A day (and night) in the bush...

Hubby and the kids came and joined me in my "office" yesterday!

Murramarang National Park - not too shabby, hey?

We did a new walk called Secret Lives of Trees, which is about learning more about forest ecology and why trees (old and new) are so important.

Although the kids know quite a lot of ecology, it was good to get out there amongst the three hundred year old spotted gums (Eucalyptus maculata - renamed Corymbia maculata).

We learned about tree hollows and why there are important, national park management, biomes, forest types, and the impact of forestry.

We had a few hours to kill before we went spotlighting, so we wandered around Depot Beach for a bit...

It was after 9pm when it finally got dark enough to go spotlighting. Visitors are discouraged from using flash photography, to protect the animals eyes, so it would be bad form for the ranger to do it! So, sadly, no photos. We didn't see a lot anyway - although it was a beautiful, still, clear night, only a brush tail possum up close and a very distant greater glider (we can spot up to a dozen things on a "good" night). Here is what they would have looked like:

Brush-tailed possum - very common, great urban adapters

Greater glider - large, solitary glider - can glide up to 150m!

Kids were pretty tired as it was a very late night and Video Boy struggled to maintain enthusiasm during the night walk. But all in all, a good day at the office and fun was had (oh yeah, and stuff learned!).