Category Macropods

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 .

Quokka @ Rottnest

Rottnest in winter…

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For the second year in a row we went to Rottnest Island for a winter holiday. Rottnest sits just offshore of Perth (18kms) and is a favourite holiday location for locals and tourists alike. Being surrounded by water, the island is actually warmer than Perth, but you hope for sunny spells and not too much rain!

Quokka at Rottnest

The most well known wildlife at Rottnest is the marsupial Quokka (Setonix brachyurus). They can be easily found especially in the main settlement and have become famous worldwide for the ‘Quokka selfie’. If you google it some 400k results show – with some celebrity examples in there!

They are small macropod (kangaroo family – macropod means big feet in latin). It’s not widely known, but they can also be found on the mainland. Due to habitat loss, changing fire patterns and mainly predation by introduced feral foxes & cats, they are hard to find and populations are vulnerable.

They are very cute, aclimitised to people, and very photogenic.

  • Quokka checking pouch @ Rottnest
  • Quokka @ Rottnest
  • Quokka @ Rottnest
  • Quokka @ Rottnest

This quokka was found in the settlement eating a fig leaf while its joey had a nibble as well – cute!

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The other mammal that can be seen at Rottnest is the New Zealand Fur Seal at a resident colony at Cathedral Rocks on the western side of the island. See my previous blog for more information as I didn’t visit it this time.

The other wildlife attraction on the island is birding. There are extensive salt lakes and often rare birds are sighted. There are also a few sub-species of reptiles endemic to the island but as it was winter none were observed.

I went for a walk one day and saw a number of birds.

Pied oystercatcher @ Rottnest golf course

What better way to end with a pic of a Quokka taking a snooze. They tuck their tails under themselves!

Searching for Quokka in Jarrahdale..

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I have been looking for mainland Quokka (Setonix brachyurus) for sometime and saw information that people had found some in Jarrahdale. While they were careful not to disclose the exact location I saw some facebook chat about a location a little out of the main strip of Jarrahdale where people had seen Quokka in the mornings, so wanted to check it out.

I took my 4 year old son Liam for a drive hoping we might get lucky and find some Quokka’s enjoying breakfast. We took off a little later than planned but made good time to the location.


We crossed a bridge over a dried up river so the habitat seemed good with thick riparian vegetation but also with a fair few blackberry bushes. Once we found the spot (a gravel parking area fringed by forest) we parked up and waited for some movement.

We waited for some time (as long as a 4 year old can sit still!) and then jumped out of the car to take a closer look. We skirted the fringing vegetation and quickly found this likely looking scat. While I can’t rule it out as Western grey kangaroo it had the features of a Quokka scat – size 1-2cm, cuboid and slightly flattened. These were also fresher than the ones I had previously found in the Canning Dam region.

  • Possible Quokka scat @ Jarrahdale

When walking through the fringing vegetation we found we had we had to be careful even with the small little seedlings on the ground as they were often Blackberries with nasty thorns.

  • Liam pointing to the scat @ Jarrahdale

We headed towards the bridge and we heard something mid-sized move suddenly in the vegetation but it was too thick to see properly. Given the likely scat I think this is my unconfirmed closest encounter with a mainland Quokka – but I will have to try again! 🙂

Heading back to the car we found this amazing bug – the wonderful iNaturalist & awesome bug ID app MyPestGuide Reporter – run by the Agriculture Department’s entomologists on the hunt for the next nasty pest! Through both avenues it was ID’d as a Red-banded seed eating bug (Melanerythrus mactans).

20190304-2019-03-04 08.35.22
Red-headed seed-eating bug @ Jarrahdale

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 🙂

Dryandra woodland in a night!

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Our good friend Karen was visiting from South Africa and she expressed interest in seeing some Australian wildlife. I don’t need much encouragement so we planned a quick evening trip to Dryandra Woodland. It’s a little over 2 hrs from Perth and it was my first time spotlighting there without my usual mammal watching buddy Jimmy!

I was keen to return to try and find Western pygmy possum that I have blogged about before – so we spotlighted on our way to that location and came across a few possums.

Brushtail possum @ Dryandra Woodland

We spent quite a lot of time looking in the flowering vegetation but again I lucked out on Pygmy possum – one day 🙂 I was hopeful that I had seen something with a bright eye reflection but on closer examination of the photo it was a spider way up in a tree!

We spotted a few Woylies in the region but they were fairly skittish – Karen had a close encounter with one I had spooked and it bounded her way!

  • Woylie @ Dryandra

  • Woylie @ Dryandra

  • Woylie @ Dryandra

We headed down to the sandalwood plantation to look for more Woylies and also possibly find Red-tailed phascogale as we had found them before. We only found more possums but got a good shot of Karen with a possum in the tree above.

Karen with a possum in the sandalwood plantation.

Later we found a beautiful Tawny frogmouth that let us get very close.

Tawny frogmouth @ Dryandra

And something I don’t often sight, a possum on the ground. I know from seeing camera trap footage that they are often on the ground there, but I usually see them up trees as they feel safer. We then took a little video once it headed up a tree.

Possum on the ground @ Dryandra
Possum @ Dryandra

We finished off the night going past a couple of spots that had been good for Chuditch previously, but no luck tonight. We saw our last possum and then headed out of the woodland. All in all a very enjoyable evening.

Brushtail possum @ Dryandra

Tammar wallabies of Garden Island

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For a long time I have been wanting to visit Garden Island (HMAS Stirling) which is just off Rockingham, South of Perth. It’s a working naval base and as such access is restricted. Like Rottnest Island there is a remnant wallaby population surviving on the introduced predator-free island, with a large population of Tammar wallaby (Notamacropus eugenii). They can be found on the mainland but are quite timid and not often seen. I think both being a island and the restricted access due to naval operations has allowed fauna to flourish and much of the vegetation is as it was Pre-European settlement.

My friend Russell offered to arrange a trip as a birthday gift – asking a mutual friend Dan who is in the navy to facilitate access. They both gladly gave up a Saturday evening. Public access to the island is usually only available during daylight hours via boat – so this was a special treat. Russ and I met Dan just at the start of the causeway as you can drive onto the island. We went through the security checks and drove further into the island into some of the navy residential areas. Just as we were about to park we saw our first Tammar. I was very excited and then we just kept seeing them!

Tammar wallaby @ Garden Island

The wallabies were everywhere. They are taller than a Quokka but smaller than a kangaroo and beautifully marked. They seem quite unfazed by human presence but would dash away into thick vegetation if you go too close.


Tammar wallaby @ Garden Island

I really enjoyed photographing them – they had quite varied colouration – possibly age and gender related or perhaps just natural variation.

    We saw so many wallabies and I took a lot of photos – it was pretty hard which ones to choose so there is a fair amount posted here!


    Tammar wallaby @ Garden Island

      I captured this short video as it allowed me to get very close.

      Tammar wallaby @ Garden Island

      As we completed our loop we came onto a grassed area with thick bordering vegetation and we saw more wallabies than ever.

            This video (sorry its a little shaky) gives an idea of how many there are in some locations and also how they blend into the vegetation.


            Tammar wallabies @ Garden Island

            As we completed the loop more were seen in amongst paths and car parks.

              Our last couple were sitting in the car park for some reason near a motorbike!

              It was a great evening with many, many Tammars seen. It’s wonderful to know there is a good sized population of this wonderful macropod on a protected island which is much less known than its famous Quokka cousin.

              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!  

              Rottnest Is. – Quokkas, birds and fur seals

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              For the winter school holidays we took a family trip to Rottnest for a week.  It’s a great place to stay – very relaxing with tourists getting about on foot, bikes or the bus – there are only service cars on the island.  We stayed in a heritage cottage in Thompsons Bay built around 1840!

              Rottnest is a small island about 20kms off Fremantle and is about 7kms long.  Its name comes from dutch explorers who named it Eyland’t Rottenest (“Rats’ Nest Island”) after mistaking the marsupial Quokka (Setonix brachyurus) for a large rat in 1696!  Its original indigenous name of the island is Wadjemup, used by the local Noongar people.  The island has a mixed history as it was used as an indigenous prison for a time and now it is a tourist haven and important wildlife sanctuary.

              The kids loved the Quokkas which are everywhere and very tame in the main tourist areas.  My almost 2 yr old daughter Sienna grasped straight away that they like green leaves and we had to help her find leaves for the whole week.  Rottnest is a mainstay of the Quokka population – it’s not well known that there are isolated populations throughout the southwest of WA.

              In researching the animals that could be found on Rottnest I found there is a colony of New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) on Cathedral rocks on the western end of the island and with a newly constructed boardwalk.  I have previously seen Australian Sea Lions (Neophoca cinerea) but the fur seal was a new species for me.  My 4 year old son Liam, my wife Mel and I, chose a clear day and headed out on the bus that does loops round the island.  It was a 30 min bus ride out and was cold and windy on this exposed part of the island.

              I took this pano of the rocks.  You can’t make it out in the picture but seals could be seen hauled on the rocks and also frolicking in the water.  To see better you needed binoculars or a telephoto camera.

              Pano of Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is

              Seals hauled out on the rocks.

              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is
              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is
              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is
              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is
              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is

              Seals in the water.

              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is
              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is

              You can see how many seals are on the rocks if you look carefully.

              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is
              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is
              NZ Fur Seal @ Cathedral Rocks, Rottnest Is

              We then headed to West end where we saw a soaring Osprey and a huge built up nest on a rock just offshore.

              Osprey @ West End, Rottnest Is
              Osprey nest @ Fish Hook Bay, Rottnest Is

              We then headed to catch the bus back and on the side of the road found this weird spider which has since been identified as one of the mouse spiders (Missulena granulosa).

              On another day I took a walk to check out some of the salt lakes for birds and found my first ever Banded stilts (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus).

              Banded stilt @ Rottnest Is
              Banded stilt @ Rottnest Is

              I saw a few other birds (photos below) – I was really pleased with the swallow picture flying into the wind on the golf course but not actually making any headway as the wind was so strong!  There used to be a population of breeding Indian peafowl on the island – but they are managed now to just 5. Common pheasant (introduced) can also be found on the island but I didn’t see any.

              Welcome swallow @ Rottnest Is

              Welcome swallow @ Rottnest Is
              Pied oystercatcher @ Rottnest Is
              Australian raven @ Rottnest Is
              Australian shelduck @ Rottnest Is
              Peacock @ Rottnest Is
              Grey teal @ Rottnest Is

              I finished off with a collection of Quokka shots.  The below is one drinking open fresh water which is quite difficult to find on the island, so this one was taking advantage of a large puddle as it had been quite wet!

              Quokka drinking @ Rottnest Is
              Quokka drinking @ Rottnest Is

              In the below right is one sleeping on its tail and getting some sun!

              Quokka @ Rottnest Is
              Quokka @ Rottnest Is
              Quokka snoozing @ Rottnest Is

              We had a great holiday – even though a few days were wet.  The kids loved the island and Sienna is still talking about Quokkas! Their Granny bought them each a fluffy toy one on the island which is in bed with them each night.

              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!

              Frogs & Wallabies…

              wildlifewatchingaustralia 3 Comments

              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.

              Tutanning Nature Reserve – Phascogale, Tammars, Bats & Frogs!

              wildlifewatchingaustralia 4 Comments

              Jimmy and I had planned a while back to continue our Australia Day tradition from 2017 where went out to Dryandra.  This year we planned to go to Tutanning nature reserve (another remnant Wheatbelt nature reserve) as I have never seen a wild Tammar wallaby and Jimmy has seen them each time he has been there.

              It’s about 2.5hrs from my place and Jimmy kindly agreed to leave after my kids were down for the night. We planned to drive there, spotlight and then head back in the wee hours.

              We drove out taking it slow over the hills trying to make sure we didn’t hit any roos.  Despite all our care – we were dive bombed by a Tawny frogmouth who wedged itself in the grill and died instantly.  It was a night for frogmouths as we saw 4 more in the reserve.

              As we got to the reserve at 10pm, we thought we might have some problems with trees across roads as there had been some pretty strong winds with the tail end of the weather from Cyclone Joyce earlier in the week.  We were able to get around them but the roads need careful attention as some might need a 4WD or careful driving in Jimmy’s SUV.  We saw a couple of Western grey kangaroos throughout the reserve.

              20180126_013844.jpg

              We drove through the reserve to the Eastern part where Jimmy had seen Tammar wallabies before – funnily enough on Tammar Rd!

              We didn’t initially see any wallabies driving through the section so we parked up and headed out on foot.  Jimmy caught something in his lights and we both saw something small on the ground and then jump onto dead branch just off the ground.  We first thought mouse or maybe Mardo (Yellow-footed Antichinus) but then it scooted up a nearby Sheok moving very quickly – we then realised it was a Red-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale calura).  We both got some quick photos as these critters often move very quickly and especially in the white light of our spotlights.

              Red-tailed phascogale @ Tutanning NR

              This was my third ever sighting, but the first time I was ever able to get a photo.  It skipped around the branches of the tree but then settled on a main branch allowing us great views and better photos.

              Red-tailed Phascogale @ Tutanning NR
              Red-tailed Phascogale @ Tutanning NR
              Red-tailed Phascogale @ Tutanning NR

              We were then pretty much satisfied with our night and anything else was a bonus!  Not long after, we spotted our first Tammar wallaby – they are smaller than kangaroos and look very attractive.  They are quite skittish and hang out in areas of thick undergrowth.  I got a couple of shots before it sped off.

              Tammar wallaby @ Tutanning NR
              Tammar wallaby @ Tutanning NR
              Tammar wallaby @ Tutanning NR

              We then headed onto the boundary track that borders a farm – we saw other Tammars but they didn’t stay for better viewings.  We then headed up another road seeing a few more, but they stayed well clear of us.

              I also got a chance to try out my new toy – Echo Meter Touch 2 for Android – a bat detector you plug into your mobile!  Take a listen to what I think might be a bat – identifying them is a bit of a black art and very technical as you have to analyse the acoustics of the calls.

              Below is what a call looks like on my phone app and on some specialist acoustic analytical software Kaleidoscope.  I think the frequency of the call is between 28-50 KHz which I thought might make it a south-western freetail bat, but I have asked for help from experts.  {edit} I have since had advice that the call comes from a Gould’s wattled bat (Chalinolobus gouldii) which is very widely distributed through Australia.

              Call on my app that links with the detector
              Screenshot of Bat Analysis software – Kaleidoscope

              We then spotted a small white frog sitting motionless on the track.  Not 100% sure of the ID at the moment and it can be pretty hard to tell with just photos – I can’t even work out if it is a Sand frog (Heleioporus psammophilus) or White-footed trilling frog (Neobatrachus albipes).

              Sand frog @ Tutanning

              Jimmy then spotted a lovely Western-spotted frog (Heleioporus albopunctatus) in the field so we jumped the fence for a closer look.

              Western-spotted frog @ Tutanning NR

              We headed back to the car with Jimmy taking his shoes off – going bush in socks! – as he was determined to get a better shot of a Tammar.

              Tammar wallaby @ Tutanning NR

              I then found another Western spotted frog – the greenish eye shine on the ground is quite distinctive when you shine a headtorch.

              Western-spotted frog @ Tutanning NR

              We headed home and I finally got to bed at 4am!  A long night but very successful.