Friday 14th January 2022. 1315 – 1450

Weather

No rain in the gauge. Sunny with scattered clouds. Light SE Breeze. Track drying but still some damp areas and small puddles. Water level falling. Full Moon on 18/01

Wildlife Report

A large Laughing Kookaburra was waiting to greet me at Allumbah Pocket today and at least he waited to laugh until I had left the immediate vicinity!
In the tree next to the Suspension Bridge, “Popeye” the Green Ringtail Possum was tucked in his regular spot very close to the bridge.
As I crossed the Bridge I saw a tiny Saw-shelled Turtle on a log below and as I have seen few Turtles on my last few outings I took his photo. This proved to be quite unnecessary as there were Turtles everywhere today.
A larger Saw-shelled Turtle was on the rocks near the Memorial Bench but did not provide a quality image.
I had a very brief encounter with an Eastern Water Dragon at the Upper Level but he had vanished before I managed to lift my camera.
In the Grey Gum Trees along the fence line there were numerous Red Roarer Cicadas and I found that I was being showered with urine, otherwise known as “cicada rain”, from the tree tops. I managed to capture some of the falling droplets in one of the images.
I saw nothing else until the Log Jam where two larger Saw-shelled Turtles were on top of the concrete slab and made quite a splash as they returned to the water.
In the Mistletoe clump near Platy’s pool the Coppery Brushtail Possum was asleep with the “Do Not Disturb” sign in evidence.
The numerous Syzygium Trees are all in flower and “Christmas Beetles” are active in the canopy so I took a very long range shot of one at Picnic Peninsula.
At the Narrows just below Highway Bridge a Platypus was busy feeding and demonstrating her ability to “hover” against the considerable current. She continued to surface repeatedly within a small area and was enjoyed by a lady from Cairns with a tribe of children.
A very small Eastern Water Dragon was observed under the Bridge
The family accompanied me to the Yungaburra Bank where we found a very cooperative Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo and her well grown joey who were in one of the smaller trees and hence quite close to us. We were joined by a lady from Kuranda and a visiting relative.
I ended the Patrol by visiting the Bush Stone-curlews at Nick’s camping area but they are still in a very anxious mood and difficult to photograph.