A recent threat

 We were disappointed in June to find our scrub had been attacked by bikers cutting tracks despite our SIGNS indicating our continued activity there and saying that FAUNA AND FLORA ARE PROTECTED.

Thank you to Council for their immediate response within an hour or so and their support in trying to restore the damage. They have added signage and it appears that the timely response has worked.

Hopefully our keen bikers will talk to Council about their needs.

The scrub is otherwise looking very good from the improved rainfall in recent months and we are continuing to remove asparagus vine on a regular basis. We have a wonderful variety of young plants coming up. It was sad to see where this regeneration of the past ten years had been cut and pulled out to make bike tracks. 

Yes we do continue to weed on the last Wednesday morning of each month, starting between 8 and 9 am. Come and visit us and see what we have in this little gem of remnant scrub on the edge of Highfields. 

Still meeting each month

Despite a break from blogging, the Friends of Franke Scrub have continued to weed and care for our patch of remnant vegetation on the last Wednesday morning of each month, with a break each December.
Although numbers are small, we have made a remarkable difference with the removal of strangling asparagus vine and threatening patches of cat's claw vine, allowing an interesting array of small plants to emerge. It is a pleasant place to wander and ponder among the birds and we enjoy our time there each month.
You can find us from 8.30 am until 10 am or so on Franke Road off Cawdor Drive.

July gathering at the scrub

Despite the lack of recent blog entries, we continue to meet on the last Wednesday of the month at Franke Scrub to enjoy our patch of remnant vegetation and try to keep the weeds under control.
Over the years, our regular monthly visits and some help from groups have kept this patch in remarkable condition, enabling us to enjoy the variety of plants without the asparagus vine and other weeds which spoil so much of what is left of our natural environment.

Next week Wednesday 29th is the last for July so we will be out at the scrub from 8.30 am until 10.30 or so. Please come and join us to wander in our special remnant vegetation, enjoy the birds, and a picnic smoko.

BYO drinks, snacks and seat, binoculars, cameras and/or weeding materials. We look forward to seeing you.Click on the link above to see our location on Google Maps.

Looking good

We had a good roll up for our October meeting and it was very pleasant working in the shade. It is nice to see the small seedlings which come up.
We seem to be getting on top of the climbing asparagus ferns, apart from those at the eastern end on the road alignment. These need to be stopped before they produce seed to spread into the scrub.
We also found some more cat's claw with quite a large bulb so we are keeping our eye out for more outbreaks.

Spring time in our scrub

Looking forward to checking out our scrub with you this Wednesday morning October 29th.
A hot day is forecast for our gathering so we will try to get out there a bit earlier than 9 am and stop for smoko at 10 am.
It will be nice to get outdoors for a while and see what Spring has brought to the scrub before we retreat indoors during the hot part of the day.
This year seems to be one of the driest we have had for a while.

August - time to meet again

Our next gathering is next Wednesday the 27 August. It will be good to see how things are going after some rain.
Meet at 9 am or earlier if not prefer.
Bring smoko, weeding tools, camera

July scrubbing

We had a good turnout for our July gathering. We continue to maintain the reserve in good condition and find nice little seedlings coming up as well as the asparagus fern.

June meeting

It promises to be a lovely morning tomorrow at Franke Scrub.
We hope to see you there.

May meeting at the scrub

Once again we will be meeting at Franke Scrub this Wednesday 28 May from 9-11 am. Bring weeding tools, camera, binoculars, smoko and chair and enjoy a morning out in the lovely weather we are having at present.

The scrub on display

Today, as part of Volunteers week, the council held a Parks Volunteers Recognition and Networking Event at Newtown Park Hall.
In addition to our display we were well represented as Trish was asked to stand in as a speaker at short notice. She gave an interesting, illustrated talk on birds and local vegetation in relation to our local environment and our own gardens. She may have been speaking to the converted but there was plenty of food for thought as well as for the birds.
This was followed by another very good illustrated talk by Nathan the Snake Catcher, who also brought some reptiles for us to enjoy.
While the number attending was limited, it was a great idea and good to meet other people interested in volunteering in our parks and bushland areas.

Lovely morning in the Scrub

We had a most enjoyable morning in the scrub removing cat's claw creeper and asparagus fern, which continue to appear despite ongoing attention. However the recent rain has also brought on nice fresh growth of our diverse native vegetation and it is a pleasure to spend time inside it.
The next meeting will be on Wednesday 28th May. Turn up anytime between 8.30 and 10.30 and you will find us there.

March Get-Together

Our usual monthly event will be on Wednesday March 26th this month.
TIMES:
9.00am for working bee, which will be focussing on weeding Asparagus vine and cats claw.
10.30am for morning tea. People who don't want to get their hands dirty are always welcome to join us for a chat.
PLEASE BRING:
1. Your own safety gear: sun and tick protection, gloves, wear long trousers and solid shoes, etc.
2. Your own tools: secateurs, strong little trowel of spade, mini-mattock, etc. Even an old knife helps with small weeds. Bring something to put your weeds into for taking away - a plastic bag or cardboard box.
3. Morning tea,  and a chair (unless you prefer to sit on the ground or a handy rock).

Some of our members will be away this month, so did a bit of extra  work last weekend. They report that the ground is soft, and perfect for digging out weeds.
The bit of rain has meant that the track is slightly muddy - but the road has a good bottom and it takes a lot of rain to make it unsuitable for 2-wheel drive vehicles, so it's unlikely that you'll have a problem with it.

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.

Catching insects

Franke Scrub was a hive of activity last weekend, with approximately fifty people gathering there to study its 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.

Backyard Explorer Workshop & Bug Catch

We are having a workshop and bug catch at Franke Scrub, Highfields on Saturday 12 October, from 9.30am till 5.30pm.
There is no cost.
BYO lunch and refreshments.

We commence at Franke Scrub and the adjoining property, from 9.30am to 12.30 then move to St Anne’s Church Hall, cnr Highfields and Kuhls Roads, Highfields from1.30 to approximately 5.30pm.

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.

NUMBERS ARE LIMITED. Register soon to be sure of a place

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.

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 

http://biocache.ala.org.au/explore/your-area#-27.4618341|151.91984460000003|12|Birds

or put Franke Road, Highfields into the search engine.

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.

Birds: Brown Quail (1 heard in the quarry area),  
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.

Conservation Volunteers in action

Last week we got some useful help from Conservation Volunteers Australia. This was organised through Dawn Heath and Alex Kennedy of the Adopt-a-Patch program. 

The volunteers were eight enthusiastic young people from Japan, Taiwan and France, with an English supervisor. It proved to be a challenging week for them, removing asparagus vine and cat's claw, and encountering some of our local wildlife in the form of a dead Burton's snake-lizard, a carpet snake and an eastern brown snake, as well as a large [possibly a wolf] spider.

Trish, George and Lee visited them during the week then Lee took them out to lunch. 

Their efforts will make a big difference to the scrub this summer.

The Adopt a Patch project is made possible through funding by the Australian Government's Caring for Our Country program.
Thank you George for the photos.

Spring is on the way

It was a fine morning at the scrub and although it has now been dry for quite a while, the place is looking good, being more sheltered in the gully. The Wonga vine was the most obvious flower but others are on their way and it will be worth a visit in the next few weeks. Asparagus vine continues to germinate and is starting to climb once again, so we will need to be vigilant and not allow it to regain the canopy.
Our efforts in controlling it have made such a difference to the place with some nice views through, and into it, now with the interesting variety of plants. Bamboo grass is doing well on the ground level and you will find interesting seedlings growing in it as well. Birds and butterflies are also busy.

Flowering at present

Yellow buttons Chrysocephalum apiculatum  were found to be flowering in the scrub in the first week of June.