Monday 31st January 2022. 1345 – 1510

Weather

No rain in the gauge. Overcast. Light SE breeze. Water level falling revealing patches of alluvial mud where the bank had been inundated. Track still wet but no standing water. Muddy areas beginning to dry. New Moon 2nd February.

Wildlife Report

A later start today and drizzling lightly as I left home. Nothing much to be seen at Allumbah Pocket except that “Nosey” the Green Ringtail Possum was in his regular position in the tree next to the Suspension Bridge.
No obvious activity in the water but a minute juvenile Eastern Water Dragon was on one of the rocks under the bridge.
At The Other Side the presence of the Spotted Catbird in the nest was indicated by it’s erect tail.
A mature Saw-shelled Turtle was on a rock near the Memorial Bench.
At the Upper Level opposite Snodgrass’s Pool a moderately sized Water dragon was on view.
Investigating the trees a few metres further on I was surprised to find a juvenile Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo concealed in the foliage. It was very reluctant to move but by trying various viewpoints I was able to obtain some quite good shots. I suspect that this is the same animal seen on the ground at Platypus Bend last week.
A good number of Red Roarer Cicadas were again seen on the grey Gum Trees, some of them urinating from a great height.
A large Saw-shelled Turtle was on the sloping log at Snodgrass’s Pool and a gang were on top of the Concrete Slab at The Log Jam.
In the Evodia Tree at the base of Log Jam Peninsula the large Golden Orb-weaver Spider was again present.
On the sloping log near the Overhanging Bushes another group of Saw-shelled Turtles were climbing on each other.
At The Narrows a Platypus was exploring the far bank but almost immediately moved to my side and gave me a good performance. Light conditions unfortunately were far from ideal.
The Camping Area Bush Stone-curlews were again being terrorized by the gardening activities and as I hid behind a clump of large Bamboos awaiting a photo opportunity I saw between the trunks a White-bellied Cuckooshrike asking to be photographed.
I also managed to catch the Curlews from the same spot.
Crossing the highway to the Yungaburra side of the Creek I got another shot of the Spotted Catbird on it’s nest.
The Coppery Brushtail Possum was again in the overhanging Fig Tree and for a change was revealing half of her face!