Autumn in Franke Scrub

Went to Franke Scrub on Tuesday. Beautiful weather with plenty of bird and butterfly activity. In fact it was difficult to pick out the birds because the butterflies were everywhere. Especially Yellow-spotted Jezabel Delias nysa I took a couple of photos.

Just as I arrived a couple of Magpies flushed something large from the upper canopy. All I got was an impression of grey and large. It may have been an Australian Goshawk, but don't quote me on that. Another one to not quote me is a female Rose Robin. I quite distinctly heard a robin 'tick' call and saw the face with it's pale rimmed eye. It likes moist gullies so Franke is perfect habitat. However I didn't see enough of the bird to give it a positive identification.

Rufous fantail taken by William Jolly.

The changing season

For a birdo the change of season is not so much the cooler weather, shorter days or changing leaf colour. It is the birds that disappear or reappear. Franke Scrub is the home to a pair of Rufous Fantails Rhipidura rufifrons from Spring to Autumn but as soon as April arrives they depart. They tend to leave us for warmer climes moving away from the Great Divide to the coast or inland to about Chinchilla, or north with some even crossing to New Guinea. There are individuals that will stay over winter but the majority of Rufous Fantails are hugging the coast north of the Queensland border. In summer they can be found as far south as the South Australia/Victoria border.

They are such chirpy residents and I miss seeing the flash of rufous as they search through the mid-canopy after insects. However, nature always compensates and a Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa has moved in to replace them. A close cousin to the Rufous Fantail, the Grey is just as active but has a sharper, more scolding call. In fact one of it's bush names is Cranky Fan. Though often seen in our area throughout the year, the majority of Grey Fantails spend their summers south of the Queensland/NSW border returning to Queensland in large numbers for the winter. Who can blame them?

Lesley
President
Toowoomba Field Naturalist Club Inc

Have you seen our blog? http://toowoombafieldnaturalists.blogspot.com/

March meeting

With some members away last Wednesday, a small team of 4 still managed to remove 2 full bags of older roots of asparagus fern. "Asparagus fern has certainly been reduced.. it was a good feeling not seeing too much of it."
At this rate we will be starting a competition to find the bigger ones.

The indignant owl

Our resident Southern Boobook is not impressed with twitchy people poking around in his scrub. [photo - Don Gardner]

A good spot for a kingfisher

A Sacred Kingfisher was fishing in the dam and returning to a vantage post in the scrub. It will be heading north soon on its migration back to northern Qld, New Guinea and Indonesia.
It would be really good to hear of other bird sightings and anecdotes, nesting records, etc.
[from Lesley].

A new plant for our list

Our twitcher, Lesley, has added a new plant to our list this week. It is a small climber called "small leafed Tylophora" (Tylophora grandiflora) in flower. We haven't noticed this plant before.

After the recent rains, there's a lot going on, with flowers and seeds, as well as young plants appearing and new growth.
We have made such a difference to this reserve by removing the asparagus vine from the canopy, although we will continue to need to remove young plants as they germinate and attempt to climb back up.
We hope to see you in 4 weeks time.

First meeting after the recent rain

A reminder that we are meeting again next week on Wednesday 24th February at 9 am.
With the recent rain, things are growing well in our lovely reserve.
We hope you can find time to join us there.
Bring secateurs, chipping tools and a bag for weeds if you feel inclined to work, or your camera, binoculars, a book to read, or just a chair and smoko.
We hope you can join us to experience our local vegetation as it was before we cleared it.
If you can't make it, we will be meeting again on the last Wednesday in March.

A new schedule

We have decided to increase our efforts on our little patch of remnant vegetation and will meet on the last Wednesday of each month this year - except January and December.
We hope this will make it easier for everyone to make it and get to know the seasonal delights which it offers.
Best wishes for 2010.