JUNE 2022 BRANCH UPDATE

Welcome to new member Bill, who joined up after attending the early morning Town Common walk led by Queensland chief scientist, Hugh Possingham, and then returned to the Common for our May field outing.

Sunday June 26th outing: Bohle Plains: We will explore the vegetation and wildlife along a section of Gumlow Road at Bohle Plains. At about 1km from Hervey Range Rd, Gumlow Rd meets the Little Bohle River, where we expect to find some shade for a ‘cuppa’ and also some good birdwatching.

Meeting place and time:  We will meet at 9.00am at the corner of Gumlow Road and Hervey Range Road, which is 5.9km from the Thuringowa Drive/Hervey Range Rd intersection at the Willows Shopping Centre, OR 2.2km from where the Ring Road exit meets Hervey Range Road. Drive a short distance down Gumlow Road to park safely.  What to bring:  Morning tea, *water*, gear for birdwatching and walking, hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, and whatever else you might need.

Please let us know if you are planning to come (so we know who to expect at the meeting point on Sunday) or if you have any questions or need a map. Likewise, let us know if you need a lift or can offer one. Contact us via this email.

Rowes Bay/Town Common Trip: The report for our May trip is now posted and you can read it here. There was plenty to see but the most exciting wildlife specimen only revealed itself when one of our sharp-eyed photographers viewed her images after she got home.

and – spoiler alert – should you happen to spot-a-croc while you are out and about, QPWS would like  to know. It helps them to keep track of where the animals are and their movements from place to place. Download the QWildlife app OR visit this page to report by phone or an online form.

Alligator Creek campground:  Deputy Director General of Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Ben Klaassen, confirmed at a recent meeting in Townsville that a small camping ground, with its own basic facilities, will be re-established at Alligator Creek on land separate from the re-vamped day-visitor area. This is very good news.  It is hoped this will happen within the coming financial year. Meanwhile, late rain and material supply problems have pushed back the re-opening of the visitor precinct yet again. The new date is 31 August.

Tangaroa Blue reports in its latest newsletter:  There have been several reports of silver canisters being found during recent beach clean-ups. These items (containing aluminium phosphide pellets) are considered extremely dangerous and must be reported by calling 000 immediately. Please DO NOT TOUCH these items and read this important information here: tinyurl.com/2p873hn8 .  Tangaroa Blue doesn’t say where they were found, but do be aware they could be on any beach.

Australian frogs are dying en masse again and Jodi Rowley and the FrogID team at the Australian Museum need your help. If you encounter dead or unhealthy looking frogs contact them at calls@frogid.net.au and include location and preferably photos. And if you are into apps, do download this one so you can record and report frogs whenever and wherever you hear them. You can read the full article (lots of pictures) in The Conversation. Click here: Australian frogs are dying en masse again and we need your help to find out why and find out more ways to help.

And platypus are still dying in Queensland: Please read this post reproduced from the Australian Wildlife Society (“no relation” but a kindred spirit of our own WPSQ) and sign the petition against the deadly Opera House yabby traps that kill scores of non-target species such as platypus, water dragons, rakali and turtles.

Atmospheric CO2 on 22/05/2022 at Mauna Loa Observatory (Hawai’i) was 421.46 ppm, the highest ever recorded in 78 years there. At the same time in 2021 it was 418.76 ppm and 10 years ago it was 396.40 ppm. Whatever is being done to reduce CO2 emissions is spectacularly inadequate so far.

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