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.