A Hidden Gem on the Gold Coast

Reedy Creek Lagoon, Varsity Lakes

I like my coastlines wild and rugged, so the Gold Coast isn't always my first choice for a day at the beach. The stretch of shore between Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta has been extensively urbanised, with high-rise holiday units established right up to the frontal dunes. It is a fast-growing area with many new suburbs popping up each year, the most recent example being Varsity Lakes. Originally, my intention was to survey this location as a brief stop-off on the way to the beach, but I was so impressed at the quality of natural habitat that had been retained in the area that I ended up foregoing the swim.


Officially, this little reserve doesn't exist. I didn't see any signs or commemorative plaques during my time there and the area is small and unnamed on various maps. This is especially odd considering that there are a maze of well-planned pathways in the reserve, meandering through sections of bushland where careful re-planting of native vegetation has occurred. Someone's efforts are going unrecognised!

I entered the bushland off Castello Drive, a short walk from the nearby Train Station. My goal was to document the insect life of the area, and my attention was quickly captured by this winged beast.

Australian Tigertail (Ictinogomphus australis)

Pacific Baza

Noisy Miners (Manorina melanocephala) distracted me soon after with alarm calls directed at a White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) flying overhead. Another bird of prey I saw later - the exotic-looking Pacific Baza (Aviceda subcristata) - escaped harassment by mostly sticking to the tree canopy.

Around the wetlands were common waterfowl species including Pacific Black Ducks (Anas superciliosa) and White-eyed Ducks (Aythya australis), both of which were outnumbered by Grey Teal (Anas gracilis). A little island in the lagoon offered foraging opportunities for a pair of Black-fronted Dotterel (Elseyornis melanops).


Common Adreppus nymph

Focussing back on the micro-wilderness, I found this young Adreppus Grasshopper (Adreppus fallax) on a waterside sapling. Notice how it seems to be aware of its colouring, choosing to rest on the brown leaf instead of the green ones eitherside! A much less pleasant encounter occurred later when a concealed Giant Grasshopper (Valanga irregularis) flew out of a bush towards my face. The hand-sized creature collided with my upper chest before continuing on its way, and I was glad there were only birds and bugs around to hear me scream. It shared the air with Wanderer (Danaus plexippus) and Common Crow (Euploea core) butterflies, each sailing lazily around their respective foodplants. At least the butterflies respected my personal space!

Wide-banded Grassdart (Suniana sunias)

Cymbidium species (?)

Several thunderstorms this week ensured Reedy Creek was in full flow through the lagoons, and on a damp streambank I found a patch of these Orchid-looking plants. I'm going to go out on a limb and say they may possibly be a Cymbidium species, but I'm happy to be corrected! Truth be told, apart from the main groups of Australian natives, I know very little about plant identification. I notice that as I get older, I have become more curious about flora types, not just seeing them as 'bird resting places' like I used to. [August 2014 update: after re-visiting the site with plant ID books, these plants are Palm-Lilies (Cordyline sp.) and are actually considered to be rather rare.]

Lowland forest

The open forest habitat featured Eucalyptus and Melaleuca species for the most part, but revegetation work around a saltwater inlet has resulted in a grove of Beach Hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus) thriving. Alongside Reedy Creek, palms reach for the sky, recreating a Gold Coast lowland rainforest habitat lost to the urban sprawl. Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haemotodus) were a beautiful sight in these sections, calling noisily from nesting hollows high up in the branches. On the ground in the shadows, another bird was recognisable by its distinctive hairstyle alone.

Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes)

Where the sunlight filtered through, Garden Skinks (Lampropholis delicata) watched me carefully as they basked.

Garden Skink

Elsewhere, these two Large Brown Robber Flies (Dolipus rubrithorax) were - ahem! - enjoying themselves too much to pay any attention to me. I left them to it after taking their picture, but Dome-backed Spiny Ants (Polyrhachis australis) clearly like to watch!


Large Brown Robber Flies and Dome-backed Spiny Ant

Banded Pupa
Parasite Wasp

I had intended my original focus to be on the Wasp species of the area, but a lack of currently flowering trees meant that the more obvious species were not prolific. Amongst the humid leaf litter beside Reedy Creek were several Banded Pupa Parasite Wasps (Gotra species) however. The females of these stingless wasps have a greatly-elongated egg-laying organ named an 'ovipositor', which they use as a syringe to inject their eggs into insect pupae, particularly Moth cocoons. The wasp larva hatches quickly and feeds on the creature inside, sometimes killing it and at other times allowing it to just survive. A related Orchid Dupe Wasp (Lissopimpla excelsa) that I saw later featured the ovipositor organ, identifying it as a female.

Orchid Dupe Wasp

This wasp gets its name from the way in which the male is tricked into mating with a type of Orchid flower (Cryptostylis leptochila), pollinating it in the process. His excuse is that the flower scent is almost an exact match for the female wasp's sex pheromones.



Sceliphron formosum nest

One important difference between a Wasp and a Bee is that the larvae of the former are always carnivorous, whereas Bees feed their young on plant products like honey. This means that despite their occasionally aggressive nature, Wasps actually do us a great service where insect control is concerned. Around the various picnic shelters in this location, I saw the nests of the Slender Mud-nest Wasp (Sceliphron formosum), a species that provides food for its young by stuffing live caterpillars into these egg chambers. In a more landscaped lakeside area, a large Orange Spider Wasp (Priocnemus bicolor) swooped around the Lomandra bushes at high speed, mocking my photography skills. As its name suggests, this Wasp feeds its young on Spiders that include even the biggest of Huntsmen (Heteropoda) species. The only time I ever feel sorry for a spider is when I think of the fate they meet at the hand (or stinger) of this wasp - paralysed and walled into a chamber, then eaten alive! Just another example of how 'Wild' our suburbs and gardens truly are!

Graphic Flutterer (Rhyothemis graphiptera)