Expeditions

CARNARVON STATION

At Carnarvon Simon Robson and I sought Chalinolobus dwyeri, the long-eared pied bat, a species with disjunct Central Queensland/SE Queensland and coastal New South Wales populations (Churchill, 2008). We aimed to confirm the presence of this insectivorous black-furred micro-bat with white side-bands, and to ‘ground-truth’ calls. We didn’t find it!

Inhabiting dry sclerophyll forest and open woodlands, C. dwyeri roosts in volcanic rock and sandstone outcrops and escarpments. They may change roosts daily but tend to remain in the same locale (Williams and Thomson 2018). In November, females gather in groups of 20-40 in maternity caves where twins are born. Non-maternity roosts contain 2-40 individuals.

Carnarvon Station, tucked up against the Ka Ka Mundi section on the south side of Carnarvon National Park, is a pastoral leasehold of 59,081 ha that was purchased by the Australian Bush Heritage Fund In 2001 (Smith 2003).

Difficult to access, the station is ca. 240 km north of Murven (on the Warrego Highway). The 4.5 h drive is bitumen for 80 k thence gravel and dirt. We made it in the Subaru because conditions were perfect, the road had been graded recently. I would recommend a 4WD if there has been recent rain.

The drive was lovely, passing through brigalow, open woodlands, grasslands, and closed eucalypt forest. Notable obvious vegetation includes the white Cyprus pine (Callitris glaucophylla), the salmon-grey barked cabbage trees (Angophora floribunda), smooth-barked apple (Angophora leiocarpa) with its orange-speckled stems, and majestic globular-canopied cycads (Macrozamia moorei) that attain 5 m or more. Saw a Cymbidium orchid and a few Opuntia ficus-indica.

We stayed comfortably at the restored homestead (probably built in late 1800s/early 1900s; Smith 2003) which has an accommodation block at the back and even wi-fi!

We didn’t find C. dwyeri but found a colony of xxx in the station workshed and caught a lovely xxx,

References
Churchill S 2008. Australian bats. 2^nd edn. Jacana Books, NSW.
Smith E (Libby) 2003. Carnarvon Station: a history of European settlement since 1863. Bush Heritage, Australia.
Williams ER, Thomson B 2018. Aspects of the foraging and roosting ecology of the large-eared pied bat (Chalinolobus dwyeri) in the western Blue Mountains, with implications for conservation. Australian Mammalogy 41: 212-219.