Category Quokka

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).

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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!

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.