A platypus cruising in the Gunbower lagoons.
Photo by
Nicholas Rowlands
Now is the best time of the year to spot platypus in northern Victoria
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The Australian Platypus Conservancy advises that platypus will be active in the mating season until the end of September.
Following mating the females will be trying to bulk up by devoting more time to feeding.
Platypus (Ornithorynchus anatinus) and rakali/Australian water-rats (Hydromys chrysogaster) are most likely to be observed early in the morning or late in the evening, though both animals may also be active in the middle of the day.
Both platypus and rakali occupy weir pools, irrigation channels and man-made dams or reservoirs as well as natural lakes, rivers, creeks, backwaters and billabongs.
They are generally most readily spotted in places where the water surface is fairly calm, making it easier for observers to identify the ripples formed on the water surface as the animals swim and dive.
Both species occur over a wide altitudinal range, from sea level up to at least 1500m.
Size and appearance
At a distance of more than 20m, even an experienced observer may find it difficult to reliably distinguish a platypus from a rakali, especially in poor light.
Platypus are dark brown in colour, with lighter underparts and a small white patch located next to each eye.
Similarly, rakali fur usually looks dark brown when the animals are wet.
When rakali are dry and seen at close range, their fur may (depending on the area) be chocolate brown, reddish brown, mouse grey or even mottled grey-brown, with underparts that vary in colour from cream to light brown to golden yellow.
Both species typically float low in the water, with just the top of the head and back (and sometimes a bit of tail) visible as they swim on the surface.
For further information on trying to spot a platypus and how to report a sighting, go to the Australian Platypus Conservancy website at http://platypus.asn.au
Photos are by photographer Nick Rowlands using a Nikon Z9 camera.
The elusive monotremes can be difficult to spot in waterways.
A fair amount of patience is required to snap a platypus.
An unusual assembly on one branch at the Gunbower lagoons. The cormorants were joined by a spoonbill and a pelican.
The Australasian darter is also known as the ‘snake bird’ because it swims with only its head and neck out of the water.
A hawk perched on a branch near the Gunbower lagoons.
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