Hi Edwin
Sorry to have been slow replying to your note - I've been out and about a
fair bit this week!
Several people have responded about the platypus, so I'll copy this to
birding-aus.
I'm a bit of a lazy platypus-watcher myself. I have to admit that it
requires no expertise on my part, we're just very fortunate to have them
living alongside us. Usually, we happen to notice the distinctive shape
floating on the water and we freeze while it's up, wait for it to roll
under, then take a few steps closer and freeze again before it comes up
again. Or else, we're on the verandah when a platypus hauls into view, and
we just watch from where we are for as long as it's about - usually five to
ten minutes, sometimes 30 or more.
So, it's a case of finding a favoured haunt and hanging around. I guess that
because we live here, we're putting in thousands of hours of passive
platypus watching at a favoured site, and we're being rewarded
intermittently.
As to time of day, we have seen them at just about every time of the day.
Most of our sightings are probably around 7 to 8 am, or 4pm onwards,
especially on overcast days. But they can be active at noon, and just the
other day it was 1.45pm. We've seen two adults circling together in a
courtship activity in the middle of the day!
I've no doubt they are more active at night, but we never spotlight the
creek. I figure we're so lucky to have them, we really should just leave
them alone and hope they stay. They've been here for the thirteen years that
we've lived here, so I guess they've been established for a long time.
I don't have any tips on platypus watching do I? Just like birding really!
In fact, somewhat analogous to finding crakes and rails, keep going to the
right place, and eventually - maybe!
All the best
Bill Jolly
"Abberton",
Lockyer Valley, Queensland.
Visit our website at http://www.abberton.org
Email:
Ph: (+61) 7 4697 6111 Fax: (+61) 7 4697 6056
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