Sunday 3rd January 2021. 0900 – 1225

Weather

10 mm of rain in gauge. Overcast. No significant breeze. Track slightly wet with areas of sticky black mud. Water level risen again by about 150 mm. Boots not required but don’t wear your best white trainers.

Post

Threat of rain put Thomas off this morning and I think he might have been bored today as I recorded over 300 images!
My first significant sighting was in the group of trees opposite Snodgrass’s Pool where a male Green Ringtail Possum was well concealed in the foliage.
The Flowering Trees were still full of European Bees and some Christmas Beetles, mostly at high levels but I managed to find one or two which I was able to photograph.
Cicadas were noisy in the Gum Trees but I didn’t find any to photograph until the base of Log Jam Peninsula.
The Flowering Tree at Platy’s Pool was full of insects including one unknown to me which takes nectar through a long proboscis while hovering and flits from flower to flower with great rapidity. I have an image good enough to assist with identification but not to be posted.
Numerous Honeyeaters included Dusky and Scarlet were present.
Things got interesting at The Narrows where I came across a Platypus near the start of Stringers Stretch which moved downstream and vanished. Close to the Observation Bench a female Platypus was foraging as she moved downstream. I could see no sign of strictures around her neck but I followed her she passed a larger male Platypus swimming in the opposite direction and then with some difficulty climbed the bank where the Creek turns to the East and entered a burrow.
Resuming my walk I met yet another Platypus at almost the same spot and I soon suspected that she was the “banded” animal which I was seeking. I set about taking numerous images to maximise my chances of positive identification. She eventually entered a tunnel at water level but it only led under the roots and she emerged on the other side where I followed her. After a brief rest she entered a mat of floating weed in which were some semi-submerged branches where she indulged in some extensive scratching and grooming. This involved rolling on her back so I was able to observe that the band goes right around her neck and that spurs are absent from her hind legs confirming her sex.
At this point I was distracted by a Freshwater Snake crossing the same patch of weed and speaking to a colleague who was asking me about the “banded ” Platypus. By the time I completed a brief conversation and photographed the Snake she had disappeared.
While crossing the Highway Bridge I snapped a Eastern Water Skink on the rocks below.
Another Platypus was seen in the Platypus Viewing Pool, scratching as seemed to be the order of the day.
“Tensing” Turtle was enjoying a last visit for a while to the top of his log which looks likely to be submerged by the rain which is falling as I write.
Closer observation of the Bunya Street Bush Stone-curlews revealed not one but two chicks which have been escorted daily to a neighbor seeking food!