Members met at the Cranley Escarpment Park. This is a large remnant bushland reserve on the north-west outskirts of Toowoomba with a two kilometres circuit walk along a wide path. Sadly, we could call it a weed reserve for it contains ‘good’ stands of lantana, tree pear and privet. It has been suggested that Governor Phillip was responsible for the introduction of the cactus to start a cochineal industry: red dye was needed by the British army for their uniforms and the cochineal beetle, which feeds on certain species of cacti, was the source of a vivid red dye. (A good ‘read’ is A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield).
It was good to see some flowering native groundsel Senecio species, and the Soap Tree Alphitonia excelsa was in fruit. A wattle tree had many galls with grubs chomping their way through the galls.
 |
Probably Trichilogaster sp.
(a small genus of Chalcid wasps that
are gall-formers on Australian acacia.) |
What the park lacked in native vegetation it made up for in bird life. Twenty-nine species were seen and most obvious were the large number of Grey Fantails moving in front of us as we walked.Our second stop was John Trousdell Park at Cotswold Hills Estate. John George Trousdell came to Australia from Ireland in 1865 and farmed in the Meringandan area. He was one of the earliest settlers in that region. Lunch is a time for eating, chatting, and looking: an arboreal termite mound took our interest as did the kookaburras; Noisy Miners were nesting in the small bunya pine. The park has a short (1.2 kilometre) loop with challenging slopes down and up. Again, interesting vegetation was in short supply, but birdlife was varied. A small muddy dam was occupied by a group of Wood Ducks and the highlight on the path was the Variegated Fairy-wrens and one Superb Fairy-wren.
Bird Lists
Cranley Escarpment Park
Crested Pigeon, Australian White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis, Black Kite, Galah, Rainbow Lorikeet, Pale-headed Rosella, Pheasant Coucal, Laughing Kookaburra, Speckled Warbler, White-throated Gerygone, White-browed Scrubwren, Brown Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird, Noisy Miner, Striated Pardalote, Australasian Figbird, Golden Whistler, Eastern Whipbird, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Pied Currawong, Australian Magpie, Pied Butcherbird, Grey Butcherbird, Grey Fantail, Crow (? Australian Raven/Torresian Crow), Eastern Yellow Robin, Silvereye, Red-browed Finch, Double-barred Finch.
John Trousdell Park
Australian Wood Duck, Straw-necked Ibis, Little Pied Cormorant, Masked Lapwing, Galah, Pale-headed Rosella, Laughing Kookaburra, White-throated Treecreeper, Superb Fairy-wren, Noisy Miner, Australian Magpie, Australian Magpie, Willie Wagtail, Australian Pipit.
