May Outing Report - Ravensbourne, 05 May 2024

Adapted from the Toowoomba Field Naturalist Club newsletter, Issue 796, June 2024

artificial nesting hollows
in situ
Photo: F. Mangubhai

Sunday’s outing turned out to be fine day as members made their way to the Ravensbourne property of 40 hectares surrounded by gardens and beyond that a wet sclerophyll forest. Our first walk was along a track that led through the forest where hollows for birds and bats were made using a chainsaw, the round one for, hopefully, a glider, while the slit was for microbats. Amongst the trees in the forest was Sydney Blue Gum Eucalyptus saligna, Brush Box Lophostemon confertus and stringy barks. A Moreton Bay Fig Ficus macrophylla, likely propagated from bird droppings, showed all the signs of turning into a magnificent, shade-giving tree.

An artist was at work in the forest; we came across a Sydney Blue Gum with designs on its trunk. The artist was the Red Triangle Slug Triboniophorus graeffei. Also, on this walk we saw a dragonfly, the Australian Emperor Anax papuensis, which looked to be petrified by us as it stayed perched on a leaf for all our photographers who approached it. 

Red Triangle Slug
Triboniophorus
graeffei
Photo: R. Hobson

Red Triangle Slug trails
Photo.: F. Mangubhai

   

Australian Emperor
Photo: J. Gundry

    

After morning tea, members walked around the extensive gardens.

Lunchtime was spent chatting about what had been seen, and a species list compiled. We also learned why there was no vegetable garden currently, as the Pale Field Rats Rattus tunneyi, Black Rats R. rattus, Bush Rats R. fuscipes, and two local bandicoot species had managed to burrow under the fence and eat anything that was growing. Rather than fighting them with poison, they’d opted to cease planting vegetables.

Thank you to our hosts, for sharing your home with us and making it such a wonderful day for the Field Nats members. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the species list below, as well.

Usnea sp. (a beard lichen)
Photo: G. Spearritt

Horehound Bug 
Agonoscelis rutila 
on salvia
Photo: G. Walter 

Golden Mistletoe
Notothixos subaureus
on Box Mistletoe
Amyema miquelii 
Photo: G. Spearritt

Click on images to enlarge.   

 

Species Lists: Mammals: Red-necked Wallaby, Red Deer* Birds: Pheasant Coucal, Shining Bronze-Cuckoo, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Laughing Kookaburra, Galah, Australian King-Parrot, Crimson Rosella (nom. subsp.), Satin Bowerbird, White-throated Treecreeper (southern), Variegated Fairy-wren, Brown Honeyeater, Blue-faced Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater, Eastern Spinebill, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Striated Pardalote, Weebill, White-browed Scrubwren, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Rufous Whistler, Golden Whistler (south-eastern Australia), Eastern Whipbird, Pied Currawong (eastern Australia), Australian Magpie, Grey Butcherbird, Grey Fantail, Torresian Crow, Eastern Yellow Robin, Red-browed Finch, Welcome Swallow, Silvereye (eastern); also, of interest, a male Common Blackbird seen on the side of the Esk Hampton Road just below its junction with the New England Highway, Hampton on the way to the outing. Reptiles: Dark-flecked Garden Sunskink Lampropholis delicata, Eastern Small-eyed Snake Cryptophis nigrescens** Flatworms: Blue Garden Flatworm Caenoplana coerulea Molluscs: Red-triangle Slug Triboniophorus graeffei Spiders: Golden Orb-weaver Trichonephila plumipes, Silver Orb Spider Leucauge granulata Dragonflies: Australian Emperor Anax papuensis Cockroaches: Common Trilobite Cockroach Laxta granicollis Grasshoppers: Hedge Grasshopper Valanga irregularis Sucking Bugs: a water strider Tenagogerris euphrosyne, Horehound Bug Agonoscelis rutila*** Butterflies: Narrow-brand Grass-dart Ocybadistes flavovittatus vittatus, Pink Grass-yellow Eurema herlia, Large Grass-yellow Eurema hecabe, Monarch Danaus plexippus, Glasswing Acraea andromacha andromacha, Tailed Emperor Charaxes sempronius sempronius, Evening Brown Melanitis leda bankia, Brown Ringlet Hypocysta metirius Ants: Jumper Ant Myrmecia nigrocincta, a spiny ant Polyrhachis brisbanensis, a spider ant Leptomyrmex cnemidatus, a spider ant Leptomyrmex tibialis Fungi: Redlead Roundhead Leratiomyces ceres, Southern Cinnabar Polypore Pycnoporus coccineus, Turkey Tail Trametes versicolor. 

* several trees used as stag rubbing posts observed
** pair found under sheet of tin later in day
*** found on ornamental salvia; 34 x colour varieties represented in garden (owner's personal comment), but bug restricted to blue-coloured variety (observer's pers. obs.)  

May Activity Details: Meeting - 3 May 2024. Outing - 5 May 2024

Meeting, 3 May 2024

Justine Rice of Lockyer Uplands Catchments Inc. As LUCI's project coordinator, Justine manages two conservation projects, one being Bunyas to Border, which is part of the Great Eastern Ranges (GER) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Koala Climate Corridors project.  It involves LUCI working with local partners to enhance the critical koala habitat corridor in the western ‘horn’ of the Greater Border Ranges, which covers the landscape from Main Range, Helidon Hills and the Bunyas; an important movement pathway for wildlife and an area rich in many threatened native animals and plants. 

Photo: from Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland website. 

Outing, 5 May 2024

Private property in Ravensbourne. On arrival there will be a talk on the work that has been undertaken and future plans. Following morning tea we will visit the small eucalypt forests.

In the afternoon we can wander in the gardens or watch a show of wildlife photos to those who prefer to have a rest.

Bring a chair, morning tea, lunch, water, hat and an enquiring mind. 

For directions: Members see your May newsletter. Non-members, please contact us at toowoombafieldnaturalists@gmail.com for details.

April Outing Report - Aubigny, 07 April 2024

 Adapted from the newsletter "The Darling Downs NATURALIST"

A Brown Songlark’s sweet soliloquy high over our assembly was a good augury, with the croaking of a gutter of Spotted Grassfrogs nearby providing a nice counterpoint. Patches of blue overhead lifted the mood on a dubious wet day.

En route to our destination we tarried awhile at Nev Bidgood Grove, a pleasant little bit of parkland along the Oakey Pittsworth Road at its junction with Brennan Road, Aubigny. Bird life was in fine fettle here and it was good to see a small charm of Zebra Finch dipping to safety in an African Boxthorn Lycium ferocissimum. These lovely little birds are on the decline in our neighbourhood and the flocks encountered these days are miniscule compared to those of my childhood in the 1950s. 

Over smoko we were given an overview of the property. Considering that these four hectares were only acquired in 1998 as an unimproved bush block, today it is a beautifully landscaped arboretum and nature refuge. The house was built in 1999 and initially the owners used to run horses. The last horse passed on in 2015 and in the intervening years the property has been transformed into the showpiece it is today. It has now become a regular haunt for Toowoomba-based botanists and birdwatchers in particular.

On our visit members dispersed to all points to pursue their various interests. We collected a good list of fauna for our troubles especially of birds. The property hosts a rich representation of the avifauna of the grasslands and Coolabah country of the eastern Darling Downs.  

It was a great day out with wonderful hosts, and good fellowship. It is always good to hear Grey-crowned Babblers and watch Double-bars, Zebra Finches and Superb Fairy-wrens over lunch.  And a large, foraging Striped Ctenotus glistening in its new skin.  

Species Lists

Earthstar Fungi

Assembly area, near corner of Warrego Highway and Oakey Pittsworth Road, Oakey: 
Birds: Zebra Finch, Brown Songlark Frogs: Spotted Grassfrog Limnodynastes tasmaniensisNev Bidgood Grove and Brennan Road, Tangkam: Birds: Brown Quail, Spotted Dove, Crested Pigeon, White-faced Heron, Straw-necked Ibis, Black-shouldered Kite, Galah, Pale-headed Rosella (southern form), Striped Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Striated Pardalote, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Grey-crowned Babbler (eastern), Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Pied Currawong (eastern Australia), Australian Magpie, Grey Butcherbird, Willie Wagtail (southern), Torresian Crow, Magpie-lark, Mistletoebird, Zebra Finch, Double-barred Finch, Common Myna Butterflies and Moths: Scarlet Jezebel Delias argenthona argenthona, Varied Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina nerina, Meadow Argus Junonia villida villida, Orchard Swallowtail (Australian subspecies) Papilio aegeus aegeus Bees, Wasps and Ants: Banded Sugar Ant Camponotus consobrinus, Southern Meat Ant Iridomyrmex purpureus, an ant Calomyrmex sp., Green-head Ant Rhytidoponera metallica Fungi: an earthstar Geastrum saccatum (a second earthstar also seen but not able to identify to species level). 

Aubigny property: Mammals: Red-necked Wallaby, European Brown Hare: Birds: Brown Quail, Spotted Dove, Black-shouldered Kite, Nankeen Kestrel, Galah, Red-rumped Parrot, Pale-headed Rosella (southern form), Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Superb Fairy-wren, Striped Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Striated Pardalote, White-throated Gerygone, Grey-crowned Babbler (eastern), Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Pied Currawong (eastern Australia), Australian Magpie, Pied Butcherbird, Grey Butcherbird, Willie Wagtail (southern), Torresian Crow, White-winged Chough, Apostlebird, Zebra Finch, Double-barred Finch, Tree Martin, Common  Myna. Reptiles(lizards): Straight-browed Ctenotus Ctenotus spaldingi* Frogs: Spotted Grassfrog Limnodynastes tasmaniensis, Common Green Treefrog Litoria caerulea Spiders: Dew Drop Spider Argyrodes antipodianus, Black House Spider Badumna insignis, Tent Spider Cryptophora moluccensis, Golden Orb-weaver Trichonephila edulis Dragonflies and Damselflies: Aurora Bluetail Ischnura aurora, Australian Emperor Anax papuensis, Australian Emerald Hemicordulia australiae, Tau Emerald Hemicordulia tau, Scarlet Percher Diplacodes haematodes, Wandering Percher Diplacodes bipunctata, Blue Skimmer Orthetrum caledonicum Butterflies and Moths: Caper White Belenois java teutonia, Lemon Migrant Catopsilia pomona, Tailed Emperor Charaxes sempronius sempronius, Lesser Wanderer Danaus petilia, Small Grass Yellow Eurema smilax, Meadow Argus Junonia villida villida, Orchard Swallowtail (Australian subspecies) Papilio aegeus aegeus Bees, Wasps and Ants: Southern Meat Ant Iridomyrmex purpureus, Stick-nest Brown Paper Wasp Ropalidia revolutionalis Fungi: a puffball Calvatia lilacina.

*Taxonomy in dispute, also called Ctenotus robustus (Robust Ctenotus, Striped Ctenotus)