Over several years now I have had the privilege of visiting a property owned by my good friends Martin and Karen Ambrose from Dalby. It is a great spot for the natural historian and is situated off Loves Road, East Jimbour in the southern section of the Brigalow Belt Bioregion. This bioregion holds a good number of Queensland’s rare and threated species of flora and fauna and has been greatly impacted since white colonis-ation, as it also contains extensive areas of deep, black cracking clay soils ideal for crop growing and the pastoral industry. As one local farmer once put it to me, “the soil here (on the Darling Downs) is so rich you could eat it with a spoon”. The Ambrose property is about 10 minutes’ drive from the small township of Jimbour and Jimbour House from whence the Prussian explorer Ludwig Leichhardt commenced his ill-fated journey to the Gulf in 1848.
Martin and Karen purchased
the property towards the end of 2012 and named it “Highwoods” after a farm once
owned by Karen’s parents in East Sussex in England. The area of the Ambrose property,
part of a larger subdiv-ided block, is 77 hectares (188 acres). The main attraction
that clinched the deal was the extent of remaining dry bottle tree scrub and
the number of magnificent specimens of Queensland Bottle Tree Brachychiton
rupes-tris remaining on the property. The Ambrose family are keen
conservations and environmentalists and, as well, Martin was keen to try his
hand at raising a few head of beef cattle to carry him into his retirement post
QPWS. To these ends they have carried out extensive improvements to the
property’s infrastructure including the fencing off of areas of remnant scrub
and dams to exclude cattle and for the preservation of the local fauna and
flora. At any one time, depending on the vagaries of the cattle market and
climate, Martin runs about 20-35 Angus steers purchased at about 180kgs and
marketed around 330kgs. They are run for about eight months on mainly couch and
Rhodes Grass, also Green Panic and Buffel Grass waxing and waning depending on
season. Bottle tree scrub occupies about 25% of “Highwoods”. African Boxthorn
and feral Pigs are the major pest species on the property.
Fellow TFN member Mark
Weaver and I met the main contingent of Field Nats in Jimbour on the morning of
the outing around 9.15am after which we took the short drive to “Highwoods” to
commence what proved to be very enjoyable day in good company. Martin has been
assiduous in maintaining a list of the fauna on his property since moving there
and now, after Trish and Lisa’s efforts, has an embryonic flora list to grow.
The list now stands at 174 vertebrate species with the main taxon being birds
(129 species), 151 invertebrate species with moths and butterflies being their
main representatives at 119 species due to Wesley Jenkinson’s efforts. Aside to
a few weeds and a couple of ferns the flora list stands at 50 thanks to Trish and
Lisa. A list of the birds, plants and most of the invertebrates seen on this
day will be appended to this report as composed by Ben, Trish and Glenda,
respectively.
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A few of the highlights of our day worth a mention include our flushing of an Eastern Barn Owl during our morning walk that. Unfortunately it disappeared into a hollow bough before we could indulge ourselves with a good look. The other bird of the day was a single Diamond Dove seen on the shore of one of the property’s dams. Martin had seen this bird in the same location a few days before and it was a new species for the property list. Fortunately, everyone got a good look, and some took photographs of this bird. This same dam is one that Martin has excluded his stock from and is a haven for wildlife. The water is clear, and you can easily see the Curly Pondweed in its depths with its surface presently covered in the pretty flowering Swamp Lily (Water Poppy) and the yellow-flowered Water Primrose. I’m particularly attracted to this dam, as it’s the haunt for a few favourites of mine, the Red-bellied Black Snake and Plum-headed Fiches although, sadly, none were seen on this day. We did, however, record a good number of odonates here, which is another mob I’m enamoured to. We recorded 10 species comprising the damselflies Red and Blue Damsel, Wandering Ringtail, Aurora Bluetail, Common Bluetail and Eastern Billabongfly plus the dragonflies Australian Emperor, Blue Skimmer, Scarlet Percher, Wandering Percher and Common Glider. The Wandering Ringtail and Eastern Billabongfly were new for the property list as was the Eastern Sedgefrog recorded by Robert Ashdown at this dam. Another “new” invertebrate found on the day was the exotic dung beetle, the Grey Dungball Roller Sisyphus spinipes, native to Central and Eastern Africa that was imported during CSIRO’s extraordinarily successful dung beetle programme. Whilst Australia’s dung beetles generally bury their breeding boluses, that can be of various configurations, the Grey Dungball Roller follows in the tradition of the Sacred Scarab Scarabaeus sacer associated in Egyptian mythology with the divine manifestation of the Sun God, Khepri. These ancients saw in this beetle’s trundling of its round dungball a direct association with Khepri’s rolling of the sun across the sky. The Grey Dungball Roller’s beautifully spherical dungballs are quite common on “Highwoods” stashed on the surface under grass tussocks, along edges of logs etc.
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| One of the many Bottle Trees on the farm Photo by Robert Ashdown |
After our morning’s walk we retired to the Warden’s cottage for lunch. The resurrection and restoration of this cottage has been one of Martin’s main innovations. It was originally constructed in Edward Street in Dalby by the Red Cross where cooked meals were prepared for the homeless and disadvantaged. Later it was moved to Jimbour in a failed attempt to establish a bed and breakfast behind the local store and where it gradually fell into disrepair. Martin purchased it for $1000 and moved it to “Highwoods” and has restored it to its former glory. The outhouse arrived by a similar circuitous route rescued from oblivion on an abandoned homestead site near Moonie. It, too, has been restored to its former glory – if an outback dunnie can be considered in any way glorious? After lunch some of us headed off on another walk whilst others remained at the cottage, as it was now getting quite hot. The afternoon was mainly passed in botanising and Trish would be far more qualified in commenting on the highlights of this aspect of our outing. If I can be so bold, I do remember her getting quite enthused about a tree that she eventually confirmed as the Rose (Crow’s) Apple
Owenia venosa. More than that is beyond my very limited botanical knowledge to relate. I do like plants though, despite what might appear my cavalier attitude here. After we returned from this walk the shadows were lengthening but everyone seemed to have enjoyed the day and there are plans in the offing for a return in the late summer/autumn of the New Year with the option of a campout. Looking forward to that already. | ||||||||||||
| Welcome Swallows and Tree Martins at farm dam Photo by Robert Ashdown (Report by Rod Hobson) Plant list, “Highwoods”, East Jimbour Property of Martin and Karen Ambrose, 04 October 2020, Trish
Gardner and Lisa Churchward, with help from Rod Hobson and Martin Ambrose. Arranged in the order that we found them.
Invertebrates
at Jimbour (by Glenda Walter) Due to the dry weather, not many
invertebrates were found on “Highwoods”, the property of Martin and Karen Ambrose
at Jimbour. However, I’m sure this will change as soon as rain falls in the
area. I photographed three species of ants, two of which were identified by
users of the iNaturalist website. A small nest of a species in the genus Meranoplus
were found under a dead log. Their common name is “Cautious ants”, appropriate
as they moved slowly about, quietly shifting their pupae when disturbed. This
was in contrast to the ants in the genus Campon-otus, also identified by
an iNaturalist user, which tripped over each other, dashing madly in all
directions when I invaded their rock shelter. Three leaf beetles were found, family
Chrysomelidae. Calomela pubiceps is an attractive green beetle which was
found on an Acacia tree and for which there are few records; it was identified
by Martin Lagerwey, Leaf Beetle expert. A second leaf beetle was identified
only to tribe level, Luperini, in the Galerucinae subfamily, also by an
iNaturalist user. Many leaf beetles feed only on specific plants, but I was
unable to recognise the vegetation on which this one was seen. Mantids have recently hatched, and the
three I saw were tiny nymphs. The burying Mantis, Sphodropoda tristis,
when very young curls the abdomen up over its back. It is so named for the female’s
habit of burying her eggs in soil or leaf litter. Diana Ball spotted a large
and colourful paper wasp, Polistes stigma townsvillensis which was
untypically crawling on the ground near our feet while we lunched. Fourteen spider species were photographed, but many were tiny juveniles. Diane Pagel found several nests of tiny black-spotted pink spiders, recently hatched but too small to identify. Anastasia saw a very small spider egg sac hanging from a fence. This was identified from a Field Guide as belonging to a small orb weaver, Argyrodes alannae. A female of this species was found in the bushes nearby. Anastasia also found a large female spider, Trichonephila plumipes, suspended in her golden web between trees. Invertebrate Species list, “Highwoods” East Jimbour SEQ - Oct 2020
(All photos by Glenda Walter)
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Bird
list: “Highwoods”, East Jimbour, Sunday 04 October
Despite our early start, about 20
attendees assembled at Jimbour, where Rod Hobson and Mark Weaver met us, to
lead us to Martin and Karen Ambrose’s property 10 kilometers to the north-east.
Here, Martin and Robert Ashdown were waiting. [These four had spent the
previous day on the property, and, bird-wise, they achieved a tally of mid-50s
of sightings. So, we had a target for our fine weather, if somewhat breezy, day
ahead.]
As we turned into Love Rd (the
property’s access road), a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo head, crest excitedly
displayed, popped out of a hollow in a roadside tree, as if registering
disapproval of this early morning intrusion by our procession of eleven
vehicles, thereby interrupting its Sunday morning sleep-in. Once past our
much-put-out cockatoo, our day produced a further 34 species on the property (a
little short of our aspirational target set the previous day).
Welcome Swallow, Tree Martin, Rainbow Bee-eater, Noisy
Miner, Apostlebird, Noisy Friarbird, Striped Honeyeater, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater,
Brown Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Striated Pardalote, Olive-backed Oriole,
Crested Pigeon, Diamond Dove, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Little Yellow Thornbill, Superb Fairy Wren, Variegated Fairy Wren, Willy Wagtail, Magpie Lark, Double-barred Finch, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Galah, Pale-headed Rosella, Little Corella, Black-shouldered Kite, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Barn Owl, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Australian Raven, Crow (unknown species), Australasian Grebe (nest & well-grown baby).