17 Jan 2015 FILM DIARY

For over 2 years I wanted to begin a night filming walk at midnight to see if there was any noticable change in the line-up of creatures we saw. Realistically one walk could not be conclusive. Dan and his partner Amanda had agreed to participate which effectively meant scheduling the walk during school holidays. The year before last they were travelling which limited their availability. Last year I was without my camera for the duration of the holidays and beyond. Postponed from January 12 due to rain, our first and probably only midnight walk after 110 walks starting at 7.30 pm, occurred today. We chose Joalah because that is where the sequence of filming the rainforest at night began. It was appropriate that Jaap joined us because he was on the very first walk. The night was hot and sticky. After good recent rain and current warm temperatures, distressed rainforest was a receding memory. The midnight start in a way meant recommencing the record. Accordingly I decided to  film creatures of which I already have sufficient footage, such as a Spiny Rainforest Katydid, a Brown Huntsman Spider, a Leaf-tailed Gecko, Giant Water Spiders, a Long-finned Eel and a Net-Casting Spider. We saw Brushtail Possums and Great-barred Frogs which I wasn’t able to film. The stand-outs were a Four-barred Swordtail Butterfly which I don’t recall ever seeing, let alone filming and a juvenile Spiny Leaf Insect. I filmed an adult in someone’s garden and saw another in Mark’s garden.  For the second time I filmed a termite trail. In the early morning the mozzies were a pest and there were many more moths attracted to our torches. Amanda was heroic in contending with the bugs while keeping the spotlight steady. Also, the rainforest was far noisier thanks to the frogs and bats. We emerged from Joalah at 3.30 am. 2015 has started where 2014 left off.