Gowrie in the Spring

When we started out from Toowoomba the weather didn't look too hopeful. It was cold and very foggy. However 17 members turned up at Tara Park to be greeted by Diana.

Hairy Vetch Vicia villosa on the lower paddock

First we spent time in the lower paddocks coming back to the house after checking the Austral Cornflower Rhaponticum australe though not in flower. Morning tea and lunch was in their garden full of the scent of blossom and the sounds of birds.

After morning tea we climbed the hill behind the house with magnificent views of Gowrie Mountain and the eastern Downs.

After lunch we drove by road to the back of the property, gaining access via Baxter Rd, Rosalie Heights. From there we went to the Gundry's at Glencoe for afternoon tea.

There will be more on this outing in the TFNC Inc November newsletter.

Nats checking out the flowering brigalow

A female Yellow-spotted Blue Candalides xanthospilos sunning itself in the weak morning sun.

Members’ Bird List – 43 species

Pacific Black Duck, Crested Pigeon, Bar-shouldered Dove, Tawny Frogmouth, Little Pied Cormorant, Australian Pelican, Nankeen Kestrel, Galah, Cockateil, Pale-headed Rosella, Red-rumped Parrot, Pheasant Coucal, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Laughing Kookaburra, Dollarbird, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong, Willie Wagtail, Torresian Crow, Leaden Flycatcher, Magpie-lark, Weebill, White-throated Gerygone, Brown Thornbill, Superb Fairy-wren, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird, Striped Honeyeater, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Rufous Whistler, Figbird, Olive-backed Oriole, Golden-headed Cisticola, Tawny Grassbird, Silvereye, Double-barred Finch.

Members’ Butterfly List – 7 species

Orchard Butterfly or Swallowtail Papilio aegeus, Black or Common Jezebel Delias nigrina, Cabbage White Pieris rapae, Australian Admiral Vanessa itea, Common Crow Euploea core, Wanderer or Monarch Danaus plexippus, Yellow-spotted Blue Candalides xanthospilos.