Every month, we here at Treeswift Wildlife & Nature try to compile a report of all the mammals we have recorded across our various tours and outings. Below is the summary of tours in January 2023 that had notable mammal sightings, all of which took place in Victoria, Australia. Feel free to skip right to the end for a simple summary of total species (21x species)
Private Birding Tours (4x species)
Across the earlier weeks of January we had a number of private birding tours from overseas guests who were visiting family for the holiday period. Our focus was on the birds, but we always stop to admire and point out any mammals we see along the way. Here’s a compiled list of those incidental mammal species encountered
- Swamp Wallaby
- Eastern Grey Kangaroo
- Grey-headed Flying Fox (over 40,000 at local colony)
- European Rabbit
Melbourne by Night at Blackburn Lake (6x species)
A 3 hour nocturnal tour of Blackburn Lake, focusing on finding any local nocturnal wildlife.
- 2x Krefft’s Glider (climbing a gum tree and gliding between two trees! The second gliding above us before coming in VERY close!!)
- 14x Common Ringtail Possum
- 2x Common Brushtail Possum
- 3x Gould’s Wattled Bat
- 3x Grey-headed Flying Fox
- 1x Red Fox (running across path around toilets)
Nocturnal Photography Class at Blackburn Lake (6x species)
The nocturnal component of our Wildlife Photography Course, we had a fantastic night at Blackburn Lake and managed to spot and photograph a wide variety of nocturnal wildlife.
- Krefft’s Glider (9x)
- Common Ringtail Possum (16x)
- Common Brushtail Possum (3x)
- White-striped Free-tailed Bat (3x)
- Grey-headed Flying Fox (12x)
- Brown Rat (1x)
Private Powerful Owl Tour (6x species)
A private tour for some international visitors who were looking to see a Powerful Owl. We saw some fantastic nocturnal mammals along the way!
- 1x Krefft’s Glider
- 13x Common Ringtail Possum
- 3x Common Brushtail Possum
- 2x White-striped Free-tailed Bat
- 2x Sambar Deer
- 1x Southern Greater Glider (Dark Morph)
Nocturnal Photography Class at Reynolds Reserve (10x species)
A nocturnal class with focus on learning tips and techniques for photographing wildlife at night. Working in a small group, we were able to spot a wide range of wildlife!
- 2x Krefft’s Glider
- 1x Common Wombat
- 1x Short-beaked Echidna
- 3x Common Ringtail Possum
- 1x Common Brushtail Possum
- 1x Eastern Grey Kangaroo
- 1x Swamp Wallaby
- 3x White-striped Free-tailed Bat
- 6~ microbat sp.
- 1x Sambar Deer
Greater Glider Nocturnal Fundraising Walk (4x species)
A nocturnal walk for 10x people through the Yarra Ranges, where we spot and learn about Greater Gliders. We got lots of gliders on this night, among some other exciting species.
- 17x Southern Greater Glider (incl. 1 distant intermediate/grey morph)
- 4x Yellow-bellied Glider (calls heard)
- 1x Krefft’s Glider (high up in tree above the road)
- 3x Common Ringtail Possum
Aussie Icons Tour (10x species)
A private tour for 2x people whereby we travelled across Victoria to see some of the best wildlife Australia has to offer, including some iconic Aussie mammals.
- 1x Swamp Rat
- 2x Yellow-bellied Glider
- 24x Eastern Grey Kangaroo
- 54x Swamp Wallaby
- 1x Common Brushtail Possum
- 1x Common Ringtail Possum
- 2x Red-necked Wallaby
- 1x European Hare
- 4x European Rabbit
- 200~ Brown Fur Seal
Melbourne by Night at Banyule Flats (4x species)
A three hour tour for 10x people around Banyule Flats where we walked around the area to observe any nocturnal wildlife. A great way to learn about the diverse array of wildlife that can be found close to the city!
- 16x Common Ringtail Possum
- 2x Common Wombat
- 2x Red Fox
- 6x European Rabbit
Total Mammal List – January 2023 Tour:
- Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
- Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinus)
- Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis)
- Krefft’s Glider (Petaurus notatus)
- Southern Greater Glider (Petauroides volans)
- Common Ringtail Possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus)
- Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)
- Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor)
- Red-necked Wallaby (Notamacropus rufogriseus)
- Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)
- Swamp Rat (Rattus lutreolus)
- Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)fwallab
- European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
- European Hare (Lepus europaeus)
- Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus)
- White-striped Free-tailed Bat (Austronomus australis)
- Gould’s Wattled Bat (Chalinolobus gouldii)
- House Cat (Felis catus)
- Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
- Brown Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus)
- Sambar Deer (Rusa unicolor)
If you’re interested or have enjoyed reading our Mammal Watching October Report, please feel free to get in touch by emailing us at info@treeswiftwildlife.com or calling us on (03) 7018 2302. Alternatively, you can learn more about our mammal watching tours at this link.
