Camp Report - Inverell NSW; 25-29 April 2024

Lake Inverell - a great birding spot
Photo: L.Beaton

We had a marvellous weekend. Seventeen members and a friend spent three or more days exploring the area and seeing some great wildlife. It's always exciting to go off our local patch and see a different set of animals.  

We saw 110 bird species, 9 mammals, also butterflies, reptiles, frogs and more including a beautiful Murray Cod which was released back into the Macintyre River.

The flora was different which was to be expected. The Caley's  Ironbark Eucalyptus caleyi was in flower though the birds didn't seem to care. The native bees thought it was wonderful. If you stood underneath one of the trees all you could hear were the bees buzzing. The Xanthorrhoea johnsonii seemed stouter than the ones we get up here.

Xanthorrhoea johnsonii at Five Corners
Photo: P & T Shields

The weather was kind to us being warm and sunny during the day and not too cold at night.

There was lots of chat during "happy hour" when we happily reviewed our sightings, told jokes and listened to anecdotes of camps and outings past.

Freshwater molluscs from Frazer Creek
Photo: P & T Shields 

Brown Treecreeper
Photo: G. Pardey

Jacky Dragon Amphibolurus muricatus
Photo: G. Pardey

Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor
Photo: G. Pardey

Eagles at Lake Inverell
Photo: L.Beaton

 

Joseph Wills Park  
Photo: L.Beaton

Mid-week Outing Report - Bus trip to O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat, Monday, 15 April 2024

 Adapted from the newsletter report.

View from the coffee shop
at O'Reilly's

This was a new experience for the Field Nats to actually travel by bus to an outing, but 21 members participated.

The chatter of conversation abated somewhat to ‘gasps’ and ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ when our bus met up with oncoming trucks, and tankers on the steep, very narrow, winding road and there was a noticeable movement and lean away from the windows on the driver’s side of the bus as the trucks slid past centimetres outside the windows while those seated on the other side kept an eye on the centimetres of wheel track on the cliff side drop.

King Parrots in a tree as the rain blows in

Little groups headed in different directions. The fitter ones for the longer walks and steeper tracks, but the majority ambled off towards the boardwalk and Tree Top Walk area. Easy walk, plenty of lush vegetation to see and admire, little clusters of fungi, fruiting, flowering and fresh new growth on trees, buttresses and ancient twisted vines, all the time keeping an eye and ear open for the bird sightings and sounds. 

Plenty of calls from the many parrots, especially King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas but it was the little birds that caught our attention as they scuttled around the understory and on the ground. White-browed and Yellow-throated Scrubwrens, and Logrunners. In the trees Satin Bowerbirds were observed and Brown Pigeons but we did not see a Regent Bowerbird or Lyrebird. We did not collate species lists for the day so others may have had quite different observations on their individual walks.

Looking down from the Tree Top Walk

The canopy tree top walk is always a special place to take a leisurely stroll with excellent views into the canopy at eye level. The Mountain Garden, established long ago by Col Harmen with its mix of natural rainforest plants and introduced species is still maintained and
worth a walk through its many meandering tracks. There are just so many walks for differing levels of fitness to choose from but any walk, short or long, in the rainforests of Lamington National Park are most enjoyable.

Most of us arrived back from our walks for a late lunch to be followed by Ranger Will Buch giving us a half hour talk on the positive impact regular and controlled edge of rainforest burns have had on threatened bird and marsupial species

A most relaxing, social and enjoyable outing. Thanks to those who planned and organized it.

Outing Report - Sandy Creek Track, Flinders Plum Reserve, Saturday, 20 January 2024

Adapted from the Fassifern Field Naturalists newsletter. 

January 18, here we go again. 70mm of rain at home in a 2-hour period. January 19, and a check of the council website to see if the park was still open. No closure reported. 

The Sandy Creek track was boggy underfoot in places and the creek crossings required careful navigation to avoid filling the boots. One look at the natters and you would have thought that we had swum across the crossings. Our ‘frantic’ natters pace must have got those sweat glands working overtime.

Birdlife was not as prolific as expected and several birds were heard rather than seen. The sighting of the morning was a good viewing of the club emblem, the Pacific Baza. In flight we were able to see the barring on the body and when perched we could also clearly see the bright yellow eye and also the crest that these birds are recognized by (previously known as the Crested Hawk). Several Red-browed Finch were observed carrying nesting material to nests in the fronds (leaves) of the Hoop Pines near the old stockyards. Of note of the birds heard were the Pacific Emerald Dove and the Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove.
Butterflies were quite prolific and other insects and spiders were observed including Stick insects, Harlequin Beetles and the ‘deafening’ Cicadas. A well-populated Tree Brown Paper Wasp nest was also observed in a bush.

Morning tea (breakfast for some) was held back at the picnic area under the supervision of a large Green Tree Frog who must have been cooking on a beam under the tin roof of the picnic shelter.

Thank you to those who attended and to those who doubted my persistence, well

Bird list: Wonga Pigeon, Pacific Emerald Dove, Rose-crowned Fruit-dove, Bar-shouldered Dove, Pheasant Coucal, Koel, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Fantail Cuckoo, Brush Cuckoo, Pacific Baza, Laughing Kookaburra, King Parrot, Superb Fairy-wren, Red Backed Fairy-wren, Brown Honeyeater, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Australasian Figbird, Grey Shrike-thrush, Eastern Whipbird, Cicadabird, Pied Currawong, Spangled Drongo, Leaden Flycatcher, Torresian Crow, Eastern Yellow Robin, Silvereye, Mistletoebird, Red-browed Finch.