Wild BNE

Cockatiel, Gatton.  A visit out to Gatton last Wednesday brought into sharp relief how badly drought-stricken our inland communities currently are. Below average rainfall and warm daily temperatures are baking rural regions of NSW and Queensland even through the winter, with some farmers describing it as “the worst drought in living memory.”

Brown cuckoo-dove (Macropygia phasianella) , Redwood. Last Saturday, I took part in a ‘ Global Big Day ’ held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and their birdwatching website, ‘ eBird ’. For the uninitiated, a ‘big day’ (or month, year, etc) is a birdwatching colloquialism that refers to the act of finding as many birds as possible within the designated timeframe, something which I had not partaken in before. I decided that I would try find 100 bird species or more out in Toowoomba, a place I have never visited.

From the Queensland/New South Wales border right up to Noosa, and out west to the Lockyer Valley, I had a great year exploring as much of South-east Queensland as I could manage! Some places stood above the rest, however, offering unique wildlife-viewing opportunities that I hope to take advantage of and share with you in 2017.

Cumulus humilis, Flagstone Creek. Dry conditions have settled in this spring in the Lockyer Valley, with less than half the monthly rainfall average being delivered for November.

Aquatic minibeasts fascinate me, ever since a wonderful book opened my eyes to their diversity and significance. On Wednesday, I found a couple of rather strange minibeasts in Lockyer Creek, at a little rest area next to the Warrego Highway near Helidon. The first was a creature with predatory-looking jaws and long tail projections that made me wonder if it was a type of stonefly (Plectoptera order ) larva. Beetle larva, Helidon.