One of the trickiest little critters to spot in the wild is the platypus, and last week in the creek above Liffey Falls we found this little guy! Please note – I feel compelled to say that something awful has happened to the sound in uploading to the internet, believe me the original doesn’t sound like the video below:

Platypus, Liffey Falls Sept 24 2014 from Luke O’Brien on Vimeo.

I have never had an opportunity to shoot a platypus before, although I have spotted them on many occasions. They are best seen usually at dusk and dawn, and even then it is often the ripples in the water that you see more than the little guys themselves, but this was a real treat. He paddled up and down the creek for well over an hour as we shot, recomposed, shot again, changed lenses and so on. We even squeezed in a spot of lunch as the little guy continued his afternoon routine!

Our lunchtime companion on the way to shoot Liffey Falls last week was this little guy!

This little guy was a rare treat to watch!

A big thank you must go out to the lady who very kindly pointed him out to us. It was very tricky to find him at first but once we had him we werent going to lose him!

The little fellow was so absorbed in his activities that we had the luxury of time – a real rarity with wildlife photography! At one point we even started using the technique we had put into practice at Cradle Mountain when focusing on stars – ie switching to manual focus and live view to ensure clarity. Again, not a technique usually associated with wildlife!!