Tasmania - Arthur River 2

Tuesday 4 March
Up at 5:30am and out counting by 6:30am. This time I was with Menna and Lucinda counting birds along 4 transects in the north of the site. It was very windy (but warm) so there were not many birds to be seen or heard. On the way back we had to count scats (poo) and identify the animals who left them. We found wonbat, devil, pademelon and Bennets Wallaby. On our final transect we also had to do measurements and descriptions of the habitat which involved lots of plant identifications. We now have a huge collection of plant pieces and have identified most with the help of various books, Menna and Lily.

Back home for lunch then out again with Menna, Chris, Julie and Matt to do more habitat surveys. This was fine until the last site which required lots of bushbashing through chest-high, tightly-packed shrubs. This meant that by the time I got home I was done in.

Lots of time to chat and update internet tonight using Gail's phone as a hot spot. The sunset was fantastic and we all ate dinner outside tonight. I'll be pleased to collapse into bed having achieved nearly 16000 steps today.

Wednesday 5 March
Our last early rise this morning! After breakfast Menna, Gail, Ian, Amelia and I headed out to do the bird, diggings and habitat surveys on the remaining northern transects. It was really cool and overcast with a strong westerly wind which made hearing the birds really difficult and also kept the birds inactive.

The vegetation surveys required a bit of bushbashing and I ended up falling over gracefully into the heath when I got tangled in the knee-high scrub.

Back home for lunch and a start on the data entry for the vegetation surveys which I will continue on my return to Hobart.

At about 3pm we left for Woolnorth in the extreme north west of Tasmania. We had a brief stop to look more closely at an echidna that was trying to cross the road.

Although Woolnorth had started as a huge sheep station it is now concentrating on dairy and the milk is powdered and sent to China. Mike, the CEO of the Van Diemens Land Company that runs Woolnorth, met us at the gate. I chose to be gate opener in his car (with Lucinda) as he took us to various vantage points and one of their rotary milking sheds to see the last cows go through for the day.

The size of Woolnorth is impressive and the views of the adjoining wind farms, wind-swept headlands and cliffs, islands and Southern Ocean are all stunning.The wind was quite extreme though Mike then took us home to his beautiful house that also had fabulous views to the east.

There we had a barbeque dinner whilst waiting for the Tassie Devils to appear for their dinner. After dark a freshly dead wallaby and tied it to a stake. Not too long after this the wild devils smelled it and were happily engaged in a feeding frenzy while we watched and took millions of photos. We were lucky enough to also have a Spotted Tailed Quoll come right up to the closed glass doors.

It was a long and tiring drive home on dirt roads watching for the huge population of pademelons and other wildlife so that we did not add to the road kill tally. The other car (scientists) stopped to move a pademelon road kill off the road so that the devils were not attracted to it and put themselves in danger. On examination they found a healthy foey inside just beginning to get its fur. There were the phone calls between cars in and out of reception as we had Julie and Garry with us who are wildlife carers. Julie decided it was probably old enough to try to save so when we arrived home Julie took on the responsibility and kipt it warm in a few beanies and gave it water every two hours through the night.

I got home and just collapsed into bed after midnight.

Tasmania - Arthur River 1

Sunday 2 March
Up at 5am and, after a quick breakfast, we headed for our sites to start our surveys on the four northern sites with Lily. Our team emptied 15 traps at each of four sites. We found 1 Tassie devil, 1 bandicoot, and 1 brushtail possum (that got away before measurements were taken) in the traps. The animals were weighed, tissue samples and blood taken and other particulars recorded. It was quite something to see how calm the Tassie devil actually is when being handled. I photographed a beautiful orchid, Dipodium roseum.

We returned to the house for lunch then busied ourselves during the afternoon with a choice of activities. I chose to update diary, ID various plants I'd collected then watched one of the video cards from the night cameras that others had gone out to collect.

Chris gave a talk about his research area on the effects of losing the top predators in a community (e.g. Tasmanian Devils). Dinner was delightful again with chocolate coated strawberries for dessert. We'll all end up with bad dreams tonight.

Some people went out counting via spotlighting tonight but I decided to stay in and catch up on a much needed early night.

Monday 3 March
Up early again after no bad dreams and this time was teamed up with Jimsy and Chris to do bird counts and habitat surveys at the four southern sites.

At the coastal heathland sites the vegetation through which we had to bushbash was about waist high and very dense. It was really quite awkward, especially as it was early and cool and the dew made our shoes and pants quite wet. At least it meant that snakes were not very active. No sightings so far but I'm sure that will change as this is peak snake season.

Black Rat

Spotted Quoll in carnivore trap

After we had finished the site surveys we were rostered to do Forest Raven count while driving along a 10km section of the road – Arthur River to West Point turn off. Although we'd seen quite a few during our bird surveys there were not many visible from the road at midday.

Back home for lunch and to try to identify the key plants of the day. At least the plants here are not quite as strange to me as the ones in the Kimberley and there are a few plant books this time.

Ian then decided to take some of us south to Rebecca Lagoon. There we had some photography tips that were very helpful, especially for those with more sophisticated cameras than mine. The lagoon was a fantastic swale lagoon and a haven for black swans and other water birds. By climbing the well vegetated dunes we had great views of both the lagoon and the Southern Ocean.

Back for a talk by Gini about her PhD on tracking devils, quolls and feral cats then a delicious roast dinner.

Tonight it was my turn to go spotlighting. As well as lots of pademelons and a few Bennets wallabies we saw a rabbit and a large black wombat. When we arrived home there was a bit of time for a chat then late to bed by 11pm.

Tasmania - Hobart 1

Wednesday 26 February 2014
After a 5am wake up Jeanette, Graham and I piled luggage into our 5:30 taxi and headed for the airport, Jeanette and Graham to fly home to Geraldton and me to fly to Hobart for my next adventure. This one is a scientific expedition to survey vertebrates in north western Tasmania.

Gail met me at the airport then I became part of the whirlwind of preparations for the expedition that starts on Saturday. First a call to Shiploads to buy food containers and a few other bits. Home then to settle in, catch up and have a bit of lunch then off again to Eumarrah (a fabulous “healthfood” shop) and Coles for some grocery shopping.

Gail ran in and out to the school across the road and while she and Ian were both at the parent/teacher interview for Amelia I rang Julie to organise a get-together on Friday.

Late afternoon and evening was a frenzy of cooking (cauliflower cheese, slice, beetroot, sausage rolls) and packaging (skroggin). All this in preparation for the expedition.

After all that cooking we headed down to the waterfront for delicious fish and chips at Mures. After our meal we went for a short walk to the sculptures along the front which we could just see by the light of a huge cruise ship that was in port.

Home to sleep in a most comfortable bed.

Thursday 27 February
Up at the leisurely hour of 7am this morning. Eggs and bacon for breakfast followed by the greening of Amelia for her sports carnival. I painted oak leaves all over her as her school house is Oak.

More cooking then the “big shop” at Coles and a few other shops – Eumarrah and Salamanca Place. Home to lunch which I should not have eaten because I'd only done 2500 steps (well under lunch time target). Oh well!

Still more food preparation in the afternoon (sausage rolls, slice, herb butter) then Ian and I were sent on the fruit and vegie shop before Gail and Ian went to collect the first car. Gail will leave with that car packed with all the food tomorrow morning. I am nowhere near my step goal of 10000 today so I hope I can catch up over the next few days.

Once the car arrived we had a great time tessellating all the containers of food and utensils, eskys and drinks ready for Gail's trip tomorrow, remembering to leave room for the local produce she would be picking up along the way.

The weather has been fantastic so far and this evening I spent time on the upstairs balcony with a sunset view over Hobart harbour and a glass of wine while Gail and Ian caught up on a bit of office work. Dinner tonight was at the Crumb Street Kitchen which served fabulous smoked meat with sides – beef ribs, pulled pork, octapus, coleslaw, potato salad, spiced beans, flatbread, rolls. We followed this with a Portuguese custard tart each. Absolutely delicious.

Back home to finish the food preparation and for the family to pack clothes for the trip. Bed at las after a full day but only 7000 steps.

Friday 28 February
Up at first light today, a cuppa and emails then ready for a day with Julie. She picked me up around 8am and took me home for breakfast under her delightful plum tree.

After a lazy morning chatting we headed for Lindesfarne to collect Patsy for their previously arranged lunch out. We decided to try the Botanical Gardens but when we arrived we were told that the restaurant was booked for a private function. We then headed back to Lindesfarne for lunch at the Motor Yacht Club which Patsy assured us was worth a visit. The fish we had was delicious so I enjoyed another fish meal with views down the water to the Tasman Bridge and beyond.

When we dropped Patsy home Julie drove into town to collect her uniform for a choir performance tonight only to find that it had not even been cut out yet. She dropped me at Gail and Ian's and was heading home to make some rather irrate phone calls about the uniform issue.

The rest of the evening will be spent loading the minibus and sorting ourselves ready for an early departure tomorrow morning in time to collect the other volunteers from Launceston Airport.

Saturday 1 March
As arranged, we left home at 6am, collected Brian then headed north to Launceston with a breakfast stop at Campbell Town. At Launceston we collected Julie and Garry at the airport then Jimsy, Matt and Lucinda at their respective accommodation.

We then headed west, stopping to collect our lunch from the bakery in Wynyard and to eat it at Fossil Bluff. I even found a small rock with shell fossils in it and at the lookout, a plant I thought I should know. (I eventually found it to be Busaria spinosa.)

Amelia

Busaria spinosa

On west again then south to Arthur River where we will stay in a very luxurious beachc house for the next five nights. After dumping our things we went for a walk down to “The End of the World” along the river then along the beach. The weather is beautiful and only slightly windy. There were dozens of mammal tracks along the beach and Amelia and I had a fabulous time photographing them with my camera. They were later identified as pademelon, devil, wombat and various unknown shore birds. The rocks were all fossilised ripples and had a beautiful range of quite vivid orange-brown colours in the evening sunlight. More plants to identify later as Poa poiformis, Lagurus sp. And Leucophyta brownii. We also saw Pacific Gulls.

Tasmanian Devil

Pademelon

Pademelon

We met the four scientists when they returned from setting the first traps – Menna, Chris, Gini and Lilly. We all shared a barbeque dinner of local steak (yum!) and after Menna's talk, had some danish then dropped into bed by about 10:30.

Ian cooking the barbeque

The view from our beach house