Oct. 23, 2022 - Australia - Non-birds

The focus of my Australia trip was bird photography, but we also saw many other interesting creatures as well. Early in the trip, we took a boat cruise on the Daintree River. The Saltwater Crocodiles were out basking in the sun.

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We were told that this croc was the dominant one for this stretch of the river. He certainly was big!

CrocodileSalwaterDaintreeRiverCruiseQueensland20220916

All the Short-beaked Echidnas that we saw were found at dusk as we were driving back to our lodging. There are four Echidna species in the world, but only the Short-beaked is found in Australia. Their diet consists mostly of ants and termites. They have long, sharp claws useful for digging for their prey. The Echidna’s long, sticky tongue is used to capture the ants and termites.

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When an Echidna is threatened, it simply rolls up in a ball. Good luck trying to make a meal out of this animal. The four species of Echidnas and the Platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs. The single egg of the Echidna is incubated in the mother’s pouch.

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While walking through a park named Allumbah Pocket, we saw a group of Spectacled Flying Foxes in a tree. Notice the white rigs around the eyes, hence the name “spectacled.” Cute, right?

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The Spectacled Flying Fox is a large bat. It has a wingspan of five feet!

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A stream flowing through the Allumbah Pocket gave us looks at a Platypus. You’ll have to trust me on this one. This is the best photo I could get.

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This turtle was sunning itself on a rock in the same stream as the Platypus.

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At Les Davie Park we found this small Green Tree Snake resting on a very large fern leaf.

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We were all happy to see several Koalas. It appeared to be nap time for this one. It was just resting in a tree and barley opened its eyes to look at us.

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