Yardie Creek

Visited: late dry season

Recommendation: This is a wonderful place to visit. Stay at the caravan park and explore the area on foot or by boat. There are lots of birds and animals to see along with stunning landscapes.

Yardie Creek is at the southernmost end of the Cape Range National Park. I think you can access it from the south if you have a four-wheel drive - it's a gravel road going over creeks. We drove round from Exmouth and its an 85 kilometre drive. The campsite is relatively small but well-serviced and next to it runs the most beautiful creek coming in from the sea and going up through some sandstone cliffs. There are boat rides up the creek to look at the wildlife and scenery.

First off I saw an osprey on the path that runs alongside the creek up into the cliffs. Walking behind it meant I was level with it. There were people in paddle boards in the water making a lot of noise on one side and I was walking the other. Amazingly the osprey was totally unconcerned. Moving around it I got within a few metres. It was a stunning experience to be that close to this amazing animal.

There were several pairs of osprey along the creek and I also saw them sitting on the communications equipment by the toilet. They were obviously used to humans!

Australasian Osprey (Pandion haliaetus cristatus)

The guide on the boat ride showed us this osprey nest, telling us that it has been recorded in constant use for over 100 years.

Also along the creek were pairs of Reef-Herons. Both the pale and the dark morph were flying up and down the water. I have only been in a few places where both morphs are present. They don't choose a mate according to colour and I have seen mixed pairs with mixed coloured chicks.

Pacific Reef-Heron (Egretta sacra)

Further along the creek was a small colony of fruit bats and as expected, they make a lot of noise even in the day. I was surprised to see them as the amount of mangroves was tiny.

Black Fruit Bat (Pteropus alecto)

However, the most amount of noise, even drowning out the bats, were the Western Bowerbird and there were numerous birds here. It was really lovely to see them out in the sunshine and to catch them in broad daylight. They're very interesting bowerbirds because of their very dark colour and they're the only ones that show the pink crest all the time.

Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata)

There are six types of monitor to be found in the National Park. I only saw one, which I think is another Sand Monitor.

Sand Monitor (Varanus gouldii)

I ventured out at night into the area and the tracks around Yardie Creek. It was a beautiful night, although quite windy. I was hopeful to see some interesting gecko, but I didn't find any. There were 2 small Children's python. One was in the toilet, and a photograph would have involved seeing it wrapped up in discarded bits of toilet roll, so that wasn't very appealing. The second one, which is pictured here, was not very obliging. As soon as it saw me, it slithered into the rocks, and I only got this shot of its back half.

Children's Python (Antaresia childreni)

The Children's Pythons is named after the first zoologist to describe and identify it. That was John Children in 1842. I was a bit disappointing. I figured it would be for some exotic reason, maybe due to his size or something. I guess the guy had an interesting name. Anyway, they are nocturnal and non-venomous. Living in northern parts of Australia, they are usually on the ground looking for food, preferring small mammals and birds. Like other pythons, they constrict their victim before eating.

Later on I saw a scorpion. It is a Yellow Sand Scorpion. There are so many species of scorpion in Australia but this was the first I have found. The photo doesn't really do justice to the animal. It was so pale, it was almost translucent and so yellow, it almost glowed.

Yellow Sand Scorpion (Lychas buchari)

The last thing I did at Yardies Creek was take the boat tour, which I thoroughly recommend. It's an hour or so long, just up to the end of the creek and back, but it gives you a different perspective and you see parts of the creek that you can only partially see from the track that runs above it. It's an opportunity to see the Black-flanked Rock Wallaby close up. Like most small wallaby, they are very cute and photogenic.

The guide also talked about the native plants like the red mangrove, the silver mangrove and the fig trees that dangle their roots down the rock to catch the air and moisture and disperse the salt in their water. The creek is seawater, although it looks fully enclosed. The rock formations are absolutely stunning and it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip.

Black-flanked Rock Wallaby (Petrogale lateralis)

Down on the beach at night were more distinctive crabs. They were brightly coloured with eyes on the end of stalks. These horns are longer in males and are thought to be used in courtship and territorial displays.

Horn-eyed Ghost Crab (Ocypode ceratophthalmus)

And lastly, I saw a couple of animals that I am still to identify: a small shark and a distinctive dragon.

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