BIRD LIST FOR CLUB OUTING, 08 SEPTEMBER 2019

Highfields Falls: On a windy, but clear, morning, we parked on the “James Byrne” side of the Reserve and were pleased to walk into the forest to beat the wind. Once at the Falls side, we were totally out of the winds. Most of our sightings occurred on this Falls side, where, of course, the birds had access to the trickling stream.

Our bird list for the Highfields Falls Reserve morning: Lorikeet (most likely Scaly-breasted); Red-browed Finch; Grey Fantail; White-naped Honeyeater; Rufous Fantail; Grey Shrike thrush; Eastern Yellow Robin; White-browed Scrubwren; Lewin’s Honeyeater; Variegated Fairy-wren; Golden Whistler; Leaden Flycatcher; Crested Shrike-tit; Galah; Eastern Whipbird; Straw-necked Ibis (flying overhead at the carpark).

Williams Park (middle of the day) list:

(at the Park) Scaly-breasted Lorikeet; Noisy Miner; Crow; Currawong; Magpie; Galah; Tawny Frogmouth; and Jim Ball’s late-arriving King Parrot. (on the creek-side walk) Grey and Rufous Fantails; Common Bronzewing pigeon; Brown Cuckoo-dove (Mike Ford’s sighting); Superb Fairy-wren; Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; heard a whistler (probably golden).

The bird of the day, and it was my sighting, was the Crested Shrike-tit (Falcunculus frontatus). I have only ever seen it a few times, and never here, although Jean photographed it here two years ago, in the creek, a little further above the Falls. There are three races, with our “frontatus” being the most widespread. I was watching the Leaden Flycatcher on a branch over the path when it was “buzzed” by the shrike-tit, which then gave me 15 seconds of excellent viewing. It is a beautiful bird, with strong yellow body markings below, olive on the back and vent, and otherwise grey. The black head and throat patch are most distinctive, with two white stripes across the face, separated by a narrower black stripe through the eye. The crest is, I think, always partly or fully erect – giving it an over-sized “boof-headed” or Mohawk appearance. “Simpson and Day” tells me that “they feed mostly in the upper branches, prising invertebrates from the bark with their robust bills. They give distinctive chuckling calls or drawn-out plaintive whistles.”

I was thrilled with (and Jan Veacock was jealous of) my sighting. Enough said. 

(Report by Ben Gundry)

OUTING REPORTS - Helidon Hills, 06 October

In a good year, this would have been a truly wonderful outing. We had a very knowledgeable guide in Martin Bennet. He took us to two different sites, not far apart but on different soils, each with its different suite of flowering plants. Both were species-rich sites but alas, the season is so dry that there were no flowers to be seen at all. A future outing to the same sites in a good spring would be very rewarding.

We did enjoy seeing the “Koala fern” (Caustis blakei) in its native habitat and discussed the fact that it is no longer being wild-collected for floristry. Research at the Gatton Branch of the University of Queensland has found the secret of propagating this difficult plant, so it is now being grown for the industry. We also marvelled at the “un-grevillea-like” leaves of Grevillea singuliflora, and looked for adult trees of the woody pear (Xylo-melum pyriforme ). There were many young plants, with their very distinctive leaves, but no mature ones to be found.

Those of us who love plants whether they were flowering or not had a great morning. Others probably wouldn’t include this one in any list of the club year’s highlights, especially as the birding was also very poor.

As usual, though, we managed to enjoy ourselves. Outings are always a good chance to spend a happy morning with friends, and it was good to catch up with Martin as well. We also had the pleasure of the company of several people from Lockyer Uplands Catchments Inc (LUCI). Thank you, Bob and Sandy, for your parts in organising it for us.                                                                                                                             

(This part of the report by Trish Gardner)

Thirteen members plus two guests gathered at Helidon for an excursion approximately ten kilometres along the Seventeen Mile Road. We visited two areas of diverse vegetation and soil types (see detailed lists). Despite the heat we enjoyed the walks and morning tea at the roadside. The effect of dry weather was evident and there appeared to be limited bird movements. Enthusiastic discussion on vegetation and soils resulted in a very interesting learning experience. We had lunch at Helidon Park, with a brief overview of the formation and uniqueness of Helidon freestone, including its commercial use, particularly in the public buildings in Brisbane. Quantities of this stone are exported, mainly to China.  There was also a brief history of the various sandstone quarries that were located along the Seventeen Mile Road and Air Force Road.

The Helidon Hills is not renowned for its birdlife, presumably because of the lack of water on dry stony ridges. However, on this occasion the birds were missing, hopefully in action elsewhere in the district. Alice Creek is not far away as the bird flies. There were birds at our lunch spot in Helidon township. These included brown honeyeaters which were very vocal. Our thanks to Jan Veacock, Bob Fuller and Martin Bennett for their efforts in planning this excursion.                                                                                       

(This part of the Report by Sandy Eastoe and Jan Veacock)

Bird Report for Helidon Hills outing

Past Helidon Hills excursions have primarily exhibited a “botanical bent” in their naturalist purposes and Jan Veacock has said that a list of seven bird sightings has historically been a good result – with Yellow-faced Honeyeaters often predominating. Most of these past excursions would have been in good, or at least “aver-age”, seasons.

Today, on our two stops on tracks leading from Seventeen Mile Road, a little north of the Goldmine Road turn-off, we struggled to compile a “heard” list. This is an index of our utterly dry winter/spring circumstance, our walking along ridge-top tracks (therefore no surface water – and probably none in the creek lines well below either!) and our walking in the heat of the day. The vegetation was stressed, with only the grasstrees consist-ently looking freshly green.

We heard the Grey Shrike-thrush, intermittently, and at some distance; the White-throated Tree-creeper, occasionally; the Striated Pardalote; and few other anonymous, muted churrings. [NOTE: no Yellow-faced Honeyeaters at all.] I “saw” only one LBB (little brown bird), 20 metres away in the canopy, as it promptly doubled its distance from me. A thornbill was my guess.

At morning-tea, first Shirley Cormack with hot coffee, then John Ball with wetted dried fruits, were tantalising many native bees that were quickly attracted to any available moisture.                                            

(This part of the Report by Ben Gundry)

Bird List Courtesy of Lesley Beaton

Helidon Hills (27°28’39” S 152°9’47” E) Lockyer National Park, I think.

Birds: White-throated Treecreeper, Buff-rumped Thornbill, Striated Pardalote, White-naped Honeyeater, Grey Shrike-thrush, Leaden Flycatcher, Eastern Yellow Robin.

Stag Beetle, family Lucanidae: probably Golden Stag Beetle (Lamprima aurata) – found dead in an old spider’s web. Spider: Leaf Curling Araneus (Araneus dimidiatus) – not the web the beetle was caught in.  

Plant report courtesy of Martin Bennet

Both tracks were off Seventeen Mile Road, locality Seventeen Mile, 10.8km NNE of the Township of Helidon.

• ​First walking track, -27.477458°, 152.163090

Regional ecosystems mapped under the Vegetation Management Act (VMA) contained the following ecosystems, or not, just mapping after all and is not ground truth.

12.9-10.5 Least concern - Shrubby woodland complex. More widely distributed and abundant species include Corymbia trachyphloia subsp. trachyphloia, C. citriodora subsp. variegata, Eucalyptus crebra, E. fibrosa subsp. fibrosa, E. major, Angophora leiocarpa, E. helidonica. Understorey of sclerophyllous shrubs. Localised occurrences of Eucalyptus baileyana, E. pilularis, Corymbia henryi, E. dura, E. decorticans (extreme west of bioregion), E. taurina, Angophora woodsiana, Lysicarpus angustifolius and Lophostemon confertus. Tends to shrubland or monospecific woodland of species such as Eucalyptus dura on shallow lithosols. Occurs on quartzose sandstone scarps and crests. (BVG1M: 9h)

12.5.6 Endangered - Eucalyptus siderophloia, E. propinqua and/or E. pilularis open forest +/- Corymbia intermedia, E. microcorys, E. acmenoides, E. tereticornis, E. biturbinata, Lophostemon confertus with E. saligna, E. montivaga at higher altitudes. Occurs on remnant Tertiary surfaces. Usually deep red soils. (BVG1M: 9a)

12.5.1 Least concern - Woodland to open forest complex generally with Corymbia trachyphloia, C. citriodora subsp. variegata +/- Eucalyptus crebra, E. longirostrata, C. intermedia, E. major, E. fibrosa subsp. fibrosa (can be locally common) and E. acmenoides. Localised occurrences of Eucalyptus taurina, E. decorticans, E. dura, E. cloeziana and E. melanoleuca. Understorey grassy or shrubby. Occurs on remnant Tertiary surfaces, usually with deep red soils. (BVG1M: 10b)

Some of these ecosystems have up to six variations to the description stated above. 

• ​​2nd, Petrophile Track, -27.471585, 152.169262

Regional ecosystems mapped under the Vegetation Management Act.

The highlights would have been the following species,

• ​Petrophile canescens, Conesticks
• Eucalyptus planchoniana, Planchons stringybark
• Caustis blakei subsp. macrantha, Koala fern a Threatened species
• Caustis flexulosa, Curly wig​

Report on October Speaker on Madagascar

Acknowledgement to photographer Yann Bertrand

Andreas Helwig, Senior Lecturer in Electro-Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern Queensland gave a wide-ranging and fascinating talk on Madagascar. He began by giving some background information about the country: it is about a third of the size of Queensland, but its population is about 27 million; it lies off the east coast of Africa, but its formation is part of the Gondwana story, the supercontinent that was formed about 550 million years ago (mya). About 135 mya it split from Africa (as part of India). Then about 88 mya it split from India, as India made its way northward. It was thought to be peopled initially by Nazimba or Kimosy people (like Negrita pygmy people found in Andaman Islands). Migrations of Malayo-Polynesian peoples took place from 400 to 700 AD, followed by Arabs, Bantu tribes (in 1300s AD) and then the European arrival from 1580 onwards. As expected, these migrations have over time created a great amount of diversity in the Madagascar population.

It is currently a very poor country with most inhabitants falling into the class of ‘poor’ with wealth concentrated in the hands of a minority. Poverty and poor agricultural practices have led to a lot of slash and burn type of agriculture, to the detriment of the forests on the island. Many of the hills have been denuded and aerial photographs show that there is greenery only in the valleys between hills. Madagascar has very old geology, and has many minerals, which has attracted mining but does not seem to have diminished the levels of poverty. The landscape is very volcanic.

Biodiversity, which is under threat by development and poor policies, has provided the country with many plants with medicinal properties. Helwig gave as an example the story of the use of liana sap to heal a child that had got very badly burned on the stomach area. Currently, over 400 ‘medicinal plants’ are being investigated for their medicinal value – anti-malarial, for diabetes, for leprosy, for kidney stones and so forth.

There are a number of plants that are well-known and are native to Madagascar, amongst them the Poinciana, Bismarck palm, the polka dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya) and the baobab (Adansonia za). A very popular wood is the Malagasy Rosewood and its felling is having an impact on the rainforests of the island. Black ebony is another tree in which there is much illegal trading.

Photo from the slide presentation: Jewelled chameleon

In terms of fauna, there are a huge variety of lemurs, from one that would fit into the palm of one’s hand to one as tall as a person when standing on its hind legs. Radiated tortoises can live up to 300 years. The jewelled chameleon of Madagascar lives up to its name. The Madagascan giant spider lives up to its name also, judging by the size of the web it is able to spin – dwarfing the man who was in the picture also. There are seven species of silkworms.

Andreas Helwig conveyed wonderfully the variety of land formation, the diversity of people, plants and wildlife, but also the poverty that afflicts the country. One might wonder what an electro-mechanical lecturer was doing in Madagascar (he has visited this country annually for over twenty years). This was revealed at the end of his talk. He has been actively involved in a school for children in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. Project Madagascar, as it is called, is a Toowoomba-based not-for-profit committee of Civic Aid and Development, established in 2004. It aims to shift the Malagasy people from poverty to hope by providing affordable life-skills and education to the children of Madagascar in two Community and Learning Centres (CLCs) in Antananarivo. The following website provides further details about the school and the project: https://projectmadagascar.org.au/

(Report by Francis Mangubhai)

Backyard Bit

Not exactly in the backyard, but just outside the front gate, I recently witnessed what I at first thought was a mating “dance” by two rainbow lorikeets. With heads bobbing, and with wings continually raised then lowered, they circled on the footpath for several minutes. When they at last flew away, I realised that they were “performing” around a dead lorikeet. The dead bird showed no sign of injury. It had possibly been hit by a car while flying low across the street, and, although fatally wounded, had been able to make its way to the footpath.

I have only once before seen a “ritual performance” by birds around a dead one of their species. This was by Indian mynas. I wonder if any other club member has witnessed similar bird behaviour.
                                                                                                      

 Article and photo by Michael Rooke

Outing report for Sunday 08 September: Highfield Falls Bushland Park

A good group of Field Nats turned up at the Barber Road entrance to Highfields Falls Bushland Park. We were joined by three young girls aged seven, four and almost three who were delightfully well behaved.

Oh, the wind! We were hopeful of seeing quite a few birds in the vicinity of permanent water, but Jan Veacock had some historic FN bird lists which suggested with such a wind blowing the sightings would probably not be great. The first part of the walk was through open eucalypt forest with an understory of grasses and Wombat berry vines Eustrephus latifolius. The latter had orange fruits attractive to birds; the tubers are reportedly edible and certainly eaten by wombats and other native root-eating mammals.

Turning a corner in the path we descended into the creek gully, the vegetation immediately became thicker and more varied and we were protected from the wind. It was otherwise a gloriously warm and sunny day. Although there was not a great volume flowing over the falls it was a pleasure to see and hear running water and the girls were fascinated with some long-legged ants with gasters raised over mesosomas or better as described to us “the black abdomen sat very close to the head and looked almost like a black backpack”. Further along the path there were steps leading down into the gully below the falls which we also explored. The steps terminated at a steep bank, so it was not possible to go further.

Pandorea pandorana

Our group then headed for Williams Park in Highfields for a comfort stop and the obligatory refreshments! Jan read out a delightfully apt poem which I believe will be reprinted in this newsletter. Klein Creek appeared totally dry, but the circuit walk was shady and the tree ferns still thriving. There were a few interesting plants as well, some of which illustrate this article. The Wonga Wonga Vine Pandorea pandorana is a common attractive climber. The flexible wood was used for making spears for woomeras in the Central and Western deserts. One of the trees, perhaps four metres tall was totally smothered in Headache – Vine Clematis glycinoides. If the leaves are crushed the resulting aroma can be inhaled to relieve headaches and stuffy noses but the sap can be an irritant and so must be washed off straight away. The Native Cherry Exocarpos cupressiformis is a semi-parasitic shrub with reportedly edible but astringent fruit and a food for various birds and caterpillars.

It is interesting to note that the Highfields Falls creek flows eastward toward the sea and the waters from Klein Creek – when it has any – drain inland.

Clematis glycinoides

Tree ferns

Wombat berry

Report and photos by Diana Ball

SPEAKERS REPORT: Friday 06 September : Christmas Island Bird ‘n’ Nature Week, 2018

Deb and Mike Ford gave a detailed presentation about their week on Christmas Island from 28 August to 04 September 2018. Commencing with general information about the island’s people, climate, geology, and history, the illustrated talk covered the various activities in which they had participated. Members were introduced to the expert guides who took small groups around the island, giving them insights and access to locations and information not available to the self-guided tourist. Each evening the guides spoke about their own particular research interest, association with Christmas Island, and ongoing conservation programs. 

Seabirds were a big drawcard, in particular the endangered, endemic, golden morph of the White-tailed Tropic-bird and the rare, endemic, Christmas Island Frigate bird and Abbott’s Booby. Great and Lesser Frigate birds, Red-tailed Tropicbirds, Red-footed Boobies, Brown Boobies, and the Common Noddy were all available in their hundreds.

There are only a few land bird species on the Island, but participation in the endemic Christmas Island Goshawk Research Program was an enormous privilege. Some birds, such as the endangered Emerald Dove are local sub-species of larger groups, others like the Christmas Island Hawk Owl are endemic, and a few, for example the White-faced Heron, are self-introduced to the Island. 

Although not on the Island at the time of the famous Red Crab migration, they were readily seen in the forests, as were Robber Crabs and freshwater Blue Crabs. The interesting breeding requirements of all three crabs were described, and their importance to the Island’s ecology. 

As with many small islands, there are threats from introduced species: Yellow Crazy Ants, Giant Centipedes, Giant African Land Snails, cats, rats, and snakes. The CI Blue-tailed Skink and Lister’s Gecko are extinct in the wild and they are the subject of active breeding programs, but the last CI Pipistrelle Bat, whose extinction was predicted, was recorded in 2009. The single most serious threat to the Island is from Yellow Crazy Ants.  They have reduced the Red Crab population from 100 million to 50 – 60 million and are slowly killing rain-forest trees through their farming of scale insects. Forming super-colonies with multiple queens they are probably impossible to eradicate, and the best that can be hoped for is to restrict their spread.

A fascinating destination: Chinese, Malay and mainland Australian cultures live happily side-by-side on this remote island now hoping to be able to rely on tourism with the winding back of phosphate mining and the closure of the detention centre. Try and get there!

(Report by Deb Ford)

Report on Outing to Muntapa Tunnel and Palms National Park - August 2019

On a mild, sunny winter’s day, 17 Field Nats members drove out towards Cooyar and met at the Muntapa Tunnel, just outside Cooyar. The tunnel is 287 metres long and is the longest straight railway tunnel in Queensland. The railway was developed for dairy farming, pig farming and the transport of coal and was completed in 1912 and officially opened in 1913. On this outing, we were ably led by Diane Pagel and Dougal Johnston.

South-western entrance

Dougal, who is a geologist, began by telling us that the location of the car park is, more or less, the highest part of the Great Dividing Range in this area, with one end sloping away to the east and the other towards the west. The actual area of the tunnel was chosen because the material was soft and therefore easier to tunnel through. He also pointed out the soil nearby, which was whitish, and had very little nutrient in it. The terrain is rocky and sparsely vegetated, comprising mostly of eucalyptus woodland. Having heard the story of the tunnel from Jan Veacock and having read two excellent information boards, we went along a track towards the south-western entrance of the tunnel. As we walked along a track at the bottom, which would once have been railway tracks, Dougal pointed out the variety of geological formations to be seen: volcanic agglomerate, and Marburg sandstone with volcanic rock on top. As Dougal mentioned, the rock in the tunnel cutting is mostly agglomerate of the Nutgrove Volcanic member. It is full of frag-ments like conglomerate, with many boulders of older meta-morphic rock caught up in it. As we approached the concreted tunnel through the semi-elliptical entrance (and the tunnel itself was of this shape), our voices disturbed the Bent-wing bats that were roosting inside, and we could see them flying around silhouetted by the light from the south-eastern entrance.

At morning tea break, Jan Veacock gave a brief history of the railway in the area - that it was 63 kilometres long from Oakey to Cooyar, that the Muntapa Tunnel was the only tunnel to pass underneath the Great Dividing Range. The height of the Range at Peranga is 459 metres, at the summit it is 646 metres and at Cooyar, 436 metres. The gradient was 1:55.

Rocks in the tunnel cutting (photo: Dougal Johnstone)

After morning tea, the Field Nats walked to the south-eastern entrance, down a specially constructed staircase. On the way, we stopped at the “once-was-Bake House”, and the School; only the perimeter logs seemed to have survived. Once again, on the way to the entrance, Dougal was able to give us a little talk on the geology of the area leading to the entrance. There was evidence of tuff in the cutting, as well as rocks which looked pitted but were the result of the softer material weathering over time. Either we had approached the entrance more quietly or the Bent-wing bats had got used to us, we did not see them flying around from the end of the tunnel. But at this entrance there was a stronger smell of bat droppings.

By the time we climbed back to the carpark, we were ready for some lunch that the Cooyar Pub was going to provide for us. At the Pub we were joined by Neil and Helen McKilligan, and the level of noise in our section of the dining room was ample evidence that members had a lot to talk about.

Piccabeen palms (photo: D. Johnstone)

After lunch we drove out of Cooyar to the Palms National Park, which is a tiny patch of remnant rainforest, full of tall piccabeen palms. Before the walk, Glenda Walter showed us photographs of the many fungi she had seen in the Park during a wet period. She warned us not to expect the same during this very dry period.

Small groups of members did the 650-metre circuit walk which led us past a waterlogged depression where the palms ruled. Along the track there was a magnificent 300-year old Grey Gum and some Bunya pines towering above all others. A noticeable feature that afternoon was the lack of bird sounds or any other form of wildlife. It seemed that ‘the dry’ might have affected the birds (or perhaps we were there at the wrong hour). On our return, Jan Veacock informed us that in November 1955, the Field Nats had reported sighting 52 birds, but on another trip in June 2004, only nine were sighted. Our trip was in early August and we saw very few birds also – six (see the list below): perhaps that should remain as our explanation!

After the walk people began to disperse, some making their way home immediately, others sat around at the Park for another cup of tea before departing for home. A very full and varied day it was, all thanks to Diane Pagel, Dougal Johnston, Jan Veacock and Glenda Walter.

(Report by Francis Mangubhai, with assistance from Dougal Johnston) 

Bird Lists compiled by Francis Mangubhai

Muntapa Tunnel: Fantail Cuckoo (heard), Noisy Miner, Rufous Whistler (heard), Striated Pardalote (heard), Magpie

The Palms National Park: Bar-shouldered Dove (heard), Lewin’s Honeyeater, Kookaburra, Yellow Robin, Pied Butcherbird, Thornbill.