Positive effects of wildife tourism

A suggestion for those who are joining the discussions on positive effects of wildlife tourism, whether as comments to this blog, the workshop on the theme at the Wildlife conference in September, or any other venue.

Some years ago I was co-author of a Sustainable Tourism  ‘The positive effects of Wildlife Tourism on Wildlife’ with Karen Higginbottom (senior author) and Chelsea Northrope.  That report is  available  for free download on the Sustainable Tourism CRC website.

If you don’t want to download the whole report (603kb), there is a summary sheet (92kb) with the main conclusions and recommendations

There are a number of other very relevant titles available also (some free, some not), which anyone interested in joining the discussion on how wildlife tourism might benefit wildlife conservation may like to read – plus of course various other publications on many other aspects of wildlife tourism (47 wildlife tourism titles currently available).

From the introduction to the Positive Effects paper:

“In principle, wildlife tourism can have various positive effects on wildlife species and their habitats. However, to date we know much more about negative effects of wildlife tourism on wildlife; very little systematic research has been conducted on positive effects. These positive effects work through four main mechanisms: (1) financial contributions, (2) non-financial contributions, (3) socio-economic incentives, and (4) education. The contribution may be to conservation, animal welfare, or both.”

Wildlife Tourism abstracts due

Reminder – abstracts for  Wildlife Benefits (Australia’s third national wildlife tourism conference)  1-3rd September (Gold Coast) are due by 30th June, and earlybird registration by mid-July

Wild Benefits explores the diversity of positive impacts of sustainable wildlife tourism, as well as strategies to achieve and maintain them. Sub themes include:

• Going for the Green – Environmental Benefits

• Spreading the Wealth – Economic Benefits

• Heart and Soul – Social Benefits

• Reality Bites – Risk and Management Strategies

Keynote Speakers include:

• Steve Parish, Australia’s best-known wildlife photographer  and publisher of wildlife books

• Assoc Professor Darryl Jones, Griffith University, Qld , one of Australia’s foremost authorities on human/wildlife interactions

• Professor Clem Tisdell, University of Queensland, Qld , one of Australia’s leading experts on the economics of wildlife tourism

• Nick Mooney, Tasmanian conservationist and 2006 Recipient Australian of the Year

• Shane O’Reilly, Tourism Queensland and O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, Queensland’s first and most famous ecotourism lodge with long experience of wildlife activities and a mecca for domestic and international birdwatchers

• Assoc Professor David Newsome, Murdoch University, WA, author of the book ‘Wildlife Tourism’

Join a stimulating range of plenary and contributed presentations, workshops, social events and field trips (e.g. whale watching, behind-the-scenes tours of Dreamworld’s Tiger island).

Enter the wildlife photography competition (great book prizes sponsored by Steve Parish Publishing)

Members of Wildlife Tourism Australia get discounted registration – if you’re not yet a member you can join when you register

For more details visit Wildlife Tourism Australia

Koala at Running Creek, Scenic Rim

After about two years of being koala-less at home, I was out birding in our house paddock this morning, saw a movement high in an Angophora (close relative of eucalypts) and there to my surprise was a large koala, sleepily grooming himself. I’m not sure yet if it’s a male or female (he or she curled up and slept again after scratching – it’s a chilly morning), but guessing by the size probably male. We’ll be checking daily to see if he/she sticks around.

Entries due soon for Great Wildlife Discovery Challenge

Challenge your brain! Learn about our wildlife. WIN GREAT PRIZES! Free Entry

Scenic Rim Branch Wildlife Preservation Society Queensland

Imagine winning two nights in beautiful accommodation at the edge of the rainforest, at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, or perhaps a family pass to Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk or Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, a meal at Bearded Dragon, a Steve Parish nature book, or a wildlife day-tour.

You only need answer nine  of the challenges

(2 travel questions and 7 others)

Further details on http://branches.wildlife.org.au/scenicrim

For queries, phone Ronda on 55441283 or send an email to scenicrim@wildlife.org.au

Send answers to WPSQ Scenic Rim, c/- Dr Ronda Green, 1770 Running Creek Road, Rathdowney 4287 or email to scenicrim@wildlife.org.au by 30 June 2010.

Winners will be announced at the Wildlife Expo, Beaudesert, 18th July 2010.

Challenge 1

How many names of creatures can you make from the letters of

MOOGERAH PEAKS NATIONAL PARK

that might actually be seen in this corner of the Scenic Rim?

How many other animal name can you find  from those letters that definitely won’t be seen here? (You should be able to find at least 10 of each)

For any particular animal name, do not use any letter more often than it appears in the words above

Challenge 2

Three fans, three brushes, one square, wedge and ring
How can these be connected with one kind of thing?
It’s a part of an animal, no not just one,
Nine species of animal – now for the fun!
Tell us what part of the animals these
Fans, brushes, squares, rings and wedges are, please
But more, can you tell us the species as well,
And remember, they all in the Scenic Rim dwell.
Some are feathered, some furred, and all different sizes
This may bring you closer to one of the prizes.

Challenge 3

In the 2007 Mammal Week at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, what was the most surprising thing about the bat caught at Luke’s farm? What six fields of research does the Australian government’s action plan for this bat recommend?

(clue- go to the O’Reilly’s website, then the website of the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and follow appropriate links from each)

Challenge 4

Find a hotel within the Scenic Rim that bears the name of a lizard found throughout the region and beyond. Then tell us what that lizard is and also what species Jaqueline is (hint: explore their website).

Challenge 5

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

A butterfly rests by the tail of a snake
And a plump little bird begins to awake
These and others in circle meet
At Binna Burra’s end of street
What are the names of all that appear(Hint: several walks begin very near)?

Challenge 6

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

Towards treetops a robin shares a sign
With two other birds who on insects dine,
And after a place for a shady rest,
You can see where one of these built a nest.
Now tell us which nest, and how it looks
(the sign won’t tell you – try google or books)
What other birds on this Green Mountains trail
Appear on the signs (and often for real)?

NOTE: the nests appear to have come down with a storm – but they were hanging nests covered with lots of lichen etc., with a side-opening, which should give you a clue

Challenge 7

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

Atop a mountain, an easy drive,
Open forest and tall heath thrive.
Near Mee-bor-rum Circuit a campground sign,
With a picture of a bird you’ll find.
Why is its name appropriate to
The things the sign will tell you to do?
Not many metres away from here
Five other creatures on a sign appear.
Tell us, to possibly win a treat
What they are and what they eat.

(hint: think western)

Challenge 8

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

Find a word to follow ‘Flinders” and you’ll name

A geological feature in our shire.

Use this same word and add another

And a town to the west will transpire.

This eight letter word will further describe

(though the word itself doesn’t appear)

a warning to drivers to take special care:

What animal features here?

Before you leave this western town,

See an educational wall

With Indigenous art clearly viewed from the street.

Name the animals (six in all)

Challenge 9

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

A butterfly rests by the tail of a snake

And a plump little bird begins to awake

These and others in circle meet

At Binna Burra’s end of street

What are the names of all that appear

(Hint: several walks begin very near)?

Challenge 10

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

Towards the treetops a robin shares a sign

With two other birds who on insects dine,

And after a place for a shady rest,

You can see where one of these built a nest.

Now tell us which nest, and how it looks

(the sign won’t tell you – try google or books)

What other birds on this Green Mountains trail

Appear on the signs (and often for real)?

Challenge 11

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

Atop a mountain, an easy drive,

Open forest and tall heath thrive.

Near Mee-bor-rum Circuit a campground sign,

With a picture of a bird you’ll find.

Why is its name appropriate to

The things the sign will tell you to do?

Not many metres away from here

Five other creatures on a sign appear.

Tell us, to possibly win a treat

What they are and what they eat.

Challenge 12

Combine a dash of ‘prime ale’ with a town northwest of Boonah and a settlement north of Rathdowney.   From the 23 letters you should now have, take away two classes of vertebrates and rearrange the remaining letters to form the name of a well-loved local creature belonging to yet another class of vertebrates (hint: you can try googling ‘vertebrate’ and ‘class’ if you’re not sure what those terms mean)

Challenge 13

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

“A LONGER PUP”, somewhat confused, will lead you to this southern destination.

Along the road by the same name, look for the colours of the buildings at a place whose name tells you three mountains are viewed from here. A little further, opposite a road with a German name, is a sign for a farmstay – note the colour of the sign (not the letters). Further still, another sign points to the last accommodation (and camping) along the route. Note the colours of the letters.  Now name at least one (you might manage two) local species whose names start with each of these three colours (they can be mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs or invertebrates).

Now that you’ve arrived at the end of the road ….

Two threatened birds appear on the sign

“Out of sight but not out of mind.”

There are threats a-plenty that these birds face,

Tell us those that are mentioned at this place.

There is something both these birds really need

That is mentioned here – what do you read?

Another bird, two mammals and a frog appear.

So one last thing – tell us which ones are here.

Challenge 14

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

A town that starts with a rodent name

Is the focus of this part of our game.

Near a wagon is a building green.

Inside some local plants are seen.

Three very rare plants appear on one wall

And below them three birds (quite common, all).

Tell us their names, and what they eat,

And now – before you leave this street –

Stroll to the building with painted train

And you’ll see signs with birds again.

Four Scenic Rim signs show routes to explore

And birds are displayed here – on all four.

Tell us their names, and if you do

Maybe one of the prizes will come to you.

Challenge 15.

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

In the hotel that bears a lizard’s name a feral animal is mentioned above the ‘Billabong’ sign near the entrance, and two ferals RIP on a high shelf inside. What are they and what effect has each of the three had on our native wildlife?

Another animal’s name resides inside the brand name on the yellow and black sign near Table number 84. When approximately is this animal thought to have arrives in Australia (and how is it thought to have come here)?

A native creature is mentioned on a sign nearby – what is the warning, and why does it say we should respect this creature’s feelings?

Challenge 16.

TRAVEL QUESTION – YOU NEED ONLY ANSWER TWO OF THESE IN TOTAL

Enter a café leading to a walk to the treetops on the mountain that sounds like a percussion instrument.

Paying to go through the turnstyle leads you to a great experience, but you won’t need to actually go through to answer these questions, just stand at the turnstyle and look through.

Who is Pavarotti and who is the decorator (and why?)

How many times does the creature that gives its name to the café appear within the yellow frame?

What insect family is represented in the glass terrarium to the left?

Challenge 17

Which of the following endangered species live in the Scenic Rim?

For those that do live in the Scenic Rim, tell us what they eat and what kind of habitat they live in.

v    Coxen’s figparrot

v    Night parrot

v    Eastern bristlebird

v    Regent honeyeater

v    Hastings River mouse

v    Bilby

v    Eastern quoll

v    Spotted-tailed quoll

v    Hairy-nosed wombat

v    Western swamp turtle

v    Mary River turtle

v    Fleay’s frog

v    Giant barred frog

And now for the final challenge …..

Challenge 18 (last one!)

Look at this list of animals that are found in the Scenic Rim and tell us which ones:

  1. Are found only in northeast NSW and southeast Qld
  2. Are found down south but reach their northern limits in southeast Queensland
  3. Are found up north but reach their southern limits in southeast Queensland or northeast NSW
  4. Are found extensively along the east coast of Australia

Dusky antechnus (Antechinus swainsonii)

Subtropical antechinus (Antechinus subtropicus)

Long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta)

Eastern pigmy-possum (Cercartetus nanus)

Common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecular)

Mountain brushtail possum or bobuck (Trichosurus cunninghami)

Feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus)

Long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus)

Whiptail wallaby (Macropus parryi)

Brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata)

Eastern tube-nosed bat (Nyctimene robinsoni)

Eastern false pipistrelle (Falsistrellus tasmaniensis)

Hoary wattled bat (Chalinolobus nigrogriseus)

Eastern broad-nosed bat (Scotorepens orion)

Large forest bat (Vespadelus darlingtoni)

Hastings River mouse (Pseudomys oralis)

Australian water rat (Hydromys chrysogaster)

Fawn-footed melomys (Melomys cervinipes)

Orange-tailed Shade Skink (Saproscincus challengeri)

Short-limbed Snake-skink (Ophioscincus truncates)

Blue-speckled Forest Skink (Eulamprus murrayi)

Eastern crevice skink (Egernia mcpheei)

Major skink (Egernia frerei)

Land mullet (Egernia major)

Eastern water dragon (Physignathus lesueurii)

Southern angle-headed dragon (Hypsilurus spinipes))

Loveridge’s frog (Philoria loveridgei)

Fleay’s frog (Mixophyes fleayi)

Marsupial frog or Pouched frog (Assa darlingtoni)

(HINT – you can quite easily find the information in nature books in the library, or by using Google)

Good luck!  Remember, there are several prizes to win, and the satisfaction of solving puzzles and learning about the wonderful wildlife we share our region with.

Wildlife care and tourism in South Africa

I have visited two tourism sites in South Africa involved in wildlife care and rehabilitation. I haven’t seen anything similar in Australia.

One of these operations was Daktari, near Hoetspruit, which my son and I visited a few years ago and spent a couple of nights. Running on a low budget, they were at the time caring for a serval, a near-blind bushbuck, several raptors, a family of young leopard tortoises and several other small or medium-sized creatures.  African children from the neighbouring village came daily for some basic education  enhancement (while we were there they learnt a little more about geography, as it was the first time they’d met anyone from the other side of the Indian Ocean) and about animal care and wildlife generally. Surrounding the hospital area was African bush occupied by giraffe, baboons and other wildlife, and we had two escorted walks through here, one with the children and a local African youth who showed us the prickly bushes buffaloes back into so that they have protection on all sides from a lion, leaves and bark used in medications etc., and one with the proprietor, other guests, two dogs and a very energetic donkey.

It seemed to us a good example of using tourist dollars to perform useful work both in actually caring for injured and orphaned animals and education to visitors and locals alike.

Jackal buzzard

Jackal Buzzard at Dullstroom Bird of Prey Rehabilitation Centre

The other more recent visit was to a bird of prey rehabilitation site in the Drakenbergs, near Dullstroom. Many species were represented, and it was good to have a close-up look at secretary birds, eagle owls and others. Some of these birds could not be released back to the wild because they had been too ‘humanized.’  It was explained to us that if released they would probably be able to take care of themselves but establish large territories and keep out potential breeding pairs, while never breeding themselves. Others were to be released, using a portable halfway-house to accustom them to their new surroundings before being given access to the exit and then gradually becoming more independent of food provided. A daily free-flight show was a spectacular and enjoyable way of introducing us all to several of the species, and since most of those present were South Africans one would hope that many would leave with a renewed appreciation and respect for the birds of their country.

I know there are a number of larger operations in South Africa with a similar combination of wildlife care and tourism – some specializing in elephants, cheetahs or others species, some more general – but we didn’t get a chance to visit these.

Our own carers here in Australia struggle so much to pay for food, shelters and medications for wildlife in their care out of their own pockets, it could be useful to consider how some might benefit by appropriate demonstartion to the public.

I remember one carer  – from Northern Territory  I think – who also runs some kind of tourism accommodation ,   complaining that when she applied to become a wildlife carer she was refused on the grounds that she might just want the animals to enhance her business, whereas she was genuinely concerned with wildlife, being a major reason why she started her business where she did.  I have personally cared for many animals in the past, and am still a member of Bat Conservation and Rescue, but don’t take it on at the moment because of my somewhat erratic lifestyle,  often never knowing from one day to the next whether we’ll be called out on a tour.

I have heard of operations that have abused the situation, keeping animals in inadequate enclosures, and allowing too many noisy people to view them. Still, with adequate checks on how things are run, there would seem to be potential here for responsible tourism that could at least assist carers in their struggle to afford the care they give their animals. Perhaps it would be an individual carer able to open the doors at certain times, showing what kinds of problems animals face and what is involved in caring – maybe some animals could be approached by the visitors and others viewed only from a distance or quietly through a two-way mirror or ‘peep-hole.’ Perhaps several carers could combine their efforts, and perhaps involve a tour operator to drive guests between them.

I’d be very interested to hear what others think.

Wildlife Tourism conference

Araucaria Ecotours guests learn how to approach animals with minimal disturbance

Australia’s third national Wildlife Tourism conference, “Wild Benefits” is to be held at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast, Queensland, 1st – 3rd September 2010

The call for papers has been extended until 30th June, and already a very interesting variety of topics have been contributed

There is a great line-up of expert keynote speakers, on human/wildlife relationships, the social, economic and environmental benefits of wildlife tourism, and the environmental measures needed to ensure minimal negative impact.  Several workshops are planned to encouraged discussion and debate on important issues such as how wildlife tourism can contribute to wildlife conservation and how best to interpret wildlife to a diversity of nationalities and  mixed groups.

Visit the Wildlife  Tourism Australia website for further details

Wildlife Photo competition

Do you enjoy photographing wildlife?

The Scenic Rim Wildlife Photography Competition is open until midnight 10th July 2010

There are four categories: Scenic Rim only, wildife in other parts of Australia, with both of these repeated for both adults and children. No captive, feral or domestic animals. Otherwise, wildlife of all kinds are permissable.

Visit the Flicka site to enter your photos, and visit the Logan and Albert Conservation Association website for details

Winners and other selected photos will be displayed at the Scenic Rim’s Wildlife Expo in Beaudesert on Sunday 18th July

How can wildlife tourism best serve wildlife conservation?

At the coming national conference on wildlife tourism (Wild Benefits) on the Gold Coast Australia, September 1st-3rd 2010 I’ll be leading a half-day workshop on ‘Walking the Walk’.  We often talk about the benefits of wildlife tourism to conservation, and many are making it happen in a variety of ways.  How can others involved in wildlife-related tourism – whether running a tour company, a wildlife park, an ecolodge or a farmstay – get started, and how can those already doing so most effectively increase their support of wildlife conservation?

You may like to read  Higginbottom, K., Northrope, C. and Green, R. J. 2001. The Positive Effects of Wildlife Tourism on Wildlife. Wildlife Tourism Research Report Series No. 6, Status Assessment of Wildlife Tourism in Australia Series, CRC for Sustainable Tourism

Do you think wildlife tourism can be of real benefit to wildlife conservation?  How? Would you like to share what you know about attempts that have worked well (and those that haven’t – they are all learning experiences), or ideas on new ways of making it happen? Please feel free to leave comments on this post, and of course please consider registering for the conference and joining in this and other discussions!

Kruger National Park 2010

Baboons surveying their territory in Kruger National ParkDenis and I (Ronda) have just returned from a wonderful twelve days in Kruger National Park…. a wilderness area the size of Israel, with an amazing animal life. It was my second visit, Denis’s first.

‘But would it be your ideal holiday?’ I was asked when I mentioned we were taking time off from wildlife-watching to go wildlife-watching. I replied it would be pretty close, and the trip itself only confirmed this.

young giraffe in Kruger National Park with mother and zebraThe new flight from Australia to Johannesburg with Virgin Australia offered a great deal, and we hired a 2WD car for 12 days (4WD is expensive and generally not necessary).

Safety is one issue that stops people from traveling here, but we never felt in danger (no more so than anywhere else anyway). Driving from Joburg to Kruger is easy, and the airport is the same side of the city as the highway towards Kruger. In Kruger itself, you feel  protected against crime (not too many muggers want to be out there amongst the lions), and if you keep windows up when predators or baboons are around and don’t anger any elephants, you should stay pretty safe against most possibilities.

Chameleon in KrugerWe weren’t especially focused on the Big Five (a term that comes from the most dangerous animals to hunt) – we wanted to see everything, big and small. One of our first sightings was this brilliantly-green chameleon crossing the road with its strange, back-and-forth movements that made each step forward seem painfully slow.

It wasn’t long before we saw one of the big guys though – an elephant appeared close to the roadside, then ambled quietly away.

We were to see a lot of them – single males, small groups, and large herds with everything from babies to utterly massive individuals – quietly feeding, crossing the road, or at water tanks – or just the other side of the car!

Those in the river were really entertaining to watch – elephants know how to have fun, and love water!

Cheetahs in Kruger National ParkNear Orpen Dam, we saw a herd of impalas making a great fuss about something across the road. We followed their transfixed gaze and saw our first wild cheetah – no two cheetahs, wait on … three, four! A family feasting on an impala, so the group over the road had good reason for concern.

We didn’t see many other predators this time, apart from one lioness half-hidden by the lush vegetation (end of dry season would have been better for visibility), two African wild cats and a hyena. But we also saw porcupines, loads of zebras, giraffes, wildebeest and wart-hogs (and impalas of course), ostriches, secretary birds, and much, much more.

Most of the time you have to stay in the car for your own safety, but can wander around the rest camps (these are like small villages with a range of accommodation from basic camping to luxury, surrounded by high electric fences), and can get out at hides, picnic areas and long bridges.

Two things I didn’t do on my last visit were sleeping in an overnight  hide and  walking in the wilderness.  This time we did both.

The hide was at Shipandane, near the Mopane rest camp.

I left my mobile (cell) phone in the car and when I went before dusk to retrieve it, there was a huge male elephant with massive tusks on the far side of the car-park, devouring a tree. I watched him very carefully and would have retreated instantly  had he showed the slightest interest in me, but he didn’t look at me until after I had the phone and was back behind the gate.

The hippos put on a good performance until too dark to watch, and dance of the fireflies that followed was marvelous.

Our walk with two well-armed rangers from Lower Sabie took us through the wilderness for three hours, stopping to investigate rhino dung and termite mounds and view giraffes, kudu and hippo.  The hippo caused us to divert from the track near the water and scramble up a hillside instead – hippos are one of the most aggressive of all African wildlife, and can be very territorial.

The rest camps of Kruger are pretty safe, surrounded by tall chain wire fencing with electrified wire at the top and electrified grids across the road at the entries, and cater to all levels of comfort.

Indigenous foods were hard to find. We bought a small jar of spirit containing a mopane worm (caterpillar of an emperor moth) but would like to try the more traditional style some time (I’ve eaten witchetty grub in Australia, and bamboo caterpillars in China, so why not? And it’s not much different zoologically from eating lobster). There is a useful article on the lifecycle, ecology and harvesting of mopane worms in Science in Africa.

All in all a wonderful trip – I’ll be posting more details on the SANParks forums soon

Outback tour April 2010: frogs, birds and floods

Major Mitchell Cockatoo“Let’s hope we drive out of this weather” I said as we endured Brisbane’s peak-hour morning traffic under grey drizzly skies, and our guests fervently agreed. We walked in light rain to look at captive bilbies in an attractive little park in Ipswich (also quolls, black cockatoos, wombats, buff-banded rail, magpie geese  and other native species) then continued on to the west.

Next morning we walked across the Balonne River under partly blue skies, noting recent flood damage,  into what I consider the true outback – no more farms, just free-range stock, native semi-arid woodlands and plenty of red dust. And from then on we enjoyed more and more blue sky, sunny weather and starry nights.

Within half an hour of driving we saw our first emu – the first of many – and soon afterward our first Major Mitchell cockatoos feeding in roadside trees., occasionally raising their beautiful red and yellow crests.

Holy Cross 'toad'Three beautiful frogs amazed us a little further down the road.  This was broad daylight, and here was a holy cross toad crossing the road! I was unaware that holy cross toads occurred this far north,and had never before actually seen one, but nothing can look like a holy cross toad except a holy cross toad, with its wonderful pattern of yellow, red and black bumps.  It’s only this bumpiness that gives it the name of ‘toad’ – it’s really a frog. Nearby was a sedge frog (about the furthest west they appear) and a water-holding frog with brilliant mossy pattern. There were still puddles of water from the recent floods along the roadside, and this surely had something to do with all these frogs actively hopping around under blue skies.

Other wildlife seen en route to Cunnamulla included mulga snake, Centralian bearded dragon, yellow-billed spoonbill, royal spoonbill, white-necked heron, black kite, plumed whistling duck, white-breasted woodswallow, white-winged chough, apostlebird and spiny-cheeked honeyeter. There were also many feral goats and a family of very inquisitive sub-adult emus who approached for a closer and closer view of us while their father waited nervously in the background.

Inquisitive emus

Approaching Currawinya National Park we saw our first western grey kangaroos, then eastern greys and a brown falcon, and a large black feral pig that startled us by suddenly hurtling across the road in front of the vehicle.

More frogs (green treefrogs, emerald-spotted treefrogs and purple treefrogs) and lizards (geckos and a sandswimmer) awaited us at our accommodation in Hungerford (a bortder town with a current population of eight: we do leave the crowds behind on these tours!). Our pre-breakfast birding walk in the morning revealed ringneck parrot, royal spoonbills, great egret, white-necked heron, whistling kite, white-breasted woodswallow and plenty of spiny-cheeked and white-plumed honeyeaters.

We heard from the proprietor of the hotel that they had been flooded in for three months, and movements south were still restricted.

The road to the lakes was still flooded, but the ranger later told us the birdlife there has not yet substantially increased with the extra water.  Give it a couple of months or so he said, when the algae and invertebrates have had time to build up and prompt more feeding and breeding. Red kangaroos, little corella cockatoos, budgerigars, cockateils, wood ducks, white ibis and more emus appeared on the way to the Granites. Many dead goats were seen near the Granites, and the ranger also later told us they and the kangaroos had been severely harassed by mosquitoes after the floods, many to the point where they couldn’t feed or rest. We all sympathized even with the ferals, agreeing this would be a most uncomfortable death.

A sample of the bilby fence was inspected at the Woolshed, and our guests had already learned about the efforts here to save the unique little bilby.

There were more mozzies than we’d ever camped amongst before at the Paroo River, but those in the tents with zippered doors had no problem. Those of us in hammocks smeared ourselves with insect repellent and kept the hammocks swinging as much as possible through the night. It still felt good out there in the open, listening to owls and watching the changing moods of moonlight, moonless starlight (after the moon had set) and the gradual brightening of the sky and wakening of birds with the approach of dawn.

There were three takers for the mudbath at Eulo, and all enjoyed the experience and agreed their skin felt great afterward.

Watching birds at BowraThe birding hotspot of Bowra was a new experience for all of us, and we realized you really need a lot more than one night to explore it properly. We found red-backed kingfisher, brown treecreeper, crested bellbird, white-winged chough, whistling kite and many other birds, as well as a Bennet’s legless lizard, turtle  and freshwater mussels..  A nice sandy ‘beach’ by one of the waterholes made a comfortable spot to sit and sip fruit juices while wacthing birds come and go.

This time I remembered to collect a bottle of red sand from the roadside before we left the outback – to be scattered amongst the models of numbat, bilby, thorny devil and other outback creatures in the Australian habitat display of our Wildlife Ecology Centre

Our next outback tours will be  September 7 – 13, to include National Bilby Day in Charleville (7 days instead of 6, additional $165), and October 18-23 (possibly with 2 nights at Bowra to explore the birdlife better).