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 November 2022 that had notable mammal sightings, all of which took place in Victoria, Australia. Admittedly, November was one of our quieter months in recent times. This is primarily due to the start of Daylight Savings (most Australian mammal life is nocturnal), a very bird focussed month due to the end of Spring, and a few cancellations due to severe flooding across most of the central and northern parts of the start. Feel free to skip right to the end for a simple summary of total species (25x).
Private Full Day Wildlife Watching Tour (7x species)
A 16hr private tour for an overseas client mainly interested in birds but with a passing interest in other wildlife. We travelled 86 kms and visited 8x locations observing some of Australia’s most iconic bird species and a few good Australian mammals along the way.
Mammal Summary:
- 3x Swamp Wallaby
- 7x Eastern Grey Kangaroo
- 1x Short-beaked Echidna
- 2x Common Wombat
- 5x Yellow-bellied Glider
- 2x Gould’s Wattled Bat (observed via Echo Meter Touch)
- 1x White-striped Free-tailed Bat
Western Treatment Plant Bird Photography Tour (4x species)
Across November, we regularly led tours to the Western Treatment Plant (of international fame due to its outstanding bird life). Though the focus was always on the aves, our guides regularly observed the following mammals (listed in summary here, rather than per individual birding tour):
Mammal Summary:
- Rakali / Common Water Rat
- Eastern Grey Kangaroo
- European Rabbit
- European (Brown) Hare
Birdwatching for Beginners Guided Workshop at Crusoe Reservoir- Bendigo (3x species)
Early on in November, we led one of our regular Birdwatching For Beginners Workshops at Crusoe Reservoir, a wonderful patch of dry woodland in Bendigo (approximately 2hrs north of Melbourne). Though we focussed on finding bird species being out in nature, we also ran into a nice set of mammals too.
Mammal Summary:
- 1x Yellow-footed Antechinus
- 6x Eastern Grey Kangaroo
- 2x Swamp Wallaby
Nocturnal Walk at Crusoe Reservoir- Bendigo (7x species)
Following the above Birdwatching Workshop, we ran a spontaneous nocturnal walk back at Crusoe Reservoir the same night trying to connect with a new set of wildlife from what we had observed in the day. Thanks to red light and thermal imaging, we connected with a nice set of mammals along the way.
Mammal Summary:
- 4x Common Brushtail Possum
- White Striped Freetail Bat (multiple heard)
- 6x Common Ringtail Possum (incl. mum and 2 babies on the back)
- 3x Krefft’s Glider (alarm call heard, seen feeding towards end of the walk, 1 seen in car park gliding!)
- 3x Swamp Wallaby
- 15x Eastern Grey Kangaroo (incl. mother and Joey in pouch)
- 1x Chocolate Wattle Bat (seen flying in torchlight and recorded via echometre touch)
Port Fairy Pelagic Tour & Nature Week (6x species)
Treeswift Wildlife & Nature ran our inaugural pelagic trip this month and decided to the extend the experience by not only including a full day in pelagic waters, but an optional nature walk the afternoon before. We collected a nice little set of 6x mammal species for our efforts.
Mammal Summary:
- 12x Koala
- 8x Eastern Grey Kangaroo
- 14x Swamp Wallaby
- 60x Short-beaked Common Dolphin
- 10~ Brown Fur Seal
- 1x Sperm Whale
Private Full Day Wildlife Tour (15x species)
A 16 hour private tour for an overseas client with focus on all wildlife. We travelled over 90 kms and visited 8x different locations observing 86x species of bird, 6x species of frog, and handful of reptiles and 15x mammals.
Mammal Summary:
- 1x Swamp Wallaby
- 1x Koala
- 1x Short-beaked Echidna
- 2x Yellow-bellied Glider
- 5x Southern Greater Glider
- 24x Eastern Grey Kangaroo
- 9x Swamp Wallaby
- Chocolate Wattled Bat (observed via Echo Meter Touch)
- Little Forest Bat (observed via Echo Meter Touch)
- Gould’s Wattled Bat (observed via Echo Meter Touch)
- Grey-headed Flying Fox
- 4x Fallow Deer
- 3x Samba Deer (1x heard barking only)
- 2x Red Fox
- 20~ European Rabbit
Total Mammal List – November 2022 Tours
- Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
- Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
- Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinus)
- Yellow-footed Antechinus (Antechinus flavipes)
- 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)
- Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)
- European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
- European Hare (Lepus europaeus)
- Rakali / Common Water Rat (Hydromys chrysogaster)
- Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus)
- White-striped Free-tailed Bat (Austronomus australis)
- Gould’s Wattled Bat (Chalinolobus gouldii)
- Chocolate Wattled Bat (Chalinolobus morio)
- Little Forest Bat (Vespadelus vulturnus)
- Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
- Brown Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus)
- Fallow Deer (Dama dama)
- Sambar Deer (Rusa unicolor)
- Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus)
- Short-beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
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.
