Toowoomba Field Naturalist: Outings Report - Cunningham's Gap, Sunday 4 March, 2018 (Report by Lesley Beaton)

Unfortunately, not too many members turned up for this outing. Rain was forecast but we didn’t get a drop, and by lunch we even got some pale sunlight. Once inside the rainforest light conditions were low so we didn’t see many birds but we certainly heard them even above the roar of the trucks climbing the highway. Because of the damp there were plenty of fungi to interest us, especially one little orange specimen with a native semi-slug chomping away. We stopped to admire the view of Lake Moogerah from the Fassifern Lookout before return-ing to the carpark.

At the picnic area only two other members joined us for morning tea. However, an SGAP group were there on a fern survey. While enjoying our refreshments we were diverted (?) by the Satin Bowerbirds and Bell Miners or Bellbirds. A little later we set out on the lower end of the Box Forest track only to be held up by the running West Gap Creek, and after some judicious additions to the stepping stones we crossed without incident.

The Box Forest Track is named after the Brush Box (Lophostemon confertus), which line West Gap Creek. At the western end, the track winds its way beside this creek through magnificent Eucalypts and Brush Box but eventually, as it climbs closer to The Gap, you are walking through rainforest thick with vines and epiphytes on species such as the Booyong or Blackjack (Argyrodendron actinophyllum). One of the most distinctive features of this tree is the large deep green leaves that radiate out from central stems - hence the name actin = ray, phylum = leaf. The trunks form the characteristic buttresses of a rainforest species. The track also passes by some of the largest Giant Stinging Trees (Dendrocnide excelsa) I’ve ever seen.

There was far more activity in, and near, the picnic area than at the top of the Gap and we had glimpses of Bassian Thrush, Brown Gerygone and Grey Shrike-thrush. At one point the track was littered with blue Quan-dong fruit and we hoped to see pigeons and fruit-doves but not this time. We also saw where wild pigs had been grubbing around in the soft earth. As in the rainforest fungi were everywhere, and we needed someone more knowledgeable in that subject to help identify them. Another unidentified species was a dead huntsman spider found floating in a quiet bend of the creek. Unfortunately, there was little left of its abdomen so it was difficult to identify though it had clear markings on its cephalothorax.

Lunch was back at the picnic ground where the Bellbirds and Bowerbirds joined us again. The weather was warm and humid so butterflies were flittering around everywhere. There was plenty of chat over what we had, and hadn’t seen before it was time to take a group photo then go our separate ways.

Cunningham’s Gap Rainforest Circuit - Birds: Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Rainbow Lorikeet, Australian King-Parrot, Crimson Rosella, White-throated Treecreeper, Satin Bowerbird, Brown Gerygone, Brown Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, Lewin's Honeyeater, Bell Miner, Eastern Whipbird, Grey Shrike-thrush, Pied Currawong, Grey Fantail, Eastern Yellow Robin. Butterflies: Wonder Brown female. Mammals: Red-necked Pademelon.

West Gap Creek Picnic Area/Box Forest Track - Birds: Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Black Kite, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Little Lorikeet, White-throated Treecreeper, Satin Bowerbird, White-browed Scrubwren, Large-billed Scrubwren, Brown Gerygone, Brown Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, Lewin's Honeyeater, Bell Miner, Scarlet Honeyeater, Eastern Whipbird, Rufous Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Pied Currawong, Rufous Fantail, Australian Raven, Eastern Yellow Robin, Bassian Thrush. Butterflies: Orchard Swallowtail, Common Grass-yellow, Wonder Brown male, Yellow Admiral. Moth: Forest Day-moth (Cruria synopla).