Thursday 17th October 2019. 1050 – 1155

No rain. Sky clear but hazy with some distant cirrus cloud to SW. Little or no breeze. Track Dry.

After a drive to Malanda to collect a new Queen Bee and a pause while she was introduced into our hive, both dogs, led by Cody, were anxious to be off. Our departure was delayed when I spotted a pair of mating Cairns Birdwing Butterflies on our lawn and they needed to be photographed. Two Eastern Water Dragons were on the rocks near the Memorial Bench but the large one declined to be photographed. A range of Turtles occupied the Log Jam including both Saw-shelled and Krefft’s Short-necked Turtles. No Platypus seen today. An uninspiring rear view of a Green Ringtail Possum in the crown of a tall Queensland Kauri was recorded. This is a markedly different location to that which they normally favour but I have seen them in this tree on a couple of previous occasions. A Brown Honeyeater was feeding in the Bottle Brushes at the Car Park. (Butterflies still locked together after 6 hours! )