What an
enjoyable weekend we had at Yarraman catching up with old friends and being so
well looked after and catered for by tireless Tricia and expert chef, Adrian –
and all with the bonus of good weather!
The highlight
of the weekend for us was the visit to the Friends of Yarraman Creek on
Saturday morning. Scott and Susan Reilly bought a 1910 cottage on Yarraman
Creek in 2005 when the district was suffering a severe drought. At that time
the creek was eroded and full of weeds. Scott, being a real “fix-it” man,
raised and renov-ated the house and then they set about removing weeds and
revegetating the creek banks with Lomandras and a variety of native plants,
many of which are host plants to attract butterflies. Some innovative
procedures have been adopted such as Scott’s watering spike which allows them
to inject water directly into the root zone to avoid evaporation and get the
water where it’s needed.
Dedicated and
knowledgeable naturalists, they formed the “Friends of Yarraman Creek” in 2010
and a group of enthusiastic volunteers now work weekly extending the vegetation
down the creek as far as they are permitted.
Beyond that on Toowoomba Regional Council land is a wall of Camphor
Laurel, Celtis, Lantana, Climbing Asparagus and Broad-leaved Privet.
In 2011 a flood caused massive
damage in Yarraman with houses and plants swept away and 750cm of water under
the Reilly’s house. It withstood the flood with no damage and many of the
Lomandras survived sheltering some of the other plants and collecting silt from
the flood waters. Susan and Scott returned to their revegetation work with
renewed energy and determination and the garden is now thriving and a sight to
behold. Some of the trees are now 10 metres high and the bird life is prolific.
Nestboxes for possums and gliders have been installed.
Some
interesting trees have been planted including Hernandia bivalvis, Bursaria incana, a Brachychiton hybrid and two
native Hibiscus. Notable among the bird life was a Red-Winged Parrot who joined
us for lunch on the banks of the creek, a Restless Flycatcher, Azure
Kingfisher, Double-barred Finches, White-throated Honey-eaters and Grey-crowned
Babblers.
The Reillys are to be
congratulated and provide an example of what can be done for the environment on
a challenging site with expertise, energy and enthusiasm.
(Report by Elizabeth Russell)
Further Report on the Reilly's LFW Property (Benfer)
Since I have
a small LFW place I was looking forward to seeing the Benfer property. I belong
to a group called Roving Restorers where we go to each other’s places to plant
or weed and after morning tea we usually get a tour of part of their property.
So it would be nice to just wander around without the hard work beforehand. I
was really impressed by the efforts of Ray and Wendy- paths mowed, two lists of
plants showing the before and after and so on. But most of all the butterfly
information. I had never seen a plant list with a little butterfly symbol
attached. Then there were the photos of the relevant butterfly associated with
its host plant. And I adored the little "origami" butterflies which
popped up here and there.
One of the
first spectacular ‘butterflies’ turned out to be a moth, Joseph's Coat Moth. It
was depicted beside a Cayratia
species. I have one but it is a different species and tends to smother other
plants and is locally called bush killer. I collected a lot of seed from it
which the nursery rejected it saying no-one would want to grow it. But maybe
they would if they knew it attracted such a colourful moth. I was also
interested to learn that Blue Triangles which I often see have the three-veined
laurel (Cryptocaria triplinervis) as
their host.
It was a
challenge to wander around and hopefully retain some of the vast amount of
information presented for us. And at the end a quick quiz - ‘what was that
plant?’ Not a local? A healthy Wollemi Pine.
Thank you Wendy and Ray for your
hard work preparing for our walk and giving me the opportunity to learn more
about plant/butterfly relationships.
(Report by Gretchen Evans)
Yarraman Camp Species Report
Yarraman is
a great place for birding with a wide range of habitats. Although it was
obvious rain was needed there were enough sources of water to keep the birds
happy. This meant we got a good list of birds and some were excellent
sightings. We dipped out on the Black-breasted Button-quail, though platelets
were evident in one place. By Sunday evening we had 89 species. There were
enough ‘birdos’ on Monday to go out and get another few species. Then that
night John woke me out of a deep sleep to say there was a Boobook calling. I
surfaced long enough to hear a few calls before sinking back into oblivion; 100
species for the camp. Bird of the Camp is a difficult choice; perhaps the
Crested Shrike-tit or the Azure Kingfisher patrolling Yarraman Creek, but I
think for excitement it would have to be the Diamond Firetail even if it was
probably an escapee from a local aviary.
Birds, Yarraman area: Australian Brush-turkey, Brown Quail, Plumed Whistling-Duck, Australian
Wood Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Australasian Grebe, Spotted Dove,
Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Common Bronzewing, Crested Pigeon, Peaceful Dove,
Bar-shouldered Dove, Wonga Pigeon, Little Pied Cormorant, Australian Pelican,
White-necked Heron, White-faced Heron, Straw-necked Ibis, Yellow-billed
Spoonbill, Brown Falcon, Purple Swamphen, Dusky Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Masked
Lapwing, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Galah, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested
Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Australian King-Parrot,
Red-winged Parrot, Pale-headed Rosella, Red-rumped Parrot, Pheasant Coucal,
Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Brush Cuckoo, Southern Boobook, Azure Kingfisher, Laughing
Kookaburra, Rainbow Bee-eater, White-throated Treecreeper, Satin Bowerbird,
Superb Fairy-wren, Red-backed Fairy-wren, White-browed Scrubwren, Speckled
Warbler, Weebill, White-throated Gerygone, Buff-rumped Thornbill, Brown
Thornbill, Spotted Pardalote, Striated Pardalote, Lewin's Honeyeater,
Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Red Wattlebird, White-throated
Honeyeater, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird, Striped Honeyeater,
Grey-crowned Babbler, Eastern Whipbird, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Crested
Shrike-tit, Golden Whistler, Rufous Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Dusky
Woodswallow, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong, Spangled
Drongo, Rufous Fantail, Grey Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Torresian Crow, Leaden
Flycatcher, Restless Flycatcher, Magpie-lark, Apostlebird, Jacky Winter, Rose
Robin, Eastern Yellow Robin, Golden-headed Cisticola, Australian Reed-warbler,
Tawny Grassbird, Silvereye, Welcome Swallow, Common Myna, Double-barred Finch,
Red-browed Finch, Diamond Firetail*, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, House Sparrow.
[* probable escapee]
Birds, Blackbutt area: Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Emerald
Dove, Common Bronzewing, Peaceful Dove, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Galah,
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Australian King-Parrot, Fan-tailed
Cuckoo, White-throated Treecreeper, White-browed Scrubwren, White-throated
Gerygone, Eastern Spinebill, Lewin's Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Bell
Miner, Noisy Miner, Brown Honeyeater, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Black-faced
Cuckoo-shrike, Grey Shrike-thrush, Grey Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied
Currawong, Grey Fantail, Torresian Crow, Eastern Yellow Robin.
Dragons, Ray & Wendy Benfer’s property at
Blackbutt: Eastern Water Dragon Intellagama
lesueurii
Frogs, Yarraman Caravan Park: Naked or Ruddy Tree Frog Litoria rubella.
Mammals, Yarraman area especially around the weir: Red-necked Wallaby Macropus rufogriseus.
Spiders, Ray & Wendy Benfer’s property at Blackbutt: Leaf Curling Araneus Araneus dimidiatus, Yellow-spotted Orb
Weaver, Araneus rotundulus.
(Report by Lesley Beaton)
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| Brown Ringlet Butterfly (photo | Al Young) |
Butterfly list (collated by Jim Ball from members' sightings)
Yarraman: Orchard Swallowtail (male), Small Grass Yellow,
Yellow Migrant, Black Jezebel,
Monarch, Lesser Wanderer,
Tailed Emperor, White Banded Plane, Glasswing, Plumbago Blue, Saltbush Blue.
Blackbutt: Monarch, Lesser Wanderer, Tailed Emperor, Glasswing,
Evening Brown, Chequered Copper.
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| Silvereye feeding on purple berries of Velvet Beautyberry (Callicarpa pedunculata) (Photo. A Young) |