REPORT ON MARCH SPEAKER’S PRESENTATION ON Kilcowera Station

Outback Australia is a wondrous place: the air is coloured by flocks of budgerigars and Major Mitchell Cocka-toos and Bourke’s and Mulga parrots and other birds living off an arid red land. In addition there are those remarkable station owners who run cattle on such places as Kilcowera Station, in the south west corner of Queensland. This region was first settled by white people in 1861. One can only wonder as to why anyone would want to settle so far from the coast and set up a cattle or sheep station on arid land sparsely covered by Mulga and gibber rock. ‘Kilcowera’ is a working cattle station but also caters for naturalists and tourists. The brochure of Greg and Toni Sherwin says that ‘Kilcowera’, (on the Thargomindah-Hungerford Road) ‘is conveniently situated for day trips to nearby attractions’. Of course, Thargomindah is about 880 kilometres from Toowoomba and Kilcowera is a further 90 kilometres south! Once you do get to Kilcowera you are on the edge of Lake Wyara which is part of Currawinya National Park. The Lake is the second largest breeding place for pelicans (after Lake Eyre), swans, ducks and terns. Far from being waterless, there are fresh water swamps, lagoons and water holes for ibis, spoonbills, dotterels and avocets.

Eremophila longifolia

Eremophila duttonii

John and Ruth Walter treated us to a pictorial visit to Kilcowera with an emphasis on the fauna and flora. The group, from the Queensland Naturalist Club, found a region populated by red and grey kangaroo, wallaroo, and emu down to the smaller reptiles such as shingleback lizard, bearded dragon and Gould’s sand goanna with the sightings of Brown Falcon, Spotted Bowerbird, Crimson Chat, amongst many other Western Queensland species. Mulga is the dominant vegetation but the variety of Eremophilas is the great attraction for botanists and the flowers follow good rainfall. (Kilcowera received 43mm just before their trip.) 

Eremophila bowmanii

Fifteen species of Eremo-phila (endemic to Australia) are found on Kilcowera and Currawinya NP and I am indebted to the Walters for pointing out the difference between the two types of Eremophila: those that are insect-pollinated have coloured spots to guide the insects to the pollen; and those that are bird-pollinated have a split corolla and a long flexible pedicel to allow access by the long beaks of the honeyeaters. At the time of the trip, E. Sturtii was the dominant flower with E. Bowmanii not far behind. E Maculata (native fuchsia or spotted emu bush) is the most wide-spread of the Genus though it is not found in Currawinya; E maculata is poisonous to stock and is known to contain a cyanide producing glycoside. Stock will eat it when they are starved of other vegetation. Other eremophila seen were E. duttonii, E gilesii, E. glabra ssp glabra, E. latrobei, E. longifolia, E. oppositifolia, and E. mitchellii. As a gardener who has tried many times to grow eremophila, I am always amazed at how they grow so well in the most isolated spots of Queensland, on poor soil and with very little rainfall, when I can give them rich soil and plenty of water. Of course, they prefer the acid soil, the hot dry air and the gibber which no suburban garden can supply. After such an interesting talk by Ruth and John, I think that Kilcowera should be on everyone’s list of ‘must see’ places. Our thanks go to the Walters for spending time to put together such an interesting presentation. 

Eremophila latrobeii

White-browed Woodswallow

Central Australian  Shingleback

(Report by Linda Mangubhai

All photos by John Walter)

Banding birds and the information they provide

In January this year I photographed a Pied Oyster Catcher on the mud flats at Point O'Halloran, Victoria Point. I realised the bird had a Yellow Leg Flag and with the help of my photo was able to work out the number(#R8). I e-mailed the Australian Bird and Banding Scheme in Canberra at the following e-mail address: abbbs@environment.gov.au. They were unable to identify the bird but had enough information to contact the bander, Roger Standon. He is a member of AWSG (Australasian Wader Studies Group) which is a special-interest group of Bird Life Australia. He was able to tell me that the bird had been banded of Mann's Beach, Corner Inlet, Wilson's Promontory on 26/06/2005. The estimated age of the bird at that time was 3+.

A little bit of information from the following web site gives some interesting background about Bird Flagging.

http://www.awsg.org.au/flagging.php

The program of flagging waders has revolutionised wader migration studies. The flag is a small coloured plastic band with a tab on the end. Unlike with banding, the bird does not have to be caught to find out in which region it has been banded. The program started in Australia in 1990. A flagging protocol has been developed for the Flyway, which enables any country, or in some cases regions within a country, to join the scheme. At present Australia (5 locations), New Zealand (North and South Island), Japan (3 locations), South Korea, China (Hong Kong, Yellow Sea and Shanghai) and Taiwan are colour flagging birds. 

Jean Gundry (Member of Toowoomba Field Naturalists Club)

TFNC Outing Report February to Crows Nest Area

Over 20 members and their guests gathered for afternoon tea at Bullocky’s Rest in Crows Nest. In true Field Nats tradition flasks of hot drinks and tasty eats were set out and shared under an amazing gnarled old Ango-phora tree beside the lily covered water-hole. This broad-leafed Apple Gum (Angophora woodsiana – smudgy apple) is possibly the source of the name Crows Nest, as it is believed to be the tree, in which a large crow's nest was located, that the bullock teams carrying timber from Blackbutt to Toowoomba would camp under overnight.

Elaine Greenword explaining what trees and plants they had planted

From here we all moved over to the property of Elaine and Alan Greenwood, just on the edge of town, and our number swelled to about 25. The Greenwoods, retired teachers, bought the 4.7 acre property in 2004, when it was literally smothered in head high weeds. It was only some months later, after some heavy clearing that they realised that Bald Hills Creek ran along their bottom boundary. When they eventually unearthed some of the original historical documents from 1890, traces of several small outbuildings were identified, together with a deposit of white clay and the remnants of a brick kiln.

As true environmentalists, Elaine and Alan have raised their tree count from about 10 to nearly 300 at the present time, with the project still ongoing. The floods of the last decade caused considerable damage to the creek and the property, but thankfully not the residence, and the well planned plantings are reducing that risk. Their property encompasses the old picnic grounds and swimming hole, and they have planted masses of lomandra to stabilize the banks and protect the pardalote nesting holes.

When the group retired to The Old Crow Hotel our numbers swelled to 28, and we enjoyed a very convivial meal before moving on to a forest reserve area adjacent to Rocky Dip. A neighbour, Mark Kanuski, who keeps a watchful eye on the community dip, was obviously quite perturbed at the arrival of our long convoy of cars at dead of night but our guide for the evening, Rick Galbraith, was able to reassure him of our bona fides.

After Rick’s 'show and tell' of some Blue clawed yabbies (Cherax destructor) caught in the dam on his property, he led our group off along the wide clear track into the forest, and the highlight (literally) of the evening began. Three or four spotlights explored the whole environment around us, to catch the eye-shine of any nocturnal fauna that might be about. We had a few false alarms that turned out to be stars glimpsed through the foliage, but enjoyed several spottings of Brush tail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), and were very lucky to find a lone Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). We did not concentrate solely on the canopy, and also found lovely specimens of Blue-eyed lacewing (Nymphes myrmeleonides), Crab spider (Thomisidae), and a Striped marsh frog (Limnodynastes peronii).

When Rick proposed taking us through a patch of very thick undergrowth to find a different trail several of the party, myself included, decided discretion was the better part of valour and retired to our vehicles. But those who braved the overgrown path did see some gliders, both the sugar glider and the greater glider. And on return to the car park, the tail-enders reported seeing a water dragon. 

                                                     Shirley Cormack

Bird List:

At Bullocky’s Rest: Buff-banded Rail, Australian Wood Duck 

At Alan & Elaine Greenwood’s place, 2 Showground Terrace, Crows Nest: Superb Fairy-wren, Crested Pigeon, Sacred Kingfisher, Figbird, Eastern Swamp Hen, Noisy Miner, Laughing Kookaburra, Black Suck, Masked Lapwing, Little Pied Cormorant, Rainbow Lorikeet, Galah, Little Black Cormorant, Dusky Moorhen (immature), Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Magpie Lark, Torresian Crow.

Note from the Editor of Toowoomba Field Naturalists Club Newsletter (Barbara Weller): Another explanations for the name Crows Nest is outlined below. 

The plaque beneath the statue of Jimmy Crow on the Village Green explains the town's name: "In the early days when teamsters visited this area Jimmy Crow, an Aboriginal named by early settlers, used a hollow tree as his gunyah. He was relied on for information and directions. This place was used as a camping place by teamsters and travellers and became known as Jimmy Crow's Nest hence the name 'Crows Nest'."                                           

(Source - http://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/crows-nest-qld)

Outings Report: December to Wildlife Rescue, Rehabilitation & Education Association

Before going to Murphy’s Creek Tavern for the Field Nats Christmas Party, we visited the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre for an educational talk by Trish LeeHong, who runs this Centre. It is a few kilometres off Murphy’s Creek Road, along Stevens Road, and is a haven in more sense than one.

Trish currently has 85 animals in her care. She aims to rehabilitate them into their natural environment. To this end, she does not give them names, does not talk to the animals and has them on diets special to that species.

She brought out a feeding bottle for an 18 month old kangaroo and as soon as she stepped into the enclosure the kangaroo came to her and raising itself on its hind legs began to suck on the bottle. As she was feeding it she talked about some of the animals that were there. They included:

1.  A 12 year kangaroo that had been kept by someone in a small enclosure with the result it had not developed its leg muscles to be able to bound about in more open spaces. It was being rehabilitated.
2. A whip-tailed wallaby which was given its bottle of milk by one of the Field Nats members, Trish Gardner.
3. Quite a few black-striped wallabies who were very good at hiding under a bush. When they ran, their pattern of running was distinguished by the fact that they held their front paws spread out, and not close to their body. One of these wallabies was fed by another Field Nats member, Barbara Weller. One of these wallabies had lost one-third of its tail in an accident.
4.  There were a number of birds at the Centre also, many juveniles who had to be fed: a nankeen kestrel, two crows, a currawong, a number of tawny frogmouths who had a meal of mice, each packet of mice costing $10. A kookaburra, rather shy because of the crowd, had come to the Centre when it was only three days old.






5. In another enclosure there were two koalas, a mother, which had come to the Centre with a fractured pelvis, and a baby. Trish had to collect branches of eucalyptus trees, from as far away as Cooby Dam, for these two koalas. Koalas only eat the top young leaves from specific eucalypts so Trish has planted a Koala food plantation 

Whip tailed wallaby fed by Trish Gardner

In the short break for morning tea, most of the Field Nats who were at the Centre became members of the Centre. This would assist Trish to acquire Charity status and would enable her to apply for Government grants.

After the break, we were shown a shingleback lizard before Trish entered an enclosure to feed the echidnas with their specially formulated milk with over 30% fat content. Initially one echidna came out and gave us a very good view of how its long tongue was used to drink the milk. It was soon joined by another two. Trish also showed us two puggles (very young echidnas), so young that they lacked spines.

Holding up puggles

By now, it was time for the Field Nats to go to the Tavern. So the President, Linda Mangubhai, thanked Trish LeeHong for giving us a very good idea of the work she did at the Centre and for showing us the various animals in her care. She presented her with the Club mug and told her that a cheque for $75 would be sent to the Centre.  Our group hopes to return in the New Year to see the rest of the Centre.

(Report and photos by Francis Mangubhai)