THE LAUNCESTON NATURALIST Volume LIV No.1 October/November 2020 The aim of the Launceston Field Naturalists Club is to encourage the study of all aspects of natural history and to support the conservation of our natural heritage Patron : Prof. Nigel Forteath President : Mrs Prue Wright, 0438 410 192 Hon. Secretary : Ms Bernadette Willey, 0487 755 085 Hon. Treasurer : Mrs Karen Manning, 0419 596 261 Meetings 1st Tuesday of month, Feb-Dec at Scotch-Oakburn College, Senior Campus, Penquite Rd Newstead Program: December Tuesday 1 Club night - The Year That Was, a mad quiz, photographs and Christmas supper Sunday 6 Skemps Day - Members Christmas get-together January Saturday 16 Field Trip – Great Lake area led by Jeff Campbell, more details page 13 February Tuesday 2 Meeting – Guest speaker to be confirmed For further program details visit https://www.lfnc.org.au/meetings.htm 1 Vale Elizabeth Montgomery Members were saddened to learn of the passing of life member Elizabeth Montgomery on November 16. Elizabeth was a very active member of the Club, serving as a General Committee Member from 1991-93, 2004-05 and 2011-12; Vice President from 1994-96 and 2006-10; President from 1997-2000; Public Relations Committee from 1997-2000 and Honorary Secretary in 2003, and was instrumental in obtaining many grants. As President and a member of the Executive and Committees, Elizabeth had been a motivating and guiding force in promoting the Club’s public image and advancing public relations. In working towards the development of Skemps as a recognised place for gaining knowledge and appreciating natural history, she was a key operator in shaping its future as envisaged by the late John Skemp. Elizabeth was granted Life Membership in 2001 for outstanding services to the Club, working tirelessly on behalf of the Club for long hours to achieve broadened activities and community involvement. One successful programme was to involve school students with the activities of the Club. This included a group from Scotch Oakburn School adopting a patch at Skemps and planting trees and shrubs, which are now fully grown. As one of the hard working members of the Public Relations Committee a lot was achieved towards promoting the Club and increasing membership. This was through the preparation, printing and distribution of brochures, membership information and the organisation and running of open days, mini-markets and social events. Her friendly outgoing manner made everyone welcome at these Club events. Condolences to her extended family. Elizabeth pictured with members at the Club’s Civic Reception in 2009 celebrating 60 years (Image K Manning) New Members We would like to welcome Claire McGrath, Sirja Salminen, Simon and Isabella Webb to the Club and look forward to them attending our meetings, field trips and Skemps days. 2 Membership Renewals A friendly reminder that membership for 2020/2021 financial year are now due and payable by 31 December 2020. Family membership - Two adults with any children under 18 years, subscription is $55.00 Single membership - An adult or student over 18 years, subscription is $35.00 Junior membership - A student under 18 years and not a member of a family group, subscription is $5.00 Payments can be made by direct deposit to the Club's bank account at the Bank of Us. Account Name: Launceston Field Naturalists Club Inc. Trust Acc. BSB: 632001 Account No: 100021969 Reference: Please use your last name to identify your payment Cheque payments can be mailed to the Club at: P.O. Box 1072, Launceston 7250. We are aware that members change their contact details, including address, home phone, mobile and email. If you have changed your contact details in the last 12 months it would be appreciated if you could email [email protected] or mail the new information so your membership details can be updated. A Guide to Flowers & Plants of Tasmania (5th Edn) The Club’s Treasurer has copies of this guide that would make a great last minute Christmas gift or a purchase for yourself. The Guide sells for $25 each, please contact Karen if you are interested in purchasing a copy, telephone 63442277. Skemps Report, October-November 2020 A small group had a meeting with Glenn Gregg from WorkSafe Tasmania to assess the Field Centre for safety and to check that our work practices were appropriate. He was happy with our emergency signs and the general layout of the property, though we need a child proof surround for Big Bertha and a couple of the older ladders were very much sub-standard and have to go and he made a few other minor suggestions in his report. A major task has been to better sign all the nature trails, refreshing the paint on old markers and adding new ones where appropriate and this task is on-going. Roy started to redo Trail 15 from the Bottom Falls to Targa Hill Road, rerouting it through the forested areas. This has meant levelling parts of it as well as adding steps with most of this work being done by Roy and Matthew. Roy and I re-marked the East and Bedfordia Nature Trails and stated work on levelling the East Trail. We also looked at access to the lower area of the Top Falls 3 as this would be the only place for a decent view and to photograph it. The only practical way in may be walking along the creek from just above the Bottom Falls as all other approaches seem to be very steep and even this way in is going to be a big task to complete. Last week Bernadette did the first mowing for this season and although I regularly put the mower on the charger it is proving difficult to start and the battery has been replaced. Other volunteers have moved fire wood to the Centre, dropped spars which may be an issue in the future and turned them into much needed fire wood, including moving, splitting and stacking. Rob has contributed his impressive chainsaw and splitting skills to these jobs ably assisted by Jeff. As I was a bit late spraying Foxglove at the east end of the property, Roy and I went there and took the flower and seed heads off in case they can produce viable seeds. Our Wollemi Pine broke off at the base and thanks to Jeff we have a new one to replace it. My suggestion for placing it close to the Centre as a once a year Christmas tree was ignored and the new tree is in a more protected area just beyond where the old one was. It also has a double lot of guards, an outer people deterring one and an inner wallaby proof one. There have been many small repairs done over the last two months and one major item. The hot water tap at the kitchen sink was leaking into the cupboard below and our first effort at repairs wasn’t completely successful. The next week we finally got it right and the leak stopped. Former volunteer Grant has returned to help out as long as we do not commit him to specific hours. Welcome back Grant. Noel Manning Image: Simon Lucas Meeting Tuesday 6 October – Guest Speakers Mick and Helen Statham – Volunteering on Deal Island Roy introduced Mick and Helen Statham who were talking about their latest trip to Deal Island, part of the Kent Group of islands, for a volunteer working bee. These work trips are for weeding or maintenance on infrastructure and buildings. Helen started by telling us that it is a remote place about half way between Wilson’s Promontory and Flinders Island. Access is by boat from Flinders Island or Victoria and they went there by charter boat from Whitemark on Flinders. Helen compared Deal Island to Melaleuca, where they also regularly volunteer, telling us that Melaleuca has regular flights, a walking track and many boats compared to the infrequent boat visits to Deal Island. While Deal is visited regularly by yachts during the yachting season and there are one or two volunteer groups each year, the two volunteer light house keepers are alone the rest of the time. Having taken most of their supplies they are re-provisioned once over the three month stay. A sheltered vegie garden with protective netting also provides food for the volunteers. Inclement weather can delay getting there and returning home. Mick first mentioned the Hogan Group of islands, to the north west of Deal Island, the most northern part of Tasmania. Both the Hogan and Kent Groups are national parks and along with Flinders form part of the granite belt extending from Wilson’s Promontory to the east coast of 4 Tasmania. The Kent Group was named by Matthew Flinders after a friend and captain, and the individual islands were named after towns in Kent, England. There is evidence of aboriginal habitation on Erith Island no later than 10,500 years ago when it became an island as the sea rose after the last ice age. Within 30 years of discovery there was a large sealing industry there and the first permanent European occupation came with the construction of the convict built light house in 1848, funded by the Victorian, New South Wales and Tasmanian governments even though we were not a federation. This light house, built out of local granite, was Australia’s first offshore island lighthouse and the highest above sea level in the Southern Hemisphere, which proved an issue as the island is shrouded in mist 40% of the time. It could only be seen from Wilson’s Promontory six days out of ten.