20 February 2016 - Outing to Carneys Creek

See acknowledgement below

Walk in the mountain forests of Carneys Creek. The air is cooler. The trees are bigger. Lots of mountain butterflies, birds and different forests up here. Great views of Mt Ballow.

Meet: at 8:00 am at Ballow View Nature Refuge (private property) on Carneys Creek Road, off the Boonah-Rathdowney Road, 14.8 km south of Boonah PO. Turn right here, and the Refuge is 2.7 kms past Fletcher Road junction, or 24 kms from the start of Carneys Creek Road on the left (no signs). Park just off the road. If you get to the border fence you have gone a few kms too far. The road turns to gravel once you pass the Head road.

Bring: Morning tea and lunch. Lunch will be back at the cars. Plenty of parking. Bring the usual safety stuff; hat, water, sturdy shoes, etc. A hiking stick is useful. Might be wise to spray your footwear, legs and arms to deter leeches and scrub ticks.  

   

Level-ish ground, some rocks and gullies for the adventurous. Ballow View has been surveyed a few times and there is quite a bit of fauna and flora variety here, and you never know what you will see.  Come prepared to marvel at nature.

   

(Rain?  No fun walking in the forest in the rain. Stay home.)
   
Photo acknowledgement: Typical example of RE 12.8.25 at BVNR. Photo: Paul Grimshaw.  - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/286263848_fig1_Fig-2-Typical-example-of-RE-12825-at-BVNR-Photo-Paul-Grimshaw [accessed Jan 22, 2016] 

From the Wildlife Land Trust website: The sanctuary covers 51.86 hectares and lies in the foothills of the Main Range adjacent to the Queensland-New South Wales border in southern Queensland. Approximately 30% of the property was cleared over 50 years ago for grazing, and currently the block is lightly grazed by cattle - partly for fire management purposes. The rest of the sanctuary consists of intact open forest with significant stands of Allocasuarina torulosa. 

   

Remnant vegetation of significant conservation value includes Regional Ecosystems Of Concern 12.8.9 (Lophostemon confertus tall open forest on Cainozoic igneous rocks) and 12.8.20 (Shrubby woodland with Eucalyptus racemosa or E. dura on Cainozoic igneous rocks).  Riparian vegetation includes rainforest species.

   

A fauna survey conducted by Jesse Rowland of the Queensland Herbarium detailed 112 native wildlife species known to occur on Ballow View, including the rufuous bettong (Aepyprymnus rufescens), glossy (Calyptorhynchus lathami) and yellow-tailed (Calyptorhynchus funereus) black cockatoos, koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), great barred frog (Mixophyes fasciolatus), yellow-faced whipsnake (Demansia psammophis) and little red flying-fox (Pteropus scapulata).