Bellthorpe Camp

Happy Bellthorpe Campers with David Clark

Twenty-one exhausted but exhilarated people had a wonderful 3 days at Bellthorpe Cottage, the property of David and Wendy Clark. The weather was perfect and the views stunning.

David was an attentive host, leading all the outings, whether on the property or further afield. On the first night he also gave a talk on Bellthorpe, the cottage and the district; people, history, geology, wildlife and farming practices.

Jim, Maria and Diane 
at the shed

Glenda not only supplied us with desserts and yummy slices, but had organized some interesting activities, and everything went like clockwork. Facilities were set up in the shed making everything very easy and civilized.

Our first walk was through the rainforest down to the waterfalls. On the way David showed us points of interest and explained the difficulties in building the tracks. In true Nats style people wandered off into the bush to check out fungi or birds, or anything else that caught their eye. Diane got a glimpse of the Paradise Riflebird which made her day. 

Bellthorpe was also affected by the January deluge, and the Bellthorpe Road is still closed. The picture above was taken when a few of us had a recce in November 2010. The one at the right was taken on the camp. You can see how large logs were just swept aside like small branches. (Remember to right click on an image and open in a new tab for an enlargement.)

Happy hour

After 3 hours we were more than ready for happy hour. Good company, tasty nibblies plus a little restorative beverage soon had us ready for the evening's activites. 


Wednesday dawned bright and clear to the sound of bird song. Some early risers went on a walk down near the dams and were rewarded with good sightings of Wompoo Pigeon and Green Catbird. 

One of the dams along the creek

                                                                                 

Rose-leaf Bramble, Rubus rosifolius

At 8.30 we were ready for the day and we set off for Bellthorpe Environmental Park where the Bellthorpe Progress Association has been clearing exotic weed. At the end of one of the tracks was a lovely view of the Glasshouse Mountains with Pumicestone Passage behind.

Glasshouse Mountains View

From there we backtracked to the Bellthorpe State Forest. After squeezing us all into the 4WDs we wended our way along a forestry road until it was time for morning tea including more of Glenda's scrumptious snacks. From here we walked along the track  which meandered through rainforest grandeur with huge trees towering above us, wildflowers sprinkled at our feet, and treefern tracery.

Lunch  was at the Bellthorpe Conservation Park on the site of the old Brandon's Mill. There is very little left of the mill now, and none of the town at all. While we were there all the exotic pines were being cut out and we scavenged some of the wood for our camp fire. David had shown us photos of the mill in its heyday so this virtually empty 14 ha paddock was difficult to picture as a thriving community with a school and homes as well as the mill. In 1998 it was recommended that the area be heritage listed as one of the best preserved sawmill communities, however this obviously didn't happen. There were plenty of birds, butterflies, and flowers to keep us happy as we strolled around the site and surrounding roads.

That night after happy hour and tea we went into the rainforest searching for fireflies. It was eerily beautiful to see them flickering through the trees. Then it was back to the camp fire where Phil played some tunes on his penny whistle.

Coming back from the rainforest walk

Despite the late night we were ready at 8.30 for another walk on the property. This time to the waterfall from the upper track and back past the shed. All that was left to do was say our thank-yous to David and Glenda. David was presented with a gift and an honorary membership for 12 months. This was followed with much acclamation and determination to return. 

 

Looking from the eastern boundary
 to the western boundary with cottage and camp site

For more information on: 

Bellthorpe Cottage - http://bellthorpe.bigpondhosting.com/default.htm 

Bellthorpe National Park - http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/bellthorpe/ 

Brandon's Mill -  http://www.daff.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/50796/qld_se_saw9.pdf 

Bellthorpe in the 1950s. This is a lovely website of one man's life and family. During the 1950s they lived at Bellthorpe. He writes a good story - http://g1uqf.weebly.com/bellthorpe.html

All lists compiled from members’ sightings 

8-10 November 2011

Bellthorpe Cottage and Cabin Bird List: (26° 49’ 46” S, 152° 42’ 55” S – Bellthorpe Cottage ) Australian Brush-turkey, Pacific Black Duck, White-headed Pigeon, Spotted Dove (Spot Turtle Dove), Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Bar-shouldered Dove, Wonga Pigeon, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Topknot Pigeon, White-necked Heron, White-faced Heron, Straw-necked Ibis, Brown Goshawk, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Galah, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Australian King-Parrot, Crimson Rosella, Pale-headed Rosella, Eastern Koel, Shining Bronze-Cuckoo, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Southern Boobook (heard), Laughing Kookaburra, Sacred Kingfisher, Dollarbird, Noisy Pitta (heard), White-throated Treecreeper, Green Catbird, Regent Bowerbird, Satin Bowerbird, Superb Fairy-wren, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Variegated Fairy-wren, Yellow-throated Scrubwren, White-browed Scrubwren, Brown Gerygone, Fairy Gerygone, White-throated Gerygone, Brown Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, Lewin's Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Scarlet Honeyeater, Eastern Whipbird, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Cicadabird, Crested Shrike-tit, Golden Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong, Spangled Drongo, Rufous Fantail, Grey Fantail, Torresian Crow, Leaden Flycatcher, Satin Flycatcher, Black-faced Monarch, Paradise Riflebird, Eastern Yellow Robin, Silvereye, Welcome Swallow, Red-browed Finch. 67 species

Bellthorpe Environmental Park: (26° 51’ 50” S, 152° 44’ 48” E) Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Crimson Rosella, Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Noisy Pitta (heard), Satin Bowerbird, Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Large-billed Scrubwren, Brown Gerygone, Lewin's Honeyeater, Eastern Whipbird, Rufous Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Australasian Figbird, Pied Currawong, Spangled Drongo, Rufous Fantail. 17 species

Bellthorpe State Forest: (M=Old Brandon’s Mill Site only, 26° 49’ 21” S, 152° 40’ 46” E at Crane Pivot) Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Wompoo Fruit-Dove (M), White-faced Heron (M), Purple Swamphen (M), Masked Lapwing (M), Australian King-Parrot, Crimson Rosella, Pale-headed Rosella, Laughing Kookaburra, White-throated Treecreeper, Satin Bowerbird, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Variegated Fairy-wren, Spotted Pardalote, Eastern Spinebill, Lewin's Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Scarlet Honeyeater, Eastern Whipbird, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Cicadabird, Grey Shrike-thrush, Olive-backed Oriole, Pied Butcherbird (M), Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong, Grey Fantail, Torresian Crow, Paradise Riflebird, Welcome Swallow (M), Red-browed Finch. 31 Species

Miscellaneous in the Bellthorpe Area: Cattle Egret, Buff-banded Rail, Willie Wagtail. 3 species Total species: 78

Long Live the Field Nats! Our 60th Anniversary Weekend

At the tree planting

The fun started on Friday evening with a re-enactment of the first meeting held in November 1951. Ernie & Ben played the roles of President and Secretary respectively with other members playing minor parts. Diane P's script made sure there were a few laughs. Then Neil gave a good impression of a 1950s learned gentleman by the means of using a jacket and tie to change from a 21st century learned gentleman. He gave Keith Walker's talk of  "How to Study Birds" also given on that august night sixty years ago. Neil commented on the changes in our way of studying birds since then. All this was followed up with the film shown at our Club's first general meeting, "Wildlife in Bushland", kindly given to the club by Stephen Fleay, David Fleay's son. There was quite a crowd with visitors, and past members and it was a very convivial night.

Sunday was also a day of nostalgia. We met at Olcott Hall in Russell Street where Ernie gave us some history of the place, and TFNC's connection. Pastor Nick was there to allow us to look at the upstairs room where our Club had its beginnings.

From there we went on to the Bicentennial Waterbird Habitat for a lovely morning tea in the sunshine.

Neil recounting the history of the Bicentennial Waterbird Habitat

At 10.30 am precisely we planted our Grass Tree, Xanthorrhoea australis. Not only our logo but a symbol of longevity, just like Toowoomba Field Naturalist Club Inc. By then more Natters had joined us and we were quite a crowd.

Planting the Xanthorrhoea

In 1951 the Field Nats went to a property in Middle Ridge on the outskirts of Toowoomba. It probably belonged to Mr Robert Angus Moncrieff our first president who lived very close to Nielsen Park which was where we adjourned for a stroll and lunch on Sunday.

The original 3.25 hectares (8 acres) block was donated by 97 year old Mable (I believe this is the correct spelling) Nielsen in 1990 to the State Government with Toowoomba City Council acting as trustee as long as the land is utilised as a park. In 2005 two more blocks to the north were acquired making the park a reasonable bushland reserve. The park contains some of the oldest trees in Toowoomba and also part of the old bullock trail up the range. 

Lunch at Nielsen Park

Nielsen Park is close to the escarpment so there were plenty of birds, and we even glimpsed some of the local wallabies. Although as with all our bushland the exotic weeds are prevalent, there was plenty of natural bush to keep the botanists happy. It was a very pleasant pre-lunch walk. Lunch was a very social time with even more members arriving, and Ben spoke about his link to Angus Moncrieff.

We all agreed it had been a delightful day. Our thanks go to the 60th Anniversary Committee who made the celebrations such a success. Hip, hip, hooray!   


Remember to see an enlargement of any photo, right click on the image and open in a new tab.

Photos by Cheryl & Phil, and Di T.