Dec 1, 2013
Next meeting
We are still meeting on the last Wednesday of each month, except December and January. Our next gathering at the Scrub is on Wednesday 26th February from 9-11 am. Bring smoko, chair, weeding tools, camera, binoculars for your preferred activity.
Oct 16, 2013
Catching insects
Studying involves catching, and while there
were undoubtedly plenty of insects left at the end of the day, samples of a
huge variety of them were captured, to be sorted, counted, and further studied.
The activity was put together by the
Friends of Franke Scrub, whose aim was to create a basic record of the insects
to be found there. Besides giving us our first detailed information of what
currently present, the insects were collected by scientific (therefore
repeatable) techniques, enabling comparisons to be made in the future. Insects
were trapped on the Scrub edges, under its canopy, and in and around the dam on
the property next door.
Insect variety is a very good indicator of
the overall health of an environment. We can hope that with future nurturing of
Franke Scrub we might see improvements and increases in the variety of insects,
because this would tell us that the ecology is in robust good health. There is
also the possibility, of course, that future environmental stresses and will be
reflected in our favourite patch of scrub by decline in the insect variety.
Let’s hope not!
Community members joined in the activities,
and were helped by Christine Lambkin, curator of insects at the Queensland Museum, to use six different methods of
trapping. Another four methods were demonstrated by members of the Queensland
Entomological Society, who were collecting for the purposes of their own
studies, and several other methods were used by students from the Queensland University.
Collecting methods ranged from the simple
use of dishes filled with water and detergent - four different colours of dish,
to attract different kinds of insects - to the use of light sheets at night.
The afternoon was spend identifying (to
order level), sorting and counting the insects caught by community members. The
results were analysed for statistical richness and evenness, and results from
two sites within the scrub were compared.
A few points of interest were:
Insects (such as mayflies) which occur in
Franke Scrub as a result of the proximity of the dam were also found during the
day’s activities. These demonstrate what an important contribution to Franke
Scrub’s environment is made by the presence of permanent water.
A butterfly which we have not recorded
before – the satin azure Ogyris amaryllis – was found. This adds to Franke
Scrub’s list of the butterflies which breed on its mistletoes, demonstrating
that Franke Scrub is making a contribution to a healthy local butterfly
population.
Various insects which breed on our local
native plant species were found. We live in a time of progressive clearance of
the local vegetation, and the rate is stepping up with our growing population.
Reserves like Franke Scrub are of ever-increasing importance as refuges for all
the fauna which depend on the plants native to our part of Australia.
Oct 2, 2013
Backyard Explorer Workshop & Bug Catch
There is no cost.
BYO lunch and refreshments.
Those who wish to continue, will return to
Franke Scrub in the evening.
WHO CAN ATTEND?
“Backyard Explorer” local attendees can
include any community members interested in monitoring the environment using
insects. This would include private individuals, members of local wildlife
organisations, teachers, council representatives, property owners, etc
No specialist qualifications or knowledge
are needed. Members of the public will be given some simple instructions on how
to complete a biodiversity assessment by collecting insects using various
scientific methods, and how to sort them into their orders.
This is an activity for adults, though
older school students with a particular interest in insects will be considered,
provided they are prepared to continue helping to sort the insect catch till
5.30pm.
“BugCatch” attendees will include members
of the Entomological Society of Queensland, Students from the University of Queensland, and
Representatives of DEHP.
TO REGISTER Contact
toowoombaplants@gmail.com
WHAT IS IT FOR?
The “Bug-Catch” program is a series of
collecting trips run by the Entomological Society of Queensland, in conjunction
with the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, to compile lists of
invertebrates in various areas of value. This one will assist the Friends of
Franke Scrub with their project to record wildlife at the Scrub, as a benchmark
for future monitoring of environmental changes and as an indicator of the
insects found in our local natural environments.
The Backyard Explorer workshop run by the Queensland Museum will provide the Friends of
Franke Scrub with baseline information on insects in the scrub, and skills for
future monitoring of environmental changes.
WHAT GOES ON?
Morning:
9.30 am. Sign on.
Malaise traps, pitfall traps, and coloured
pans will be set up beforehand in two sites, and those and sweep netting and
beating samples will be collected by Backyard Explorer participants during the
morning. Sweep netting, beating, bark spraying, hand searching, flight
intercept traps, and baited pitfall traps will also be used. BugCatch
participants will continue to collect insects throughout the day.
Afternoon: 1.30pm. A Powerpoint talk will
teach Backyard Explorer participants some interesting insect facts, including
how to sort insects into their various orders. We will then work in pairs or
small groups to sort the morning’s catch. Plenty of expert help will be
available during the process, so there is no need to be concerned that the
tasks will be beyond the scope of the interested amateur.
Evening: Light sheets for night flying
insects set up at dusk.
WHAT TO BRING:
Sensible clothing. Covered shoes or boots
are essential. Consider sun safety and protection from insects, scratches,
trips and falls. (Ticks are possible, mosquitoes are definite.)
FOOD
You are responsible for all your own food
and drink (except for free tea and coffee, to be provided by the Friends of
Franke Scrub in the hall in the afternoon. Cold soft drinks will also be sold
at the hall, and tap water is available). There is no drinkable water at Franke
Scrub. There are takeaway venues (Macdonald's, Pizza, Subway etc.), bakery and
supermarket at a nearby shopping centre, and various coffee shops and
restaurants at Highfields (4 km away).
Peacehaven Botanic
Park at 56 Kuhls Road
Highfields (between Franke Scrub and the hall) is close and good for BYO picnics for lunch and tea. It has a public barbecue. You
might like to pack a folding chair or picnic rug, as there's limited seating at
Peacehaven.
TOILETS
Peacehaven Botanic Park, Kuhl’s Road (2km away from Franke Scrub) and at the hall.
Feb 26, 2013
Atlas of Living Australia
The Atlas of Living Australia (Atlas) contains information on all the known species in Australia aggregated from a wide range of data providers: museums, herbaria, community groups, government departments, individuals and universities.
You might like to try us at
or put Franke Road, Highfields into the search engine.
Feb 8, 2013
Birds in the scrub
 |
| Leopard Ash in vibrant leaf |
It was drizzling when I arrived at the
Scrub and before I got out of the car there was a short, sharp shower. However
this soon cleared away to a cool overcast and the birds came out to enjoy
themselves. First of the day and a new one for my surveys was a pair of
Red-rumped Parrots. They are ground feeders and one flew up from the paddock to
sit in the trees of the Scrub. Once I was in the Scrub down near the dam I saw
Spangled Drongo, Little Friarbird, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, an immature Olive-backed Oriole and Noisy Miners. There must have been a hatching of
insects in the high canopy because all these birds were feeding, except the
Noisy Miners, and there wasn’t any obvious blossom or fruit.
The Oriole is a good mimic and will often
confuse you when you hear a variety of calls in the bush. This individual was
practising its calls, a weird selection of squawks and trills which were
nothing like its beautiful liquid “ori-ori-oriole”. It was being mobbed by
Noisy Miners that chased it all over the Scrub but it remained in the area just
moving from tree to tree. Perhaps the Oriole made a call that offended the
Miners enough to harass it.
Where the Scrub opens out into the grassy
bowl there were Striped Honeyeaters, a Rufous Fantail and Superb Fairy-wrens.
Brown Honeyeaters were also searching for insects in the Sandalwood Santalum
lanceolatum and Brown Thornbills in the Leopard Ash Flindersia collina. The
Leopard Ash looked glorious in its washed-clean green finery.
Australian Wood Duck (2 in the trees of the Scrub), Spotted Dove (1 in the Scrub),
Crested Pigeon (1 on a fencepost),
Little Black Cormorant (2 sitting on a wire going down into the dam),
Galah (4 overhead),
Pale-headed Rosella (5 in the flowering eucalypts),
Red-rumped Parrot (2 in the paddock then 1 flew into Scrub),
Eastern Koel (1 calling from nearby),
Laughing Kookaburra (2 laughing in the Scrub),
Dollarbird (1 sitting on a bare branch),
Superb Fairy-wren (saw 1 but heard more),
White-browed Scrubwren (3 following me through the Scrub),
Yellow-rumped Thornbill (3 on the road),
Brown Thornbill (2 in the Leopard Ash),
Noisy Miner (4 chasing an Oriole),
Brown Honeyeater (3 in the Sandalwood),
Little Friarbird (1 feeding in the mid-high canopy),
Striped Honeyeater (4 in the eucalypts),
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (3 feeding in the mid-high canopy),
Olive-backed Oriole (1immature practising its calls),
Australian Magpie (2 carolling in the high branches),
Spangled Drongo (1 feeding in the mid-high canopy),
Rufous Fantail (1 low in some shrubs),
Willie Wagtail (1 in the paddock),
Torresian Crow (4 overhead),
Magpie-lark (2 on the road verge),
Golden-headed Cisticola (2 calling from the long grass),
Silvereye (2 sweetly calling in the mid-canopy),
Common Myna (5 in a dead sapling further north along Franke Rd),
Mistletoebird (1 near the fence in the scrub on the Sheehan property).
Butterflies: Orchard Swallowtail Papilio aegeus (1 flying through the Scrub).
Thank you Lesley for your contribution to our blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
