April Outings Reports - Clifton and Allora

 First Stop: Morning Tea for Joffre Bell - our Oldest Member at 101 years - at Clifton

I recalled that we celebrated Joffre Bell’s 80^th birthday with a cake at a TFNC meeting back when we met at the TEC building on Baker Street. Little did we know that 21years later we would be eating a Joffre birthday cake again, but this time in Clifton. We enjoyed reminding Joffre of happy day-outings and ‘Easter’ camping expeditions with him and his special camper van. Joffre contributed to the conversations: sharp as a Bell!

We look forward to birthday 102. 

                                 Francis reading to Joffre the poem that he (Joffre) had written some years ago

 (Report and photograph by Linda Mangubhai)

Second Stop: Dalrymple Park, Allora 

We met for lunch at Dalrymple Park beside Dalrymple Creek in Allora. Sandy provided us with background information on the history of the area, after which we enjoyed a relaxed stroll around the park via the sealed pathway. The creek was in good flow following recent rain and the riparian area included many exotic species of trees and grasses. The predominant native tree species observed were the River She-oak (Casuarina cunninghamii) and the Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis). In these native trees we obser-ved a well-established mixed colony of flying-foxes. The species identified by Al Young were the Black Flying-fox (Pteropus alecto) and Little Red-Flying-fox (Pteropus scapulatus).

Michael Rooke spotted a beautifully crafted mud nest positioned on a horizontal branch over the water and we surmised that it belonged to an Apostle bird as it was too big to be a peewee’s nest. Further along we stopped to watch a group of Eastern Rosellas feeding in the grass. A pair of chummy Rainbow Lorikeets also took our attention. Bird list for Dalrymple Park, Allora:

Eastern Rosella, Pale-headed Rosella, Australian Magpie, Noisy Miner, Short-billed Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Olive-backed Oriole, Crested Pigeon, Pied Currawong.

(Report by Jean Gundry; Photographs below by Al Young)

                     Rainbow Lorrikeet                                                 Black Flying Foxes

 

                                                                    Eastern Rosella

 

Third Stop: Allora Mountain Flora and Fauna Reserve

After lunch at the Dalrymple Creek Park at Allora, a smaller number of us drove to the nearby Allora Mountain Flora and Fauna Reserve where we were met by Peter and Adele Thomas and Joan Wylde, members of the Allora Land Care Group. Peter, who is the Secretary, explained the genesis of the Landcare group and the work they had carried out to turn this area into a Flora and Fauna Reserve. 

 

A small shelter contained a photographic display of the Reserve. On the boards around the shelter were paintings of about 80 birds that have been recorded in this area. Our members remarked how good the paintings of the birds were and during Peter and Adele’s talk we discovered that many of them had been painted by Adele herself. From the talk it was clear that the path of a Land Care Group is never easy, with competing interests frequently showing little regard for the environment. 

 

We then climbed up the ‘mountain’ – a little tricky for some at a couple of spots, but most of us got to the top. The Landcare Group had expended a great deal of energy removing the environmental weed African Boxthorn. The Mountain itself is a mesa hill of basalt rock and reminded me of Table Top Mountain except that it had beautiful (shape-wise) eucalyptus trees, for example Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), Mountain Coolabah (Eucalyptus orgadophila) and Rough-Barked Apple (Angophora floribunda). At mid-afternoon, energy was lacking so we did not walk across to where most of the trees were but instead traversed one edge that was closest to the track leading down to the carpark. We had been told there were some Aboriginal stone artefacts here but did not see them on this occasion. However, we did see a couple of ‘scar trees’ where it was obvious that the bark had been stripped a long time ago. 

 

The path down was rougher because of the recent rains, but, at one spot, Peter and Adele pointed out ‘holes’ in two magnificent Mountain Coolabah (Eucalyptus orgadophila) that were lined up. They thought these were indicators to the direction of the bora ring on the mesa. 

 

While 80 birds might have been observed at this site over time, hoping to find them flying around at mid-afternoon was probably optimistic. We only recorded one: a Willie Wagtail! By mid-afternoon we were back at the Carpark to thank our hosts before calling it a day. Allora Mountain Flora and Fauna Reserve deserves another visit of a longer duration by us, starting in the morning.

 

(Report and photograph by Francis Mangubhai)