Car camping wildlife

Flies were the predominant form of wildlife

As I'm becoming all too aware, the Dividing Range is absolutely rubbish for birdwatching. The place was pretty much dead but despite this I managed a ridiculous three new species for my list. The Buff-rumped Thornbill #361 was hanging out in the trees by the hut but luckily the farmland on the drive to the park was full of various larks and we managed to pick up the Rufous Songlark #362 and the Singing Bushlark #363 on fences next to the road.

Echidna

Wombat

If the birds were bad though, the other animals were great. The place was crammed full of kangaroos and wallabies and on our walks we came across two echidnas. Round the hut were several wombat holes and we were lucky enough to see several come out at dusk and one returning home in the morning after a bit of a late night out. My first wombats. Tremendous.

Kangaroos - some of which were boxing kangaroos

We went spotlighting one night and found several Greater Gliders which are big flying possums which can glide up to 100 metres between trees on skin flaps which extend between their legs! There were a few lizards out on the cave walk and a couple of turtles (of all things) crossing the road on the way home.

White's Skink

Cunningham's Skink

Why on Earth did the turtle cross the road?

Rather more unwelcome were the feral goats, boar and an introduced fox. And the spiders. These only came out after dark and after the first night we soon stopped wearing thongs (that's flip-flops for my non-Australian readers) around the place. Several huntsmen were wandering around and also a nasty funnelweb which decided to adopt its threatening front legs up, fangs out, ready-to-bite posture. Unfortunately a large log fell on this particular individual - three times!

Huntsman

Funnelweb - evil threat posture