Intriguing Logan wildlife active on a humid night last weekend

White-throated nightjar, Cedar Creek.

A foray into Plunkett Regional Park last Saturday night resulted in many excellent wildlife sightings, the highlight being white-throated nightjars (Eurostopodus mystacalis).

Judging from the chuckling calls reverberating through the hilly woodlands, quite a number of these nocturnal birds were present.

Two were found sitting rather sedately on the walking tracks, the second one not being noticed by me until I was only six or seven metres away.

If the nightjar was the most impressive sighting of the night, then the most amusing had to be a beetle (Elephastomus gellarus) that came buzzing and bumbling down the track towards me.

Bolboceratid beetle, Cedar Creek.

When it was close by, I could hear that it was making a high-pitched, comical, chattering noise, an ability shared by other beetles in the Bolboceratid family, but something that put a smile on my face nevertheless.

Ornate burrowing frog, Cedar Creek.

Scarlet-sided pobblebonk, Cedar Creek.

Recent wet conditions allowed for some rewarding frog encounters also, with ornate burrowing frogs (Platyplectron ornatus) and scarlet-sided pobblebonks (Limnodynastes terraereginae) being found along the waterlogged tracks.

In one of the more elevated sections of the park, a squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) was seen perched atop some dead timber.

In the same area and also on some dead timber were two very impressive giant centipedes (Ethmostigmus rubripes), one restless and shy, the other placid and allowing a close approach.

As evidenced by all the other times I’ve raved on about this place, Plunkett never fails to produce interesting wildlife and plant sightings, and would have to be one of my favourite locations in South-east Queensland.

Triangle-bearing wasp moth (Amata trigonophora), Cedar Creek.