August Outing Report to Sandisock, Emu Creek

Twenty members took the meandering route through countryside between Goombungee and the New England Highway, pausing at Hampton. We took in the history of this once large town, and appreciated the one remaining commercial building, the very charming general store. For some members, this provided a welcome chance to buy coffee.

The roadkill count, 18 Red-necked Wallaby and two Swamp Wallaby (with the conspicuous white tip to their tails) led us to think that there must be plenty of these animals in the Hampton area. Nine living Red-necked Wallaby were also seen. Rod Hobson told us that the Swamp Wallaby had almost disappeared from the area but seems to be making a comeback.

Arriving at Sandisock, we were greeted with scones, jam and cream. Our hosts Graham and Adrienne Jocumsen have owned this getaway block for nearly 40 years and could tell us much about it. Its geology is interesting and varied, with some ancient granite outcrops, some much more modern basalt overlay, and some sandstone and conglomerate in between.

We separated into two groups, one to walk in the creek (more interesting birds) and one to go over the hill (more interesting plants). The birds were appreciating the permanent water in the creek. Like most of the district, Sandisock vegetation was looking sad because of the drought. However we found much to interest us in the narrow-leafed ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra) woodland on the hill, and noted a number of vine scrub plants including Sweet Suzie, Psydrax odoratum, Triangle-leafed Hopbush Dodonaea triangularis (with its leaves that look like duck’s feet), Narrow leafed Hopbush Dodonaea viscosa, Scrub tuckeroo Cupaniopsis parvifolia, Leopard Ash Flindersia collina, Urn Heath Melichrus urceolata, Scrub Boonaree Alectryon diversifolius, and Chain fruit Alyxia ruscifolia.

Acacia paradoxa – prickly wattle (photo: Diana Ball)

We could only find small specimens of many of these plants, which suggests that in the absence of fire these rainforest-type species are invading what was once a dry sclerophyll environment. The most interesting plant was the Kangaroo Wattle, Acacia paradoxa - a prickly monster (see photo). One of the specimens was in bud and will be very pretty when in full flower. Not common in our district, it is found on the line of sandstone which runs through Goombungee. That area has some very different plants from the rest of the Eastern Downs, as often happens on poor soil.

Insects of interest were the Australian Emperor dragonfly, and an Eastern Brown butterfly. In all it was a very enjoyable day. Thank you very much Graham and Adrienne, for welcoming us to your special hideaway.

Members enjoying lunch at Sandisock (photo: Trish Gardner)

(Report by Trish Gardner)

Checklist for August outing to “Sandisock”, Emu Creek SEQ

at GDA94 – 56J E399946 x N7003822; +/- 500 metres.  (Compiled by Rod Hobson)

Golden Whistler                                  White-throated Honeyeater                Torresian Crow

Rufous Whistler                                  Brown Honeyeater                              Silvereye

Grey-crowned Babbler                       Noisy Miner                                        Red-browed Finch

Australian Magpie                               Red-backed Fairy-wren                      Striated Pardalote

Galah                                                   Superb Fairy-wren                              Pied Currawong

White-throated Gerygone                   Laughing Kookaburra                         Lewin’s honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater                   Grey Fantail                                        Magpie-lark

• Macquarie Turtle Emydura macquarii x 1 (remains; adult; carapace and plastron only)
• Giant Centipede Ethmostigmus rubripes x 2
• a centipede Scolopendra laeta x 1
• Bennett’s Woodland Snail Pallidelix bennetti x 2 (dead shells only)            
• Australian Emperor Anax papuensis x 1
• Wandering Percher Diplacodes bipunctata x 1
• Monarch Danaus plexippus
• European Honey Bee Apis meliffera (feral hive)
• Black-headed Strobe Ant Opisthopis rufithorax
• Brown Shield Ant Meranoplus sp.
• Giant Bull Ant Myrmecia gulosa
• 
  Southern Meat Ant Iridomyrmex purpureus
• a leaf beetle Paropsisterna octolineata
• Tiger Assassin bug Havinthus rufovarius
• a shield bug Theseus modestus (adult and nymph)
• a cricket Leptogryllus sp. (identified by Matthew Connors)
• a spider Hemicloea roganhoferi
• a jumping spider Astia hariola x3 (2 female, 1 male))
• a jumping spider Holoplatys planissima
• a jumping spider Servaea incana x 3
• Huntsman spider Delena cancerides x 2
• Redback Spider Latrodectus hasseltii x 2 (female)

August Speaker Report: Pleistocene Megafauna of the Darling Downs

Ian and Diane Sobbe from Clifton brought part of their interesting collection of fossils to this presentation. Ian is a retired farmer, but he has had an interest in fossils since childhood and is now an Honorary Researcher at the Queensland Museum as well as a founder of the Clifton Megafauna Group. The extinct Darling Downs megafauna date from about 85,000 to 120,000 years ago, and their deposition characteristics represent events such as climate change and flood events during this time.

The best known of the megafauna is Diprotodon, a giant herbivorous marsupial standing two metres at the shoulder. Adults had jaws one metre long. Its closest living relatives are probably wombats. Fossil bones of the megafauna are seldom found as complete skeletons. Bones are usually found in deposits resulting from ancient creeks, in meanders where coarser sands and gravels deposited. Skulls tended to wash down first.

Carbon dating has not proved reliable, but an advanced method of dating quartz in which the fossil is deposited has proved more accurate. Quartz begins to absorb radiation when buried, and this can be measured. This dating shows that the megafauna evolved at the time when the climate changed dramatically from about 120,000 years ago. The climate seems to have dried, altering the vegetation from vine thicket to grassland. Remains of frogs and snails in earlier deposits indicate that the environment was much wetter in the past. 

Grassland suited Diprotodon and a whole ecosystem of larger fauna existed, including a five-metre carnivorous reptile Megalania, which was probably related to the extant Komodo Dragon. Three species of crocodile have been identified; one saltwater and one even larger, as well as a terrestrial species. The best-known mammalian carnivore is Thylacoleo, the so-called marsupial lion, a powerful predator with distinctive large premolar teeth and jaws, and musculature for massive bite pressure.

About 30 species of wallabies and kangaroos included some larger than any extant species and including long-faced and short-faced kangaroos. There were also larger wombats standing about one metre high. Speculation

Diprotodon jaw bone

continues as to the reasons for the extinction of Australia's megafauna. Debate concerns climate versus human involvement. Climate change seems to have been the major factor, but research continues.

Remains of megafauna are found over a large part of Australia, but the Downs have revealed a rich share of fossils. Digging and research continues, and new discoveries are being made. Fossil bones are carefully encased and removed for preservation by treatment with a Perspex-like solution. Many megafauna fossils are overseas, in the British Museum and in other places including the Paris Natural History Museum. However, the Clifton group have a large collection, and are hoping to eventually develop a dedicated museum in Clifton. About $5 million is needed to develop the building and interpretative displays.

There are a number of books about the megafauna, and plenty of online information, including short videos of Ian speaking about his work and the museum. Google 'Clifton Megafauna' to view these. There is also a Face-book group; look for Clifton Megafauna Group Inc. If any of you are going to Brisbane, there is a good exhibit of Australia's palaeontology at the Queensland Museum.

Field Naturalist members looking at fossils

(Report by Sheryl Haxen)

Update on Birdwing Butterflies at Townsville (by Barbara Weller)

The caterpillars eventually stripped and ring-barked the vine and had to be relocated for their survival. Approximately 50 caterpillars and pupae were adopted by a carer. My daughter was given a replacement vine which, when I visited recently, had two very large caterpillars living on it. There was also a female Birdwing Butterfly flying around, no doubt, looking for a place to lay her eggs.

(Photos by Karen Weller)

Stripped vine

Birdwing Caterpillar

Caterpillars ready to pupate

Queensland Road Trip - article and photos by Mary Petr

In May I took my brother and his girlfriend on a three-week road trip – Carnarvon Gorge, Blackdown Table-land National Park, Eungella National Park, Cania Gorge National Park, Lady Elliot Island, Noosa Headland, and Mary Cairncross Park, as well as Girraween and Bald Rock after we returned to Toowoomba. They loved everything. After the platypuses at Eungella, they said they wanted to see an echidna. I told them not to count on it. But three days later we saw two, which did not seem at all bothered by being followed around and photographed. In fact, one of them was about 30 seconds away from climbing over our feet when one of us stepped aside. It rolled up, then unrolled and continued on towards us. I stepped aside and this time it changed direction. But I could not give them a koala. My brother took videos of the platypuses and echidnas which are at the following YouTube links:  rxxl9F6Htas   73sXPa7kZSg. 

Echidna

Platypus

Fairy Dell Gully - Neil McKilligan

Our member Jan Veacock did a good piece of detective work in unearthing a map locating Fairy Dell Gully (FDG) in the western Helidon Hills. Judged by E.A.R. Lord’s October 1956 map, reproduced in the Darling Downs Naturalist, the FDG Creek discharges into 15-Mile Creek a short distance upstream from where Para-dise Creek joins 15 Mile. Its tributaries originate on the eastern slopes of White Mountain.

These are my impressions of this fascinating rocky terrain from having walked its length several times (as have some bush walking members of the TFNC). My topographic map Murphys Creek 9343-33 shows Fairy Dell Gully but does not name it. Veteran bushwalker Bill Hoogendoorn named it Bum Bum Creek, presumably after some discomfiting accident on its steep slopes. My book Bush Walks in the Toowoomba Region (McKilligan and Savage 2009) identifies FDG as part of Walk 14 and shows the walk route following much of the length of FDG and one of its tributaries. Along most of its length it is steep walled and its sandstone floor is gently sloping and clear of debris and other obstacles to progress. Its tributaries are steep and narrow but sculpted by erosion into a series of stone steps that make for easy climbing. This area has an abundance of native wild flowers but I have seen no fairies!

One can access its tributaries from the slopes of White Mountain but more easily locate its mouth as follows. Drive from Murphys Creek township via the road that would eventually take you to Hampton, but after 2.4 km turn right into Paradise Creek Road and follow it to where it turns and goes sharply downhill. You can ignore the Keep Out signs as this is a public road. Park at this bend and enjoy the view across 15-Mile Creek to Red Rock, a high, red coloured cliff favoured by assailers. Wild flowers are prolific on this rocky ridge. Walk or drive the steep, rough track down to near the junction of Paradise and 15-Mile Creeks. Fairy Dell Gully Creek is roughly 100 metres upstream. Due to the 2011 flood its entrance is partly obscured by fallen timber but it is still accessible.

Pale Field Rat - Rattus tunneyi

This rat is distinguished by long, bridled yellowish-brown fur, paler than other Australian rodents; large protuberant eyes, relatively large ears; somewhat tapering muzzle and pale feet. It inhabits well-watered tropical and sub-tropical tall grassland. By day it sleeps in a nest in a shallow burrow system with several pop-holes. At night it feeds on grass stems, seeds and roots. Breeding occurs in autumn in Queensland and somewhat later in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The female has 10 teats and usually rears four or five young who become independent around three weeks of age.

 

         (Submitted by Lauren Marlatt, from Mammals of Australia)

July 2018 Outing Report: Pechey Homestead

Twenty-one members and three visitors made their way to Pechey Homestead, near Crows Nest, to visit the property of John O’Brien and Liz Pechey. Their property had, as John explained at the beginning, three strands of ‘forestry’: (i) about 30 acres of blackbutts and spotted gums (ii) about 30 acres of hoop pines, and (iii) about 5.5 hectares of semi-evergreen vine thicket. This last patch had been cleared by the family of most of the weeds, such as asparagus ferns, privet, and lantana. Also on hand was Steve Plant (and his son Alex) to lead us on walks through at least two of these patches.

Hoop pine

Our walk, on this cold morning, began with a slow amble through the garden around the old homestead. There was a hoop pine that, in a photo of 1921, was about 60 centimetres tall but after almost a hundred years is a magnificent giant. As we walked around we were also informed about a number of things: ecofarm stay that was being offered, that the water table underneath the property was 400 feet down, that Jarawair artefacts had been found on the property and, with the approval of the Jarawair people, had been made a part of the landscape near the homestead. We walked past the ‘History Hut’, where some early photos of the area and the family sawmill were displayed, as were a collection of accounting books from the sawmill days. The hut also contained old books, which were part of a library.

After the short garden walk, we went with Steve Plant to the vine scrub. He explained how the disappearance of a top storey of trees led to this vine scrub. This area was cleared about a 100 years ago and what we see today is a 100 years growth. Among the things pointed out were: orange boxwood (May-tenus disperma), climbing black-fruited asparagus (Asparagus plumosus) and how to get rid of it, crows ash (Flindersia australis) – which raised a discussion about how good its wood was and how it had been used in halls (made a good dance floor); a weed, corky passion fruit (*Passiflora suberosa), a patch of hoop pines obviously planted in a line, brush caper berry (Capparis arborea) with its two thorns (now) in between which had been the leaf of the plant. Other plants and trees that were pointed out were: black-fruited thornbush (Pittosporum viscidum), lignum (Vitex lignum-vitae), grey gums (Eucalyptus biturbinata), brush box (Lophostemon confertus) climbing red-fruited asparagus (*Asparagus africanus) and bridal asparagus (*Asparagus asparagoides). (Ed: the asterisk marks the weedy introduced species). Looking at the list above, it is obvious that the work of eliminating weeds is an ongoing struggle.

Destroyed patch of blady grass

Our next walk was to another patch of the property, a former pine forest. Steve Plant was full of information about this patch, how the remnants had been destroyed to start a pine forest, rather than re-planting it with more of the types of trees that had been felled. The following were pointed out to us: Ebony tree (Diospyros australis), stringy bark (Eucalyptus eugenioides), blue gum (Eucalyptus saligna), tallowwood (Eucalyptus microcorys), and Gympie messmate (Eucalyptus cloeziana). We also saw a patch of blady grass (Imperata cylindrica), part of which looked as if it had been poisoned. Steve Plant explained that underground there was a network of tunnels created by native rats (Rattus tunneyi) and they loved eating the tuber of the grass because it was sweet (food on demand during the season!!) and thus killing it.

This walk took us to lunchtime enjoyed in the sun in the open. Even though it was cold, the day was enjoyable because of the generosity of John and Liz, and the knowledge of Steve Plant as he led us through two of the three special patches on the property. 

(Report by Francis Mangubhai, with thanks to Trish Gardner 

for help with the names of the plants)

Bird List for Pechy Outing (compiled by Nicci Thompson)

Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Rainbow Lorikeet, Superb Fairywren, Eastern Spinebill, Brown Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Lewin's Honeyeater, White-browed Scrubwren, Large-billed Scrubwren, Brown Thornbill, Australian Magpie, Varied Sittella, Eastern Yellow Robin, Red-browed Finch, Double-barred Finch.