Wild BNE

A curious golden whistler greets the group; Photo by Matteo Grilli Wild BNE’s winter meet-up was held this past Sunday and it was a great success. A variety of exotic and ornamental plants grow along  the fenceline between the reserve and suburbia; Photo by Aaron Wiggan. I co-hosted a walk through Dawn Road Reserve (which has its very own website ) with local bushcare patron Trina McLellan, whose detailed knowledge of the area was of immense value on the day. Together, we took a group of ten lovely people through the reserve, looking at suburban encroachment, eucalypt woodland and the gorgeous gallery rainforest growing along the creek. Ten highlights from the day included:

Fan-tailed cuckoos are most often seen on a low branch, keeping an eye-out for caterpillars below. Straddling the lush banks of the North Pine River, Lawnton is a suburb of Moreton Bay Regional Council steeped in history . Originally inhabited by the Turrbal people, the land would have been cloaked for many hundreds of thousands of years by a lowland rainforest ecosystem, featuring the hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) for which the river is named after. Unfortunately, the rich soils allowing the vegetation to thrive also made the place attractive to European settlers that wished to farm the land, leading to great conflict with the Indigenous inhabitants. This was eased temporarily by local pioneering figure Tom Petrie, who had lived with and forged a respectful relationship with the Turrbal people, including Dalaipi, leader of the North Pine tribe. By 1858, however, the Aboriginal people of the area were removed and sent to live in isolated reserves around South-east Queenslan...

Small brown paper wasps, East Brisbane. I’ve been battling a chest infection this week and haven’t felt like venturing too far from home. Luckily, when it comes to nature, it’s not necessary to. 

Tawny frogmouths (Podargus strigoides) are common in the reserve—maybe you can spot one on the day? Photo by Trina McLellan.  Paperbark sawfly (Lophyrotoma zonalis), Albany Creek. Last year, Wild BNE fan Trina McLellan introduced me to her ‘local patch’, Dawn Road Reserve in Albany Creek. I became instantly infatuated with the place; I had no idea that such a beautiful forest was tucked away in what has become a busy suburb over the years! I will always be grateful to Trina for informing me about this great little ‘secret spot’. Now I want to pass the favour on to you!  Trina and I would like to take you on a walk through the reserve this month, pointing out all the interesting plants , birds and animals we can find, letting you know about the history of this beautiful

The pastel love flower is a charming, shade-loving native plant. The stretch of highway on the way to the Gold Coast running between Mount Gravatt and Yatala has always been a bit of a vague blur to me at the best of times, and a peak hour nuisance at worst. An endless strip of superstores, car dealerships and fast food outlets, I tend to hurry on through as quickly as the traffic will allow, chasing greener horizons further south. It turns out that the view from the M1 doesn’t really do this area justice though, as I found out recently while exploring the Logan suburb of Underwood. 

As a subtropical city, Brisbane has a rich and visible frog fauna, with forty-one native species (and one cursed toad) calling it home. Familiar to most people would be that friendly windowsill giant, the green treefrog (Litoria caerulea) , and anyone with a garden pond would also perhaps be acquainted with the striped marsh frog (Limnodynastes peronii) . Sharing our suburbs and green spaces, however, are a whole host of other fascinating amphibians that many South-east Queensland residents may never notice or know much about. It’s a fair assumption to make, for example, that Kippa-Ring locals wouldn’t ever suspect that on balmy spring nights, patches of nearby sandy soil suddenly erupt with ornate burrowing frogs (Platyplectrum ornatum) . Nor would dog-walkers along Bulimba Creek deduce that among the streambank rubble on which their puppy plays lives a little fellow called the stony-creek frog (Litoria wilcoxii) , who turns a bright lemon-yellow colour when he’s ready for some ...

It was a long weekend of unusual weather given the time of year—with temperatures reaching a high of 27C, and the humidity giving rise to brief thunderstorms on Monday evening, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was still summer—but with my schedule clear, I was champing at the bit for three days of stellar South-east Queensland birding, and I was not disappointed! Beach stone-curlew, Wellington Point.