With this warmer November weather, we’ve seen a change in the types of nocturnal wildlife that we’re seeing in and around Kingfisher Bay Resort.The Wallum is one of the many different eco-systems on Fraser Island and is characterised by floristically-rich scrubland and healthland on deep, nutrient-poor, sandy soil (thanks Wikipedia for the definition!).
At Kingfisher, you’ll find the Wallum area just in front of our main Centre Complex and hotel centre complex and some of our villas border it as well.
Guests are free to explore the Wallum at their leisure on our timber boardwalks, which wind their way past the mirror lakes – it’s a great spot to see our local birdlife diving for insects across the purple-hued waters first thing in the morning; or where you might catch a glimpse of a carpet python sunning itself in the bush. Or you can head out on one of our many Ranger-guided eco walks.
In November, our beautiful native frog species become more active and vocal from their home in the Wallum! Of an evening the air is filled with a chorus of calls made by striking Striped Rocket Frogs, energetic Wallum Rocket Frogs and dainty Cooloola Sedge Frogs. Throughout the warmer months we marvel at the sounds made by these amazing amphibians and watch with childlike excitement as they bound across the Wallum boardwalks right in front of our eyes. Our Junior Eco Rangers love it too.
The resort’s main road has also been a mecca of activity with the return of regular sightings of Tawny Frogmouths. These graceful nocturnal birds could be seen perched in roadside Eucalypts waiting for the streetlights to lure in a tasty insect meal... and as we reported in our bird report for last month - our Tawny Frogmouths have been seen out and about with a new chick – we’ll be following their progress closely and will keep you updated.
Bandicoots were also regularly spied rustling around under the fluffy foliage of the Fox-tail Sedge. These curious marsupials busily dig for crickets, worms and tubers of a night time, leaving tell-tale holes in the sandy soil around the resort.
The marine life around the jetty at Kingfisher Bay was spectacular this month as a gorgeous Green Sea Turtle (pictured above - special thanks to greenpack for the use of their photo) was spotted several times throughout the month. This magnificent creature comes to feed and sleep under our jetty from time to time and it is always a night walk highlight to see it momentarily surface for a gulp of air.
And on Fraser Island's western sea shore thousands of Soldier Crabs have been busily feeding at the water’s edge – it really is a spectacular sight.
Catch you next time, tree huggers, Ranger Kat.
