Research for the brief roadtrip revealed the possibility of finding wallabies on the beach at Cape Hillsborough where they can be readily observed. So off we went, and lo! out they came exactly as predicted. These are Agile Wallabies Macropus agilis, Australia’s most common. They are more or less nocturnal so the watcher needs to be on the beach well before dawn (0630hrs in these parts) and trhen wait for sufficient light to see and then hopefully photograph. They are on the beach to get food (in particular mangrove seed pods – a mangrove swamp is more or less impenetrable if you’re a wallaby because you just cannot bounce through the maze of roots, but the seed pods are really tasty) and to lick salt from sticks.

 

The day breaks (the bigger animal is a Grey Kangaroo):

 

 

Light improves enough for photography:

 

 

An agile wallaby in detail (note the bubble crab sandballs over the whole beach). You can clearly see the ‘normal’ front paws with five claws and the diagnostic white facial stripe:

 

 

And a last grouping before their departure:

 

 

Two agile wallabies in the background looking decidedly red-brown in the morning light, and two grey kangaroos in the foreground. The lefthand one is soaking wet as it has just come out of the sea. To my surprise they can swim quite well, even to offshore islands, but how on earth they do so with those legs I just don’t know.