Kangaroo Valley in the Illawarra region of southern NSW is nestled between the Southern Highlands and NSW South Coast, about two hours' drive from both Sydney and Canberra.
Kangaroo Valley Public School has a rich history of initiating environmental education. The Kangaroo Valley ClimateWatch trail will provide a stimulating and relevant context for engaging students in scientific investigation processes.
Killalea State Park in Shell Cove is a spectacular tract of coastal land that is popular for surfing, fishing, picnics, bushwalking and ClimateWatching.
We have worked with Parks Victoria to create this ClimateWatch trail at Kings Billabong Park, a protected river wetland area along the Murray River approximately 8 km south-east of Mildura. It is located at one of the highest-value conservation reserves in the Sunraysia area.
Contribute to citizen science while experiencing an oasis on the edge of the wild Australian outback, home to majestic River Red Gums and a variety of native birdlife.
Kings Park is home to the Western Australian Botanic Garden, which displays over 3,000 species of the State’s unique flora. Two thirds of the 400 ha park is protected as bushland and provides a haven for native flora and fauna.
Arboreal (tree-dwelling) marsupial with large furry ears, a prominent black nose and a vestigial tail. Its fur is thick and ash grey or grey-brown on the dorsal side with an off-white/pale yellow underside.
Size
Koalas from Australia’s southern regions are larger than that of their northern counterparts, with head-body length ranging from 72-78cm.
The Spectacles Wetlands has one of the largest stands of Paper-bark woodland in the metropolitan Perth area (approximately 33 km south of Perth CBD) and 87 species of water birds, birds of prey and woodland birds. There are a number of land animals including: bandicoots, snakes, occasional wallabies, possums, and bats.
Found in two broad forms. The main form is dark grey to dull blueish-black with numerous, scattered, cream-colored spots. The snout is marked with prominent black and yellow bands extending under the chin and neck. The tail has narrow black and cream bands which are narrow and get wider towards the end of the tail.
The other type, known as Bells form, is typically found in dryer parts of NSW and Queensland. It has broad, black and yellow bands across the body and tail. Close up, these bands are made up of various spotted patterns.
Also known as the Tree Goanna.
Size
About 55cm long (head and body); 140 cm long (head to tail). Some may grow up to 2.1 m long (head to tail).
Large, spreading tree, up to 14 m in height. Also know as Red Bush Apple.
Leaves
Variable in shape, oblong, ovate or lanceolate, usually large 7 - 19 cm long and 4 - 13 cm wide. Leaf midrib slightly grooved, depressed or flush with the upper surface.
Flowers
Large cream white brushes with long white stamens (pollen-containing anther) 13-48 mm long.
As part of a ClimateWatch in Parks initiative with Parks Victoria the first sub-alpine ClimateWatch trail has been created at the magnificent Lake Catani, Mt Buffalo. The area is near a campground set amongst snow gum woodlands along the banks of the lake.
Lake Monger is a large urban wetland on the Swan Coastal Plain in suburban Perth. It is habitat for an abundance of local flora and fauna making it a popular location to observe a wide selection of WA's beautiful birdlife.
Lake Seppings is a natural ecosystem within the city that provides a refuge for local native plants, animals and birds.The aboriginal name for Lake Seppings is Tjuirtgellong, the place of the long neck turtle.
It is a flat walk through small groves of shady trees alongside the wetland with views across the lake to Mt Adelaide. A haven for water birds with a bird hide for enthusiasts. Over 100 species of birds have been recorded here.
This ClimateWatch trail was created as part of Biodiversity Monitoring in Melbourne's East by the Eastern Alliance for Greenhouse Action (EAGA). The project won the Government category for the 2016 Victorian Premier's Sustainability Awards, as well as the Local Government category in the 2016 United Nations Association of Australia World Environment Day Awards.
More information on Lakewood Reserve can be found here on the Knox City Council website.
Leaf Beetles are also known as Pittosporum Beetles or Bursaria Beetles, after their host species.
The beetles have a bright red head and pronotum with an entirely blue or green body. The larvae have a brown head with six distinct black eye spots on each side. Pale underside, dark upperside with dark spines.
They are aposemtatic, meaning they are posionous to visual predators. Be very careful if handling them.
Size
0.6 - 1.4 cm long; body narrow and flat. Length to width ratio ranges from 2:1 to 2.5:1. Length to height ratio is 3.5:1.
Predominantly pale tawny-orange with a heavy black border that encloses large white spots in the forewing. The inner leading edge of the forewing is deep red-brown. The underside is similar to the upper side but paler with narrower black margins. Males have a distinct patch of dark grey sex-scales on the upper side of the hindwing.
The caterpillars have three pairs of tentacles and yellow, white and black rings.
Size
7 - 8 cm wingspan.
Dermochelys coriacea
Leta Bak Totel are found in tropical and temperate regions of the world, with small numbers nesting in Vanuatu. The shell is made of soft leathery skin with seven ridges or keels. The colour is mostly black with differing amounts of pale spotting, including a pink spot on the heads of adults. It has paddle-like limbs that are clawless and black with white margins and pale spots. Hatchlings are predominantly black with white margins on their flippers and keels on the shell.
Distinctive features
The Leta Bak Totel has a shell that is a soft leathery skin with seven ridges or keels. It is the only sea turtle without a hard shell. It has no teeth and uses its sharp beak to catch food.
Size
The Leta Bak Totel grows up to 180 cm long and weighs up to 700 kg.
Behaviour
Movement
Leta Bak Totels are highly active with individuals spending as little as 0.1% of the day resting. They are one of the deepest-diving marine animals and can move very fast. They are mostly found in open ocean. They follow their preferred prey into deeper water during the daytime and into shallower water at night. Adults can undertake long-distance migration between cold feeding waters and tropical or subtropical beaches where they hatch. Unlike other sea turtles, Leta Bak Totel do not always return to their hatching beach to nest.
Diet
Leta Bak Totel eat mostly jellyfish, but will also take other soft-bodied creatures. Its favourite food is the venomous Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish.
Breeding
They prefer to breed on beaches that face deep water and avoid locations protected by coral reefs. Mating occurs at sea and males never leave the water once they enter as hatchlings. Females mate every 2 to 3 years and can nest up to 10 times in a single nesting season. As many as 9 clutches are laid by a single female in a breeding season, spaced around 9 days apart. Clutch size is around 110 eggs.
Has using the ClimateWatch program got you inspired to do more for climate change? We’ve outlined some easy ideas below of how you can get started in living more sustainably everyday, from recycling and volunteering to changing your diet and lessening your carbon footprint.
Deciduous tree, growing to 15 – 30 m high and 15 – 20 m wide. Some of its grey-brown bark peels off to reveal a creamy white inner bark, giving the trunk a mottled appearance.
Leaves
Mid-to-dark green with 3 – 5 lobes and slightly serrated edges. They are 10 – 25 cm across and turn yellow-brown in autumn. The leaf lobes are about as wide as they are long.
Flowers
Red or yellow, in small rounded clusters. The red (female) flowers grow from the newer shoots and the yellow (male) flowers grow from older branches further back toward the trunk.
The caterpillar (larva) is green with a hump on its upper back and small white dots over its body. The butterfly (adult) has brown or black outer wings with some white markings plus two green blotches, and green inner wings (closest to its body). The underside of each wing has the same patterning but the green parts tend to be darker. It has “tails” at the tip of each hindwing.
There are two recognised subspecies Graphium macleayanus macleayanus from Queensland and NSW, and Graphium macleayanus moggana from Tasmania, Victoria and parts of subalpine NSW.
Size
Caterpillar 4 cm long; Butterfly wingspan 5 – 6 cm (can reach up to 8 cm).
Macquarie University in Sydney has a ClimateWatch trail for students, staff and community members to record their observations along and contribute to climate science.
A black and white bird, the pattern varies slightly between sexes. The male has a white eyebrow above a black horizontal eye-stripe, a black face and throat, while the female has a white face and throat, with a broad vertical stripe through the eye, and no white eyebrow. Both sexes have a thin white bill and black legs and feet. Juvenile Magpie-larks have a black forehead, white eyebrow and a white throat.
The Maitland Park trail was originally developed for the Geraldton Science Awareness Festival in 2011. This trail is in the centre of Geraldton near Nagle College and takes about 30 minutes to explore.
Citrus reticulata
Common names: Raiatea (most common variety in Vanuatu), Mandarin orange, Mandarine (French)
Small-sized tree that grows up to 9 m in height. Long slender branches. Often has spiny stems. Raiatea variety has an erect bearing that is cone shaped.
Leaves
6-8 cm in length. The shape is rhombic, acute, lanceolate with the margins irregularly crenate or crenulate (serrated).
Flowers
Fragrant, single or in small clusters. The flowers are small, star shaped and white.
Fruit
6 cm. Oblate-globose to depressed-subconcave globose. They have a thin yellow to bright orange to red-orange peel when ripe. The pulp is pale to rich orange and the juice is mild to sweet.
Mangifera indica
Originally from India and Myanmar, the Mango Tree has become naturalised throughout the tropics and subtropics. The mango tree is a large, spreading evergreen with a dense crown and rounded canopy. Mature trees can attain a height of 40 m or more, with a 60 to 120 cm trunk and greyish-brown, longitude-fissured bark. Most varieties flower once per year, producing dense clusters of flowers.
Leaves
Mango leaves are spirally arranged. Young leaves are copper-coloured, turning to light then dark shiny green as they mature. The leaves are either elliptical or lanceolate (pointed at both ends) with long petioles (“sticks” that attach the leaf to the branch) and a leathery texture.
Flowers
The tree produces dense clusters of flowers with cream-pink petals on loose flower branches. The flower clusters can reach full bloom, from the time of flower initiation, in 25-30 days.
Fruit
The mango fruit is large and roughly oval, with uneven sides, though the shape can vary from elongate (stretched out), oblong, ovate (egg shaped) or in between. The fruit is one-celled, with an outer flesh surrounding a stone. The flesh is soft and bright yellow-orange in colour. The skin of the fruit is yellow-green to red. Fruit length can range from 2.5 to over 30 cm, depending on the cultivar. The fruit grow fast and ripen after 3 to 4 months, some late cultivars after 5 months. The period from fruit set to maturity depends upon cultivar and climate and can range from 10 to 28 weeks.
