny blue packet, he likely had little idea it would lead him on a decades-long quest to solve an international mystery.

The votes are in and Australia has crowned the most amazing night sky experience. Here's everything you need to know about the Milky Way and how best to see it. 

They may seem like just a beautiful blue bird, but under the surface the social dynamics of the splendid fairy-wren is anything but simple. 

What's filled you with awe in the night sky? We've narrowed it down to an incredible 10 things that have stunned and inspired you from auroras to shooting stars. Now it's time to vote!

In a rare and unexpected sight, two mammoth humpback whales have been spotting swimming up the Brisbane River.

In Western Australia, adventurers — on foot or on wheels – are flocking to the state's network of bush trails in unprecedented numbers, and the town of Dwellingup is thriving because of it.

Craig Eddie's love affair with snails started on a Queensland beach when he was five years old. Since then he's turned his passion for the molluscs into a career in ecology. 

A rat which became extinct on mainland Australia by the 1930s is staying safe from predators on an island off SA by living in one of Australia's worst invasive weeds.

Avid rainbow spotter Yoav Daniel Bar-Ness captures "an ultra-rare" sight on camera, taking photos of a vertical rainbow in Hobart.

A hatchling running from its nest to the sea.

These Arthur Boyd paintings, commissioned in 1984, show the Shoalhaven River landscape from dawn to midnight. Now, for the first time, they're on display in the place they were created. 

A 'hand-picked' team of divers braved big swells to free a humpback whale pinned to the ocean floor off the NSW North Coast. 

We visit a secret field in South Australia housing a group of lizards once thought extinct. Researchers hope their conservation efforts might provide a blueprint for other animals at risk of dying out due to climate change.

One of the final pieces of the rebuild following the Kangaroo Island bushfires has slotted into place, with the opening of a new tourist centre at Flinders Chase National Park.