Monday 14th October 2019. 1110 – 1215

No Rain. Scattered cloud with sunny periods. Intermittent cool breeze. Track dry.

Full crew present today though Thomas protesting about his new harness to replace his choke chain which to date has been the only thing he was unable to slip out of! I think he wanted a leather one with stainless steel spikes to promote his masculine image.
The black spotted Eastern Water Dragon was displaying himself in a more prominent position today, with a smaller Dragon less than a metre away. Then nothing until the Log Jam where there were several Saw-Shelled Turtles of assorted sizes and a Krefft’s Short-necked Turtle in prime position. A Black-faced Cuckooshrike came to check us out at Platy’s Pool and there was a large Saw-shelled Turtle is his regular spot at Picnic Peninsula. By this time we were despairing of seeing a Possum or a Platypus when I spotted a Green Ringtail Possum in a new tree near the Side Bridge over a minor tributary of the creek. She was either cuddling a white fluffy ball or has a joey in the pouch! At The Narrows we had no fewer than 5 Platypus sightings although a couple of them could have been repeats. The most exciting was where the track runs down hill towards the Highway Bridge where a Platypus climbed up the bank under a tangle of branches and roots to enter a burrow located about 1 m above the water. Have never witnessed this before. Finally we saw a pair of Bush Stone-curlews at the creek end of the paddock adjoining the Medical Centre. Only 1 chick in view and not sure if it was our regular family or not. Another highly successful Patrol!