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Dear all
Last night went with my newly discovered local
environment group spotlighting at what is about to be or is already Copeland
Nature Reserve/National Park, n/w of Gloucester, NSW. We drove up the track from
the Gold Mine Car Park standing on the back of a ute - and then walked down to
the creek from where the track branches, looking for frogs. Saw 1 Mountain
Brushtail Possum.
At the creek heard Stuttering Frogs Mixophyes
balbus and one was caught - others heard. Saw 1 Bush Rat - how can such a
small mammal make such a lot of noise in the undergrowth - people thought it was
a 'roo at least.
Back at the ute, a Lesueur's Frog Litoria
lesueuri was caught - beautifully marked and with amazingly long hind
legs.
Back on the ute and up the old logging track.
Another Mountain Brushtail (and heard one more later), 9 Greater Gliders and
1 Potoroo. Then we stopped and our guide played owl calls (not expecting to
have a reaction) as most people had never heard these - Powerful, Sooty and
Masked. Owlet Nightjars and a Tawny Frogmouth were heard.
A bit further up the track (about 3 quarters to the
top) we heard a Sooty Owl calling right overhead - maybe responding to the taped
calls - making the rasping noise, not the falling bomb. Stopped and right at the
top of a very tall gum was a Sooty Owl. Another was heard the other side of the
gulley.
After this great excitement we carried on towards
the top but almost immediately spotted a Boobook, with another calling from
further up the track.
Leaving the car park we saw 1 Pademelon on the
road. A great spotlighting event!
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