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Activity Type Date Activity
Name
Description of Activity Site Information
Excursion
(1/2 Day)
Wednesday
31/05/2023
Brisbane Botanic Gardens - Guided Walk
Coordinators: Annie & Greg Neill
The 17-hectare, heritage-listed City Botanic Gardens are Brisbane's original botanicgardens. Queensland's Heritage Register recognises the City Botanic Gardens for theirnatural, historic and cultural values. The gardens' plant collections include the first Queensland native plants to be formally planted. Visitors to the gardens will also see exotic plants. Some exotic plants were imported in colonial days to establish crops for the new Brisbane colony. Artists have also created a number of heritage features at the
gardens.


The Brisbane Botanic Gardens are located on Alice Street, Brisbane City and are bounded
by the Brisbane River. The City Botanic Gardens - Brisbane Tourist Guide states "Originally the gardens were planted by convicts in 1825 with food crops to feed the prison colony. Then in 1828 the botanist, Charles Fraser, selected the site to become a public garden and by 1855 the garden was established. The gardens are now Brisbane’s oldest and most mature with many rare and unusual botanic species. There are many areas in the gardens ranging from large open grassed areas perfect for picnicking on, rainforest, beautiful Lilly ponds and a fascinating mangrove boardwalk and an avenue of Bunya pines."
QNC has pre-booked a volunteer guide for a walk through the gardens. We willmeet at the Visitor Centre in the gardens at 11 am. The Visitor Centre faces the continuation of George Street on the boundary with QUT. If you are interested in joining us, please
register at excursion@qnc.org.au as soon as possible with GARDENS in the subject line.


Numbers are limited to about 12 however if there is enough interest we can arrange a
second guide. Please also indicate if you would like to stay on after the walk for lunch at
the
Gardens Club Cafe.
Excursion June Lake Manchester
Coordinators: Cathy Duffy and Judy Haines
This will be a 5km to 6km walk. More details coming soon.
Meeting Monday 19/06/23 Club Meeting

Topic: Threatened frogs at Kroombit Tops National Park

Speaker:
Harry Hines

C.T White Memorial Lecture - Speaker Harry Hines

Harry Hines is a Senior Conservation Officer with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Queensland Museum. He worked extensively on the declining frogs problem and was a member of the team that discovered the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), now recognised as the cause of many frog declines and extinctions in Australia and globally.

Harry is currently involved in the conservation management of various threatened species including Kroombit tinkerfrog, Kroombit treefrog and silver-headed antechinus. He has co-authored more than 60 scientific papers on frogs, amphibian chytrid fungus, birds, mammals and fauna surveys as well as a field guide to the frogs of the wet forests of southeast Queensland and contributed sections on frogs to several other books. In 2023 he was awarded the Queensland Natural History Award.

For the 2023 C.T. White Lecture, Harry will provide a summary of his 25 years of work on the threatened frogs at Kroombit Tops National Park. The critically endangered Kroombit tinker frog Taudactylus pleione was discovered in December 1983 during a Queensland Naturalists’ Club excursion and subsequently described in 1986. Since then, it has been the subject of considerable survey, monitoring and research. It has proven to be an incredibly difficult species as its core habitat now is the steep scree-slope gullies of the eastern escarpment and its populations have been in steady decline. It’s eggs and tadpoles have never been observed in the wild and females and juveniles are very rarely seen. Harry will run through the evolution of the automated acoustic monitoring program and results arising. He will also outline the work undertaken to establish captive breeding at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and the translocation program and share insights into a recent release to the wild of captive bred animals. Harry will also briefly discuss work on the second endemic frog species at Kroombit Tops – the Kroombit treefrog Litoria kroombitensis – and the local population of the vulnerable tusked frog Adelotus brevis.

Toowong Uniting Church Hall
82 Sherwood Road, Toowong

Arrive 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

Please bring a plate to contribute to the light supper that will be available after the meeting. 
Meeting Monday 17/07/2023 Club Meeting
Speaker:
Dr April Reside
The ecology of the Galilee Basin. Toowong Uniting Church Hall
82 Sherwood Road, Toowong

Arrive 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

A light supper (hot beverages and biscuits) will be available following the meeting. 
Excursion Saturday 22/0723 Coordinator: David Bouchard McAfees Lookout to Enoggera Ck, Enogerra Reservoir More details coming soon.
Meeting Monday 21/08/23 Club Meeting
Speaker:
Professor Rod Fensham
Topic to be advised Toowong Uniting Church Hall
82 Sherwood Road, Toowong

Arrive 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

A light supper (hot beverages and biscuits) will be available following the meeting. 
Excursion Sunday
27/08/23
Coordinators: Delma Clifton & Tom Wixted White Rock, Ipswich
6km Walk
More details coming soon.
Long Excursion Monday 4/9/23 to Sunday
16/9/2023

Bimblebox Nature Refuge via Alpha, central Qld
4/9 to 10/9
Leaders: Greg & Annie Neill

Alpha, central Qld 11/9 & 12/9
Leaders: Terry & Sally Johnsen

Cudmore National Park north of Alpha
13/9 to 16/9
Leaders: Terry & Sally Johnsen
Refer to the forthcoming July QNC News for additional information about this long excursion.

Bimblebox Nature Refuge (BNR) is an 8,000-hectare property situated 50km north-west of Alpha, central Queensland. It is composed of remnant semi-arid woodlands with an understorey largely made up of native shrubs, herbs and grasses, and has a rich diversity of birds, reptiles and other animals.

There are seven ecosystems on BNR; broad leaf silver ironbark woodland, poplar box (Bimblebox) woodland and heathland being the most prominent. In May 2011 a flock of endangered black throated finch (Poephila cincta cincta) was sighted on BNR. 287 species of plants and 290 species of animals, excluding insects, have been recorded at BNR; there is a paucity of insect records.

Bimblebox is a genuine example of how production and biodiversity conservation can coexist. A small herd of beef cattle assist in the control of exotic pasture grasses, and a number of long-term research projects are aimed at generating knowledge and management practices to improve outcomes for biodiversity across the region.

The property was purchased in 2000 by several concerned individuals, using part funding from the Australian National Reserve System program. In 2003, the Bimblebox Nature Refuge Agreement (category IV IUCN protected area) was signed with the Queensland state government to permanently protect the conservation values of the property. In 2011, Warratah Coal, owned by Clive Palmer, released a plan to develop a massive coal mine in the Galilee Basin, including BNR.
Note: Registrations will open 1 July, 2023
Register by emailing excursion@qnc.org.au and put BIMBLEBOX & CUDMORE


QNC has secured permission to spend 7 days at BNR, arriving on the 4th September and departing on the 10th.

Numbers are limited to 20 people and access is restricted to high clearance four-wheel drives. There is a camp kitchen, outdoor bush shower, tables and benches, and a long drop toilet.

A slow combustion stove is available for cooking or heating water for showers. Limited drinking water will be supplied so bring as much as you can. Limited beds and mattresses may be available at the dongas.

Donation/cost: The owners would prefer that you volunteer if you can, putting in some time to preserve Bimblebox biodiversity by helping with weeding or maintenance of the place. The caretaker has suggested one hour of weeding per person per day.
Mid-week, extended Excursion Monday 23/10 to Friday 27/10 2023 Mt Kaputar NP, NSW
Updated details will be provided closer to the time.

The details for this trip will be similar to those found in QNC News #363, P13 and News #364 P14.
Please register via excursion@qnc.org.au as soon as you make your Mt Kaputar booking, and put KAPUTAR in the subject line.

NSW Parks policy is to only take camping site and cabin bookings 6 months in advance.

Campsite and cabin bookings at Dawson Springs campsite are likely to open on, or soon after, 24 April  2023.
https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/camping-and-accommodation/campgrounds/dawsons-spring-campground

 Register for excursions at: excursion@qnc.org.au

QNC Club Meetings

Learn about natural history at our meetings with talks presented by specialists from the club or from various scientific institutions, and from members exhibits. Visitors are welcome.

Where:    We meet at the Toowong Uniting Church Hall. This is located at 82 Sherwood Road, Toowong and is less than 200 metres from Toowong Village Shopping Centre, Toowong Railway Station & bus stops.

There is parking at 76 Sherwood Road for 12 cars.  Street parking is available.  Toowong Village parking is free  provided you enter after 6pm.

When: 7:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, February to November inclusive

Note that each meeting will commence with the presentation by the guest speaker.

 Excursions

The Club arranges about ten field excursions each year to locations of natural history interest and tours of specialist institutions such as the Queensland Herbarium or museums.   They range in duration from short, half-day or full day local excursions, through to week-end camps, and longer excursions lasting from one to two weeks in more remote locations. Visitors are welcome on short excursions. 

Excursion leaders click here for attendance form.