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.