On a
beautiful mid-Autumn day, about 26°C and basically still, 22 Nats assembled at
Arthur Shooter Park, with the Weir full but no longer visibly overflowing,
though the pool below remained full too. Some decided to remain at the Weir,
with its shaded amphitheatre and nearby picnic table – with all the activity
around that wonderful old habitat tree. Different sized hollows at varying
elevations attracted lorikeets to lower sites while galahs, etc., occupied
higher, larger hollows. Heron species and the Royal Spoonbill worked the
overflow pool, until the arrival of our numbers would have intimidated them.
The rest of
us had about 1¼ hours to do our creek-side walk upstream and into the entrance
area of Dr Donald-son’s house-block. Some of this was replantings (recent and
long ago), but on Dr Donaldson’s land there was a small, original stand of
bimble box (E. populnea) which we
assumed was pretty much in its natural state.
On our way
back, Janelle (a prospective new F.N. member) directed us to Musk Lorikeets
actively feeding in a Mugga Ironbark (E.
sideroxylon) whose lower branches were conveniently in good pink flower –
most pleasing to our photographers. This was one of the top moments in our day.
Our morning-tea
was at 10.15am perched around that habitat tree. We then moved nearby to meet
our hosts for the day, scheduled for 11.00am. This was at a house on Dr
Donaldson’s land, beside the disused abattoir. This land was formerly “Hamlyn’s
holding paddock”, Hamlyns being the butchers in Oakey in earlier times.
Our venue is
now the HQ for the Oakey Urban Landcare Group, where we were addressed, in
comfort, by Trevor Cockburn, co-ordinator for 25 years of this group, and by Dr
Eric Donaldson, who is keen for this large area on the N-E outskirts of Oakey
to be revegetated in order for koalas to be drawn back to the town periphery.
Trevor spoke on several themes
of interest to our Club:
- ***his junior membership of TFNC, starting
in 1962 and costing 75 cents for annual membership! Postage then was probably 4
cents (5 pence);
- ***he recalled that part of each outing was
to record plant identifications and to assess whether rare or plentiful;
- *** his childhood growing up on Brookvale
Park near Jondaryan (established by his father, Lance, in the 1950s) and having
to spend time each morning locating where the resident koalas were, for the
convenience of the tourists/patrons;
- ***his father’s participation in 1969 of
the first expedition, east to west, across the middle of Australia (Cape Byron
to Steep Point). This encountered the 1100+ sand dunes which had to be
negotiated by going up the steep east-faces, shaped by the Westerly winds. (I
was part of the audience that packed St. Stephen’s Hall to hear of such a
modern adventure by this party of six naturalist expeditioners. One other of
this party was Malcolm Wilson, ornithologist, of Dalby, and a long-time early
member of TFNC, and who joined us on our Lake Broadwater outing in 2017.);
- ***his Landcare Group’s first project of
creek enhancement in town, which also focused on koala habitat, with 60 species of food tree
plantings, and other species as “rest trees”. Wilgas are a favourite, with
their denser canopies for hot days.
 |
| Koala Project - 300 seedlings (photo: Lauren Marlatt) |
Dr Donaldson started by telling us of his first night
in Oakey when his children were little, when all of the family were concerned
over the growling and carry-on by the koalas just outside. He then gave us
details of his new project and his vision for the future. In October 2018,
there was a planting of 300+ trees, into five main rip lines – by Trevor’s
group of Landcare volunteers.
While some
seedlings were sunburnt during our rainless Summer months (they were watered
almost weekly), there was a very high rate of survival. There will be further
plantings to establish corridors to the north, towards the Army Aviation Base,
which was formerly a koala stronghold, and to the south to join up with the creek
line (Shooter Park).
Prior to this
project, there were only a few residual bimble box in this low-lying location.
The recent plantings were of eight species of eucalypts at 40 of each. These
include: E. moluccana - Grey Box, E. sideroxylon - Mugga Ironbark, E. camaldulensis - River Red Gum, E. blakeleyii - Blakeley’s Gum, E. nicholii - Willow peppermint, E. tereticornis - Forest Red Gum, plus
two others. Holes had been dug into the rip lines, with water crystals slurried
in, a week prior to planting.
All of this
is to be surrounded by pest-proof fencing in the future. Obviously, the
greatest threat to koala popul-ations is habitat loss to development and closer
human settlement. Specifically, losses are caused by road kills, attacks by
dogs and ferals, and by disease. (Chlamydia is present in koalas naturally but
is exacerbated by stresses of habitat disturbance.)
Our walk
around the site, with Trevor and Dr Donaldson, was edifying, giving us chances
to speak with them in smaller groups. Also, despite it being the middle of the
day, it gave me my second bird-watching moment of the day. A Royal Spoonbill
glided in, landing in the residual swampy water-body, newly occurring since the
recent rains. What I hadn’t seen was that there was a Yellow Spoonbill already
in situ. These two gradually drifted together, then walked/worked together one
metre apart for some time. Either this was a “star-crossed lovers”, Romeo and
Juliet situation being acted out before us, or there was a mutual benefit in
sweeping the still waters together to stir up their menu species. Eventually,
the Royal Spoonbill took its leave, allowing the Yellow Spoonbill to resume its
sole proprietorship of the pond.
I would like
to thank Dr Donaldson for giving us such free access to his property and for
his so commendable ambition to bring his land back to its former status as
prime koala habitat. Also, our thanks to Trevor Cockburn and Betty Richter, of
Oakey Urban Landcare, for the work done in setting up the venue, the Landcare
boards and other naturalist displays for our convenience, let alone the
sandwiches, biscuits, tea and coffee on offer. All so much appreciated.
I feel sure that our Club will appreciate further
contact with this project as it evolves over ensuing years. A small number of
our group trekked back to the Rotary Park in Oakey in order to have a closer
look at Trevor’s project of creek enhancement in town. Also of note is that in
the week prior to our outing, Dr Donaldson became the first person in Australia
to receive Federal Government compensation for the escape of PFAS chemicals
from Defence bases onto private land.
 |
| Leaf beetle (Paropsisterna
octomaculata) Photo: Jean Gundry |
 |
| Scaly-breasted Lorikeet (photo: Jean Gundry) |
 |
| Musk Lorikeet in pink-flowering Mugga Ironbark in Arthur Shooter Park (Photo: Jean Gundry) |
Bird report and list
from outing to Oakey habitats 07 April 2019 ( Compiled by Jan Veacock)
We started at
Rotary Park, where we obtained an excellent view of the creek with water in it!
The Oakey Urban Land Care group has done a lot of work in this park. Several
species of birds were seen here, and the lorikeets were very vocal.
We then moved
to the other side of the town to the weir where there was a magnificent habitat
tree with lots of holes being inspected by Galahs, Corellas, Rainbow Lorikeets,
Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. Pale-headed Rosellas
flew from the vicinity as we arrived, but the calls of the cockatoos and the
various lorikeets continued most of the time we were there. Morning tea was had
here after members had walked along the path beside the weir and the creek
flowing in to it. A Royal Spoonbill waded through the shallow water moving its
bill to and fro and was rewarded with quite a lot of food. There was numerous Wood
Duck, and both White-faced and White-necked Herons were seen at the weir site.
The highlight
of the morning was excellent views of Musk Lorikeets and Jean Gundry took a
beautiful photograph of one.
After
arriving at the Land Care’s building and listening to what the group is doing
to bring koalas back to Oakey, members went for a walk to the area being
planted with eucalyptus trees. Here a Yellow-billed Spoonbill and a Royal Spoonbill were sighted.
After lunch, most members left after a satisfying outing, and some may have
returned to Rotary Park. Twenty-nine species were sighted.
One of the
interesting things about the day was that noisy miners and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets
were about the smallest birds [in size] we saw. The lack of any substantial low
shrubbery meant that small birds were not in evidence. Also, Noisy Miners which
were dive bombing a pair of peewees that happened to intrude on their turf made
for interesting watching.
Bird list: Plumed whistling Duck, Australian Wood Duck, Domestic
Pigeon [rock dove], Spotted Turtle Dove, Crested Pigeon, Tawny Frogmouth,
White-necked Heron, White-faced Heron, Australian White Ibis, Straw-necked
Ibis, Royal Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Dusky Moorhen, Masked Lapwing,
Galah, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Quarrion or Cockatiel, Rainbow Lorikeet, Scaly-breasted
Lorikeet, Musk Lorikeet, Possible sighting of Little Lorikeet but unconfirmed, Pale-headed
Rosella, Noisy Miner, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Pied Butcherbird, Australian
Magpie, Torresian Crow, Magpie Lark, Common Myna.
