Making connections.

My fifth week with CVA returned me to the Tablelands.  There, a long-term collaborative effort has been reconnecting valuable rainforest patches between national parks and private lands.  This fragmented landscape has isolated the wildlife.  Because the Tablelands are located at a higher elevation, it is important to maintain passages for wildlife migration so cool temperature-sensitive species can adapt as climate changes increases the regional temperature.  This photo shows some of the farm land and revegetation areas.  In the background is the tallest mountain in Queensland – Mount Bartle Frere – at 1,622 m.

Although it is not the ideal time to plant (still in the dry season), we still have maintenance work to do, such as removing invasive plants (i.e., weeding), removing old irrigation pipes from revegetation areas, and taking down old barb wired fencing so animals won’t become caught.  At these rainforest revegetation sites, you need to keep up weeding for about 3 years after planting until the trees are tall and strong enough to shade out weeds on their own.

So who are some of the threatened rainforest species that need these habitat connections to survive?  They include birds such as the Eastern whipbird (we hear their recognizable call heaps), cassowary (more info after next week’s project), and bowerbirds.  Male bowerbirds (pictured is the satin species, I believe) are stage or bower makers.  They collect colorful objects, sometimes all of the same color, and arrange them often in a circle as their stage.  The males hang out above their stage, calling females to examine their decorating skills to pick a mate.  Males can be very precise about their stages; apparently, they will reset an item even if it is moved only slightly.

Another endemic species is the Lumholtz tree kangaroo.  While we kept looking for tree roos throughout the week, we didn’t see one.  However, we did see a bunch of species around our accommodations.  This week, my CVA team stayed at the solar- and hydroelectric-powered cottages in Possum Valley in the rainforest.  This place has walking treks (one goes out to a meditation hut) and creeds (with a row boat).  However, just walking between the two cottages you can come across many animals.  You’ll see even more if you move slowly and quietly with your eyes and ears open.  They thumps of a hopping wallaby is quite powerful to hear and feel.  At the upper cottage (where the boys stayed), red-legged pademelons (pademelons are smaller than wallabies which are smaller than kangaroos) dine on the lawn at dusk.  Of course, Possum Valley also has possums, such as this ringtail possum.

The creek passes right by the lower cottage (girls), where you can watch a pair of geese and even see a passing eel.  However, my goal for the week (now for my third straight week in a row) was to see a platypus in the wild.  I figured that my time at Possum Valley would be the best opportunity to see one.  This strange (the female releases milk through her skin pores which poles in grooves on her abdomen where the young lap it up) but iconic species of Australia is shy and hard to catch on camera.  So I hung out at the creek by the cottage as much as I could.  The best times to view platypus are at dawn and dusk.  My first evening there, I was scanning the creek, as it was growing darker.  I saw something out of the corner of my eye, a little bump in the water.  As soon as I turned my head – splash!  It was gone.  Was that a platypus?  It was too dark to see much more, but my level of excitement was high.  I figured it was a good sign that I would be seeing platypus that week.

The next morning I got up early to start my platypus stakeout.  However, I saw no signs.  I check out every ripple on the water.  Maybe the pair of geese hanging out keeps platypus away?  I tried again that evening, but again no signs.  Maybe the noises from the cottage are too loud?  So up early again on Wednesday morning… after waiting awhile, I realized there was a little bump near the bank only a few feet away.  However, once I turned to actually look at it, splash!  It disappeared, leaving muddy water behind.  I know feel as though these “sightings” have been platypus, but I am growing disappointed that I still haven’t really seen a platypus.  I feel as though the platypus has been checking me out more than I have been able to check it out.  Maybe the platypus is testing me out first?  No luck that evening or the next morning.  I am losing hope.

Thursday afternoon, Anna and I try out another location and head to the wide part of the creek with the row boat.  I had read in the cottages’ guestbooks that some folks happen to see a platypus while in the row boat.  As we quietly approach this part of the creek, I see a platypus swimming!  Yay!  We decide to sit very quietly and still on the dock rather than take the boat out (we heard it leaks).  After waiting awhile, I see a shiny bump in the water far away.  With our position and the angle of the sun, it’s blinding to look at.  It hung out for maybe 20 seconds and then slowly slipped into the water.  Less than a minute later, there’s another bump in another spot.  It appears to be watching us.  Gone again.  Then it surfaces in another spot.  It’s following a zigzag pattern.  And another.  It’s coming closer!  It continues a couple more times.  I snap a photo at its closest point.  Yes, it is a platypus!

We spent about 1.5 hours on that dock sitting as still as we can, whispering and pointing only when necessary.  After the sun set below the trees, we did see another platypus (could have been the same one but we think it was different).  Again, it would quietly surface for several seconds.  We saw it surface about six times.  Very cool!

Friday morning, I had a few minutes after packing and before leaving Possum Valley, so I headed down to the dock for a final quick peak.  I saw a swimming platypus again!  Clearly, that’s the spot for successful viewing.  Yay!