Now there's something you don't see every day!

In fact, during my paddle from Baum's Weir up above Merrawarp Road on Sunday, I saw several things I don't see every day. The weather was perfect for a paddle, sunny but not too hot with only a very light breeze. I headed off at about midday, snapping photos here and there as I went.
Not surprisingly given the weather, I passed several other paddlers. First was a fisherman who I suspect I've seen before, followed by another two pairs of kayakers. As I headed around the bend above the Merrawarp Road Bridge, I spotted a number of brightly coloured canoes "parked" on the bank. I'd been expecting to find these guys as I'd heard that one of the local scouting groups would be out on this part of the river.

Scouts practising their moves later in the day

Sent on my way with a big wave from one of the kids I knew, I paddled on up to what I like to refer to as the point of no return. At this point, there is a small island in the middle of the river which quickly becomes very shallow. A little further up, a tree completely obstructs access (unless you are prepared to do some climbing). As I blogged here about two years ago, I have paddled the section from Pollocksford down to Merrawarp Road, but above this point, the river is much shallower and obstructions are frequent.

From this point on, things get much trickier

On this occasion I stopped for lunch in the shade. As I manoeuvred into position, I spotted movement on the bank - a fox. Definitely not something I see every day, however I do occasionally see them on the riverbank when I'm paddling. Generally, they disappear before I can get my camera out. This guy however, hung around for a few moments, but made sure he was conveniently screened by the surrounding bushes, so I have a great photo of an orange blur and a bunch of bushes.
Oh well, I finished lunch and began the paddle back. I hadn't gone too far when I came across something else I definitely don't see every day. There, on the bank above me was a sizeable Wedge-tailed Eagle. I have seen them on the wing over this part of the river before, but not on the ground. As I grabbed for my camera I saw its mate take off, but this one seemed happy enough just to watch while I attempted to get a decent shot of it. After posing for a few shots, it took off to a tree on the opposite bank which had me staring straight into the sun so after unsuccessfully attempting to get some more photos, I reluctantly headed off.

Wedge-tailed Eagle on the riverbank

Once again, I hadn't paddled too far when I spotted another beastie - a Murray River Turtle. This is the third I have seen since late last year and like both the others, this guy was basking on a log protruding from the water. As I've said before, I'm not sure whether these guys found their own way here or whether they have bred from escaped pets. This one was a little camera shy and didn't let me get too close before it plopped of its log and disappeared beneath the surface of the water.

Murray River Turtle - a long way from home

Finally, a little further still downriver, I came across my fourth surprise for the afternoon, although in retrospect I should not have been surprised as I think I have seen these guys before. I rounded a slight bend, close to the bank and found myself face to face with a pair of alpacas.

Hello!!

Watching me watching you...

I couldn't see any of the sheep who were their probable charges, but I did wonder if they knew about the fox I'd seen upriver a little and hoped that they were doing their job!
The rest of the trip back passed uneventfully with no further surprises on what may be one of the few sunny days left for paddling this year.

Turtle tales

A Google search on the topic of turtles in the Barwon River does not prove particularly revealing, however there are definitely turtles to be found. In an earlier post I looked at the Eastern Snake-necked turtle which is found on Native Hut Creek and which is highlighted at the Turtle Bend community facility in Teesdale.


Eastern Snake-necked turtle. Image taken from :
http://www.australianfreshwaterturtles.com.au/

That being said, I am yet to spot an Eastern Snake-necked turtle in the wild and have not found specific mention of them occurring in the Barwon itself. For that matter, after spending quite a bit of time over a years on and around the river, I had never seen a turtle of any description - until this year when I saw two in a matter of a couple of weeks.
The first I spotted whilst paddling from Fyansford down to Breakwater during September. It was sitting on a log sunbaking and was quite happy to sit and watch while I snapped some photos:

Turtle on the Barwon at Fyansford

 It was clearly not an Eastern Snake-necked, so what was it? A little research suggested it was in fact a Murray River turtle (also known as a Macquarie turtle or Murray Short-necked turtle) and a fairly large one at that. So what was it doing in the Barwon? Well, these turtles live happily in captivity and I spotted this guy close to a reasonably populous part of the river. Perhaps it was an escaped pet - a one off.

Murray River turtle on the Barwon at Fyansford

A different view

But then, a couple of weeks later as I was paddling upstream above Merrawarp Road, some eight to nine kilometres from the place I spotted the previous turtle, I came across a second Murray River turtle. Like the first, this one was sunning itself on a branch, however it was smaller than the first and quite shy, disappearing back into the river before I had time to grab more than a couple of shots.

A second Murray River turtle on the Barwon

Another difference was that, this turtle was in a very rural part of the river and between this and the previous turtle is a stretch of river including the two weirs and Buckley Falls.
As with my search for information about Snake-neck turtles in the Barwon, I can find nothing which mentions a population of Murray River turtles being present either. In fact, one of the few references I found to turtles and the Barwon River did not really relate to turtles at all, rather it was a suggestion put forward that one explanation for the bunyip myth may have been a cultural memory of the extinct Meiolania platyceps or Meiolania prisca. The former being a large, horned turtle with a club tail which could measure up to 2.5 metres in length and the latter, a similarly large lizard.


Extinct giant turtle. Image taken from:
http://dinosaurs.wikia.com/wiki/File:Meiolania_platyceps.png

 All of which is interesting, however I am still none-the-wiser as to the presence of turtles of any description in the Barwon River.