Category Herping

Possums with my new thermal camera!

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The camera was purchased with my own funds and I have received no financial benefits from this review. As part of my blog I would declare if I have been supplied with equipment on the basis for providing a fair review.

For quite some time I have been dreaming of a thermal camera and reading (a little jealously at times) accounts of people using them to find mammals. I was recently very fortunate to be in the position to purchase one! I had initially thought of going for a Pulsar, like many in the mammal watching community, but I contacted Night Vision Australia and they recommended I look at the Wolfcub series of thermal monoculars. Once I explained the way I would be using it, they said that whilst the Pulsar would work, they recommended that Wolfcub had a wider viewing angle and would allow location of mammals without as much scanning.

I wasn’t able to find any reviews on them for Australian conditions and animals, but then worked out that they were rebranded Hikvision thermal monocular scopes – a very well known brand globally, but being sold in Australia under the name Wolfcub. I was able to locate a few international reviews – here and here. My main aim is to find some of the smaller creatures on my hit list which have eluded me so far, such as the honey possum and pygmy possum.

In a nutshell: thermal camera detect heat and resolve it in an image – much like the old-school predator movie where the creature tries to hunt Arnie! They have a focal length much like a camera lens which determines the field of view.

I finally decided on the Wolfcub Explorer 3L – which has a 25mm lens, weighs just under 500g, IP67 waterproof rated and 2m drop proof. In addition, it contains 16GB memory for taking stills & videos. It also has a Wi-Fi hotspot which can broadcast to an app on a smartphone for others to view but also control, take stills & video from another device. It is powered by an internal battery which lasts about 5 hours with the Wifi turned off. It is charged and memory accessed via a USB-C port on the bottom. The features indicate it has an included laser pointer but that has to be turned off for the Australian market to comply with regulations. Images of the unit below.

I played around with it at home but was very keen to get out and test it on some Aussie mammals. I decided to go back to one of my suburban brushtail possum spots as I knew they were there and it’s not too far from home.

I headed to John Oakey park in Gosnells and I have written about it on the blog a number of times before. I initially found the thermal camera a little strange as I found my depth perception suffered just viewing trees through a digital screen.

My car by thermal camera

I soon spotted my first possum – at first by spotlight (as that’s what I am used to) but then quickly found it on the thermal camera. One of the camera features is the green cross which highlights the hottest spots on the sensor. It is the red dot right and below middle.

Possum visible as red dot right and below middle of image.
Right White-hot – Left Fusion viewing palette

I was soon finding many possums and getting used to the strange world the thermal camera exposes. The wolfcub has 4 different viewing palettes: Black hot, White hot, Red Hot & Fusion (predator mode!). I found that initially the red hot palette helped spot possums, but was surprised at the latent heat remaining on tree surfaces, rocks and the pavement.

The below series shots the same possum as I got closer – I guess I was maybe 30-40m away when I was first able to pick up the possum.

This is the same possum once close enough to take a traditional photo.

I was quickly getting the hang of using the thermal for initially finding possums, but also doing comparisons if I could headtorch them from the same distance. In some cases they were not visible just by spotlighting. Spotlighting relies on picking up the reflective membrane in the animals retina – so they can be missed if their head is obscured or turned away. The thermal camera picks up heat but may not penetrate through trunks or thick layers of leaves which may obscure animals as well.

General photos of the possums after locating on thermal.

I also took some video images to give an idea of what it looks like through the view finder. I must say the resolution in the viewfinder is higher than is recorded in stills and video. See below for a video of a possum found on the railing of the bridge over the river.

I have created a YouTube playlist to see more videos.

I found a couple of mums with joeys which was nice to see.

I still have a lot to learn using the thermal camera but it adds to the tools I have at hand. I am yet to try on smaller mouse size creatures as that is the real purpose for buying the camera.

I hope this write-up was useful – I will write up more as I use it. Feel free to contact me directly if you would like to know more.

Tutanning nature reserve with the WA Nats

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In Sept 2019 the WA Naturalists arranged an excursion to Tutanning Nature Reserve (just over 2hrs from Perth, East of Pingelly) – one of the Wheatbelt’s under-visited reserves compared to Dryandra Woodland or Boyagin Nature Reserve. The reserve is 220 ha – remnant Kwogan shrubland with more than 300 species of flora and a vital fauna refuge. It is an island in amongst the cleared agricultural land of the wheatbelt. The reserve is managed by the Parks & Wildlife service of DBCA.

When the excursion was suggested it was recognised I had been before (see blog) so I was asked to lead the excursion and my friend Tanya offered to assist 🙂 We had 12 people attend all up (6 visitors and 1 member) attending their first excursion, an overnight trip.

We stayed at the Percy Marshall Field Station within the reserve. The google map can be found below.

Percy Marshall Field Station

For additional information on the reserve follow these links from the Shire of Pingelly – Tutanning NR & Percy Marshall Field Station (includes track map). It can be booked for a small fee by contacting the Narrogin office of DBCA.

We met at the field station for lunch and explored the building and facilities. I set up my swag on the verandah but there are two rooms with bunks beds and can accommodate 10 people. In addition, there is a kitchen area and toilet/bathroom surrounded by a verandah. Water is supplied from tanks that you need to pump and power comes from a supplied generator.

There were a number of really interesting signs on the verandah telling about the history of the reserve and the field station.

Once we had most people together we went for a drive. The plan was to drive slowly looking for numbats as they are present in low numbers in the reserve, but there are few reported sightings. We didn’t come across any numbats, but on the first drive saw a couple of echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus).

A couple of people found a huge fungi but I got distracted by a large granite outcrop where we found number a of variegated dtella (Gehyra variegata) underneath rocks. While lifting rocks is a great way to find herps, it is critical to put them back in exactly the same position as it is crucial habitat that is easily disturbed.

We headed back to the field station to prepare dinner and enjoyed a lovely sunset from the verandah as it set over adjacent farmland.

Sunset from field station @ Tutanning Nature Reserve

Once we had enjoyed dinner and some wine we headed out for a nightstalk with a plan to head up to the nearby dam to look for frogs and anything else we might find. Bleating froglet (Crinia pseudinsignifera) and Western Banjo frogs (Limnodynastes dorsalis) were heard in the dam but none seen clearly. Many spiders were seen as their eyes are highly visible under spotlight.

After the walk a few joined me for a night drive – I was hoping for red-tailed) phascogale (Phascogale calura) and tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) as they were seen on my previous visit. We headed up to Tammar Rd, adaptly named road as this was the location of the previous sightings. We parked in a clearing and walked along the road and spotted a lovely Western spotted frog (Heleioporus albopunctatus).

Western spotted frog @ Tutanning Nature Reserve

We headed back with no sightings of any nocturnal mammals, but just after turning off Tammar Rd, we were rewarded with a pair of Tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) in amongst pink everlastings.

Tammar amongst everlastings @ Tutanning Nature Reserve
Tammar wallaby @ Tutanning Nature Reserve

The next day I woke early, enjoyed breakfast on the balcony and the surrounding bushland.

Bush surrounding the field station @ Tutanning Nature Reserve

We decided to do the Tutanning walk trail which is a 6km moderate Class 3 walk loop that starts at the field station. It has a number of reflective trail markers and interpretative signs. I have included the signs in the images below.

We walked through Sheoaks and found a number of Cowslip orchid (Caladenia flava), Sugar orchid (Caladenia saccharata) and saw a few birds as well.

We then headed through a section with impressive Proteaceae.

Next we came to some higher ground with wandoo woodland – good habitat for numbats and echidna, however no numbats were seen. We did find a very fresh dead fox – possibly a victim of 1080 poisoning. The reserve is baited to protect the native fauna.

We walked through a number of granite outcrops with some amazing moss and climbing Drosera plants with lovely white flowers.

We were on the home stretch of the walk and we came across a number of Echnida – we assume they were either congregating for an echidna train or resting afterwards. It’s an amazing mating behaviour when many males will follow a single female in a single file line! Count how many you can see!

It was so amazing to see so many together. We had been pleased with just the 2 other single sightings the day before. I managed to get a little video of the action as they were all quite active. We kept our distance as we didn’t want to disturb them but one came right up to our group before ambling off!

I managed to get a few photos of the underneath of an echidna while it was climbing a branch showing the spineless furry bottom and amazing claws.

Below you can see evidence of the echidna diggings for termites – they leave a lot of ground disturbed.

Echnida diggings @ Tutanning nature reserve

After this amazing sight we finished the walk buzzing! It’s a great walk and I recommend it. It’s very isolated so you want to ensure you keep safe with friends knowing where you are and proper supplies if you get into trouble.


We returned to the hut and started packing up. In the kitchen we found this interesting diagram of the mosaic fire history of the reserve.

We also enjoyed looking through the visitors book and added our own entry.

We then followed the leaving instructions for the hut and left the reserve. On the way out we found this Fox den (identified by the musty pungent smell) and rabbit warren (copious rabbit droppings).

We all had an amazing weekend and I received a lot of positive feedback. Joan wrote up the club report which can be found here .

Herping with kids at Sullivan Rock

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The WA Naturalists held an excursion in August 2019 to Sullivan Rock. It’s worth checking out the club if you are interested in learning more about nature and meeting like-minded people.

Sullivan rock is found within the Monodocks conservation park. Its a large granite outcrop with Jarrah forest surrounding.

I decided to bring both my kids – Liam (5) and Sienna (nearly 3) as they love getting out into nature and it would give my lovely wife some rare time to herself. 2 others joined the excursion – so just a small group but perhaps best with 2 rowdy kids!

It was a lovely clear day but a little on the cool side. We were hoping for herps but cooler conditions are not condusive to seeing them out on the rocks.

Kids just starting out @ Sullivan Rock

The kids were excited and Liam remembered an earlier trip where he had seen some wildlife underneath rocks. Rock flipping is one way to find critters especially when its a cool day – but we must remember these are their homes so it is critical to replace the rock exactly as found. Rocky outcrops are places that, while they might not seem it, are fragile habitats. So driving on rocks, stacking rocks or taking them home all affect the fauna and fauna that live there.

The car park is on Albany Highway and directions can be found here, then head carefully across the highway and follow a small segment of the Bibbulmun track.

Kids exploring just before getting on the rock @ Sullivan Rock

The kids enjoyed the walk in – I gave them instructions to walk on the bare rock and not the moss patches. The moss only hangs onto the bare granite rock face and is therefore very fragile.

Flora growing on bare rock @ Sullivan rock

Amongst the moss patches other plants were found such as Coral lichen (Cladia sp.), a grey lichen with Resurrection Plants (or Pincushions, Borya sphaerocephala) – the spiky plants seen on the right hand side. During dry periods they look pretty much dead.

On the top of the outcrop we found a number of pools with aquatic fauna and the kids were pleased to find some tadpoles. We were unsure of the species but likely to be Crinia sp. The kids were fascinated to watch water boatman ‘paddle’ around the pond.

We crossed to the other side of the rock stopping for some morning tea. It’s important to keep snack levels high. We found some climbing sundew or Drosera which the kids were fascinated to learn is insectivorous. The cups produce an insect attractant but the surrounding sticky tentacles will curl in to trap any hapless insect that gets into the cup.

Drosera @ Sullivan Rock

On the way back more pool exploring was required with more tadpoles found.

Lots to explore in the pools – can you see the tadpole?

We kept carefully checking rocks as we were hopeful to find some brumating (reptile version of hibernating) Ornate dragon lizards (Ctenophorus ornatus) but none were found this time. The easily accessible parts of the rock get a fair amount of traffic and are disturbed.

In amongst the grey lichen we noticed some tiny orchids only 3-4cms tall.

Orchids amongst lichen @ Sullivan Rock

We then headed for home. The kids had so much fun and thoroughly enjoyed being out exploring in nature.

Searching for Quokkas at Canning dam…

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I am currently behind on my posts – so this is actually from January!

I decided to continue my hunt for mainland Quokka’s (Setonix brachyurus) in the greater Perth region. Despite what most people are aware of – they don’t only live on Rottnest Island where they are easy to find, they can also be found on the mainland, but are much rarer and cryptic. I have looked in the Canning dam area before as I found a paper and it listed
Midgegoroo National Park as one of the trapping sites where they had caught animals. My brother was down from Port Hedland and he was keen to join me as well for a late night spotlight.

We started off looking for herps in the Canning Dam proper – parking near the gate and walking up the road looking for eyeshine. It took some time walking around before we found our first Barking gecko (Underwoodisaurus milii).

Barking gecko @ Canning Dam

We then headed further down towards Albany Hwy to my Quokka spot – I was pleased to have company as it’s an isolated spot. On the way we found a freshly road-killed Carpet python (Morelia spilota) – such a shame. There must be a few around as this is the second dead specimen I have found and my friend Jimmy found one on a previous trip.

  • Roadkilled Carpet python @ Canning Dam Rd

  • Roadkilled Carpet python @ Canning Dam Rd

We drove down a gravel track and parked as close as to the location as we could. I have had information from a scientist that Quokka’s are found in West facing streams in riparian vegetation – which means it’s tough to get through. We spotted a couple of kangaroos in the distance and heard the yipping of a fox but didn’t see any Quokka – strike 2!

We found some scat that I can’t say is 100% Quokka but the size seems right and it was cubic and slightly flattened.

We also found some diggings and then scat which I believe is feral pig.

An interesting night in the correct habitat for Quokka’s but I think if any were around they would have disappeared as we came crashing through the thick scrub! Another observation was this cricket that I am hoping to get a proper ID on iNaturalist – currently thought to be one of the Raspy cricket family (Gryllacrididae).

We had a good night – perhaps a hint of a Quokka but I need to keep looking for a confirmed sighting and photo!

The critically endangered possums of Busselton…

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Over Christmas we had a holiday with extended family plus friends and headed to Busselton for a camping holiday. It was the first time camping for my 2 year old daughter and both kids were excited to have cousins and friends with us. We were staying in the Siesta Park region.

From a wildlife perspective the camp caretaker told me he often sees Quenda (Isoodon fusciventer) in the sand dunes – especially crossing the track. This was new to me as I haven’t heard of them being in this area before. Unfortunately I didn’t see them during my stay.

Our first night, once getting the kids to bed, we heard a rustling in the trees as we were relaxing and having a chat. We shone a light and saw our first
Western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis). This turned out to be a nightly occurrence as we were in pretty good Peppermint tree habitat.

The Western ringtail possum are now critically endangered through a combination of habitat loss, predation by cats & foxes and car strike as they have to travel on the ground & cross roads due to loss of trees. While I don’t distrust the science, it is hard to get into your head that something you see somewhat easily in the right habitat, is actually struggling for survival. This species unfortunately makes 11th place onto the top 20 Australian mammal species likely to go extinct with a 25% chance of losing them forever.

Western ringtail possum @ Busselton

Another night a few of the blokes went to the Possum spotlighting trail leaving the kids asleep. It’s a 1.5 km walk set up especially for night time with reflective trail markers. I have blogged on this trail before.

We saw 30 odd ringtails, 15 Common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), 5 or so Western Grey Kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus) but no rarer species that have been seen here such as Bush rat or Brush-tail phascogale.

I used my Echo Meter Touch 2 bat detector but no bats were heard. I did however find this Moaning frog (Heleioporus eyrei) – picking it up with reflective eye shine.

Moaning frog @ Possum spotlighting trail, Busselton

We also spent time snorkeling along the beach near the campsite and had some fun with an underwater camera. Look at the top left picture – can you see the flounder? The same fish is in the image below while moving.

One of the last evenings we kept the kids up and took them spotlighting just as it got dark – all were excited especially my 2 year old Sienna who had never been before but heard stories from her big brother! There were 7 kids from our group but we collected a fair few other kids from around the campsite. We saw about 8 possums all up and the kids had a great time & learnt about wildlife!

  • Sienna with headtorch!
  • The gang looking for possums
  • Western ringtail possum @ Busselton

All in all a lovely holiday with plenty of possums seen 🙂

Canning dam herping

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The weather forecast was indicating a promising herping night was coming up – a really hot day with a possibility of some humidity/storm in the evening. Jimmy wasn’t able to make this trip but I decided to go it alone to Canning Dam as it seemed like a good evening to maybe find a Death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus)! Their common name is the Common death adder but they are anything but – sometimes found in the valleys around the Canning dam area, they are a stealth predator.

I got out quite late after helping to get the kids to sleep and drove very slowly along McNess Drive looking for anything on the road – ever hopeful for herps! I parked up near the southern service entrance and walked through the gate. See here for my previous visit and map below. It looks like the picnic area is closed for refurbishment and its closed of an evening anyway.

It was pretty quiet and I was a little unnerved being on my own but wanted to make the best of a good night. It wasn’t far along the path that I came across this roadkilled snake – it is a Carpet python (Morelia spilota ssp. imbricata) – I needed help with the ID but the wonderful community on iNat were able to help – I thought it was a dugite at first – see here. Seems a shame as its a service road without public access so the staff should know better.

I then quickly saw my first gecko of the evening – a Barking gecko (Underwoodisaurus milii) but it didn’t pose for a photo. I had a few that were pretty skittish and this was the first two that I got an average photo of. They are beautifully marked and if provoked can put on quite a bluff show & vocalised hence their common name.

  • Backing gecko @ Canning Dam

  • Backing gecko @ Canning Dam

I saw a few more geckos and then headed back. I had another spot I wanted to try tonight that was close to the dam. I had read a paper where they had trapped mainland Quokka (Setonix brachyurus) which is one of my most wanted species. Unknown to most people about half of all quokkas live on Rottnest, the rest live in relative obscurity.


Barking gecko @ Canning Dam

I headed a little way south and located the access track to the site. At this stage I won’t divulge anymore about the location. I drove in a little ways but was not comfortable as noone knew exactly where I was and it was an isolated spot. I had a quick spotlight from inside the car and will be back at some point with a buddy to explore more carefully. The habitat looked good with low wetland shrubs but it will be a challenge to spot any animals.

So all in all a nice evening to be out but with only 2 species of reptile and one of them dead. 🙂

Numbat survey at Boyagin Nature Reserve with Project Numbat

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My buddy Jimmy had been talking for a while about the annual numbat surveys he helped with, for Project Numbat and Parks & Wildlife Service (part of DBCA).  I had been interested for a while but with little kids it’s a huge ask to leave my wife with the kids all weekend, this year the ever gracious Mel was happy for me to join the team.

Jimmy had been instrumental in my first sighting of numbat and it wasn’t an ordinary quick glimpse but an extended viewing of a pair just before mating.  It was my 4th time trying to see them which gives an idea of the rarity and how difficult they can be to find.

Project Numbat survey both Boyagin Nature Reserve and Dryandra Woodland once a year.  Project Numbat are a not for profit group with a focus on community awareness and conservation of the numbat.  The type of survey we would be conducting was a digging survey as just visual surveys can miss animals and they leave distinctive markings when they forage for termites which persist.

Jimmy and I headed down once I had the kids mostly ready for bed.  We would be staying at the lovely Lions Dryandra Woodland Village and travelling to Boyagin daily which is about 30 minutes away.  We got there after dark and couldn’t help but go for a spotlight – we were hopeful for Pygmy possum that Jimmy had seen in some flowering bushes a year earlier and also after a couple of trips Jimmy had made earlier in the week.  Unfortunately it wasn’t the evening for Pygmy’s but we found a couple of lovely Woylie (Bettongia penicillata) in the area.

  • Woylies @ Dryandra Woodland
  • Woylie @ Dryandra Woodland

We headed back to Lions Village to get some sleep as we had a full day of surveying the next day.

We got up and had breakfast with the other volunteers.  Also joining us was Dr Tony Friend from Parks & Wildlife – Mr Numbat himself!  We had six of us in total and split into 2 parties and headed out to Boyagin to make a start for the day.  My group comprised of Tamara (President of Project Numbat) and Jimmy. 

First task of the day was to practice in identifying numbat diggings – they are quite small, not too deep, discrete diggings without a mound of dirt.  These are left after exposing termites in their galleries just beneath the surface and licking them with their long tongues – they are also often grouped in a run as the numbat follows the food in the galleries – see below photo.  Other diggings that need to be ruled out are the following:

  • Woylie (deeper v shaped hunting for underground truffles) – often earth left mounded
  • Quenda (funnel shaped)
  • Rabbits (often with scat present)
  • Echidna (messy often covering a large area)
  • Numbat digging @ Boyagin
  • Numbat digging @ Boyagin

The survey consisted of driving to pre-defined locations and then the group surveying an area of 100m radius for a period of 10 mins.  If diggings were found others confirmed or disagreed.  Once located, a quick search was also made for numbat scat – hard, quite heavy black with shiny bits of termite exoskeleton inside.   The locations are spread out throughout the blocks of Boyagin and allow year-to-year comparisons of numbats.  Records were kept on Project Numbat Toughbooks in a GIS application.

It was rewarding to find evidence of numbat foraging and also noting how you can tell if a site habitat was more ‘numbatty’ depending on the vegetation and fallen trees present.

We saw plenty of Gould’s sand goannas (Varanus gouldii) crossing the tracks and also got a glimpse of a black-headed monitor (Varanus tristis) but it didn’t stay for photos!

  • Gould’s sand goanna @ Boyagin NR
  • Gould’s sand goanna @ Boyagin NR

We came together for morning tea & lunch and it was nice to hear how the other group were getting on.  They, like us, had some sites with repeat records of numbats from previous years, some had new records where they hadn’t been found before, and some sites that previously had diggings but didn’t this time.  Such is the way of scientific survey.

We finished off the day’s surveys feeling like we had made great progress – setting ourselves up well for the next day. Tamara cooked an amazing green chicken curry with rice which went down a treat after all the work of the day. Just before dinner one of the team mentioned they had seen a Gould’s goanna just outside our cottage.

  • Gould’s gonana @ Dryandra
  • Gould’s gonana @ Dryandra

That night the rest of the team were going to settle in for a relaxing night and enjoy some well earned beverages, but Jimmy & I we wanted to see more wildlife. We headed out as it got dark going back again to our Pygmy possum spot – with still no luck! We had a very nice viewing of a Tawny frogmouth that just stayed put. We also saw the usual collection of Woylies, Brushtail possums and Western grey kangaroos. We also spotted a nice Western spotted frog. Highlights were spotting a couple of Chuditch – in a couple of hotspots that seem to have animals every visit – no photos as the animals were skittish that night.

We headed to the sandalwood plantation previously mentioned to see if we might see Red-tailed phascogale, and it’s always good for Woylie. Many woylie were seen and Jimmy saw an Echidna that I didn’t see. Hitting the carpark I found this beautifully marked Wheatbelt stone gecko (Diplodactylus granariensis) – a new species for me. We headed back knowing we had another full on day tomorrow.

The second day Jimmy & I were with Tony Friend (numbat guru). We changed plan this day deciding not to meet for morning tea but would meet for lunch at one of the dams. Discussions with Tony were great and I learnt lots about many topics!

At one point we were just heading for a corner where two tracks met and Tony calls “Numbat! and I would like to catch it”! It bolted, as did Jimmy, who hadn’t seen it from the back seat but was doing his best to find it… Unfortunately it was too fast and this was our only sighting of the weekend. Tony will sometimes attach radio collars or make an assessment of the general condition of the animal, so not just catching for fun.

I learnt heaps from chats with Tony and totally enjoyed the day. We caught up for lunch and learnt that the other team had seen a carpet python which Jimmy had been dying to see – but no luck for him this weekend! We headed out after lunch completing the last few sites before finishing for the day around 2pm. We took some team photos before we headed back to Perth. A great weekend all round – I learnt heaps, met amazing new people and had lots of time in the bush!  

Ringtails in Dalyellup

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Liam, my 4 year old son and I, went to stay with my good old friend Daz & family – mostly to see them but also to look for Western ringtail possums (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) they have in their garden and the adjacent remnant Tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) forest in Dalyellup, just south of Bunbury.

The Western ringtail possum has been classified as critically endangered in 2018.  Some sobering reading in this article – the Western ringtail has a 25% chance of extinction in the next 20 years and has the somewhat dubious honour of being in position 11 of the Top 20 Mammals at risk in Australia.  While I have to trust the experts – it seems a little strange for something I can find fairly easily and have blogged about in a couple of other locations (follow the possum category below to find them).

It’s a 2 hour drive south from Perth and Liam handled the drive very well.  We settled in and then Daz took us with his son to the Bunbury wildlife park.  It is a council run park with mainly native animals and encourages animal interaction with suitable species – its a great place to take the kids if you are in the area.

Liam loved feeding the birds and kangaroos.

Daz feeding Indian ringneck @ Bunbury wildlife park
Liam feeding cockatiel @ Bunbury wildlife park
Liam feeding kangaroo @ Bunbury wildlife park

They have a really nice selection of natives including tammar wallaby as below, quokka, wombat, red & grey kangaroos, potoroo, dingo and a small selection of reptiles & frogs.

Tammar wallaby @ Bunbury wildlife park
Tammar wallaby @ Bunbury wildlife park
Tammar wallaby @ Bunbury wildlife park
Red kangaroo @ Bunbury wildlife park
Kangaroo with a Liam joey! @ Bunbury wildlife park

That evening we geared up, dressed warmly and headed out to find some possums just after the sun had gone down – Liam was super excited!  Our first possum was sighted in the front yard of the house!

Western ringtail possum @ Dalyellup

We then headed into the Tuart forest which is mixed with Peppermints (Agonis flexuosa) & Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) trees.

Western ringtail possum @ Dalyellup
Western ringtail possum feeding on Jarrah @ Dalyellup
Western ringtail possum@ Dalyellup

All up we saw approx 6 possums in a small section walking for under an hour – I had been hoping for other species as Daz has previously seen a Brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) in the area, but no luck this time.  Liam was pretty tired by about 8pm (an hour past normal bedtime!) so we headed for home and bed.

The next morning we went down to The Lakes also in Dalyellup for a walk and see some birds.

It was a lovely sunny morning and we could hear plenty of Rattling frogs (Crinia glauerti) and Banjo frogs (Limnodynastes dorsalis). I made a recording on my phone and submitted it to the great citizen science project FrogID.  I encourage everyone to download the app on your smartphone and record frogs wherever you hear them!  We saw some nice birds.

Australasian grebe @ The Lakes, Dalyellup
Hardhead @ The Lakes, Dalyellup
Hardhead @ The Lakes, Dalyellup
Little pied cormorant @ The Lakes, Dalyellup
Musk duck @ The Lakes, Dalyellup

Just as we were on the other side we noticed a possum drey (they make a nest of leaves to sleep during the day).  Daz has noticed that the openings generally face North-West which we surmised why that might be.  He has experimented making one out of 2 hanging baskets joined together filled with coconut fibre and peppermint leaves – and had an inhabitant for a period in his garden!

We then went for a quick look in the tuart forest looking for herps under the leaf litter using a rake.  We also lifted rocks, bark and wood – always being careful to put it back where we found it.  No herps found but we did find a nice centipede that I didn’t get a photo of.

Liam and I then headed back home to Perth to see my wife Mel & daughter Sienna.  We had an awesome weekend and Liam loved Daz’s son and especially his Lego and treehouse!

Sullivan Rock Herping

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I have been wanting to go out herping in the colder weather for a while now.  It’s a good time when reptiles can be found brumating (the reptile version of hibernating) and can be quite sluggish giving good views up close.

Jimmy was again game to join me with my 4 year old son and we managed to pick a beautiful clear winters day, but with some rain looming in the evening.  We headed out at midday with Liam enjoying the car trip.

Liam enjoying an audio book on the trip out

We headed to Sullivan Rock on Albany Hwy in Mt Cooke – it’s where the Bibbulmun  track crosses the highway and there is a good sized car park.  We crossed the road following the track where it crosses Sullivan Rock.

As we got to the rock we headed East to get to some areas where we thought less people would visit.  Along the way we lifted rocks looking for reptiles – always carefully placing the rock back in exactly the same spot to minimise disturbance.  Many rocky outcrops in the Perth Hills have been damaged with people taking rocks for their gardens, rock cairns being built, vehicles driven on the rocks damaging habitat and rocks just generally being moved.  Many living things use the rocks as habitat – so they must be treated with care.

The first reptile we found was a Barking gecko (Underwoodisaurus milii).  This is a pretty cool gecko that, when threatened, will raise its whole body up on its legs and ‘bark’ like a small dog.  This one was pretty sluggish and ambled off underneath another rock.

Barking gecko @ Sullivan Rock

The next thing we found was a scorpion under a rock – Liam was very keen to touch but we had to insist it was a bad idea!

Jimmy lifting the rock with Liam examining

We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the rock and then kept looking.  There was quite a lot of water seeping down the rock but we didn’t find any frogs under the wet rocks or in some of the rock pools.

We found a couple of small skinks that moved off too quickly to ID or photograph.

We then found a family of Ornate crevice dragons (Ctenophorus ornatus) – there was one larger with three smaller.  Three of them dashed off to another rock but one just sat there, pretty much motionless.

Liam touching a crevice dragon
Liam touching a crevice dragon
Ornate crevice dragon @ Sullivan rock

We then headed for home – pleased we had found 3-4 species of reptiles and really giving Liam a good nature experience.  He loved his time and had been so good clambering over the rocks.  He was pretty tired after this and got a few Zzz’s in the car on the way home!

Rock-wallabies of the Wheatbelt and Frogs that go hoot!

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I had been planning for a while to take my 4 year old son Liam to see Black-flanked Rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis) in the wheatbelt.  My friend Jimmy had seen them about a month ago – so I had good information that it would be ok to take my son.  Also Jimmy was game to join us – its a 2.5hr drive each way with some walking in the reserve and then rock clambering.  My son was so excited to come – he had been asking only days prior if we were going to see rock-wallabies!

Our destination was Mount Caroline Nature Reserve – one of about half a dozen sites where the rock-wallaby can be found in the wheatbelt.  The rocky outcrops where they live are surrounded by crop fields, so they have become islands in a desert of habitat.  They can also be found in a number of locations across WA and also SA/NT in the central region.

We left at noon, taking a lunch break in York.  We then drove the rest of the way arriving about 3pm, parked up and walked into a habitat corridor that joins the reserve with Gardner Rd.

I had to carry Liam some of the way but once we hit the rocky outcrop he was off and away!  We soon spotted Ornate crevice dragons (Ctenophorus ornatus) scurrying quickly on the rocks.  It was a day with some cloud cover so we hoped the wallabies might be out a little earlier than dusk.

Ornate crevice dragon @ Mt Caroline NR

The rocks had amazing structures – with lots of erosion seen on the boulders and rock-wallaby scat seen inside the caves.

Granite boulder @ Mt Caroline NR

We walked to the top of the rock advising Liam that he needed to be quiet – but he was also very excited!  He threw little rocks off the top even after we said it would scare the wallabies away.  Jimmy did a little recce in front and sighted a Euro (Macropus robustus) dashing off into cover, out of view.  I didn’t see it and the outcrop is classic habitat for them, but not often seen.

Liam with Jimmy @ Mt Caroline NR

Liam was super confident on the rocks but, as his Dad, he had me a little worried….. he clambered everywhere with no fear!  As we got to the top of the rocks and peaked over the Western face we saw our first wallaby dash away – too quick for a photo.  We then saw another jump away and sit on a rock a ways off.  Liam saw this one and was very pleased!

Black-flanked rock-wallaby @ Mt Caroline NR

Jimmy spotted 3 wallabies just over the drop at a feeding station which must be maintained by DBCA (old DPAW) but they had scattered by the time Liam & I got into a viewing location.

Feeding station @ Mt Caroline NR

We started to see more wallabies as it got closer to sunset.  They can be quite skittish and you need to be quiet and not make sudden movements.  The animals know every cave and crevice and can disappear in an instant.

Black-flanked rock-wallaby @ Mt Caroline NR
Black-flanked rock-wallaby @ Mt Caroline NR
Black-flanked rock-wallaby @ Mt Caroline NR

Liam really enjoyed himself – but see the fly net – there were plenty of flies around!  He  also enjoyed pointing out scat in amongst the rocks.

I was finding it a little hard to take photos while keeping Liam safe on the rocks so Jimmy kindly looked after him while I went for a solo explore.  They clambered up a big boulder and chilled.

I had some lovely views of a red-capped robin and grey butcherbird calling.

Red-capped robin @ Mt Caroline NR
Grey butcherbird @ Mt Caroline NR

The sun was beginning to set and it was a lovely view from the top of the rock.

Sunset @ Mt Caroline NR

I then spotted a rock-wallaby sitting on really steep rock face – just glued to the side of the rock.

Black-flanked rock-wallaby @ Mt Caroline NR

Their feet and paws are ideal for gaining grip on the granite rock faces.  The below photo series shows just how dexterous they are.

Black-flanked rock-wallaby @ Mt Caroline NR
Black-flanked rock-wallaby @ Mt Caroline NR
Black-flanked rock-wallaby @ Mt Caroline NR
Black-flanked rock-wallaby @ Mt Caroline NR

The light was beginning to fade so we headed back towards the car.  Hard to say how many wallabies were sighted as they may have been repeats – I guess maybe 5-8 perhaps?

Mt Caroline NR from the West

On the way out we could see that the wallabies do get away from the rock and head into the farmers crop by the tracks under one of the fences.

Rock-wallaby tracks under a fence @ Mt Caroline NR

We got back and the light was dropping rapidly – we had a quick picnic dinner and started to head for home.  We had half a plan if it rained to see if we could find some frogs in Chidlow and Liam was keen.  The weather was coming in and we drove through a few rain bands – so that was promising for frogs.  Jimmy had seen Hooting frogs (Heleioporus barycragus) in Avonholme Circle, Chidlow during April (previously after rain).

This was one of my target species for the year so we took the opportunity.  We walked along the dry river bed but no calling was heard – it took about 10mins but we soon picked up the first frog by eyeshine in the spotlight and then found another.

Hooting frog @ Chidlow
Hooting frog @ Chidlow

We also found a couple of Western Banjo or Pobblebonk frogs (Limnodynastes dorsalis) – they are recognisable by their central vertebral line and red colouration around the thigh area.

Western banjo frog @ Chidlow
Western banjo frog @ Chidlow
Western banjo frog @ Chidlow

We then found a third Hooting frog which was the most attractive of the 3 found – solid front legs and diagnostic yellow colouration on the flanks.

Hooting frog @ Chidlow

Finally it was time to head for home, getting back at 10:30pm – way too late for a 4 year old – but an amazing adventure for all!  So many new things for Liam, a new frog for me and Jimmy with the patience of a saint to allow me to bring my son!

Penguin Island Day Trip

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I took some time off during my son’s first lot of school holidays as he has just started kindy this year.  He has been saying for ages that one of his favourite animals was the penguin – so we planned to take him down to Penguin Is.  Only 45 mins south of Perth is Penguin Is – just south of Rockingham.

Accessible by a quick 5 min ferry from Rockingham Wild Encounters the island is part of Shoalwater Marine Park and home to 1200 Little penguins (Eudyptula minor).  DBCA have a discovery centre on the island where you can see captive rescue penguins.  They really reinforce to use the boat – as there have been deaths with people using the sandbar to access the island.

Liam and I made the quick ferry ride across and were pleased to see a sea-lion frolicking in the bay not far from the boat.  There is a colony of sea-lions on another island in the marine park.

Liam on boat with Penguin Is in background.

We headed into the discovery centre to get some really good looks at penguins – Liam really enjoyed it and was attentive for the ranger talk as well.

One of the penguins is named Kevin and he is quite a show pony penguin.

We then headed to walk around the island to look for wild penguins in amongst the boardwalks.  Penguins are out at sea feeding for most of the daylight hours – so you don’t actually see many penguins on the island!  We heard there were a couple of male sea-lions that were nursing shark wounds and had been seen on the beach – so we went looking!  None there that day.

We went to the western side of the island which was much rougher and Liam had a great time in the waves – despite me telling him I forgot to pack in a towel 🙂

We then walked up to one of the lookouts finding this fat King skink (Egernia kingii) – we wondered if it might be pregnant?  They are live bearers.

King skink @ Penguin Is

Lots of steps!

At the lookout we were harassed by seagulls who had nested right next to the boardwalk – Liam marvelled at the colours of the eggs.

Silver gull eggs @ Penguin Is

Silver gull eggs @ Penguin Is
Silver gull eggs @ Penguin Is

We then headed back to the beach looking for penguins but none were found.  I was glad we had spent the time in the discovery centre.

We then headed back into the discovery centre just to see the penguins once more before heading back to the mainland for lunch.

A great day – well worth a family trip.  Bring towels though – kids are highly likely to get wet!

Frogs & Wallabies…

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My friend Andrew and I had been planning for a while to spotlight at one of the lakes near his house in Ballajura. Emu Lake is natural but surrounded by quite a lot of housing.  Our primary target was frogs.

We quickly found the first of many motorbike frogs (Litoria moorei) for the night which all seemed quite small and just chilling out in vegetation around the lake.  They were easily found from their eye shine in the beam of the head torch.

Motorbike frog @ Ballajura
Motorbike frog @ Ballajura
Motorbike frog @ Ballajura
Motorbike frog @ Ballajura

We found many and I added a few photos so you can see the variability of their colouration.

Motorbike frog @ Ballajura
Motorbike frog @ Ballajura
Motorbike frog @ Ballajura

Just as we had nearly finished circumnavigating the lake we found these Moaning frogs (Heleioporus eyrei) just sitting on sandy patches amongst the grass, up from the lake.

Moaning frog @ Ballajura
Moaning frog @ Ballajura
Moaning frog @ Ballajura

The motorbike and moaning frogs were not calling but I did hear some Slender tree frogs (Litoria adelaidensis) calling in distant reeds – none were actually seen.

We then headed for Mirrabooka Bushland as I had read there had been Western brush wallaby (Macropus irma) found in a pretty urban location in the last couple of years.  Recording had been made of Parks & Wildlife’s NatureMap – so it was likely to be accurate and not a mix up with a normal common Western grey kangaroo.  The bushland is 85ha of mostly Banksia and pretty sandy tracks.  It is just next to Reid Hwy and can be accessed on the Western side of Northwood Dr, Mirrabooka.

The brush wallaby is proving to be a hard animal to photograph – I have seen them on perhaps 4-5 occasions but as soon as they see a person or the car stops they head for cover very quickly.

We walked a few trails not seeing any wildlife, only hearing at one point a single crash of something large which might have been a wallaby, but it didn’t keep going.

The only living animal was a Tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) which I saw flying through my spotlight and then landed on a branch for a not so great photo.

Tawny frogmouth @ Mirrabooka

I think I would like to try again in the bushland as its a very urban location and would be amazing to find a wallaby in such a location.