October 2025 Activity Details - Friday meeting, and Sunday outing to three attractions in the Murphy's Creek area.

Black-striped Wallaby Macropus dorsalis 
Photo: By Queensland government, the State of Queensland.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species-search/details/?id=914, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=141450561

CLUB MEETING: 7 pm, Friday 3 October 2025  

St. Anthony’s Community Centre, Memory Street, Toowoomba. The speaker's presentation is followed by official business and supper. 

CLUB OUTING: Sunday 5 October 2025. Three attractions in the Murphy's Creek area.

Meeting Time:  9 am

Where: Jessie's Cottage, Murphy's Creek.

Directions:  Follow the New England highway north and turn right at the Mt. Kynoch lights, (clearly signed Spring Bluff and Murphy’s Creek) for 14 kms. to the town. Turn left over the railway line and left again around the perimeter of the sports oval to the cottage (signed 'Jessie’s Cottage'). More about the cottage.

Activities: 1. A brief orientation and tour of this historical museum. This cottage was built by the Taylor family (early Scots settlers) in 1899. The neighbourhood trust of Murphy’s Creek restored the cottage in 1996 as a community hub and is now a local history museum with information of locals from surrounding areas.

2. We leave at 9:45 for Second Chance Macropod sanctuary to meet our hosts, Catherine Buchanan and John Kirk.  While we have morning tea Catherine will talk of their long- term experiences and endeavours in the rescue and rehabilitation of macropods and other wildlife. Morning tea will be here.

From Humane World for Animals website:

"Second Chances spans across 128 hectares of heavily forested land dominated by eucalypts, acacia species and native grasses. Wildlife present on the property includes red-necked wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus), eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), black-striped wallabies (Macropus dorsalis), brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) and various microbats. Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) have been heard in the area. A wide range of birdlife including wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax) and yellow-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus funereus) are also seen throughout the property."

3. Spring Bluff Railway Station. We will retrace our route to have lunch at this historical venue. This station was built in 1864-1867, employing 1600 men, with engineer Robert Ballard. It was the main Ipswich – Toowoomba line (5- hour trip). The Main Range (later Spring Bluff) station carried passengers, timber, dairy and other produce. The area was quite a social hub. The station and gardens are now maintained by the Spring Bluff Trust. There is an easy walking circuit (approx. 20 minutes) with interesting bird life and vegetation. More about Spring Bluff Railway Station.

What to Bring: suitable footwear for walking in the bush, a chair, morning tea, and lunch.

August 2025 Activity Details - Friday meeting, and Sunday outing to Goombungee "tip".

 CLUB MEETING: 7 pm, Friday 05 September 2025

St. Anthony’s Community Centre, Memory Street, Toowoomba. The speaker's presentation is followed by official business and supper. 

An image of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp),
taken on April 04, 1997
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported 

Speaker: Professor Jonti Horner presenting A Comet’s Tale.

Jonti is an astrobiologist and astronomer based at the University of Southern Queensland. He is a passionate science communicator and teacher, taking great pleasure from delving into the mysteries of the cosmos, and the question of life elsewhere. His research interests encompass solar system evolution, the search for alien worlds and evidence of life in other parts of the cosmos. He teaches astronomy, planetary and exoplanetary science at USQ, and supervises several post-graduate students whose research journeys relate to these disciplines. Aside from his scientific work, he has published many articles in ‘The Conversation’ and on the website ‘SpaceAustralia.com’. 

CLUB OUTING: Sunday 07 September  2025. Goombungee ‘tip’

We will try for Goombungee wildflowers again and keep our fingers crossed for mild weather.

The Goombungee Waste Management Facility holding protects a large area of pristine native vegetation beyond the rubbish sites where public access is not available. By special arrangement, guided by Lisa Churchward we are privileged to have entry to the area for this outing where it is hoped boronia, prostanthera, acacias and hovea - to name just a few will still be in flower. 

See Full times and details here.

August Outing Report - Highfields Falls Bushland instead, Sunday 03 Aug 2025.

Adapted from the TFNC newsletter report of F. Mangubhai with contribution on galls from D. Johnson.

Galls on a young wattle plant
Photo: F Mangubhai

The planned outing to Goombungee had to be cancelled because of the amount of rain during the night. Instead, we were to meet at the James Byrne end of the Highfields Falls Bushland. Ten members and a visitor arrived by 9 a.m. on a sunny but cold morning.

It was an easy walk with a chorus of birds to keep us company. The stops made on the route were mainly to try to spot birds which were flitting about, quite often high in the canopy. These spots were where the sun broke through, as well as at the top of the waterfall, and again at the bottom of the Falls. Recent rains ensured that there was a good flow of water. Opposite the descent to the bottom of the Falls was a tree where Powerful Owls used to roost, but there was no sign of any owl, nor any giveaway signs on the ground to indicate they might have been there. 

One of the non-avian things that caught our attention was some large galls on a quite small wattle tree (see photo). It was not the gall that poet Gerard Manley Hopkins was referring to in these few lines:

I am gall, I am heartburn. God's most deep decree

Bitter would have me taste: my taste was me;

Bones built in me, flesh filled, blood brimmed the curse.

But it is a bit of a curse for the wattle tree. The gall is a reaction to insects such as mites, thrips and wasps, laying eggs in the plant tissue, and their larvae release chemicals (like cecidotoxins) that stimulate abnormal cell growth, forming the gall. The gall is essentially the tree’s defensive response - a kind of botanical scar tissue - triggered by foreign substances or organisms. It walls off the invader, but in doing so, creates a nutrient-rich shelter that ironically benefits the pest. Gall shapes vary on different Acacias. [For more information on galls: gall history in Aus.pdf.]

Bird list for Highfields Falls Bushland Park (compiled from members' observations)

Straw-necked Ibis; Pacific Baza (probable sighting); Brown Quail; White-headed Pigeon; Galah; Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; Rainbow Lorikeet; Little Lorikeet; King Parrot; Pale-headed Rosella; Laughing Kookaburra; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; Eastern Yellow Robin; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Eastern Whipbird; Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Brown Thornbill (probable sighting); Varied Sittella; White-throated Treecreeper; Noisy Miner; Lewin’s Honeyeater; White-naped Honeyeater; Brown Honeyeater; Mistletoebird; Spotted Pardalote; Red-browed Firetail; Olive-backed Oriole; Australian Figbird.

AGM - Friday 01 August 2025.

CLUB MEETING: 

  

Latham's Snipe  
Photo: Jason Girvan by CC BY-SA 3.0

7 pm, Friday 1 August 2025  at 

St. Anthony’s   Community Centre, Memory Street, Toowoomba. 

 The members' presentations are followed by official business and supper. 

• Glenda Walter is presenting the TED (Technical Entertainment Design) talk by  Scott Loarie, founder of iNaturalist. Glenda gets a mention in this due to her discovery of a new genus/species of mantis. 
• Ben and Jean Gundry are giving a short talk on the remarkable behaviour of Latham's Snipe.

TFNC campout to Myall Park Botanic Garden, Glenmorgan. 22nd – 25th August 2025

Bird Beak Hakea
Hakea orthorrhyncha

Myall Park Botanic Garden conserves and displays species from arid, semi-arid and dry tropical regions with an emphasis on rare, threatened and vulnerable species. This historic natural bush garden attracts botanists, gardeners, bird watchers, photographers, artists and bush walkers. We'll  also visit Erringibba National Park which conserves shrubby open forest and open forest to woodland.

Itinerary – 

Friday 22^nd August – Make your own way to Myall Park Botanic Garden to arrive mid-afternoon (after 2pm).  Gather together 5pm for meet’n’greet and shared communal dinner.

Saturday 23^rd August – Full day at Myall Park walking the many trails or taking short drives along the circuit road. Meet again 5pm to discuss sightings. Self-catering all meals.
Sunday 24^th August -  Meet 8.30 am at the Gallery for tag-along drive to Eringgibba National Park approx. 15km east (through Glenmorgan) from Myall Park. Return to Myall Park for lunch. Afternoon at leisure. Meet 5pm to discuss sightings. Self-catering all meals.
Monday 25^th August – Return to Toowoomba (or home). 

Added information – There are many different routes to travel to Glenmorgan with interesting stops along the way. Some suggestions  - Hugh Sawrey Memorial Park Kogan, Caliguel Lagoon Condamine, Brigalow Creek Meandarra, Tara Lagoon and many creek crossings with water.

Non members: please email toowoombafieldnaturalists@gmail.com for more information on accommodation and directions.

Lagoon on the way into Myall Park

Myall Park entrance by the lagoon

Mud map of key birding sites
near Myall Park (not to scale)

2025 Activity Details - Sunday outing to Goombungee

Rush-leaf Wattle Acacia juncifolia

CLUB OUTING: Sunday 3rd August 2025. Goombungee Tip

The Goombungee Waste Management Facility  protects a large area of pristine native vegetation beyond the rubbish sites where public access is not available. By special arrangement, guided by Lisa Churchward we are privileged to have entry to the area for this outing where it is expected boronia, prostanthera, acacias and hovea - to name just a few will be in flower.

Meeting Time: 9.00 am

Where: Bottle Tree Park in the main street of Goombungee between George and Edward Streets. Car-pooling into high clearance vehicles is suggested. 

Activities: We will take short, easy walks as we make frequent stops around the site.  Morning tea within the forested area, and return to Bottle Tree Park for lunch.

Facilities: Toilets & picnic tables at Bottle Tree Park

What to Bring: Come prepared with water, closed footwear and sun protection. Bring morning tea, lunch, a chair and enjoy this rare opportunity with Lisa.

All welcome.

Boronia inflexa

Hovea

  

July Outing Report - Muntapa Tunnel and the Palms National Park, Cooyar, Sunday 06 July 2025.

  Adapted from the TFNC newsletter report of M.Simmons

Rhyolite blocks and tuff
Photo: K. Stephenson

Our day was designed to drive the Oakey-Cooyar Road through the localities of Wilthorn, Sabine, Sugarloaf, Beith, Acland, Muldu, Balgowan, Plainview, Rosalie Plains, Kulpi, Peranga and Narko before reaching the Muntapa Tunnel – all were sidings along the Oakey-Cooyar railway line built in 1911 to carry timber and other primary produce to the coast. A brief roadside pull-over atop a hill enabled a view over the current workings of the Acland coal mine.

In the Muntapa picnic area we were given interesting little stories and information on the geological formation of the surrounding rocks and topography. ‘About 18 million years ago [this area] was subject to complex and violent volcanism where rising rhyolitic magmas superheated groundwater resulting in huge phreatic explosions. Craters between 100 and 200 metres deep were infilled with masses of material fallen from the sky. Both portals [of the tunnel] will show us the variety of this material – through which those who had constructed the tunnel had worked with hand tools.’ 

The tunnel has now been fenced giving a Gothic-like appearance through to the roosting and breeding colony of several thousand Bent-wing Bats, Miniopterus schreibersii. These bats cluster tightly together (up to 1,500 per square metre) on the ceilings of caves, mines, disused railway tunnels, storm water drains and old cement buildings. (‘Bats of Eastern Australia’ Qld Museum booklet No.12).  The historical markers and information recording the  history of the tunnel, the workers campsite and associated memories of long-term residents all added to making this a worthy revisit for the Nats.                                                                        

Black Bean
Castanospermum australe 
pods at The Palms N.P.
Photo: D. Pagel

Further north beyond Cooyar in the Palms National Park we walked the short track through Piccabeen Palms, Strangler Figs, Bunya and Hoop Pines and an ancient Grey Gum – over 300 years old through which flows a spring fed gully in the headwaters of the Brisbane River. 

Bird list for July outing.  (Muntapa Tunnel and Palms Nat. Park compiled by L. Moodie.)

Oakey Rotary Park: Pacific Black Duck, Australian Pelican, Australian White Ibis, Little Corella, Noisy Miner, Grey Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Magpie-lark. 

Muntapa Tunnel:  Red-backed Fairy-wren, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Spotted Pardalote, Speckled Warbler, Brown Thornbill, Varied Sittella, Grey Shrike-thrush, Pied Currawong, Australian Magpie, Grey Butcherbird, Grey Fantail, Torresian Crow, Silvereye, Red-browed Finch.

Palms National Park: Australian Brush-turkey, Brown Quail, Laughing Kookaburra, White-throated Treecreeper, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Spotted Pardalote, Brown Gerygone, White-browed Scrubwren, Golden Whistler, Eastern Whipbird, Grey Fantail, Eastern Yellow Robin.