March AGM Details - Boonah – Saturday, 15th March 2025

Creazilla Open License

 Time: Arrive at 1.45 pm. Meettng commences at 2.00 pm.

Where: The Conference Room at ‘The Outlook’.

Directions: Coming into Boonah along the Boonah-Ipswich Road, just when you come over the hill and get your first view of Boonah with the Scenic Rim mountains as a backdrop, you will see the big ‘Welcome to Boonah’ sign on the left. Turn left just before the sign and immediately left again, proceed up the steep hill to the carpark. Park, get out, turn around and take in the view! Signs will direct you to the Conference Room.

Admission: $4 per person.

Agenda: Reports for 2024 year and voting on Executive positions for 2025.

AGM Formalities: Club officers will give reports on Club matters to the Club Members. Office bearers for 2025 will be elected. And upcoming events will be highlighted. Then on to the guest speaker and afternoon tea.

Guest Speaker: Dr Tamielle Brunt, researcher on the ecology of Platypuses, will give a presentation on the state of our beloved mammal in the Fassifern area, and wider SEQ. 

Tamielle has been part of platypus conservation efforts in Ipswich and Scenic Rim for many years, and set up PlatypusWatch in Wildlife Queensland. She conducts creek sampling to find DNA in the water – called eDNA. So come along to find out more about our little friends. And no, we won’t be going for a splash in the creek afterwards.

Bring Display Items: Your fossils, rocks, collections, birds’ nests, and anything you think may be of interest for our Show and Tell table.

Members: Please bring a plate of finger food for afternoon tea to share. Tea and coffee will be provided.

It is also time to pay your annual membership fee for 2025. Peter, our Treasurer, will be on hand to receive your payment or you can pay on line – details for online payments are on the Information page of our Newsletters.

Outing Report - Christmas Creek, Lamington via Stinson Park – Saturday, 15th February 2025

Christmas Creek was idyllic
Photo: C. Bonner

Fourteen members spent a relaxing morning at Christmas Creek in February. Surprisingly we had the place almost to ourselves. The creek was splashing over the rocks and crystal clear, the vegetation was verdant, and the weather was warm without being stifling. 

To begin with it was quite cloudy but as the sun came out so did the butterflies. At morning tea there was plenty of conversation about what we'd seen with photographs being scrutinized for identification.

Lunch was held in the shade at Stinson Park where more butterflies were seen.

Watch this space for the species lists and more.

Forest Day Moth Cruria synopla
Photo: L. Beaton

Forest Day Moth Cruria synopla
Photo: C. Bonner

Evening Brown Melanitis leda
Photo: G. Pardey

Black-faced Monarch
Photo: G. Pardey

    

  

Forest Darner Austroaeschna pulchra
Photo: G. Pardey

Black-headed Skimmer 
Crocothemis nigrifrons
Photo: G. Pardey

   

   

   

Lush vegetation
at Christmas Creek
Photo: L. Beaton

Christmas Creek
 at the car park causeway
Photo: L. Beaton

   

Pheasant Coucal
Photo: G. Pardey

      

February Outing Details - Christmas Creek, Lamington via Stinson Park – Saturday, 15th February 2025

Time: 7.00am

Where: Stinson Park, Christmas Creek Rd, Lamington.

We will carpool from Stinson Park as parking is limited at the walk site.

The drive from Stinson Park is 6km approximately on a single lane road mostly gravel and rough in places. A high clearance vehicle would be recommended.

Directions: 

From Boonah Information Centre – Travel north on the Ipswich Boonah Rd for 6.8km and turn right onto Beaudesert/Boonah Rd. Travel 31.5km approx. into Beaudesert and turn right onto Mt Lindsay Rd. Follow Mt Lindsay Rd for 13km then veer left onto Christmas Creek Rd. Continue on Christmas Creek Rd for 28 km then turn left into Stinson Park.

From Ipswich – From Yamanto follow Ipswich Boonah Rd for approx. 34km. Turn left onto Beaudesert/Boonah Rd. Then follow directions as above.

Activities: From the National Park carpark we will walk the access road which follows Christmas Creek for approximately 800m to the NP entry. From here we will follow a track to the creek crossing. There are stepping stones across the creek into the national park. Depending on the water levels we may cross the creek and venture into the forest (on the recce day the creek was high and difficult

to cross).

There was much to see on the recce day including birds, butterflies, dragonflies, lizards and majestic trees.

Facilities: There are no facilities at the national park carpark or in the park itself. Toilets are available at Stinson Park.

What to Bring: suitable clothing and footwear for walking in the bush, sunscreen, insect repellant, water, morning tea and lunch, chair, and the usual naturalist stuff of your choice; binoculars, camera, field guides, notebook, etc. Drinking water, as the water at Stinson Park is non potable.

Upon Arrival: Please register in the Attendance Book and pay your $2 per person participant fee.

January Outing Details - Wharkuroogma Wetlands – Saturday, 18th January 2025

Happy New Year to you all.

Early Morning Bird Walk - Wharkuroogma Wetlands

Due to the fickleness of the weather, this outing may be a non-starter. To be aware of any changes to the venue, please check this blog, or our Facebook page, or email us.

Meeting in the car park

Time: 6.30 am

Where: Wharkuroogma Car Park, Wharkuroogma Nursery, Roberts Rd, Roadvale.

Directions: 

from Boonah. Travel out of Boonah on Coronation Drive, turn left into Hoya Road. Drive 8.4km then turn right into Roadvale Road. Continue for 3km and turn left into Roberts Road, and drive 1.5 on gravel road to the Nursery/wetlands which will be on your right, drive up to the nursery carpark.

From points north: From Yamanto drive for 30.7 kms on the Ipswich/Boonah Road. Turn right at the Roadvale turn off. Follow the road for 5.4 km, passing through Roadvale township. Turn right at a sharp left-hand bend into Robert’s Road and follow the gravel road for 1.5 kms. Turn right into the driveway of Wharkuroogma nursery. Meet at the car park at the top of the driveway. There are also Wharkuroogma nursery signs along the route from the Ipswich/Boonah highway to the property.

From Beaudesert: Drive to the Coulson intersection of the Boonah-Ipswich Road and turn right towards Ipswich. Drive approx. 5 km and turn left into Roadvale Rd, then follow the directions above given for the Brisbane route.

Activities: From the carpark we can share vehicles or walk down to the dams. There is much more than birdwatching. Koalas are often seen here, and insect life is abundant. 

How far we can go on the property depends on the weather.

Morning tea will be down by the dams. 

Facilities: There is a shady picnic area and toilet block at the nursery, and bush toilets near the dam if we can get that far.

What to Bring: suitable clothing and footwear for walking in the bush, sunscreen, insect repellant, water, morning tea, chair, and the usual naturalist stuff of your choice; binoculars, camera, field guides, notebook, etc.

Upon Arrival: There is a $5 admission fee per person to enter the wetlands. Please register in the Attendance Book and pop your $2 per person participant fee into the jar, and pay the $5 per person entrance fee to Wendy.

Latecomers, please leave gates as you find them.

Photos from the Tag-along to south-western Queensland

The members who were lucky enough to go on this tag-along had a great time. 

Adapted from the FFNC newsletter.

Splendid Fairy-wren at Bowra

Ten of us headed west to enjoy this Australian Wildlife Conservancy property.  The wonderful  managers on the site were providing regular weather updates as rain may have made the visit impossible.

Bowra is particularly known for its great birding opportunities and we weren’t disappointed as our list grew to 95 different species.  Even though it was winter the colours of the often seen male Splendid, Purple-backed, and White-winged Fairy-Wrens were one of the highlights.  As were young stripy emu chicks trailing behind their dads.

But Bowra is so much more than a birdwatchers paradise.  Close to Cunnamulla, Bowra’s 14000 odd hectares include Mulga woodlands and the floodplain of the Warrego River, which support 14 distinct Regional Ecosystems.  Nobody with any sense of smell could miss the distinctive odour from the Gidgee Acacia cambagei, especially first thing in the morning after overnight rain.  Everywhere we went there were new, interesting plants to identify, as well as insects, reptiles and mammals. 

Photos by Guy Purdey

Emus taking a bath at Bowra Nature Refuge

Male Red-capped Robin at Bowra

Pink Cockatoo at Bowra

Australian Hobby at Bowra

Male Splendid Fairy-wren at Bowra

Here are some more photographs by Guy Purdey taken on his way home.

Red-necked Avocet at Currawinya

Black-breasted Buzzard at Currawinya

White-browed Woodswallow at Currawinya

Female Black Honeyeater at Currawinya

Bourke's Parrot at Bindegolly

November Outing Details - The Rabbit Fence – Saturday, 16th November 2024

On the way to the Rabbit Fence 
last time we visited in 2019

 Time: 8 am

Where: The Head Road and the Rabbit Fence – Wilsons Peak area

Directions: Take The Head Road (yes, it is fixed) off Carneys Creek Road (off Boonah Rathdowney Road), and climb up to the top – and a view of Teviot Falls. Cross a grid and then travel down the valley and past Wilsons Peak on your left. The road is out in the open for a while until it goes into some forest and the rabbit fence comes in on the left. There is a place to park on the right. If you hit the White Swamp Road you have gone too far.

Activities: We will walk along the Rabbit Fence to take in this special forest. Relatively easy walking and usually lots of birds. For the energetic there are longer and steeper bits. So escape the heat of the lowlands and come up into the mountains.

Level of Fitness: See Activities above. 

Natural art
on the Rabbit Fence Walk, 2019

Facilities: none - The nearest toilets are at Boonah or Queen Mary Falls!

What to Bring: suitable clothing and footwear for walking in the bush, first-aid stuff, sunscreen, insect repellant, water, morning tea and/or lunch, chair, and the usual naturalist stuff of your choice; binoculars, camera, field guides, notebook, etc.

Upon Arrival: Please register in the Attendance Book and pay your $2 per person participant fee. 

Outing Report - Border Loop - Cougal area – Saturday, 21st Sep 2024

Adapted from the Club' s October 2024 newsletter.

White-bellied Sea-eagle at Border Loop
Photo: J. Flanagan

We all met at Andrew Drynan Park at a very civilized time of 8:45am, and so we headed up Running Creek Road to the Flanagan’s old place. Here we were met by our lovely lady host, and there was plenty to see. We were treated to a Satin Bowerbird’s bower which specializes in blue objects. It is thought that the male uses more blue than the other colours as he matures. 

We left here after about an hour and headed up to the Border Loop Track. It was now obvious to me that I had the ‘A Team’ with me today, on my first ‘Leader of the Outing’ position. Thank goodness! Everyone helped with the flora and fauna, providing me the day's list of what the group had seen/heard. 

On arriving at the Border Loop lookout ..... we had morning tea, of course Then did the very gentle 1.5km Border Loop walk. It was a beautiful spring day, and the group enjoyed the interesting vegetation, and birds of course. It was lunch time now, and so the group sat in the pleasant shade and did our bird call, and soaked up the ambience of the magnificent Australian bush. Thanks team for a wonderful day.  

Richmond Gap (Flanagan’s old place)

Birds: Brown Cuckoo-dove, White-necked Heron, Laughing Kookaburra, Albert’s Lyrebird (heard),  

Satin Bowerbird, Lewin Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Brown Thornbill, Australasian Figbird .

Border Loop

Trees: Diploglottis sp., Yellow Tulip Drypetes australasica, Tallowwood Eucalyptus microcorys, Sydney Blue Gum Eucalyptus saligna, Ficus sp., Brush Box Lophostemon confertus, Celery Wood Polyscias elegans.

Small Trees/Shrubs: Native Holly Alchornea ilicifolia, Cunjevois Alocarsia brisbanenis, Coffee Bush Breynia oblongifolia, Prickly or Native Hibiscus Hibiscus heterophyllus, Red Kamala Mallotus philippensis, Rough-fruited Pittosporum Pittosporum revolutum, Poison Peach Trema tomentose, var

aspera.

Scramblers/Vines/Orchids/Ferns/Groundcovers:  Crow’s Nest Fern Asplenium australasicum, Cissus sp., Snake Orchid Cymbidium suave, Dianella sp., Prickly Rasp Fern Doodia aspera, Wombat Berry Eustrephus latifolius, Smilax sp.

Birds: Brown Cuckoo-dove, Bar-shouldered Dove, Wompoo Pigeon, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Satin Bowerbird, White-throated Tree-creeper, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater, Bell Miner, White-browed Scrub-wren, Large-billed Scrub-wren, Grey Fantail, Rose Robin, Brown Thornbill, Eastern Whipbird, Golden Whistler, Australasian Figbird, Eastern Yellow Robin, Torresian Crow.

Outing Report - Waterfall Creek Road, Maroon – Saturday, 20th July 2024

Adapted from the Club September newsletter. 

Seven of us took on the rugged road up from Waterfall Creek Reserve and were rewarded by picture postcard weather as we arrived at this private Land for Wildlife property on Waterfall Creek Rd at Maroon. The property is a 50 hectare sloping forested block with glimpses of Lake Maroon that extends down to Waterfall Creek and lies adjacent to the twin peaks of Mt May. 

The owners welcomed us warmly and we gathered at their shady screened cabin for a chat and cuppa. Of particular interest was the inviting 7m long x 1.8m deep pond with both aquatic and semi-aquatic plants they had constructed near the cabin that comes complete with solar pump. It is stocked with native fish species (silver perch, firetail gudgeons, Pacific blue eyes and rainbow fish) and is also a valuable breeding habitat for various frog species including the Stony Creek Frog. As would be expected, it has become a wildlife mecca with sightings of bandicoots, wallabies, a koala and even a barn owl. 

The owners have been lucky enough to observe the iconic glossy black-cockatoos feeding on a rose she-oak (Allocasuarina torulosa) near the cabin and have installed a few specialised nest tubes designed for them in the surrounding trees. The nest tubes are constructed from heavy duty storm water pipe and timber with the aim of increasing the lifespan of the tube and improving insulation to reduce internal temperatures. 

The vegetation is a spotted gum Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata and ironbark Eucalypt crebra forest on sandstone with both rocky outcrops and scattered rocks of rhyolite. Keith gave a very informative background to the geology, explaining the area is close to the original Focal Peak volcano, which today is a small residual circular peak tucked away nearby amongst other surrounding peaks. The rhyolite would have originated as either magma flow from the volcano or shallow intrusions into the sandstone. 

Gum-topped box E. moluccana and stringybarks put in an appearance near the top of the ridge at the property entrance. 

The bright green Native Cherry Exocarpos cupressiformis and the Dogwood Jacksonia scoparia were found scattered in the understory, with Kangaroo Grass Themeda triandra and Black Spear Grass Heteropogon contortus noted as part of the groundcover.

A few intrepid members made the steep trek 400m down to the creek, where water was trickling along and present in shallow pools. As they descended, Brush Box Lophostemon confertus grey gums possibly E. propinqua, and at the creekside there was another eucalypt, possibly Sydney blue gum E. saligna. The creek banks displayed Smilax sp., Matrush (Lomandra sp). and Maidenhair Fern. 

We finished a lovely morning at the cabin comparing notes. Many thanks to our gracious hosts Genevieve and Phil for sharing their special bush retreat with us and congratulations on their habitat initiatives. 

Fauna sighted: Reptiles: Tree-base Litter-skink Lygisaurus foliorum, Fire-tailed Skink Morethia taeniocauda, Elegant Snake-eyed Skink Cryptoblepharus pulcher pulcher.

Mammals: Red-necked Wallaby 

Birds: Australian Pelican (overhead), Wedge tailed Eagle, White-throated Gerygone, White-throated Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird (very noisy), Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Varied Sittella, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Fairy-wren sp., Buff-rumped Thornbill, Spotted Pardalote, Striated pardalote, Grey Fantail.

October Camp Details - Girraween National Park – 18th- 20th October 2024

If you're lucky,
you may see the
Phebalium whitei
Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phebalium_whitei

Non-members: Please contact fassifernfieldnaturalists@gmail.com for more very important details such as cost, booking sites, etc.

Members: Please check your September newsletter for more important details as above. 

Where: Castle Rock Camping Area in Girraween National Park. This area has sites for both vans and tents. If you don’t want to camp please check out some of the nearby cabin and cottage accommodation options, or motels in Stanthorpe.

When: 18th – 20th October. 

Getting there: Girraween National Park is approximately a 30 minute drive south of Stanthorpe. Take a signed left hand turn off the New England Highway 26km south of Stanthorpe, and follow a windy bitumen road to the park entrance. The road name is Pyramids Rd. Castle Rock campground is 300 metres on from the information centre. 

Google tells me it is approximately 180 km from Boonah, and takes a little over 2 hours to get there.

Things to do: HEAPS! Enjoy exploring the beauty of the granite landscape with its balancing boulders, streams, and the rich diversity of fauna and flora. 

Girraween is an Aboriginal word which means “Place of Flowers”, and at this time of year there should be plenty out. There are a lot of different walks of varying difficulty from 30 minute strolls along well graded tracks, to as challenging as you would like. Or just find a quiet place to sit and enjoy the surroundings. 

August Outing Details - Land for Wildlife, Waterfall Creek area – Saturday, 17th August 2024

Waterfall Creek

This outing is still going ahead despite the wet weather.

Time: 9 am at the property

Where: A Land for Wildlife property in the Waterfall Creek area.

Directions: members please check your newsletter for directions, non-members please contact fassifernfielnaturalists@gmail.com for details.

Activities: Although the property is a sloping block, the area around the cabin is moderately level and offers a range of opportunities to wander and explore. For those who wish to do so, there is a 400m steepish gravel road down to Waterfall Creek. But you are welcome to stick around the cabin itself, where the deck is fully screened against insects and beside it is a deep pond stocked with native fish.

Level of Fitness: Something for every level.

Facilities: An insulated cabin provides cool shade and a mesh enclosed deck on two sides, plus a composting toilet. Solar power is available to boil the kettle and a fridge to put things in to keep them cool if you wish. Extra drinking water will also be available on site.

What to Bring: suitable clothing and footwear for walking in the bush, sunscreen, insect repellant, water, morning tea and lunch, chair, and the usual naturalist stuff of your choice; binoculars, camera, field guides, notebook, etc. Walking sticks are recommended.

Upon Arrival: Please register in the Attendance Book and pay your $2 per person participant fee.