Mammals – Go Birding

The Grey Ghost – Townsville and Outback Queensland – Part 2

Posted on August 3, 2024 by CorwinCaelin

After a couple of successful days around Townsville it was time to hook up the caravan and head west. After our hijinx climbing mountains the night before we had a later start and headed towards Charters Towers. Towers Hill is on the edge of town and provides views of the town and surrounds. Here we were after Allied Rock-wallaby and after a few Euro found them to be common and reasonably approachable even though it was the middle of the day. There was one scavenging for scraps at the lookout and after a bit of a poke around we were able to get decent pics in a wild setting. A new mammal for all of us! As with the Shaman I might struggle to pick this out of a line-up of other east coast rock-wallabies although it did seem darker and more like a Brush-tailed.

Allied Rock-wallaby

From here we continued west passing through Prairie where there was an impressive Little Red Flying-fox roost before ending at Hughenden. We checked in to the local caravan park and hit the pub for a steak dinner and a couple of beers. From here we headed north towards Porcupine Gorge. Almost immediately upon leaving the town limits we had a Spectacled Hare-Wallaby run off the edge of the road. I had only seen a couple of times before and was new for the others – major target of the night ticked off already. Unfortunately just up the road we found a very freshly dead Black-headed Python which was rather depressing. Around Porcupine Gorge we found several more Hare-wallabies as well as plenty of Rufous Bettong which are always great to see. In the campground we had an unexpected Swamp Wallaby and several more Allied Rock-wallabies as we explored the gorge itself. Unfortunately it was too cold for and reptiles to be out and about. When we cruised back into Hughenden it was already around zero degrees!

Spectacled Hare-wallaby – proof of life

Rufous Bettong always look like they are plotting something

After finding a bakery we headed west to Winton where we dropped off the caravan for a few days exploring. A quick drop into the Winton Wastewater Treatment Plant which yielded a few wetland birds before we picked up some supplies and headed into Bladensburg National Park. I have great memories of my last visit to Bladensburg over 10 years ago as being very birdy so was pretty pumped. We found lots of nice birds as we birded most of the afternoon with things like Spinifexbird and Spinifex Pigeon always good for us southerners. We found a good place to light a fire and cook some steaks before heading out spotlighting. Almost immediately I had a hotspot on thermal which turned out to be a Kultarr!! This was new for Isaac and Owen and we had great views of it hiding in the spinifex before it bolted away at high speed. In quick succession we found another one and then a Stripe-faced Dunnart and the night was off to a great start. It was quiet for a bit until I had another hot spot in thermal and this time it was a Long-haired Rat – a lifer for me! This is an irruptive species which can reach plague numbers in good conditions but here was a single animal that wasnt moving much – we were even able to move the grass away from its face for photos. While visually looking in good condition I did feel along its back and could feel its ribs and spine easily – it was clearly not long for the world. We moved on and eventually found a very big extended colony south of the homestead – we would have seen hundreds of rats on thermal and many on the road as we moved through this area. Of course with any influx of rodents there were plenty of predators with Boobooks and Barn owls prevalent. A very good night and we slept well in our isolated campsite.

Good times

Long-haired Rat

Barn Owl on rat patrol

Cute little Boobook

Up reasonably early we birded a bit before heading back to Winton for some bakery breakfast. From here it was run down to Lark Quarry where the main target was the Opalton Grasswren. The comms tower at the turnoff is reputedly good for Grey Falcon but much like my last visit over ten years ago they were not in evidence despite us checking the tower many times. Just up from the tower we explored the mature spinifex and quickly found small groups of Rufous-crowed Emu-wrens. Back near the car I was able to get onto a nice group of Opalton Grasswrens which is a fairly recent split from the widespread Striated Grasswren – a new bird for me and one I was happy to get. They didn’t really stop for photos but also did not want to smash them with playback in this well known site for them. Last time I was here I only heard them! Birding was good around the whole area with things like Hall’s Babblers and Chestnut-breasted Quailthrush putting on a show. Near camp I was out exploring and climbed up a jump-up when my dodgy knee gave way…. I fell straight on my arse into a big mound of spinifex – I tried to get up and fell in again – two weeks later and I am still trying to get spines out of areas that shall remain nameless! We spent a couple of hours spotlighting after dark without any real success.

Opalton Grasswren – proof of life

Contemplating life

Up early we headed again back to Winton for fuel and another bakery stop before heading out towards Brighton Downs station and the start of the Diamantina area. Unfortunately we really did not have time to do it justice but spent our time birding and exploring. There were good numbers of Black Falcons and Spotted Harriers which showed conditions must be pretty good. Isaac needed Gibberbird so we headed to a single pin in the middle of a large area of gibber where someone had found one years ago. The good thing about gibber is its bleak and does not change much so the boys were pretty quickly onto a confiding pair. From here we kept birding all the way to Brighton Downs station entrance. The Grey Falcon is an enigmatic arid adapted raptor that can be scarce and hard to find, however it does like comms towers which are scattered throughout the outback. Here we found no less than three birds perched on the tower which gave us walk away views. We sat and cooked dinner and had a beer watching them through a scope. On dusk they all flew down to roost together near the base of the tower – very cool. We had high hopes for spotlighting that night but after an initial rush of Fat-tailed Dunnarts it was very quiet.

Grey Falcon

Grey Falcon in its native habitat – comms towers

Gibberbird in gibber….

Unfortunately our time for exploring was at an end so we headed back to Winton to pick up the caravan and start to head back to Melbourne. We travelled down through places like Longreach, Charleville, Bourke and Griffith birding where it made sense and seeing some nice things. It was pretty bloody cold most nights! One thing to call out was the sheer volume of goats between the Queensland border, through Bourke and down to Cobar – ridciulous – there must have been thousands beside the road on this stretch.

Ubiquitous Red Kangaroo

Red-winged Parrots are always good to see for a southerner

As always I would like to thanks Simone and Lucas for letting me go. Isaac and Owen for being fantastic travel companions and everyone who helped with gen for the trip!

Bird list – see the eBird Trip report – HERE!

Mammal list

Echidna – no live ones – just plenty of roadkill all over
Kultarr – 2 maybe 3 animals in Bladensburg NP
Fat-tailed Dunnart – 3 at Brighton Downs Station
Stripe-faced Dunnart – 1 only at Bladensburg NP
(Northern) Long-nosed Bandicoot – 1 young animal at Jourama Falls
Mahogony Glider – 3 different animals at a bush block south of Ingham. My trip highlight!
(Northern) Greater Glider – a single animal behind Paluma in Flooded Gum forest – seemed smaller and more patchy than Southern animals I am used to
Green Ring-tailed Possum – 1 animal behind Paluma
Broad-toed Feather-tailed Glider – poor views of a couple of animals on road down from Paluma – species called on range
Rufous Bettong – common on roads around Porcupine Gorge
Allied Rock-wallaby – Common on the big hill at Charter’s Towers – several also seen at Porcupine Gorge
Sharman’s Rock-wallaby – Several glassed at Mount Claro – closer encounters back towards Mount Fox
Spectacled Hare-wallaby – One just outside Hughenden – several more near Porcupine Gorge
Western Grey Kangaroo – pretty common when we passed into their range in southern QLD and NSW
Eastern Grey Kangaroo – seen on and off from Townsville to home
Agile Wallaby – two to three billion suicidal animals between Jourama falls and Townsville 🙂 Common anywhere else in range
Whip-tailed Wallaby – two near Mount Claro
Common Wallaroo/Euro – Seen in rocky habitat where expected – Mount Claro, Charters Towers, Porcupine Gorge, Bladensburg NP etc
Red Kangaroo – Common once past Charters Towers
Swamp Wallaby – single animal at Porcupine Gorge – roadkills as we headed through NSW
Fawn-footed Melomys – a couple around Paluma
Giant White-tailed Rat – 1 animal at entrance to Jourama Falls
Long-haired Rat – a few random animals at Bladensburg NP until we found a super colony of hundreds south of the homestead
Rabbit*
Hare*
Black-Flying Fox – Jourama Falls and Paluma
Little Red Flying-fox – a large and impressive roost at Prairie
Diadem Leaf-nosed Bat – one at Jourama Falls
White-striped Freetail Bat – heard everywhere
Large-footed Myotis – fishing at Jourama Falls
(microbats in general) – large numbers seen everywhere – no time to try and use detector etc
Dingo – heard at Lark Quarry
Feral Cat* – too many
Feral Pig* – too many
Feral Goat* – ridiculous numbers from southern Queensland through to Bourke and beyond – literally thousands beside the roads
Rusa Deer* – a couple of larger deer crossing the road near Bourke probably this species

Meow

In search of the Shaman – Townsville and Outback Queensland trip – part 1

Posted on July 26, 2024 by CorwinCaelin

About six months ago Isaac Clarey reached out to see if I wanted to help drive his caravan back to Melbourne from Townsville after a family holiday. We would take about a week driving back looking for wildlife so of course I jumped at the chance. With a few value add days at the start of the trip around Townsville to chase some targets I was set for a good trip. In particular I had heard of a spiritual animal called the Shaman a couple of hours from Townsville that I was keen to visit and see if I was to be granted an audience. After a typical sleepless night due to stressing about an early flight I left Melbourne on a flight to Brisbane – fortunately I fell asleep on the plane and was woken by the jolt as the plane touched down. A four hour wait in Brisbane for a flight to Townsville did drag on but an Osprey on a sign was a good start. Finally I arrived in Townsville around 5pm and picked up a hire car and headed into town to my hotel. It was my first visit to Townsville since I was there as a kid in 1982 – I would like to say it hadn’t changed but I didn’t remember anything at all. I had a quick walk around the Strand before dark where Great Bowerbirds, Figbirds and Bush Stone-curlews showed me I wasn’t in Melbourne anymore. After a quick bite and check-in to my hotel I headed about 80 km north to meet Isaac at Jourama Falls where we would search for my first main target of the trip – the Mahogony Glider. This very range restricted species lives in a small 120km long strip of lowland rainforest north of Townsville in an area that has been heavily fragmented by land clearing for cane and other farming.

Green Tree Frog – Jourama Dunnies

Jourama Falls area was full of life if not our immediate target. In a couple of hours we saw frogs, pythons, spiders, nightjars, bandicoot and a birder playing Rufous Owl calls but no sign of Mahogany Glider. There was no flowering trees which is apparently a key sign to look for. On the way out we spotlit the entrance road and found a Giant White-tailed Rat which is an impressive animal about the size of a Ringtail possum back home.

Giant White-tailed Rat peekaboo

Legends Matt Wright and Tim Faulkner had given me a couple of other sites to try for the Mahogony Glider nearby so we headed there next despite it starting to get late. Walking down beside some cane we finally saw our first flowering eucalypt and boom! in it was a Mahogony Glider! I was a little surprised by this one as it looked like a pretty standard Squirrel Glider in colour and size. However being the only glider in range in this size we were high fiving and celebrated with a luke warm beer. Moving on we found two more which were much more impressive animals – larger and a lovely cinnamon type brownish colouring. One of them was clearly a big male, with scent gland on forehead and a huge fluffy tail – I would estimate it at 80% plus the size of a Yellow-bellied Glider back home. Interestingly all three were found in or next to flowering eucalypt species. I would recommend anyone searching for this species to do daytime recce for flowering trees. I was stoked – barely a few hours in and I already had one major target under the belt. I got back to my hotel in Townsville around 1am which was pretty good considering the success. I passed about 1000 suicidal Agile Wallabies without incident.

Mahogony Glider

Mahogony Glider – beautiful!!

I was up early the next morning and drove straight to a site Matt had pointed me to for Black-throated Finch – something of a bogey bird of mine and one of the few new birds I could target on this trip. While I had other sites up my sleeve this was right on the edge of town and would save me significant time if it paid off. Almost immediately on pulling up I had a group of finches fly over with an unfamiliar call which landed in long grass – I was pretty sure they were the target but there was a few anxious minutes til one showed itself so I could confirm – excellent – a Black-throated Finch which was a lifer. They eventually flew back over my head and landed in trees giving good binocular views and poor proof of life photos. It was quite a birdy area with some nice northern species to wet the appetite. Thanks Matt!

Black-throated Finch – proof of life

As Matt’s epic tip had saved me so much time I headed north and dropped into Tyto wetlands at Ingham. This is one of those legendary birding spots I had heard about for years so had to drop in for a quick visit. I ended up staying an hour picking up a very respectable 43 species. I would like to have stayed longer but I had a much more important appointment on my mind. In the distance beyond Ingham were mountains and in the rocky hills beyond that was the near mythical Shaman – to all who had met this beast, it was considered the most holy animal in Australia. I pointed the hire car in the right direction and set off – hopeful I would be granted an audience.

The Shaman is better known by its proper names – Sharman’s or Mount Claro Rock-wallaby and is an extremely range restricted member of the east coast Petrogale rock-wallaby tribe. It is completely restricted to the Seaview and Coane ranges west of Ingham an area of maybe 50*50km at best. After travelling an hour or so through cane I quickly ascended up a rather steep and precarious road to Mount Fox and then out to Mount Claro. The population at Mount Claro is on private property although easily viewed from the road. Immediately on pulling up I was able to glass a couple of animals on the mountain a couple of hundred meters away – hardly satisfying. There was a lot of cattle movement and I claim to all who will listen than I was charged by a wild scrub cow but in reality it was mooing and running in my general direction while I cowered behind a tree. A station-hand pulled up on a Can-am and I asked if I could go visit the rock-wallabies but said they would prefer if I didn’t as they were moving cattle at that time. It was suggested I might try some places back towards Mount Fox. I drove back up the road a few km and found another smaller rock outcrop close to the road and was able to see several rock-wallabies through the bins. I approached slowly getting some pretty good views but unfortunately put up a rock-wallaby from almost under my feet – after this they were pretty wary and watched me from a distance. It was a particularly spiritual place and I felt very at peace while visiting these animals. It was also less than 24 hours since I had landed in Townsville and my three main targets for the trip were in the bag – everything else from now on was gravy!

The Australian Sistine Chapel with Shaman holding court

I was pretty tired when I checked into my accommodation at Balgal Beach but after a swim, shower and a beer I headed up to Paluma for some spotlighting. On the way up I had a White-throated Nightjar and Spotted Python on the road which was nice but there was a huge amount of traffic travelling up a very windy narrow road at high speed. When I got up to the sleepy town of Paluma it was pumping – it turns out my visit coincided with their major massively sold out Mountain Bike cross country event. Every time I stopped to spotlight somewhere I had people either pulling over to see if I was ok or blaring their horns – it was quite frustrating. I did however manage to see a Greater Glider which depending on which taxonomy you follow would be of the Northern taxa which was new for me. It was a mangy, little thing compared to the GGs we get in Victoria but the bright eyeshine was the same. I had enough of people driving too fast so I headed back to my accommodation but did decide to stop a couple of spots on the way down. At one of the stops I found a couple of Broad-toed Feather-tailed Gliders and while I was trying to get a look of them I heard an anaemic trill nearby. Very experienced with Sooty Owls in Vic I knew immediately what it was and walking down the road I was able to get eyes on a lovely Lesser Sooty Owl. Like the GG this is another species in taxonomic dispute with it recently being lumped again with Greater Sooty Owl. Still what I was seeing was a smaller, more compact bird with much more subdued vocals to what I am used to. I ended up walking away from it and went back to bed and a beer – very satisfied with the days achievements.

Lesser Sooty Owl on the hunt

Cold shoulder

Today Owen Lishmund was arriving a bit after lunch and I was to pick him up from the airport. I spent the morning around Bowling Green National Park birding which was very pleasant – didn’t see anything special just good solid Northern Australian birds and a few herps. I picked Owen up and we headed straight out to Townsville Common – another legendary Australian birding site where we saw a few wetland species for the only time on the trip. Another great spot that needed more time than what we could give it. We then headed for a swim at Big Crystal Creek which was very pleasant before a good pub meal. That evening we spotlit again around Paluma which was much quieter with most of the MTB crew either exhausted or home. We started in large, mature flooded gum forest before stumbling onto a couple more Lesser Sooty Owls closer to Paluma. Compared to the bird the previous night these were much more vocally and physically similar to southern birds. It was quite a quiet night despite being very still with one Green Ringtail being the only other thing of note.

Lesser Sooty Owl

Litoria serrata

The next morning Owen and I went birding in the rainforest around Paluma while Isaac safely put his family on a plane back to Melbourne. As is typical the rainforest gave its secrets slowly but we saw and heard some really nice birds in our short time – I really need to come back here and spend a week. A particular highlight was a pair of Chowchilla foraging beside the track with the male feeding the female before erupting into a cacophony of territorial song – brilliant stuff. We had originally thought to head west immediately but decided to stay an extra night so Isaac and Owen could also experience the Shaman. We headed again out to Mount Fox arriving early afternoon again glassing animals easily on Mount Claro itself. There were far less cows around today with the cattle movement seemingly done but we again headed back to my previously successful spot. This time we walked in much more slowly and were rewarded with excellent views of the Shaman as he welcomed us in with his outstretched arms. We spent quite a bit of time just watching and appreciating them and again felt quite serene in their presence. Back on the road we celebrated with a beer in the presence of a couple of Pretty-faced wallabies – the only ones of the trip.

The Shaman – a very spiritual experience

We birded a bit on the way back to Ingham and after a KFC dirty bird feed we spotlit around Tyto wetlands. While we hoped for a Grass Owl as per the name of the place but had no luck – White-browed Crakes and Large-tailed Nightjars a good compromise. Owen had a spot for some large-scrotumed gecko-skink or something near where we were staying so we decided to try for that next. It was only a kilometre up a path and a couple of hundred meter scrub bash apparently which seemed well within my unfit capabilities. It turned out to be a pretty epic night of scrub bashing, climbing silly mountains and rock hopping down creeklines but needless to say we dipped on the target. Pretty sure I am not built to be a herper – but I would be very fit if I ever became one!. We only ended up travelling 5 km as the riflebird flies but it was a seriously tough endeavour. Poor Owen brushed against some vine that would continually flair up and remind him of his folly over the next week or so – we were definitely very sympatheic. Needless to say we dipped on the fucking gecko!

Oh fuck

This is snek

Stay tuned for part two where we hook up the caravan and head west to the promised land.

Crabeater Seal in Port Phillip Bay

Posted on January 19, 2024 by CorwinCaelin

Last Saturday morning I was casually browsing Facebook when I saw someone had seen a Crabeater Seal down on the Mornington Peninsula! This is a very rare seal on mainland Australia with records generally every 10 years or so – it normally occurs on the pack ice around Antarctica so was a long way from home! They are considered likely the most numerous pinniped in the world and despite the name mostly feed on krill which they sieve through amazing teeth which function a bit like whale baleen. I had previously tried and failed to twitch one in 2016 – only seeing the slide mark where we had just missed it. The poster was cryptic about where it was but looking at their pictures it would seem it had to be somewhere between Dromana and Rosebud so I jumped in the car and went for a drive. I popped out in Dromana and scanned down the coastline and could see orange flagging tape towards McCrae – BINGO!

I pulled up a few hundred metres up the beach and with a quick scan of the binoculars and could see a seal in the water near the orange fence. Walking up I could see some ranger, volunteers and a group of interested public and of course the Crabeater Seal! At first glance the seal seemed in decent condition but after watching it for a while it was clear it was listless and probably not very well. It had been very warm over the proceeding few days which would have been very uncomfortable for an animal used to an environment which rarely hit above freezing. Gus McNab soon turned up and we sat and watched the animal for a few hours taking photos from a distance. Simone brought Lucas down – he now has Leopard, Elephant and Crabeater seal on his Aussie pinniped list – pretty good. The seal didn’t do much – blowing bubbles and generally resting. Lots of people came for a look and asked many questions.

Crabeater Seal

The seal was outside the McCrae yacht club and it was somewhat amusing when one of the members came over and asked the ranger if the seal could be moved on – I don’t know if he expected her to pick it up and carry it down the beach. After about 4 hours the seal had a burst of energy and swam about 10 meters further down the beach and then lay there looking particularly poorly. It was no surprise that about a half hour after I left I heard that the seal had died. The prognosis for an animal used to freezing temperatures this far from home in warm weather was never going to be good. As the volunteer I first met there said – I had always wanted to see a Crabeater Seal but never wanted to in a situation like this.

Crabeater Seal

Mighty Mouse

Posted on May 31, 2023 by CorwinCaelin

A few weeks ago I joined with Isaac Clarey for a typical weekend away in Tasmania – a double header pelagic with a little sprinkling of spotlighting and other wildlife watching thrown in. Arrived down mid afternoon on the Friday and had a bit of time to kill before Isaac landed so poked around some bush around the airport with a few nice birds. We headed straight down to the Lufra hotel and checked in and grabbed dinner and a beer as custom demands. We joined up with Nick afterwards for a bit of a spotlight – it was very quiet but eventually picked up a Masked Owl in thermal which obliged us with a nice photo opportunity. It turns out I had photographed the exact same male bird almost two years ago to the day a few km away – good to know its still around. Later we found a Tasmanian Boobook around the Blowholes but not much else going on.

Tassie Boobook

Masked Owl

Up early and on the Pauletta for what turned out to be a very pleasant day at sea. Lots of birds with the highlight being a single Westland Petrel and always good to be out in the Southern Ocean with friends.

I have done the Weilangta Forest Drive a number of times birding during the day but never at night so we decided to change that. It is a dirt road just out of Copping which travels through wet forest that I always thought should be good for spotlighting. In farmland near the start of the drive we found a dark morph Eastern Quoll which we chased around with thermal for a bit but were unable to get close enough for decent photos – a very good start. We ended up finding good numbers of Eastern Quoll of both dark and fawn morphs including in the middle of the wet forest which was very exciting. Its a species I have only seen a few times away from Bruny Island.

Eastern Quoll

We continued on stopping for the occasional quoll and eventually came across a very freshly dead Brush-tailed Possum in the middle of the road which was still warm to the thermal despite no cars having passed on the two hours we had been there. Near the disemboweled corpse was a quoll scat so we stopped and searched hoping for a Spot-tailed. As we searched Isaac found an unidentified rodent in thermal which was fossicking around the understory. Watching it in thermal it looked and behaved like a Pseudomys which is a native mouse and here the only possibility would be the Tasmanian endemic Long-tailed Mouse – Pseudomys higginsi. However the animal was very light shy so it took some time to get some decent views as it would keep retreating under light. When I did get binocular views I could clearly see the diagnostic bicoloured tail, relatively large size and rounded Pseudomys face. Very much reminded me of a Plains Mouse with a long tail. Having safely ruled out Black Rat as the only other real possibility we were able to celebrate with some high fives – it was a new mammal for both of us and high on my most wanted list. We ended up watching it via thermal and the occasional burst of light for about 45 minutes before we moved on. Isaac managed some decent photos but I failed dismally! The habitat was wet forest regrowth that had probably been logged in the last 20 years or so. The animal spent most of the time fossicking around and grooming and feeding – I am disappointed I didn’t use the thermal video feature to document this behaviour. While we were watching the mouse an Eastern Quoll sauntered up to check out the dead possum until it noticed us. Unfortunately we had to turn and head back to the Lufra soon after.

Long-tailed Mouse (honestly!)

Long-tailed Mouse (Isaac Clarey)

Up early again the next morning and the weather definitely felt colder. All in all a more exciting day at sea in still relatively pleasant conditions with the highlights being Sooty and Salvin’s Albatross and about five Westland Petrels which really seem to be a reliable May special from this port. All in all a great, if rather too short weekend. Thanks to Isaac for the company and for sharing a few mouse pics.

iPhone Sooty Albatross

Stuff and Nonsense

Posted on March 30, 2023 by CorwinCaelin

I know its been a long time between posts – same issues as last time with a post Covid funk and lack of motivation. I thought I would share a few of encounters with some smaller terrestrial mammals in Victoria over the past 6 months or so.

The first is Southern Brown Bandicoot at the Cranbourne Botanic Gardens. This has to be the easiest place to see this declining species with them sauntering around the picnic areas and the enclosed garden area. I have distinct memories of seeing them as a child near home in Frankston but unfortunately all that area is houses now. Cranbourne Botanic Gardens is a nice oasis in an area of increasing urban sprawl. Away from Cranbourne I find they are still reasonably common around Bayles in West Gippsland with an evening drive around the various back lanes usually getting a sighting or two. They have declined significantly elsewhere in Victoria.

Southern Brown Bandicoot

Two years ago I was successful in finding Long-footed Potoroos in North-East Victoria but I was yet to see the supposedly more common cousin, the Long-nosed Potoroo on the mainland (have seen in Tasmania). I decided to remedy this so tried a couple of spots in East Gippsland and was successful at the second site. Thermal scope was a game changer allowing me to pick them up easily even in thick cover. They are a charismatic little species and noticably smaller than the Long-footed Potoroo. This area is covered by the Southern Ark fox control area which is the largest wildlife protection project in Victoria. The success of this project has been shown with numerous camera trap records of both species of potoroo and both local species of bandicoot. I was very happy with my encounters with the Long-nosed Potoroos and was even able to take my son back a month or so later to see his first ones.

Long-nosed Potoroo

Eastern-barred Bandicoots used to be found in Western Victoria on the Volcanic Plains and nearly became extinct on the mainland with a few stragglers taken into captivity and bred up. Recently they have been released on Phillip Island and have apparently been doing very well. While they never historically occurred here the heavily modified farm habitat now seems perfect for them. My sister lives there and had commented that she had seen them many times so I went out for a night walk. We found many bandicoots (~20 or so) and I was able to get a few nice pictures. I understand further introductions of endangered species are planned for the island as it has been considered fox free for a number of years. Looking forward to seeing how things go over the next 10-20 years.

Eastern Barred Bandicoot

A common theme with all three of these species in Victoria is strong fox control! Long may it continue.

Ghosts of Pelagics past

Posted on April 19, 2022 by CorwinCaelin

It has been a long time since I have posted anything. Pretty fair to say I have struggled a bit – first with lockdowns and then a real post Covid funk that has made it somewhat difficult to get motivated. Couple that with a busy work and family life and maintaining a blog has probably fallen well down the priority list. But the time has come – I am back baby! I thought I would ease back in with some of the amazing birds (and blubber) I have seen on pelagics over the past year or so. Despite lockdowns I have managed to get out on a few and have been lucky enough to see some good things.

Cape Petrel

We will start back in May last year (2021) where in between lockdowns I was lucky to get down to Eaglehawk Neck for another double header pelagic weekend. We had a good crew together so after a bit of spotlighting and a couple of beers the night before we headed to sea with high expectations. Day one was a really good day at sea with plenty of Pterodromas – White-headed, Soft-plumaged and Providence. There was also a good array of great albatross with both Royals, Snowy and both NZ Wanderers seen which is always nice to pick through. Probably the highlight of the day was a lovely Westland Petrel seen well by all – a few years ago was considered a mega off Australia but does seem a regular off this port in May now.

Westland Petrel

Southern Royal Albatross

We backed up again the next morning and the omens were good! Beasts had been consumed, beers swilled and a Masked Owl seen while spotlighting the night before. Today was to be very different to the day before and oh so much better, with a distinct cold water tone. Again plenty of great albatross and similar Pterodromas to the day before. Things changed quickly though with Grey Petrels, a couple of Sooty Albatross then a Light-mantled Albatross providing epic views for all on the boat. We were not done with the great birds either with Black-bellied Storm-petrel and more Westland Petrels providing excitement. One of those weekends where I had no new birds but was absolutely epic!

Grey Petrel

Light-mantled and friend

Sooty Albatross

In June and December I was fortunate to get out on boats in East Gippsland to visit the Bass Canyon which is a bit of a new frontier for seabirding in the state. On the first trip we saw good numbers of Providence Petrel which had previously been basically unknown for Victoria. On the next trips we saw good numbers of Bullers Shearwater which again was previously considered very rare in the state. I think in the right time of year both will be shown to be regular in the Bass Canyon. While there were never the numbers of birds as an EHN or Portland pelagic there was still plenty of other variety and potential – things like Cook’s and White-headed Petrel and great albatross.

Providence Petrel

Buller’s Shearwater

Cook’s Petrel

Rolling into the new year and February I was back down at Eaglehawk Neck for probably one of the greatest pelagic weekends of my life (and it will be hard to beat) On the Friday night we had a few beers and rolled out to find a couple of Pygmy-possums – all very respectable and I was quite fresh as we got on the boat the next morning. We had a really good day with plenty of great albatross and the usual suspects including a very high number of 35 Buller’s Shearwaters. But the highlight was surely the numbers of Pterodroma’s – 16 Mottled Petrel, 38 Cook’s Petrel and 57! Gould’s Petrel all heading North to South made for an excellent day.

Gould’s Petrel

White-headed Petrel

Back on the boat on the Sunday we felt that all the proper rituals had been followed but we had no idea how well it was going to pay off. The conditions were extremely benign as we set out with little swell or wind and a fair bit of fog around. Inshore we had a large whale surface a couple of times beside the boat – good views and photos obtained which showed it to be a Sei Whale! A new mammal for me and many on the boat. Early on at the shelf we had a “young” brown Wandering type albatross come towards the boat and a few of us joked we should check if its an Amsterdam…. I took a few shots as it came in and checked the back of the camera…. it had a cutting edge! I quietly mentioned this but did not get as excited as I should have as quite honestly the brain was still trying to process. Eventually everyone got very excited as we realised we probably had an Amsterdam Albatross – a near mythical type of “Wandering” albatross that has perhaps 150 individuals left in the world and only breeds on Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean. It made a few more passes and many photos were taken. It is perhaps the 3rd or 4th Australian record and everyone was a bit shellshocked!

Amsterdam Albatross

Sei Whale

Things started to hot up after this with many petrels passing through with 27 Cook’s, 25 Gould’s and an extraordinary 121 Mottled Petrels seen for the day! There were again many other great albatross seen but despite scanning the Amsterdam never returned. Later in the day Isaac called out an interesting Storm-petrel which turned out to be a New Zealand Storm-petrel – another mega sighting of a species that was thought extinct until 2003. The bird gave several passes which allowed a few shots to confirm ID – perhaps the 4th or 5th Aussie record. As we cruised back into port in very benign conditions Mottled Petrels continued to stream past in great numbers. Just to round off one of the best pelagic days ever we had a distant South Polar Skua chasing terns as we passed the Hippolytes!

Mottled Petrel

New Zealand Storm-petrel

Into April I crossed the border into the strange land of South Australia for a pelagic out of Port Mac. It was good to catch up with Dave and Sue Harper and I really like the boat – a big couch, good viewing deck and a barbeque for lunch! What is there not to like? We had a really good pleasant day at sea with Humpbacks on the way out and many hungry birds feeding close to the boat. For me the highlight was four Northern Royal Albatross – a species I haven’t seen that often just over the border in Victoria. Looking forward to getting out again in the future – if they will have me!

Northern Royal Albatross

Just a taster of what has been seen over the last year or so at sea. More trips coming up soon and I reckon I am in a good place to share. Thanks to Sim and Lucas for letting me get out there and people like Rohan and Dave for organising boats!

New Zealand Storm-petrel

Potoroo success

Posted on January 20, 2021 by CorwinCaelin

Probably my most wanted Australian mammal over the past couple of years has been the Long-footed Potoroo – a secretive denizen of remote forest locations in the North-East and far East of Victoria. I have had a couple of attempts to find this over the past couple of years and recently got close but no cigar. Having previously tried in East Gippsland and on hearing of some recent success stories in Northern Victoria I decided to have a crack up there. I was spending a few days in Mount Beauty and my mate Jim Wright was in Bright so we met up and headed out on a bit of an expedition. It was a fair drive through some magnificent country to get to a likely area. Jim has a fully kitted out 4wd which is quite a useful tool in this area.

Potoroo mobile

We arrived in the general area I wanted to explore and did a bit of recce – it was an area of Mountain and Alpine Ash with Snow Gums up high with some very nice old trees in the gullies. It looked as if it had avoided much of the fires over the past 20 years or so. We started spotlighting at about 1200m ASAL on foot right on zero dark thirty and within 10 minutes I had eyeshine on the ground on a small embankment above the road. Lifting binoculars I immediately saw it was a potoroo! We had perhaps 15 seconds of excellent binocular views before the animal melted away silently into the undergrowth. Needless to say I was ecstatic!! The animal was larger and more upright than I remember Long-nosed Potoroo’s being and was also darker – in some ways reminded me more of a Bettong. We did not see the feet on this view but the rest of the animal was seen very well. Further spotlighting in the immediate area got us Yellow-bellied and Sugar Glider and Bush Rat.

We drove a bit and spotlit other areas on foot getting more Yellow-bellied Gliders but not much else. Right on midnight we were thinking of calling it a night and were driving somewhere to setup the swags when we saw an animal on the road which in the distance I took for a Brush-tailed Possum – then it started hopping! We drove up and got excellent views of a large Long-footed Potoroo as it struggled to get up an embankment – its large feet and dark tail very evident. Eventually it made it up the embankment and hopped into the night. All in all a very successful night as we rolled out the swags. Up early and back – it was a very successful jaunt – maybe photos next time.

Potoroo habitat

Record of Leadbeater’s Possum in Bunyip State Park

Posted on July 27, 2020 by CorwinCaelin

Introduction

The observations were made in the Eastern part of Bunyip State Park in an area of regrowth Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) that burnt in Black Saturday in 2009. The site is about 250m above sea level and in the Lawson Creek catchment which eventually flows into Westernport Bay via the Bunyip River.

Bunyip State Park covers 16,600 hectares of various types of wet forest and heathland in the southern fall of the Great Dividing Range about 65km east of Melbourne. It contains a variety of forest types with the Mountain Ash forest largely confined to slopes in the north of the Park. Large parts of the east of the park burnt extensively in 2009 with much of the remainder burning in 2019. The burnt Mountain Ash habitat in the eastern of the park is similar to habitat where Leadbeater’s possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) occurs elsewhere with dead trees and an understory containing various wattle species. While not specifically targeting Leadbeater’s Possum at this site in May 2020 a brief stop did result in a good sighting with Scott Baker and Jim Wright.

Leadbeater’s Possum – Bunyip State Park

Observations

On the 15th of May 2020 Scott Baker, Jim Wright and myself (Tim Bawden) headed into the southern part of Tarago State Forest near Jindivick spotlighting in particular targeting Leadbeater’s Possum and large forest owls. The night was particularly successful with Leadbeater’s Possum found in the very south of Tarago State Forest (these records are some of the southernmost since rediscovery in 1961) and Sooty Owls observed along the Tarago River. Later in the evening the group decided to head home through the eastern edge of Bunyip State Park down Forest Road and stopped to check out the range-limited locally endemic Gully Grevillea (Grevillea barklyana). To our surprise we spotted a Leadbeater’s Possum in the very tree we were looking at. Upon leaving the car we pished and were able to call the animal back close enough for photos – another animal was observed close by and was heard drumming. The diagnostic shape and behaviour on both animals leaping through the understory was very evident. There was significant movement on the other side of the road which may have indicated a third animal but this was not confirmed. After a couple of minutes of spotlit observation we left the animals alone and tried two more sites further down with out success. Conditions were a very crisp, still and clear night with no risen moon and a temperature around 3 degrees C. Needless to say I was a little excited as I had tried for a while for this species in Bunyip SP.

Leadbeater’s Possum – Bunyip State Park

I was keen to return so a week later I headed back with Rohan Clarke and Scott Baker on the 23rd of May 2020. Unfortunately this night conditions were not ideal with constant drizzle and a SE-E wind and ~20kph winds with a temperature around 8 degrees C – there was no risen moon but would have been irrelevant with total cloud cover and fog throughout. Still we persisted and with a combination of pishing and Rohan’s thermal scope were able to locate a Leadbeater’s Possum approximately 200 meters south of the last sighting in Acacia dealbata. The animal was skittish perhaps due to the conditions but Scott was able to secure a diagnostic photograph. Other sites above and below this one were unsuccessful but conditions were definitely not conducive. Eventually we had to admit defeat and move to more sheltered areas.

Leadbeater’s Possum record shot – Scott Baker

On the 13th of June 2020 I returned with my son Lucas and we managed an hour of spotlighting in the area without success before gale-force winds moved us on. On the 19th of June 2020 Isaac Clarey and I had completed a loop through Tarago State Forest (LBP at 2 sites in State Forest) and spent 2 hours working Forest Road inside Bunyip State Park after midnight without success. Unfortunately Covid-19 has at this stage prevented further visits to the area.

Over the past 5 years I have driven this road many times at night and have stopped regularly to play owl calls without observing anything unusual.

Habitat

Habitat near the site showing fire killed Eucalytpus regnans – notice the uniform relatively small size of these stags

The area the Bunyip SP sightings occurred in was a small tongue of Mountain Ash in the Lawson Creek catchment that had burnt heavily in Black Saturday in 2009. It appears that this gully may have been logged before declaration of Bunyip State Park with none of the fire killed trees particularly large. No real evidence of large stags visible from the road during daylight visits. The fire appears to be have burnt hot enough to induce stand replacement in the Mountain Ash with many young ~10 year old trees coming through. Interestingly above the road line in the sighting location the forest changes to more stringybark types including Eucalyptus obliqua and Eucalyptus sieberi typical of many other slopes in Bunyip SP. There is a thick understory with abundant Acacia dealbata and Acacia obliquinervia with the odd Acacia melanoxylon and of course the Grevillea barklyana in which the first animal was spotted. The makeup of the understory is very similar to many other locations where I have observed Leadbeater’s Possum previously. Daylight observations of the forest area did not find any obvious denning locations with no large stags located – it is possible that the fire killed trees from 2009 are now cracking enough to provide some cover or there were other undiscovered options.

Typical understory in the area

Other nocturnal mammals seen in the immediate area during recent observations include Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps), Bobuck (Trichosurus cunninghami), Feather-tailed Glider (Acrobates sp) and Common Ring-tailed Possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus). Nocturnal birds noted were Australian Owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus) and Australian Boobook (Ninox boobook)- it is noteworthy that in ~10+ nocturnal visits to this area over the past 5 years I have not not located any large forest owls with playback in this area of burnt forest despite them being relatively common nearby. Diurnal birds in the area are typical of similar wet forest areas in the region with notable species including Pilotbird (Pycnoptilus floccosus), Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae), Brown Gerygone (Gerygone mouki), Rose Robin (Petroica rosea) and Lewin’s Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii).

One of the largest of the regenerating Mountain Ash in the immediate area

Significance

The Leadbeater’s Possum is a Critically Endangered possum species restricted to the Central Highlands around Melbourne and is Victoria’s fauna state emblem. It was discovered in 1867 and was only known from five specimens with the last one collected in 1909 and was considered likely extinct as most of the original lowland swamp habitat was drained and cleared for agriculture. In 1961 it was rediscovered by Eric Wilkinson in Ash forests near Cambarville. It has since been found to inhabit an area of perhaps 70 by 80 km from Toolangi in the west, Rubicon in the north, Baw Baw in the east and Tarago in the south – see interactive map. The majority of these records are in ash or snow gum forest with only one small isolated lowland population known at Yellingbo. There are few records in the Westernport Bay catchment since 1961.

In Bunyip State Park itself there are perhaps two previous records of Leadbeater’s Possum. The first by Richard Loyn and Ed McNabb occurred in 1981 on the southern slopes of Mount Beenak in an area on the very edge of the current day park in what was then Gembrook State Forest at an altitude of about 600m. I have searched this area over past few years without result. There is a second record from the 1990’s in the Blue Range on the very northern edge of Bunyip SP (ALA) but it is unclear if this was inside the park boundary – this area contains a lot of regrowth Ash forest and would be worth further investigation. The current observations are approximately 8km ESE of these and are well with the current park boundaries. Probably the closest sightings are the recent ones in the southern portion of Tarago State Forest – before these the species was not well known south of the Tarago River. It is interesting to consider if these recent sightings have moved in following regrowth and opportunity following the Black Saturday fires or have always been in the area. Further searching in the immediate catchment area and other parts of the Bunyip catchment would be worthwhile, particularly in lowland areas which are not dissimilar to the Yellingbo habitat. At this stage Covid restrictions prevent further investigation.

Leadbeater’s Possum from nearby Tarago State Forest – note white tail tip

References

“Atlas of Living Australia – Open Access to Australia’s Biodiversity Data.” Atlas of Living Australia, http://ala.org.au.
“Leadbeater’s Possum Interactive Map.” Leadbeater’s Possum Interactive Map, http://lbp.cerdi.edu.au/possum_map.php.
Lindenmayer, David, et al. Mountain Ash. CSIRO PUBLISHING, 2015.
Loyn, Richard, and E. G. McNabb. “Discovery of Leadbeater’s Possum in Gembrook State Forest.” Victorian Naturalist Vol 99, 1982.
Menkhorst, Peter, and Frank Knight. Field Guide to Mammals of Australia. OUP Australia & New Zealand, 2010.