19/04/23 Flora survey: Yellingbo

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
On an overcast but still day with dappled sunlight, we walked a track with towering Manna Gums, Silver Wattles and Blackwoods overhead. The fungi was out in force today, and there was lots of evidence of ant activity. Christian, a teenaged participant, explained that the Australian Red Bull Ants were positioning 100s of the white coloured berries from the shrub above its nest around the nest's entry to regulate its temperature. The white berries cooled the nest. In a different area, we saw another ant nest covered with brown gum nuts, keeping this nest warm. The Funnel Ants, Christian explained built a funnel entry to their nest that caused their prey to slide in. We learnt lots about ants from Christian! The fungi was everywhere, with fabulous names like Wine Glass Fungus, Honeycomb Coral Slime Mold, Red Raspberry Slime Mold, Bonnets, Puffballs, Emperor Cortinar and more! The Southern Brown Tree Frogs were calling loudly but the invertebrate's were few and far. Highlights were the Canary Worm, always a crowd favourite, and The Long Broad-headed Bug.
What a great group of people too! There was lots of friendly, wide-eyed chatter as we learnt together about what we were finding. Then time for lunch under those towering Manna Gums, listening to the frogs and bird chatter. It was a pleasure to share the joy of being out in the bush, and we collected some great species data. Thank you team :)

Publicado el 21 de abril de 2023 por regnans