Wild BNE

It may have been less than ideal weather for anyone camping or heading to the beach, but the cooler temperatures and wet conditions this Easter were received with enthusiasm by Brisbane's birds, especially coming off the back of a long, dry summer . On Sunday I briefly called into Dawn Road Reserve in Albany Creek, and though I was intending to take a closer look at the amazing plant life there, the surprising amount of bird activity on display quickly captured my full attention. Tawny frogmouths, Albany Creek. Most pleasing to see were a pair of tawny frogmouths (Podargus strigoides) , huddled up in the mid-canopy.

Lesser sand plover, Wellington Point; Photo by Matteo Grilli. Wild BNE's first meet-up last Sunday was a success, with a total of eight people heading out onto King Island off the coast of Wellington Point to view the marine life.

Southern brown paper wasps, Mount Cotton. Walking through Sandy Creek Conservation Area last weekend, I was pleased to find that quite a number of paper wasp colonies had formed along the barbed-wire perimeter fence.

Chequered swallowtails are often found resting in long grass. Featured areas: (1) Suburban Keperra, (2) Grovely Sports Ground, (3) Kindlinen Place, (4) Keperra Bushland Reserve, and (5) Dash Street Park. Image courtesy of Google Maps. Located just 9km outside of the Brisbane CBD, Keperra is a busy suburb that has been fortunate enough to retain a decent amount of bushland. The reason behind this lies in the suburb's topography, as much of its southern region lies atop a sharply-rising escarpment. Alongside Kedron Brook, which forms the northern border of the suburb, the gentler inclines have allowed more development to occur. Once used as a military camp, the area underwent a housing boom in the 1980s, and a large shopping centre, Primary School, retirement village and the Ferny Grove train line all service the area now.  Keperra was given its name by the local Yuggera people, whose name for the place ('Kipper') referred to its use as a venue for initiation cere

King Island Conservation Park, Wellington Point. Eastern curlew (Numenius madagascariensis)  and grey-tailed tattler (Tringa brevipes) , Wellington Point. Last year, one of my favourite places to visit was King Island Conservation Park, off the coast of Wellington Point. It is linked to the mainland at low tide by a sandbar which provides good views of migratory birds, crabs and marine life. The island itself is home to interesting coastal plants , insects and a mysterious skink that I haven't been able to identify yet, and has a fascinating Indigenous and European settler history also.  This month, I'll be leading a meet-up where us members of the Wild BNE community can explore this area