The newsletter of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland Fraser Coast Branch

THIS ISSUE:

Presidential Ponderings Branch activity reports Upcoming events In the News Nature Watch

Featuring New Opportunities for Citizen Scientists

WINTER 2019

Wambaliman since 1967 In the language of the Butchulla people, who are custodians of land that includes the Fraser Coast, ‘wambaliman’ means ‘to carry’, and refers to the messages that the Newsletter is communicating.

 Editor's Note

There are some really interesting events coming up for wildlifers. WILDLIFE PRESERVATION It has been a long tradition of Wildlife Queensland SOCIETY OF QUEENSLAND to have “Branches Get-Togethers”. They are held known informally as annually if possible. They provide an opportunity for the Branches within a region to showcase their WILDLIFE QUEENSLAND area, meet like minded people, share ideas and make joint recommendations to Head Office FRASER COAST BRANCH about issues. Our Branch participates in the Cen- PO Box 7396 Urangan, 4655 tral Branches Get-Together. The recent gather- ings have been at Mon Repos in 2014 (hosted by President: Branch), Sara Gerdsen’s place on the Vanessa Elwell-Gavins Burrum River in 2015 (hosted by Fraser Coast Branch) and Safe Haven at Mount Larcom in 0428 624 366 2017 (hosted by Capricornia Branch). This year Vice President: the Upper Dawson Branch is inviting us to Theo- dore on 27-28-29th September 2019. Although John Williams 0428 980 019 the program allows for three nights participants can attend for any time. You need to make your Secretary: own accommodation arrangements - the Branch Bruce Dick 41248142 has a list of options (cabins and camping). I have attended the last three Get-Togethers and I give Treasurer: the event a very high recommendation! Jenni Watts 0481 289 521

Tiaro Field Day sounds wonderful as usual and Executive member: Christel's talk at the library will be a must for us Terry Csonka gardeners and bush regenerators. Can these plants be grown for us and wildlife without harm- Facebook ing the environment or are we in fact introducing Peter Duck 0432 250 213 more weeds? And don’t forget to support our Council’s National Tree Day planting at Pioneer Webpage Park, Maryborough, on Sunday 28 July. Head Office Information on these events is on pages 3 & 6 - 8. Newsletter WAMBALIMAN Jenni Publisher: WPSQ Fraser Coast Don’t forget to LIKE us on Editor: Jenni Watts Facebook @WPSQFraserCoast Production: Jenni Watts and Proofreading: Check out our webpage Andrea Van Kampen http://frasercoast.wildlife.org.au Mailing: Jackie Henrion

Wambaliman WINTER 2019 2 NOTICE BOARD Branch meetings Contents WINTER 2019 Usually held 3rd Sunday of the month 2:00pm Halcro St Community Centre, Presidential Ponderings 4  Sunday 21 July - speaker meeting MEET THE COUNCIL’S LAND FOR Quarterly Branch Activity Report 6 WILDLIFE OFFICER - SKOTT STATT Upcoming Events 8 Sunday 18 August - discussion meeting Unique Mary River mangrove 11 Sunday 15 September - AGM

Nature Walk reports 14 Wildlife Talks in the Library Nature Watch 18 Third Friday of month— Hervey Bay Community Panel 19 19 July - Food forest in the Environment 16 August - Wildlife Rescue and Care Articles 20 September - Interesting Insects

Last Friday of the month—Maryborough. New Opportunities for Citizen 12 Scientists 26 July - Mary River testing 30 August - Wildlife Rescue and Care 27 September - Interesting Insects Wambaliman e-copy in colour Nature Walks hardcopy in black and white Saturday 3 August Wongi State Forest Let us know if you only want an e-copy Contact Peter 0432250213 otherwise members are sent a hardcopy. Wednesday 28 August Point Vernon - Dundowran Contributions for Wambaliman Contact Jenni 0481289521 Saturday 7 September We welcome contributions from WPSQ Tinnanbar (Wildflowers) members and supporters. Articles can Contact Vanessa 0428624366 take the form of reports, observations of Saturday 5 October nature, anecdotes, quotes, humour etc. Vernon Conservation Park Send contributions to: Contact Peter 0432250213 [email protected] or post to Tiaro Field Day Saturday 20 July The Editor, Wambaliman PO Box 7396 URANGAN 4655 National Tree Day Sunday 28 July Submissions for the next issue are due by Friday 4 October 2019 Central Branches Get-Together

Opinions expressed in Wambaliman are not neces- 27-28-29 September sarily those endorsed by the Wildlife Preservation Society Queensland, Fraser Coast Branch unless More information on these events on specifically attributed to them. pages 6,7 and 8 3 Presidential Ponderings with Vanessa Elwell-Gavins

I am grateful to Frank Ekin for drawing my atten- tion to an excellent article in The Conversation on 12 June by academics from the University of Tasmania. Chloe Lucas and her colleagues state that Not everyone cares about climate change, but reproach won't change their minds.

This is relevant not just to climate change but also to wildlife preservation, environmental pro- tection, and other issues challenging our Branch, including development, land use change, land clearing, management of feral animals and plants, protection of threatened species...

It is easy to become despondent when our views fall on deaf ears. In our 'post- truth world', experts seem to be a threatened species, fighting for survival in a hostile environment. 'Populism' rules, and people seem happy to get their infor- mation and ideas from poorly informed and/or ideologically driven sources. I guess we all want our views reflected back at us. Social media and the shock jocks have a lot to answer for!

A further seemingly insurmountable challenge is that none of us have endless time and energy to devote to all the important issues that are aligned with our values and that clamour for attention. This is where your membership of our Branch is invaluable, to give moral and physical support (thank you!). Knowing we have a group of like-minded people in our community gives me greater hope and that little bit more energy.

Lucas and her colleagues present a set of useful principles in their article. They are worth sharing. They are generalisable to any issue where people have po- larised opinions or different priorities.i

Respect difference. Don’t assume that being unconcerned about climate change (or other environmental issues) is a moral failing. People have other ac- tive concerns that are no less valid. To put it another way, Be respectful in any disagreement with others. Tackle the issue, but never attack the person.

Listen. Build relationships with people who have different life experiences from your own. Ask what is important to them. Appreciate that some people may find social change, job insecurity or snakes in their garden more threatening and im- mediate than climate change or decline of our wildlife. Empathy can foster under- standing of the core concerns that underpin resistance to change, and help iden- tify ways to address them. continued next page Wambaliman WINTER 2019 4 Presidential pondering cont…….

Value 'values'. Avoid arguments based on appeals to the authority of science, or the consensus of expert opinion. “Debating the science” is a red herring. Peo- ple’s responses to claims about climate change or habitat loss are motivated pri- marily by what they value, and the narratives of their social group, not their ac- ceptance of scientific fact. Focus on values you might have in common, rather than getting caught up in disputes over facts.

Move beyond Left and Right. Don’t conflate political ideology with stance on climate or wildlife preservation. Showing that climate and the environment are not defining issues for social groups is important to avoid polarisation and get good decisions.

Food for thought? Vanessa iThese dot points are quoted direct from the article, with minor additions and changes.

This year's recipient of our annual USC student prize was Leanne Berghuis. Vanessa presented her with the award at the University's graduation ceremony.

Branch logo and shirt options

The original colour and design chosen was a “Bizcool”– all acrylic – Wasabi coloured polo $24 and an extra $6 if you want a pocket . (from Morgans)

Cotton (65%) blend shirt in apple green. The branch has 3 to sell with logo 2 x Large (Mens) and 1x size 14 (Ladies) $28.50

A “Claremont” 95% cotton shirt in apple green is available from BullAnt Designs in Pialba - $30 with the logo.

You can get the logo on any shirt for $9.50 at Morgans Sewing and Embroidery Centre, Pialba. 5 Quarterly Branch Activity Report 7 April - 5 July 2019

Rosanne Coutts (6th from left) with members of the branch met informally at ESA Park and gathered around the plaque and the tree planted a few years ago in honour of her mother Joan who was president of our branch for 18 years.

Walks, talks, workshops and May 17 - Snakes talk was cancelled other events and a video from the library was shown June 21 - Possums and gliders with Nature walks speaker Lee Carter

·  Sunday 5 May - Melaleuca Circuit -  Maryborough Library Woodgate Section of Burrum Coast April 26 - Mary River Turtle - with National Park was a new walk for our speaker Marilyn Connell group May 31 - Marine animals talk cancelled  Saturday 1 June - St Mary State For- and a video from the library was shown est west of Tiaro, a leisurely triangular June 28 - Possums and gliders with 'circuit' walk of about 12 km speaker Lee Carter  Saturday 6 July - Walk in The Wild on John Williams’ private property (the  On 2 May the USC 2019 Wildlife Prize planned climb of Mt Walsh was deemed was presented at the University's grad- uation ceremony unsuitable for a nature walk by our mostly mature group of leisure walkers)  We held a social gathering on 14 June at ESA Park to meet with Rosanne Wildlife Talks in the Library Coutts, daughter of the late Joan  Hervey Bay Library Coutts, former Branch president & pa- April 12 - Alan Logan spoke on the tron who has generously given the ecology of Mount Walsh Branch a bequest Wambaliman WINTER 2019 6 Quarterly Branch Activity Report continued

Meetings articles continued in The Independent and Heritage Herald:  General meetings were held on -Timely for Easter Diane Christensen Sunday 19 May and 16 June advocated to choose a bilby over a  An Executive meeting on 19 April bunny this Easter.

-Frank Ekin wrote that mature healthy Working Groups, Advisory trees give shelter from the sun for na- Groups and other groups tive animals as well for humans to enjoy

 The Urban Development and Change -Glenda Pitman made us aware of the of Land Use working group had their living fossil called lungfish that inhabits first meeting on 25 April and on 1 May the Mary River met with five council staff to discuss  A brochure of Wildlife Talks in the Li- concerns brary July-November 2019 was produced.  17 June schools team: Pialba State  The Branch brochure was updated School - flying foxes  Vanessa gave a presentation to 40  Environmental Advisory Group (EAG): members of the Hervey Bay (women’s) Vanessa represented the branch as VIEW Club on 4 July Peter Duck’s proxy  Letter to Council regarding unfettered development - rapid loss of native vegeta-  Sara and Vanessa have been liaising tion in from land with Upper Dawson Branch, which has clearing for development offered to host the 2019 Central Branches Get-Together. This will be Fund-raising held in Theodore on the weekend 27- 29 September.  Bunnings Sausage Sizzle held on Thursday 23 May. We raised about $300. Communications · Submissions  Wambaliman Autumn 2019 issue was released in April  On behalf of our Branch, Vanessa made  Peter Duck has maintained the Face- a submission to the QLD Government for book page the Review of Environmental Offsets Framework which was due mid April 2019 The webpage is currently under a re- vamp from Head Office. Our Branch no My apologies for any inaccuracies or longer has an active Blog. omissions.

The monthly series of Wildlife Matters Terry Csonka

Welcome to new members Wildlife Matters (Maryborough Herald & The Independent) Alston Family Submit an article to our editorial team for Lesley Bradley information contact Vanessa Justin Burnham [email protected]

7 Upcoming Events

Come for one, two or three nights! Central Branches for a Get-Together THEODORE 27-28-29th September 2019

An invitation to the Fraser Coast, Capricornia and Upper Dawson members.

Upper Dawson Branch invites you to the 2019 WPSQ Central Branches Get-Together to be held at Theodore on the weekend of 27-29 September.

PROPOSED ITINERARY

Friday 27th afternoon – arrive by 4pm in Theodore to set up camp / settle into accommodation. Meet with Upper Dawson members. Self cater.

Saturday 28th– Depart 8am for tag-along guided excursion through rich agricul- tural farming and grazing country within the Dawson Valley. Sites along the way include Flagstaff paved road, Glenmoral Gorge, palm fringed Delusion Crossing over the Dawson River and magnificent bottle trees. Morning tea provided. Lunch at the Isla Gorge National Park (self cater). Return to Theodore by 4pm.

Saturday evening – Dinner provided by Upper Dawson members followed by guest speaker.

Sunday 29th morning – Gather at 8am for Central Branches exchange of re- ports. Morning tea provided, followed by Central Branches meeting and lunch (self cater.) For those wishing to stay two nights – depart for home after lunch.

Sunday 29th afternoon - guided tour around local sites to include Malakoff Range and Lonesome Creek. Evening meal (self cater.)

Numbers required by 24 August for catering & venue for meetings.

Fraser Coast Branch has more information about the event and accommodation options - email Vanessa

For further information from the organisers. Melanie Simmons 4627 8416 [email protected] or [email protected] Or Ann Hobson, secretary Upper Dawson Branch 0427 504 560

Wambaliman WINTER 2019 8 Upcoming Events

Natural sequence farming, gardening, native wildlife, celebrity chef & the resourceful cook at Tiaro Field Day

We are very excited to announce that celebrity chef Matt Golinski will be run- ning two cooking demonstrations at this year’s Field day. Matt is a highly re- garded, professional chef with a pas- sion for creating dishes with fresh, sea- sonal and local ingredients. He loves creating original recipes that help pro- mote local products. Recently he was appointed as the Gympie Region Food and Culinary Tourism Ambassador. An added bonus, cooking with native bush foods specialist Zela Bissett, will show quick and easy ways to use Bunya nuts, lemon myrtle and other ingredi- ents. Free tastings will be available at reducing losses of water and matter Zela’s cooking exhibition. and improving landscape function.

Tom Wyatt, the ABC Garden talkback Free testing of dam, creek and bore guru will share his gardening tips and water will be offered by the Mary River help solve garden problems. Not to be Catchment Co-ordinating team. They missed is Geckoes Wildlife display and request all samples be in a clean 1 L or presentation. Everyone will have the 500ml bottle. chance to get up close and personal to Parking has been extended this year to a host of amazing Australian animals include the Tiaro State School. A free including turtles, possums, owls and shuttle bus will run regularly between much more. the school and the Field Day. Regeneration farming is a buzz word The Tiaro Field Day Facebook page is that describes numerous farming meth- regularly updated with news, photos ods. One of those methods is natural and other information. sequence farming, which featured on ABC Landline and Australian Story and We are looking forward to another fan- made popular by Peter Andrews. His tastic Field Day in Tiaro and would son Stuart, who has a property just greatly appreciate your help in promot- south of Gympie, will be running a ing this event to your neighbours, workshop on landscape rehydration friends and family. using natural sequence farming. He’ll Marilyn Connell discuss how to read the landscape, Project Leader, utilising your farm’s natural resources, Tiaro Landcare 9 Upcoming Events

Are subtropical community gardens and food forests a threat to the environment?

Library Talk Christel Schrank has a background in agricul- Friday 19 July 12:00pm ture and natural resource management. Since retiring she has been sharing her knowledge of edible plants by establishing the River Heads Food Forest next to the community hall. It re- cently rated a mention on the “Edible Eden” website https://edibleeden.com.au/river-heads- food-forest/. The River Heads garden is flourish- ing and after five years Christel is able to sit back and assess the environmental as well as the culinary impacts these plants have. The garden is part of the FCRC CEP program. The talk in the Hervey Bay Library is organised by our Branch and the Library.

National Tree Day Sunday 28 July

FCRC’s official community tree day event for this year will be at Pioneer Park, Maryborough expanding on the area planted on National Tree Day 2015. For further details and to register go to https://treeday.planetark.org/ 

Beach - Mudflats - Forest Walk Wednesday 28 August 12:30 pm

This walk will take you from Parraweena Park at Point Vernon, across the mudflats and Eli Creek to the Dundowran beach and into the vineforest. Be prepared to get wet feet and allow 3 hours. This walk replaces the Branch’s February nature walk which was cancelled due to uncertain TC Uma weather.

Wildlife Matters For articles on wildlife matters by various authors, check out our monthly column in the (Hervey Bay) Independent and (Maryborough) Herald. Wambaliman WINTER 2019 10 In the news…. Unique Mary River Mangrove Recently, the ABC published an article on a very old mangrove tree on the Tit- marsh family property Tandora, north of Maryborough (https://www.abc.net.au/ news/2019-06-11/carbon-dating-reveals-mangrove-to-be-more-than-700-years- old/11193386). Lindsay Titmarsh, grazier and conservationist, sourced a sample from inside of the hollow base of a large Grey Mangrove tree Avicennia marina growing on the banks of the Mary River. The sample was sent to the New Zea- land University of Waikato Radiocarbon Dating laboratory, and the carbon dating estimated the mangrove tree to be 738 +/- 65 years old. Professor Norman Duke, a mangrove ecologist said, “Grey Mangrove is a common mangrove found all over the coastal mainland and was thought to live for between 100-200 years. This mangrove is the oldest known mangrove in Australia.” Another special gem on the Fraser Coast.. Richard Haywood

the old… Fraser Coast Branch held its 2012 AGM at Tandora. Here Lindsay (centre) shows Tony and Bill the 700 year old mangrove.

the new… Grey Mangrove seedling

the middle aged… Grey Mangrove tree at Point Vernon

The recent UN report on the global extinction crisis is the "most comprehensive assessment of its kind'. According to the report nature's decline is dangerous and unprecedented and the extinction rate of species is accelerating. Here is the link for you if you would like to check it out a bit more...

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline- unprecedented-report 11 New Opportunities for Citizen Scientists

Anyone with a computer, tablet or smart phone can now participate in documenting the world's precious biodiversity. Software programs are becoming more pest species and has gathered over user-friendly and include specialist 130,000 records in Australia. TurtleSAT apps for certain groups of wildlife as maps the locations of freshwater turtles well as apps which cover all living across Australia and has close to 8,000 things. Most accept digital photos as records. evidence of observations and some also accept digital sound recordings. The prevalence and power of mobile phone technology enables us to make The most successful apps facilitate col- observations quickly when out in the laboration, are easy to use, visually field with the phone itself able to take attractive and focussed on the user. care of providing accurate location de- Volunteer data gatherers and identifiers tails in time and space. can use the apps to record and store their own observations, share them with When deciding which platform to use it others and explore sightings for learn- is important to consider the fact that ing purposes. Scientists, educators and you may end up devoting considerable researchers get access to a vast time to recording and identifying things. amount of new information to assist In return for your input you should be with updating and monitoring species receiving the features and services that numbers, distribution and migration. you need. For instance you should be able to easily access, enter, edit and Bird enthusiasts have eBird which al- delete your own data. You should have ready has half a billion sightings across the option of having your data automati- the world. In just one year, FrogID has cally added to an official biodiversity generated the equivalent of 13% of all hub. You should be able to easily col- frog records collected in Australia over laborate with others on the same plat- the last 240 years. FeralScan incorpo- form and obtain assistance when you rates separate apps for different animal need it. continued next page Wambaliman WINTER 2019 12 New Opportunities for Citizen Scientists cont. from previous page The imminent demise of the popular, highly usable and visually attractive BowerBird app is an unfortunate les- son. Similarly the KoalaTracker website has records of thousands of koalas from all over Australia. However it no longer provides a mapping display func- tion. Both of these projects are privately run by dedicated enthusiasts but have run into difficulties due to cost. Change is inevitable and what services are here today may not be here tomorrow.

The Atlas of Living Australia is the ulti- mate repository for biodiversity infor- mation in Australia. It is Government funded, part of a global network and holds copies of data from many institu- tions including herbaria and museums. It also accepts observations from mem- bers of the public including people here in Queensland who have no State-based Tony and Alice delight in a rare find. means of doing this. However the inter- While Alice makes notes Tony is al- face can be a challenge to users and ready recording on his smart phone! the ALA offers no assistance with iden- tification or verification. Everyone who dabbles in taking photos of wildlife or enjoys identifying things The ALA has recently announced that it should consider using iNaturalist. Apart will set up an Australian hub of the in- ternational iNaturalist platform. This will from the obvious advantages of having somewhere to store and share all your become the prime method for citizen scientists in Australia to have infor- information it has a very well-used social forum with lots of discussion mation entered into the Atlas. It is a about the natural environment and how vote of confidence for a project that to observe it. The artificial intelligence over the past 10 years has already feature which automatically offers iden- gathered 25 million observations of liv- tifications of photo subjects is evolving ing things of all kinds across the whole rapidly. In some cases it can even world. It offers users the opportunity to come up with the correct species. have their observations verified. It also Users should be aware however, that allows users to assist with identifying the sightings of others. This will improve for those of you with a keen interest in the natural world around you, iNaturalist the quality of individual observation data in the ALA and make it more useful can become addictive! to biodiversity science. Tony van Kampen 13 Nature Walk - MELALEUCA CIRCUIT

Melaleuca Circuit at Walkers Point on the north side of the Burrum River in the Woodgate Section of the Burrum Coast National Park was the delightful setting for our May nature walk. We had 28 walkers, including some wel- come new faces and a goodly number of members. After some rain the night before, the sky was crystalline and the air finally a little crisp as we gathered in the small carpark adjacent to the Burrum River. Mercifully, the clouds of mozzies that had made our reccy five weeks earlier rather a challenge had gone away, emerging only briefly in the early afternoon while we were walking out of the wind and in the shade near some mangroves.

The 12.3 km Melaleuca Circuit provides made five stops along the way: at a bird diverse ecosystems, including plenty of hide overlooking a creek and man- the threatened Casuarina glauca wood- groves, at a Rolls Royce concrete- land fringing saltmarshes and man- floored, flush-toilet block in the camp groves. There were also quite a few ground, two along the foredune over- rainforest species, lots of Weeping looking the beach, and a last one for Cabbage Palms (Livistona decora), lunch overlooking a sheltered bit of Melaleuca woodlands, mangroves and brackish lagoon. saltmarshes, and areas of marsh that For me there were two disturbing as- were probably more brackish than pects to this walk: 'salty'. It occurred to me as walk lead- 1. the proliferation of weeds since the er (and without the backing of our usual March rains, particularly near the camp experts in Tony van Kampen and Peter ground and the 4WD roads, and partic- Duck) that the walk is a really interest- ularly a couple of rapidly expanding ing study of (plant) adaptation to salty patches of the very nasty African environments, and the changes that climber, Abrus precatorius; and can be seen when salt impacts through 2. the large volume of beach driving in wind or water are increased or reduced. evidence near the camp ground, de- Our birding walkers dropped behind spite this being a national park. I guess from the beginning and were delighted it was a long week-end and the camp- to record 47 different species on the ground is clearly a popular spot. But in day, with four extras not formally rec- my view beach driving is entirely incom- orded. The campground has a resident patible with both wildlife on the beach, Lace Monitor, there was evidence of and more passive beach users, such as echidna diggings along the way and we walkers. saw a good few insects of one sort or As always, there was terrific camarade- another. rie throughout the day and there were In addition to our normal fairly dawdling some great conversations in a mostly pace to look at 'stuff' in general, we delightful setting. Vanessa Wambaliman WINTER 2019 14 Nature Walk - ST MARY STATE FOREST #1

The terrain provided lots of rocks (eat your heart out CJ!), albeit all relatively recent sedimentary ones. The sand- stone and sandy soil proved to be a melting pot of great botanical interest, where East meets West and North meets South. Unusual plants included Sage-leaved Pityrodia, at its southern- most limit, an as yet un-named and rare Samadera species, the endangered Macrozamia pauli-guilielmi (affectionately known by tongue-tied botanists as Macrozamia p-g or Wild With our nature walks program now into Pineapple), and the unusual Hibbertia its 5th year, it is great that we are still oligodonta, normally found further west, able to find a new walk, particularly and described for the first time only in such a rewarding one as the circuit we 1991. There was also a strange Lolly- undertook in St Mary State Forest #1 bush (Clerodendrum sp), with huge on Saturday 1 June. Tony van Kampen leaves. Along the ridgeline there was a had recommended this walk because of fascinating mix of vegetation communi- a potentially very interesting patch of ties all jumbled up together: rainforest rainforest nestled in the shadow of Mt species next to heathland stuff in Benarige. We never got to that rainfor- among the eucalyptus woodland, and est patch on the reccy (and therefore even some 'coastal' species like did not aim for it for the actual walk) Acronychia imperforata (Beach because there was so much else of Acronychia), and Cyclophyllum copros- interest! moides (Coast Canthium).

Numbers fluctuated quite wildly at the Our two walkers with particular interest 11th hour (it was a very cold morning!), in bird-watching had a good day, spot- but in the end 26 of us (including 13 ting some 25 species, with a further members and six new walkers) plus two heard but not seen. A grizzly find one dog set out from our meeting point was a recently dead wedge-tailed ea- on the corner of the Thinoomba-Tiaro gle, that appeared to have died acci- Rd and the National Trail. Our route dentally, having caught its head in a took us in a clockwise circuit along the deep crack in a dead tree National Trail, then onto a bush track Many thanks to Peter Duck for his in- up a rocky hill and along a ridgeline for formative commentary, despite suffer- some way, before heading back down ing from a lingering cold. to the gully through which Violet Creek flows, and thence back on reasonably Vanessa level terrain to Thinoomba Rd. 15 Nature Walk - THE WILD

Perfect lunch spot…….

The 26 walkers were fascinated by a The original walk planned for July, combination of rugged rock outcrops up the Mt. Walsh bluff, was aban- and escarpments, bountiful birdlife and doned after our reccy. It was the unusual botanical occurrences. It deemed too challenging for our seems like this small patch contains group of nature walkers. Our re- Fraser Coast’s only occurrence of the placement walk didn’t disappoint striking Turpentine tree (Syncarpia however. glomulifera), the southern limit of Witch- es Tongues (Clerodendrum longiflorum We again visited Vice President John var. glabrum), and the delightfully Williams’ property The Wild near Gun- scented purple mint bush (Prostanthera diah. The walk follows a fascinating ovalifolia) which was flowering beauti- sandstone gully to two small peaks fully. Our earnest botantists made a (both approximately 170 m above sea tardy arrival at our lunch spot having level) with views of the Fraser Coast’s timbered hinterland and prominent located the locally endemic Quassia (Samadera bidwillii) in a totally unex- mountains. We returned to the starting pected situation. This vulnerable spe- point where the National Bicentennial cies normally grows in rainforest and Trail passes through John’s property riparian locations. down a second rock-strewn gully sof- tened with stunning lichens and moss- It was a superb outing and John was es, the native hoya and some unusual the perfect host, but he is guilty of mak- orchids. The weather was much kinder ing our well entrenched greenness in- than had been forecast earlier in the tensify. It is hard not to be envious of week, with cool and mostly dry condi- his ownership of The Wild! But thanks tions making the going easier. for sharing, John. Peter Wambaliman WINTER 2019 16 Nature Walk - THE WILD

Dubbed “the quilt tree” by the more crafty of our walkers. But what is it really?

While all marvelled at the “quilt tree” I consulted with Mr Google and ventured to pass on the infor- mation that the patterning was probably due to hormonal imbalances in the tree. Quips contin- ued. “Ah so it’s female” said several. Fun aside, apparently the rippling (as it is called) is caused by changes in growth hormone over time in the tree where it relaxes, then has a growth spurt. The rippling ruins the tree for timber but can be prized by crafts people. Jenni This moss which had wrapped itself around a tree trunk was covered in spore capsules atop delicate stalks. They protruded like little arrows beyond the soft green moss leaves. These capsules contain the spores; analogous to a flowering