Diario del proyecto Yellingbo and surrounds

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
On a still, late afternoon, with the minimum temperature expected to be in the balmy mid teens, 23 of us gathered. After an intro, group photo and plan to meet again at 8pm, the Youth Frog Survey team headed off toward McColl's swamp in search of frogs, whilst the Twilight Walk team headed down into the Manna Gum floodplain. The frogs were only calling occasionally, but we saw Eastern Banjo Frogs (aka Pobblebonks), a Striped Marsh Frog and Southern Brown Tree Frogs on the paths. Also seen were Ringtail Possums, a Brushtail Possum, Swamp Wallabies, the tiny eyes of spiders under the tree bark, a pure white Snow Fungus amongst an array of other fungi species, 7 species of birds and unfortunately, two feral species - a Sambar Deer crashing through the bush honking and a Red Fox calling! The species count was low, but that's the way fauna surveys can go. It all adds to the data. What a great group of people to share time with, and Robert's lemon slice was really good too! Thank you team :)

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
The forecast looked a bit grim in the early hours (showers up to 20mm and wind up to 40km), but we had a window of blue skies and a gentle breeze for our bird & frog survey. Thirteen of us took to the bush tracks and were rewarded with seeing or hearing 41 bird species. There was fabulous fungi, including the electric green of the Genus Chlorociboria (no common name for these). The frogs were really quiet, with just one or two Southern Brown Tree Frogs calling, and sadly, a Striped Marsh Frog that had been recently pecked through the belly and killed by something but left lying on the track :(
A pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles kept us spell-bound as they circled low, looking for brunch right over our heads for 10 minutes or more. Thank you for your help collecting this valuable data about the natural world at Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area everyone, and sharing some of your favourite ID books, and friendship, at lunch :)