Wild BNE

Pale-lined tropical rock crabs (Grapsus albolineatus)  are a common sight on the rock platform below the headland. The Sunshine Coast is a place that abounds with natural beauty, so for Alexandra Headland to be as special as it is really says something! Bordered by the limelight-stealing suburbs of Mooloolaba, Maroochydore and peaceful Buderim, Alex Heads—as it is often called by those acquainted with its charm—nevertheless easily holds its own against these places. 

Book review Reed New Holland Publishing, 2002. It’s noon on a warm autumn day and I am driving south along Beaudesert Road towards the peripheral suburbs of Brisbane’s southside that remain largely a mystery to me. I have decided that not knowing the amphibian fauna inhabiting the suburb of Algester is a personal error that I simply must rectify. My favourite way to search for frogs is to go spotlighting on humid spring and summer nights, but I have left it a little late this year and doubt my chances at finding them now that the evenings have mercifully turned cooler. Instead, I am going to survey the local amphibian population in a way that is quite new to me, aided by a secret weapon sitting in the passenger seat next to me: Marion Anstis’s book, Tadpoles of South-eastern Australia: A Guide With Keys .

Old wife (Enoplosus armatus) , Coolangatta. A surprisingly deep rock pool has formed at Snapper Rocks just in time for the school holidays, and is filled with a large variety of colourful fish.

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...