Sunday, 20th November, 2016. Mudlo National Park & the Property of Tony Perrett, Kilkivan.

Parched country near Kilkivan

Leader: Berry Doak. 
Our outing started with a visit to Mudlo National Park for a walk and morning tea. There were thirty-six in our group, including three new members and three guests. The park and surrounding district is badly in need of some good rain. The creek is completely dry but a walk along the bush track yielded some interesting birds. There was a Rose-crowned Fruit Dove spotted sitting quietly on a branch and a White-eared Monarch calling but eluding being spotted by most of the group. A cuckoo appeared to be following us as we walked along the track. While there was discussion about which cuckoo it was, the distinctive eye ring and pale feet seemed to confirm it was a Fan-tailed Cuckoo. A flowering Giant Blood Vine spotted near the track aroused quite a deal of interest.  A Brown Falcon and a beautiful Rainbow Bee-eater were seen as we travelled to Tony’s property. 

Rose-crowned Fruit Dove. Photo by Vincent

This excursion provided an interesting contrast to the two previous excursions to properties on the upper reaches of the Mary River. The property straddles the edges of two catchments; the Mary River catchment to the east and the Burnett catchment to the north and west. Because the property is further west there is less rainfall and this is reflected in the vegetation types. The country is more open with Casuarinas lining the seasonal creeks. Tony led the way to an area where there are patches of scrub along the watercourse as it leads into the higher country. Clinging to some of the callistemon trees along the creek were Dockrillia liguiformis orchids, commonly called tongue orchids.

Gympie Nats under the giant fig on the hilltop. Photo B. Hughes

After exploring the creek, the group made its way to some large fig trees on the top of a hill where we settled down for lunch. Tony explained some of his management practices for the property and how he stocks according to the season. It is evident he has a strong focus on weed control and is proud of the fact that there is no Giant Rat’s Tail Grass or Cats Claw.  Each year Tony and his family walk the creeks on the property to control weeds that may wash down when the creeks flow.  Some flowering Batwing Coral Trees, Erythrina vespertilio, were interesting. While there are few leaves and the tree has an untidy appearance, the flowers are bright and colourful.

Batwing Coral Tree being visualised (Photo B. Hughes) and result

The outing proved to be very enjoyable for me. Apart from exploring a different type of environment, sharing the day with members who have a great knowledge of the flora and fauna enriches the experience.

A Lace Monitor treed in Mudlo National Park

Editorial addendum: As well as a reasonably good cache of bird sightings, we also had a record butterfly day with 15 species recorded, all but one  (the Evening Brown) observed on Tony’s Perret’s property, especially along the well maintained and weed-free creek:

Large Grass Yellow - its caterpillars feed on cassias, sennas, and other legumes

Swallowtails: Orchard Swallowtail, Checkered Swallowtail

Whites & Yellows: Large Grass Yellow, Caper White, Yellow Albatross, Lemon Migrant

Nymphs & Satyrs: Wanderer, Lesser Wanderer, Common Crow, Blue Tiger, Meadow Argus, Australian Painted Lady, Glasswing, Evening Brown

Blues: Small Pea Blue

Evening Brown looking like another dead leaf on the forest floor

Visit to King property, Aherns Road, Conondale, 18.09.2016 by Annette

A damp, but still pleasant vista in the Conodales

Light showers to very occasional heavy downpour, did not deter some intrepid individuals and early morning birders of the G & D.F.N on their monthly day out. The venue: the Conondale property of Mary and John King had the added attraction of rainforest liqueur tasting. Morning tea (including liqueurs and a sampling of Mary and John’s bush tucker flavoured cheese cake) was enjoyed on the spacious elevated verandah which afforded excellent views of the local bird population. Two male leaden flycatchers interrupted our scheduled monthly meeting with a spirited territorial display of aggression, closely watched an attendant female.

Good birding and good food and liqueurs and out of the rain!

An interesting and informative talk by John introduced us to the history of his work with bush tucker and rainforest liqueurs in particular. The place of bush tucker in our natural environment was highlighted and our lack of appreciation, generally, for this resource is of concern to him. The Indigenous connection to bush tucker is apparent in the use of Aboriginal names for various liqueurs:- Gidneywallum liqueur -  Podocarpus elatus (Brown Plum Pine). John emphasised his use of indigenous herbs and flavours in his recipes for everyday meals and discussed how he uses fruit and flowers in his liqueur preparation. Practitioners of Chinese medicine use the bark of Acronychia oblongifolia (White Aspen) in their herbal pharmaceuticals. 

A hand axe left behind by an earlier inhabitant of the property

A walk into the rainforest challenged our climbing and dodging skills as lawyer vines attacked us from all directions. The new growth and shape of an Argyrodendron sp. Kin Kin (Rusty tulip oak) caught our attention.  Dockrilla linguiformis (Tongue, Tick Orchid), Dendrobium speciosum (King Orchid) and Callerya megasperma (Native Wisteria) had put on special floral displays.

A Tongue Orchid flourishing

Purple and white flowers of the Native Wisteria dotted the trails

A walk back to the house along the bank of the Mary River, finished off the day’s activities, a river many of us were convinced was flowing in the wrong direction.

Rasp Fern Doodia aspera in the understory

Mary and John are happy to welcome visitors to their property for a tasting of their liqueurs. They can be contacted via their web site www.rainforestliqueurs.com.au

Wasp Moth - probably Eressa angustipenna - flying by day as do many tiger moths

Wildflowers in Memoriam

Now that spring is in the air and the wildflower season is closely approaching, it seems a fitting time to remember a member who won't be with us this spring. She loved wildflowers, and birds and even bugs, and we will miss her terribly. The name is withheld at the request of the family, but here are a few of her pictures to remember her by. (Editor's note - I've had to guess at the identity of some, so any errors of identification are my fault.)

Banksia spinulosa - Golden Candlestick

Blue Forester Moth Pollanisus apicalis 

Bulbine bulbosa - Bulbine Lily, Wild Onion, Golden Lily, Leek Lily, Yellow Onion Weed or Native Leek

Hovea acutifolia - Purple pea bush

Melastoma malabathricum - Native Lasiandra, Blue tongue

Patersonia sericea - Native Iris

Pterostylis sp. - Greenhood Orchid

Scarlet Jezebel Butterfly Delias argenthona

Grevillea insignia - Wax Grevillea 

Xerochrysun bracteatum - Golden everlasting or Paper daisy

Golden Wattle

Annual General Meeting - moved to 3 July 2016

Due to the BoM prediction of heavy rain and potential flooding, this year's AGM is being postponed from this Sunday 19 June for two weeks until Sunday 3 July 2016. See you there at the Muir's then (6:30 for the birders - but check in case of a change).

A Visit to Greendale

A  mystery hyacinth orchid Dipodium sp. (Photo: B. Hughes)

On Sunday 17 April 2016 the Gympie and District Field Naturalists Club had the great fortune to visit Diane Kewin's Greendale nestled between Glastonbury Creek and Brooyar State Forest. The Kewins were the original settlers in the area and, while some of the scrub was cleared for farming, large tracts of vine scrub and open woodland remain almost as they were in the 1800s. Diane's father entered Greendale into the Nature Refuge Program to help insure that this area of significant biological interest is conserved.

Corymbia tessallaris looking very tessellated  (Photo: B. Hughes)

A survey by Marc Russell in 2007 identified almost 200 species of plants on Greendale and with Ric Sizer on hand to explain this botanical diversity, even the birds were given relatively short shrift. Gympie Nats in tow, Ric strode through the meadows of Kangaroo Grass and along the cattle trails to the various botanical wonders. My personal favourite was the Python Tree (formerly Austromyrtus but now Gossia bidwillii) with its smoothly patterned, twisting, trunk that takes little to imagine as a giant python. Bizarrely, the trunk reflects heat and is actually cold to the touch. Other trees of interest included Pink Bloodwood (Corymbia confertifolia), Moreton Bay Ash (Corymbia tessellaris) with its checkerboard bark, the important koala food Gum-topped Box (Eucalyptus molluccana) and Giant Ironwood (Choricarpia subargentea).

A bunyip striding through the Kanagroo Grass?  (Photo: B. Hughes)

About 45 species of birds were recorded on the trip, but apparently everyone was so interested in the plants, that no appropriate pictures were taken. There were lots of butterflies too and Ric Sizer is learning his lepidopteran host plants and helpfully pointed out several. One of the most common butterflies was the Orange Ringlet whose larvae feed on grasses, especially Kangaroo Grass. Wanderers, Glasswings, Evening Browns, grass yellows, and some white migrants also fluttered by for our entertainment. However the most interesting lepidopteran was a small 'tiger moth', so called because they are often brightly coloured to warn birds they taste very bad and to look elsewhere for a meal.

Asura cf cervicallis a Spotted Lichen Moth (Photo: DEWalter)

I think this is a Spotted Lichen Moth, so called because its caterpillars feed on lichens and it is spotted, but there are many species of Asura with similar variations on the orange and black theme and also many other small day-flying tiger moths that are similarly patterned. Such convergences in appearance among species of butterflies and tiger moths is common enough to have its own scientific term: Müllerian mimicry. It is thought that natural selection by predators (probably primarily birds in this case) tends to enforce a kind of conformity on appearances so that once a bird has learned to leave anything orange and black alone, the colourful flutters all benefit.

Staff Vine (Celastrus australis) we reckon (Photo: B. Hughes)

When a scientist isn't sure of an identification, there are several ways to communicate this. The least embarrassing is to be vague. Those of you who know your butterflies know that there are a host of similar looking grass yellows and pale migrants, but those of you who don't might just think I was being sloppy with my capitals above (current usage has been trending towards capitalising common names for all plants and animals). At the other extreme is to just admit that you don't know. So, for the mystery hyacinth orchid at the top of this post there are two competing hypotheses: Dipodium punctatum and D. roseum. Since none of us is entirely sure, the genetics of orchids is likely complex, and none of us are orchidologists (or even botanists), we are just calling it 'sp.' (for species). I am an entomologist, though, and I think it is likely that the tiger moth is an Asura but I'm not sure of cervicallis, so I've inserted a 'cf' before the species name. That's an abbreviation of conferre a Latin word that lets other entomologist know that I'm not betting the house on it.

Callicarpa pedunculata Velvet Leaf (Photo: B. Hughes)