April Activity Details - Friday meeting and outing to Deongwar State Forest and surrounds.

Cattle Poison Sawfly
Lophyrotoma interrupta
Photo: Glenda Walter

CLUB MEETING: Friday, 4th  April, 7 pm - St. Anthony’s Community Centre, Memory Street, Toowoomba.

‘Legged and Legless - fauna and flora in Central and Western Australia’ presented by Glenda Walter. 

On retirement to Toowoomba in 2009, David and Wendy Clark, at Bellthorpe, encouraged Glenda to photograph and list the hundreds of species of fungi found on their rainforest property. She then moved on to studying spiders, generally on trips with friends and members of TFNC around Toowoomba. The world of spiders rivalled the fungi in their variety of shapes, colours and habits. Insects came next. 

She photographs the specimens she finds, then posts them on the iNaturalist website where curators and others help with identifications. She has listed more than 7,500 observations, and is also a font of knowledge about the habits of these creatures. In 2023, Glenda was awarded the Entomological Society of Victoria’s ‘Le Souef Award’ for her significant contribution to amateur entomology.  

CLUB OUTING: Sunday 16th March 2025. Deongwar State Forest and surrounds

Greater Gliders have been recorded at Deongwar since the fires
Permission to use this image is under the GNU Free Documentation License,
owner benjamint444

Time: 8.30am

Where: Hampton on the corner of the New England Highway and the Hampton-Esk Road.

Description: After stopping briefly in Deongwar we will continue to a nearby ‘Land for Wildlife’ property which is historically hoop pine dominated dry vine forest, and it contains a number of local ecosystems. 

Activities: A chance to study regrowth after the 2019 bushfire.

Level of Fitness: There are well maintained easy walking tracks clearly marked on maps available at the property. There is also easy access for all vehicles.

What to Bring: suitable clothing and footwear for walking in the bush, sunscreen, insect repellant, water, morning tea and lunch, chair, and the usual naturalist stuff of your choice; binoculars, camera, field guides, notebook, etc.

March Outing Report - parks in North Toowoomba 14 March 2025

 Adapted from the TFNC April 2025 newsletter report of B. Gundry.

TRC Parks of North Toowoomba

McKenzie St Lookout, Toowoomba

This outing had been rescheduled courtesy of the much vaunted Cyclone Alfred. The Field Nats assembled at Horn Park on a fine dewy morning, heralding a warm day to follow. Others joined in as the morning progressed. (Dr. Alex Horn had donated this land to Council in the early 20th Century.) Our attention was first drawn to 6 to 7 Black Kites Milvus migrans, just soaring above the trees adjacent to the Bridge Clubhouse. We could ascertain no reason for this aggregation, other than that they were also enjoying their early autumnal morning ….

Our second stop was at the end of Henry Street to visit a huge Moreton Bay Fig just inside the former Rifle Range Reserve. This tree was planted by Eric French prior to his enlistment in the AIF in 1916. He survived the war but lived the rest of his life as a dentist in Brisbane. I was surprised that it was such a huge tree for its 110 years.

Hoop Pine
Araucaria cunninghamii
at Boyce Gardens

Our morning tea break was at Woodward Park in Alfred Street, followed the top of North Street, a newly renovated park, Bunya Park on the corner of Geoffrey and Mackenzie Streets …. The name was inspired by the Bunya pines planted by Duncan Munro who developed the property in the 1880s. The park now showcases pines in the Araucariaceae family; the Bunya Pine Araucaria bidwilli, the Hoop Pine Araucaria cunninghamii and the Norfolk Island Pine Araucaria heterophylla, as well as several other pines.

A drive to the very northern end of Mackenzie Street brought us to the eastern edge of the
range where the waterfall from the end of Rifle Range Road was still trickling after the recent rain ….

Lunch was relished in the shady gardens overlooking the original pool and water feature of Boyce Gardens. Not everyone took the rainforest walk, but with the recent UQ and Boyce Trust upgrade with historical markers, it concluded a warm sunny day enjoyed by all.

All photos: B. Weller