New South Wales, Australia – August 2024

From 06 August 2024 to 16 August 2024 I visited New South Wales and Jervis Bay Territory in Australia with my family. Since it was a ‘family’ trip, I was unable to look for animals as often as I’d like, but I still feel like I saw a good number of species for the middle of winter. I hope to add photos to this list when I’ve had a chance to get through everything.

Birds were my primary targets, but I went out on solo night hikes most evenings to try and find mammals. I kept my eyes open for reptiles and amphibians, too. As you might expect, they were quite scarce in winter.

06 August 2024

We arrived at the Sydney airport around 0600 local time on 06 August 2024, and immediately proceeded to a rental property in Stanwell Tops, south of Sydney. After dropping off our luggage and making a quick run to Helensburgh for food, we headed south. Bare-nosed Wombat (Vombatus ursinus) was my main mammal target for the day.

En route to the wombat location, we stopped at Macquarie Pass National Park to hike the short trail to Cascade Falls. However, the only non-bird animal encountered here was a single Australian Water Dragon that was basking in a small spot of sun on the trail in the forest.

If you’re coming from the Albion Park area via Macquarie Pass National Park on Tourist Route 8 as we did, be aware that the roads are quite steep and twisty. I found the need to pull over and let local traffic pass me several times, but in doing so we had several good looks at roadside Superb Lyrebirds.

Around 1500 local time we finally made it near the Bendeela Recreation Area (https://www.waternsw.com.au/nsw-dams/greater-sydney-dams/bendeela-recreation-area) along the Kangaroo River. Sadly, we passed several dead wombats and kangaroos on the side of the road (all with a spray-painted X indicating they’d been checked for joeys).

While slowly driving into the area we had a very brief look at a Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) before it dashed back into cover.

Upon reaching the Bendeela Recreation Area, we parked just past the creek and walked to the easternmost field. We immediately saw large burrows excavated here and there, and a lone Bare-nosed Wombat was munching on grass out in the field.

We walked to within about 100 ft. of it, then watched it slowly waddle, munch, and toot its way towards us. It did not seem to care (or really notice) that we were there, and we had to back off to keep it from walking right into us.

In the end, I think we watched the wombats for about 2 hours before heading back to our rental. Probably a dozen or so huge burrows were around, some marked off with posts and ribbons to prevent anyone from accidentally stumbling in.

On the way out, we saw our first Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) of the trip in a field off Bendeela Road. I was far too tired to go on a night hike when we returned to our rental.

07 August 2024

After a local morning hike for birds, we headed south to Booderee National Park (https://parksaustralia.gov.au/booderee/) in Jervis Bay Territory ($20 AUD entry per car). This coastal park is said to be good for whales and Little Penguins at certain times of the year, but August is not particularly good for either here.

I’d read online prior to the trip that wallabies could be found near the campgrounds, but we never saw any throughout the afternoon or at dusk. We didn’t stick around past sunset.

However, we did have our closest encounters with Eastern Grey Kangaroos of the entire trip at the campgrounds. About a dozen were scattered around the campsites and campsite roads starting around 1530 local time.

From the cliff-top walk at Governor Head we saw some distant Australian Fur Seals (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) swimming in the surf near Bowen Island.

In the evening, starting around 1920 local time, I hiked the Maddens Falls Track in Dharawal Nature Reserve. Being winter, it was rather quiet, although a few frogs could be heard near the creek.

I quickly, and repeatedly, spotlighted Common Ringtail Possums (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) on this trail, but I couldn’t turn up any other mammals during a roughly hour long walk.

08 August 2024

I was having trouble sleeping, so I went back to the Dharawal National Park (https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/dharawal-national-park) around 0500 the next morning.

On the drive in I spooked a Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) and Swamp Wallaby from the sides of the road, but neither gave extended or good looks. The Maddens Falls Track again only yielded Common Ringtail Possums.

As the sun rose, a short drive around the area produced multiple Eastern Gray Kangaroos and more Common Ringtail Possums.

We drove well north to the Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary (https://www.portstephenskoalasanctuary.com.au/) to stay for the next three nights. I highly recommend at least stopping by if you’re in the area, but it was an absolutely wonderful place to stay as well. Staying there allowed us multiple chances to see ‘forever’ Koalas that are too injured/sick to return to the wild as well as a private tour.

The Sanctuary also includes a hospital, but the hospital is closed to the public until 2025, while it undergoes an expansion.

As sunset approached, we drove a couple minutes south to the cliffs in Boat Harbor to look for whales. Seeing whales from shore was a huge goal of mine for this trip since the Austral winter is when thousands of them go up and down the New South Wales coastline.

We were not disappointed, as several Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) were breaching so close to shore we could hear the thumps as they landed. Many more spouts, tail slaps, and pectoral fin slaps could be seen off in the distant.

Right before darkness fell, a pod of Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) swam right along the cliff face. This species was a big target of mine for the area, so I was pleased to find them.

The Sanctuary is closed to the public at night, but I was free to walk around the locked grounds (which abut Tomaree National Park) with my flashlights. I turned up a few Common Ringtail and many Common Brushtail Possums, with the brushtails outnumbering the ringtails by about 5:1.

It was here that I saw my only frog of our trip, an Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog calling along the wetland edge that’s inside the Sanctuary.

09 August 2024

I started just before sunrise at Tilligerry Habitat on the peninsula between Tillgerry Creek (to the south) and the Kanuah River (immediately bordering the Habitat on its north edge). Birds were again my main target, but I’d also read online that this was a good spot to try your luck for Koalas. I’d been happy to see the Koalas at the Sanctuary, but I really wanted to see a wild Koala.

Unfortunately, a Koala was not to be. I ran into two locals in the Habitat who independently informed me that Koalas have been quite scarce in Tilligerry Habitat in 2024. One told me that she’d only heard of a single Koala having been spotted there over the preceding three or four months.

However, both individuals told me that the boardwalk starting at the corner of Cook Parade and Shearman Avenue at the eastern end of the peninsula was where multiple Koalas had been seen recently.

Sadly, I spent too much time birding and never managed to get to that area for a look.

I had to skip the new Koala spot and rush back to the Sanctuary because I’d convinced my family to try a 2.5 hour whale watching trip out of Nelson Bay. The trip jogged out past the islands east of the mouth of Nelson Bay, then slowly worked back in.

It took awhile, but we eventually found a few cooperative Humpback Whales, but they just swam along, surfaced, sounded, and repeated. They were briefly agitated by a small pod of Short-beaked Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis). I’ll have to admit at this point I was paying closer attention to the Fluttering Shearwater flocks that passed by and I missed a distant Humpback breach seen by others on the boat.

A stop at Cabbage Tree Island afforded us some close looks at Australian Fur Seals, and mother and calf Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins were seen at the harbor entrance on our return.

I opted to return to Boat Harbor in the late afternoon while my family rested at the Sanctuary. I was rewarded with many distant Humpback Whales (no breeching though) heading north.

After about a half hour, a different blow caught my eye, and I wasn’t sure I really saw what I thought I saw. But, with binoculars raised, I saw several distinctly V-shaped blows from a lone whale. When the whale’s back crested the water’s surface, no dorsal fin was present, so I’m pretty confident this was a Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis). The species is known to be present in the area, but at low numbers, and it was the only individual I saw over several hours of watching over three days.

Once the sun set, I again opted to walk around the Sanctuary. I found only Common Brushtail Possums until a distinctly different set of eyes shined back at me. I had a hunch as to what it was, and I was thrilled when I got close enough to see what the eyes were attached to. Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)!

The next morning I talked to the Sanctuary, who confirmed that it was, in fact, a wild Koala that had been hanging around for the past week or so, free to come and go as it pleased. They even had a video of it walking into the Sanctuary a week prior! Apparently, wild Koalas are occasionally attracted to the scent of the fresh eucalyptus left out for the ‘forever’ Koalas at the Sanctuary.

After I’d spent some time watching the wild Koala, I was excited to see my first Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps) glide in and quickly disappear.

10 August 2024

I again ventured down to Boat Harbor around sunset to look for more whales. What looked like a heat run (one female being chased by several males) played out for over an hour as I watched a group of Humpback Whales head north. Additional whales spouted and/or slapped in the distance. All could be seen naked eye, but much more satisfying views were had in my 8×25 binoculars. I can only imagine what I would have seen if I’d brought my 99mm spotting scope over from the US!

Right before I was ready to leave, a single Humpback Whale suddenly surfaced no more than 50 feet from the cliffs and started singing! It was incredibly loud, even on land. The whale eventually drifted south and was heard calling just off another set of cliffs a quarter mile west about 15 minutes later.

While the whale was drifting, a large pod of Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins played in the surf in front of me and quickly converged around the Humpback down the shore.

Around 1800, I ventured into Tomaree National Park (https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/tomaree-national-park) on Big Rocky Trail. Almost immediately, I heard something in the brush and caught a glimpse of a Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) near the road. Sadly, it dug itself into the ground before I could ever see its face and I had to settle for a view of its back. It was still in the same place ~90 minutes later on my way out.

I hiked for an hour or so on trails off Big Rocky Trail, but I only saw a single Common Brushtail Possum.

Back at the Sanctuary, I had another look at the Koala (in a different area of the Sanctuary), as well as several more Common Brushtail Possums. The bird highlight of the evening was some great views of a Tawny Frogmouth near the Sanctuary’s swimming pool.

11 August 2024

We traveled west to Katoomba to see Blue Mountains National Park (https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/blue-mountains-national-park), and we saw many Eastern Grey Kangaroos in the morning while driving in the rain.

In the evening, I went on a long hike at Ngula Bulgarabang Regional Park (purported to have Yellow-bellied Gliders and Spotted-tail Quolls) (https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/ngula-bulgarabang-regional-park), but all I found was a single Sugar Glider and a single Common Ringtail Possum.

12 August 2024

No mammals seen, and I was too exhausted after a week of ~30,000 step days to go on a night hike.

13 August 2024

My wife wanted to visit Hartley Historic Site (https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/hartley-historic-site) a bit west of Katoomba, so we took a drive in the afternoon.

The helpful ranger informed us that wallabies, kangaroos, and echidnas were often seen in the area, and, if you’re really lucky, the stream through the area is known to host Platypus.

We looked around the area around 1300 and found nothing, but we decided to come back just before sunset and walked around for about 90 minutes. This time we found several Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Swamp Wallabies, as well as a Common Brushtail Possum.

14 to 16 August 2024

These days were spent in Sydney near Circular Quay, so I wasn’t expecting anything in the way of mammals.

However, Benny the Seal (https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/community/sydneys-seal-approval) and his friends were present behind the Sydney Opera House, so I did get to add New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) to the trip list. One or two individuals were present every time I visited over the three days.

Just before sunset on the 14th I watched a single Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) lift out of the Royal Botanical Garden. Apparently there used to be a large colony there, but I was unable to find it despite walking through most of the garden over my three days there. Upon my return home, I discovered that they removed the colony years ago and they actively remove any small congregations that return in order to save the trees. See https://www.botanicgardens.org.au/sites/default/files/2023-09/2008-4646%20RBGDT%20GHFF%20Relocation%20Eleventh%20Annual%20Report%202023%20Final..pdf for more information about that.

Summary

I feel quite content with the 15 species of mammals I found given this was a family trip and I didn’t have much time to really search specifically for mammals. The only mammal I thought I had a decent shot at that I missed was Red-necked Wallaby.

If I ever get back, I’d consider bringing my thermal scope. It wouldn’t have been of much help in the thick brush I mostly dealt with, but I imagine it would be quite useful if I were able to get to more open areas.

Final List (with approximate totals)

• Swamp Wallaby (5)
• Bare-nosed Wombat (4)
  
  
  
• Eastern Gray Kangaroo (70)
  
  
  
• Common Ringtail Possum (10)
  
• Common Brushtail Possum (20)
  
• Australian Fur Seal (8)
  
• Humpback Whale (40)
  
• Southern Right Whale (1)
• Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin (30)
• Short-beaked Common Dolphin (2)
• Koala (1; same individual seen on consecutive nights)
  
• Sugar Glider (2)
• Short-beaked Echidna (1)
  
• New Zealand Fur Seal (2)
• Gray-headed Flying Fox (1)