Wednesday 7th April 2021. 1000 – 1200

Weather

10 mm of rain overnight. Light overcast with occasional brief sunny periods. Little or no breeze. Track damp. Water level steady.

Wildlife Report

With steam puffing gently from my ears after a minor disagreement on the phone I decided that a walk along the Creek would be good fro my blood pressure and for once Thomas was in agreement.
A short distance along Bunya Street a Golden Penda was in bloom and my Honey Bees were busy harvesting nectar.
Continued on the Allumbah Pocket where today there were two Green Ringtail Possums in the clump of trees to the left of the entrance. The first spotted was the aging male “Piratical Pete” and the other was the supposed female who has been recently in the area. It would be most unusual if possums of the same sex were roosting so close to each other.
I had noticed a lot of noise coming from further down the Creek and as I crossed Lloyd’s Bridge the reason was revealed. A mob of Flying foxes were spread through a group of trees on the Creek Bank and making a fair din.
Having seen a Tree Kangaroo for two consecutive days I was looking particularly for them but was still slightly surprised to spot a very well concealed Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo in the Camphor Laurel Tree which overhangs the Picnic Table at The Other Side. Her back and tail were not difficult to find but her face was almost impossible to see until I walked round to the other side of the tree. While doing this I was joined by an enthusiastic lady from Sydney who had seen a smaller Tree Roo in a nearby tree on the previous evening and as I scrambled over the nearby rocks I looked up and saw a joey almost directly above her. Moving round the tree again we were able to get some perfect views of the baby.
On Horseshoe Rocks and the next rock pile I saw a couple of Eastern Water Dragons and then bumped into a family from Mount Sheridan with four young children. The youngest were obviously getting rather fractious so I escorted them back to see the Tree Roos which quietened them down! They had already seen a platypus near the Viewing Platform at the start of their walk.
Nothing then until the Overhanging Bushes where I glanced across to the tall Casuarina Trees on the opposite bank and saw a female Tree Kangaroo with well grown joey sharing a branch. As I maneuvered to obtain the best view a saw that there was yet another Tree Roo exposing only hindquarters and tail in a different tree a few yards away. First time I have ever seen 5 wild Tree Kangaroos on the same walk!
I managed to get more than my fair share of adequate photos before another stint of tourism showing the Roos to a guided group from Cairns and getting some well deserved attention for Thomas.
No Platypus for me today but photographed a golden Orb Weaver Spider at the Narrows.
Half way across the Highway Bridge a small chocolate coloured Brushtail Possum was roosting in the dense bush which they seem to favour and I eventually coaxed it into giving me a smile.
Looking in vain for a Platypus, I spotted a Kookaburra having a quick bath at the very far end of the Viewing Pool
I thought I had finished when I photographed the regular Bush Stone-curlew along Bunya Street but as we arrived at our driveway, an immature White-bellied Cuckooshrike landed on a branch right in front of me and continued calling for it’s mother to bring more food!