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Editor : Don Hird.  (email hirdd@primus.com.au ) 

The Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club encourages the study of natural history and supports conservation.  We issue our journal The Tasmanian Naturalist annually in October.  People with a range of ages, background and knowledge are welcome as members. 

Contact Genevieve Gates (6227 8638) for further information or GPO Box 68, Hobart, 7001. 

Program
General Meetings start at 7.45 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month, in the Life Science Building at the University of Tasmania.  Outings are usually held the following weekend, meeting outside the to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery entrance in Macquarie Street.  Bring lunch and all-weather outdoor gear. 

If you are planning to attend an outing but have not been to the prior meeting, phone to check as to the timing of the excursion (with Genevieve Gates; 62 278 638 or Don Hird; 62 344 293).  Unforeseen changes sometimes occur. 

Thurs. 2 November. 7.45p.m.:  Stuart Frusher from the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute will speak about that much sought species; the Rock Lobster or Crayfish in Tasmania.  Rock Lobster has been important not just in the current and historical economies of Tasmania, but in the indigenous economies before European arrival. 

November weekend  from 6.00 p.m on Friday November 3, we will meet at the University facility "Tasman House" approx. 2km past Koonya on Tasman Peninsula (Turn right at the Nubeena turnoff just past Taranna).  From 9.00 a.m on the Saturday we will visit the Lime Bay area, which is both attractive in itself and a renowned orchid location in November.  Easy to moderate walking is involved.  There will be spotlighting on the Saturday evening and a coastal walk on the Sunday morning.  There is a modest charge for accommodation or bring your own tent.  Confirm details prior if not attending the meeting. 

Thurs. 7 December Members’ Night and (we hope) the launch of Tasmanian Jewel Beetles, subject to its printing by then.  As usual, members are encouraged to contribute a personal item of natural history interest, e.g. some slides of a private or club trip, a specimen or etc. 

December Excurs.  9.00 a.m.: Saturday or Sunday TBA.  Snug Tier is an area where a number of habitats converge and an excursion can be varied on the day according to conditions.  Both the area and the time of year should be prospective for jewel beetles, other insects and wildflowers. 

Thurs. 1 Feb. 2001 TBA  see the January Bulletin. 

 FLINDERS ISLAND FEDERATION TRIP 22-6 SEPTEMBER 2000 
by Kevin Bonham 
Although plagued by chaos following the collapse of Island Airlines, the Flinders Island Federation trip finally went ahead, with 15 Field Nats attending.  Amanda Thomson and I were the only Hobart members present. Despite various hassles on the ground (take cash when visiting Flinders; non-cash transactions are difficult) we covered a lot of ground and had an excellent trip.  Sites we visited included Mt Strzelecki, Wybalena, North-East River, Walkers Lookout, Vinegar Hill, Badger Corner, Pickford Creek, Camerons Inlet (a beachwalk with the Wind Festival group), Wingaroo Reserve and Mount Tanner.  Two members even volunteered to count Cape Barren Geese on Mt Chappel and Badger Islands! 
Orchids were plentiful with 18 spp. in flower.  Amanda and Alma McKay found Chiloglottis trapeziformis at Pickford Creek.  This amazed us as "Orchids of Tasmania" gives just two Tasmanian localities, but it turns out that Hans Wapstra found the exact same colony last year!  I dragged everyone down to Badger Corner to look for a Prasophyllum I'd seen in 1986.  It's very odd to find Prasophyllum flowering in September, and the specimens we collected have been seen by David Jones and may well be a new species.  Other highlights included the spider orchid Caladenia clavigera, the rock orchid Dockrillia striolata and the unusual red-flowered greenhood Pterostylis sanguinea. 
I found 13 snail species, one of them (Pupilla australis at Wybalena) being a new record for the island (though it has been found on other Furneaux islands).  Flinders has three very distinctive endemic snails and I found many specimens of these.  I also collected millipedes, with mixed results: my species tally of 4 was abysmally low (what looked to be several species were just growth stages of two abundant ones), but one species was a new record for the island and another is probably a new record for the state! 
Finds on the beachwalk included seven(!) sea-dragons, and a piece of a large tun shell, a group rarely recorded in Tasmanian waters.  In general, Flinders is an excellent natural history location and I'm impressed at how much bush there is still intact. 

Excursion Report – Whaler’s Lookout: 07 October 2000 
Spring 2000 has been a season of winds and the day of the October excursion proved to be no exception.  Seven members and a visitor, with a range of ages of around 7 decades, set out for this coastal feature at the southern end of Mercury Passage. 

Whaler’s Lookout is just south of Cockle Bay Lagoon, an interesting looking tidal inlet separated from the sea by a broad pebbly bar, except where a channel which was forded connects the two bodies of water.  As this area is some three hours walk south of the departure point, little time was spent in fossicking for specimens along the way. 

Some notable observations in the Whaler’s Lookout area were a very large-trunked native olive, Notolea ligustrina growing in splendid isolation on the pebbly bar just above the high tide mark.  An unusual wildflower in bloom was the Forest Germander, Teucrium corymbosum, on the steep slopes of the lookout.  Persistent squalls prevented effective searching for marine birds or mammals, although gannets were diving in more sheltered areas. 

In farmland on our return a flock of several hundred white-fronted chat was seen wheeling and settling in the pasture.  An enjoyable day was had despite the lunchtime showers, the winds and a small boy’s spectacular fall, with Olympic zeal, into a large muddy puddle. 

Photographs of the Flinders Island Federation Excursion and the September excursion are now on the Internet, see the Club’s website address at the head of this bulletin. 
Don Hird 

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