April 2018 Field Visit – Narrandera Common

Everything happens in April. This is just a fact of my life somehow. But! I promised I would try to go somewhere in April, and so I managed to just squeak in a late-day visit to Narrandera Common yesterday, after the annual koala count had ended.

I usually attend the koala count, but was unable to this year, but I figured I could head out there in the afternoon and at least find the beribboned trees the counters had located koalas in. In about a 2 hour period I managed to find three. The rest must have been cunningly hidden, or at least away from the trails I was following. I did speak to a local person who had participated in the count, who said they’d found a total of 29 koalas across the whole count area, so I guess I just needed to look harder for the marked trees.

While I was making my way around, looking for trees sporting ribbons and koalas, I took a few pictures of other things I saw, and just as the light was going I stopped to take some pics of a small group of kangaroos, and was super excited to see a wallaby nearby. Said wallaby was then kind enough to stay put, nearby and plainly visible, while I tried to take some photos in the fading light.

So here are my photos from my little trip to Narrandera Common yesterday:

River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) tree – complete with mistletoe – on Snake Island in Lake Talbot

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October 2017 – Incidental Sightings

As I mentioned last month, I have been All The Busy this October, with no time to head out for a proper field visit. However, having known in advance that that would be the case, I took my camera around with me all month and tried to photograph as many incidental wildlife sightings as I could.

I got off to a great start, when a work colleague – after seeing how excited I was over last month’s nesting Tawny Frogmouth – told me where to find another that she and her dad had found while out walking. She even took a photo of the surrounding landmarks to show me so I’d be able to find the exact spot. I do work with some lovely people.

No Field Visit September 2017

Sorry folks, I didn’t manage to get out for a proper field visit this month.

I did however get these pictures of a Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) nesting at Narrandera Common.

August 2017 Field Visit – MIA1 & Narrandera Common

I have been so busy this month that I nearly didn’t manage a field visit, but with today being the last day of the month, the weather being nice, and my having no hugely urgent work that desperately needed to be done today, I decided to take a day off and go for a walk/drive out bush somewhere.

I further decided that ‘somewhere’ would be MIA1 – a former state forest reserve that is now part of the Murrumbidgee Valley National Park, and is located between Narrandera and Leeton. MIA1 is one of the sadly numerous reserves in the Riverina that I have spent my life driving past, but never actually visiting. I fixed that today.

Murrumbidgee Valley National Park – MIA1 Precinct

June 2017 Field Visit – Galore Hill

Today I visited Galore Hill in Lockhart Shire. I visited Galore Hill last August, and it was a bit of a shock to realise that that visit was nearly a year ago now.

Galore Hill

April 2017 Field Visit – Narrandera Koala Count

Today was the Annual Koala Count in Narrandera. I have been every year for the last several years, except when it’s been called off because of rain or flooding, and as I did last year, I decided the Count could be April’s official field visit.

One of the koalas spotted at the 2017 Annual Koala Count held at Narrandera Common

February 2017 Field Visit – Berry Jerry

This month I visited another precinct of the Murrumbidgee Valley National Park: Berry Jerry.

Berry Jerry is located along the Sturt Highway between Wagga Wagga and Narrandera, and like many of the reserves in the area is predominantly River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) woodland, with a creek passing through it that feeds into the Murrumbidgee River. There’s a highway rest stop with toilet facilities located just outside the entrance, so it’s a good spot for a day trip. You can park in the rest area or drive into the reserve itself.