Spotlighting

Last night Dot, Max and I went spotlighting in the Oxley - Wild Rivers National Park. To be precise we headed to Dangars Falls, a 190m drop from the Tablelands into a deep gorge, at dusk to meet up with the National Parks & Wildlife Services rangers who conducted the event. There were perhaps 25 or 30 people there and we heard a talk on the ecology of the area and what we might see after dark up in the trees. They also had some stuffed animals to see and touch, pygmy possums, a spotted quoll and that sort of thing. By the time the talking had finished, it was pitch black - the falls, which were thunderous after heavy rains, are perhaps 20km from Armidale.

So we spent the next 80 minutes walking the nearby tracks close to the top of the gorge, which wasn't particularly dangerous as most people had torches or 'headlights' and the spotlight illuminated the tree-tops. Still, we kept a close eye on Max who romped along at the head of the group right next to the leader. He doesn't seem to know fear and I had visions of him falling off the walkway over the creek and being swept over a 190m waterfall in full flood. Such fears were unfounded, by our expectations were confounded. If there were rock wallabies, owls, ring-tailed possums, koalas, sugar gliders, and other nice furry creatures around they kept to themselves. So, fortunately, did the brown snakes! However, we did spot quite a few brush-tailed possums, one mother carrying her baby on her back, which was cute. The odd bat also winged its way through the illumination, and we heard a chorus of mating frogs and various other croaks and chatter from unseen animals.

I'm sorry I have no pictures to show ... for obvious reasons.

AS