Families in the Border Rivers region recently enjoyed a family wildlife discovery and spotlight evening at ‘Taraba’ near Toobeah, hosted by Cotton Rivercare Champion, Mark Palfreyman.

Cotton RiverCare program manager and CottonInfo technical specialist for natural resources, Stacey Vogel, said some 30 local people attended the event - held on Friday, 21 October. 

“The evening gave attendees an opportunity to get up close to animals they normally wouldn’t see – like microbats, the pale-headed snake and the Macquarie turtle,” Stacey said.  

Ecologist Phil Spark had spent the days leading up to the wildlife discovery evening on ‘Taraba’ undertaking a fauna survey, funded by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation.

“The spotlight evening provided a great opportunity for us to share with our neighbours some of the cool critters that Phil caught here over the past four days,” Mark said.

“Phil kindly stayed on at the farm to lead the event – showing families the animals that can be found in our local area, and providing information about their habitats to keep them healthy.

“The evening was very interactive, with children especially enjoying the wildlife spotlighting walk. No log was left unturned!

“Over the coming weeks we will be posting photos and information about some of the animals spotted during the fauna survey via social media.

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The wildlife discovery evening - part of CottonInfo’s Cotton RiverCare project - was a partnership between CottonInfo and the Queensland Murray Darling Committee.

Pictured: Elsie Palfreyman - daughter of Cotton RiverCare Champion, Mark Palfreyman – holds a shingleback lizard, found as part of the fauna survey conducted on ‘Taraba’.