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Thurs. 5 Aug. 7.45p.m.: Sarah Munks will speak on The Ecology of the Platypus in Tasmania.
Sunday 8 Aug. excursion 9.00a.m. Depart from the Museum for Cascades Reserve (parking at the brewery).  In the spirit of our centennary year, this area was the site of our first excursion in 1904.

Thurs. 2 Sept. 7.45p.m.: Greg Jordan from Utas Plant Science will talk and especially provide a practical demonstration of the use of his Key to Tasmanian Dicotyledonous Plants.
Saturday 4 Sept excursion  8.00a.m. Depart from the Museum for Ralph's Bay to look at Shorebirds whose habitat is threatened by proposed housing developments..

Friday 17 Sept. 6.00p.m.: BOOKLAUNCH (of Our Centennary History) – see below.

Thurs. 7 Oct. 7.45p.m.: Andrew Walch to address Progress in Alternatives to the Use of 1080 to Abate Forestry Browsing Damage in Tasmania.
Sat. 9 Oct. excursion 9.00a.m. Kevin Bonham will lead an excursion on the Orchids of Knockloft Reserve.

Friday 17 Sept. 6.00p.m.: BOOKLAUNCH (of Our Centennary History).  The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery have kindly allowed us to again use the Zoology Gallery.
Janet Fenton’s A Century Afield will be officially launched by the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Robert Valentine.  Club members please rsvp to Genevieve if attending.

Saturday 18 Sept.Booklaunch Celebration BBQ 11.00 a.m. onwards.  We have booked Site 10 at Waterworks Reserve (far end).Anybody interested is invited.  BYO Everything, including a salad item to share.We were not able to secure a covered BBQ site.  Bring a seat if you wish.

Flower Show  The Biennial Plants Australia Flower Show will this year be again held at City Hall, from Friday to Sunday October 15-17.  Setting up will be on the Wednesday and Thursday prior.  If you are able to assist, please see a committee member.

Obituary
Len Wall

Len Wall was a member of the TFNC for over fifty years – half the Club’s history – a record which has been matched by only a few others. His chief interest was in birds, and he was a Tasmanian authority, consulted by experts here, interstate and from overseas, and contributing articles to journals such as the Emu as well as our own Tasmanian Naturalist.
He will also be remembered as the author of Tasmanian Birds, the royalties of which he generously made available to the Club. When it was published, Sharland’s own Tasmanian Birds had been long out of print, and Len’s book found a ready market. The income from the sales of this book put the Club on a secure financial footing, enabling the publication of subsequent books by the Club.
Len was always willing to share his knowledge with others. When I first joined the Club as an enthusiastic Junior Member in the early seventies, he patiently answered my endless questions, lent me books and invited me on extra field trips. I remember once we detoured to Ralphs Bay on the way home from a Field Nats excursion to hunt for, and find, a Banded Stilt which had been reported from the area.
The Field Nats was an important part of Len’s life. It was a rare meeting that did not see him in attendance, and he was on most outings while his health still permitted. He gave many talks, frequently contributed to the “Observations and Exhibits” segment of the meeting, and took part in discussions on conservation issues. Between 1948 and 1982 Len held at one time or another nearly every position on the Committee, including that of President for a total of seven years. Perhaps, though, the most significant part played by the Club in Len’s life was that it was through Club activities that he met Marjorie.
Not surprisingly, Len was made an Honorary Life Member in 1979 for his contribution to the Club. He was in fact the epitome of a Field Naturalist, an amateur who indulged in his passion, and developed and shared his expertise, while holding down a day job as an accountant. It was for such people that the Club was founded.
Julia Scott

Editor’s Note:   we were also saddened recently to hear of the passing of Les Rubenach; an obituary will appear in the next Bulletin.

EXCURSION REPORTS

Quarantine Peninsula, Bruny Island; May 2004.
Always count on the weather being there; drizzle was overcome by pleasant cloudy to sunny. Early into our exploring, a few nicely pollinated Genoplesium tasmanicum, Sharp Midge Orchid.  Qug was all excited finding a “prostrate Acacia” (I, in my ignorance believed her, having enjoyed her teaching-as-we-go in the past.)  Her humour showed through as she exclaimed "ah it can't grow tall for all the foliage trapping it."  Enthusiastic observation nonetheless.  Qug studying Wattles at TAFE.  New hat Qug?  Grandad's hasn't worn out I hope.
Genevieve and David gathered fungi- Robyn and Amanda were onto lovely young Cyrtostylis reniformis, Small- Gnat Orchid, the sun helping Amanda get the best shot. It was good for me too bowing low to Nature for my own shot, but hard getting back up these days. We soon were onto Chiloglottis reflexa, Autumn Bird Orchid in deep colours, later finding some more which were in pale colours- The orchids book indicating brownish, and pinkish flowers.  Several orchids in leaf including one Arachnorchis sp. – this is the new name for the large "spider" Caladenias, Acianthus pusillus, and Pterostylis parviflora were also noted (Kevin Bonham).
By now, Don had asked, "Did you see the Yellow-throated Honeyeater Maggie, and would you do the write-up ?  " Got to be quick! " Glad to ! " On ya Don!  By now, Kevin was prostrate, and so camouflaged at his place of snails, (hard to find) as I handed him this most prehistoric whatever. "Beetle lava, but not sure which."
Yellow Wattlebird, Yellow-throated Honeyeater, Forest Raven, Green Rosella, Grey Butcherbird, Laughing Kookaburra, Grey Fantail, Silvereye, Eastern Spinebill, and great views of Spotted Pardalotes and Yellow-throats at our lunch spot.  I'd swear they came close to us as we fed (and curious to see how we fed) as they also fed in the nearby trees. Times you wish you had the 600m1 lens. Amanda (and son), Annie, Kevin, and Don walked on to the peninsula to find firstly a White-bellied Sea Eagle's feather, then one flew in to land on what was likely its nest, which are usually built in very quiet and secretive places. No scats below the nest. No wonder the excitement of this being-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time occasion. It just adds so much lustre to life.
As the rest of us made to return to our cars, we found a very peaceful final resting place (within the forest for men who had lost their lives in a boating tragedy, which Robyn was going to try to find out more, to add to this write-up. Am not much into graveyards (not at present anyway), but this small fenced plot felt kind of nice in its situation, and oh so peaceful, which got some of us into talking quite easily about our own moving on, and there was something far from gruesome, as we felt our closeness with Nature and all its creatures, who wouldn't mind being part of this wondrous system called Mother Earth...
On that strange note, Editor will have a slashing time for sure.  But all part of Nature.  Maggie.
Snail List 6 spp. were found - Caryodes dufresnii, Tasmaphena ruga, Helicarion cuvieri, Paralaoma caputspinulae, Paralaoma mucoides, and Allocharopa sp. "Barossa Hill".
Surprisingly this seems to be the first confirmed record of the very common Paralaoma caputspinulae from North Bruny.  Allocharopa sp. "Barossa Hill" is a south-eastern endemic similar to the northern Allocharopa kershawi and currently known from about 15 sites mostly in dry forest.  There is a previous North Bruny record at McCrackens Creek. The population at Quarantine Peninsula is by far the densest ever recorded.
Also saw introduced snails Oxychilus cellarius and Cernuella vestita and introduced slugs Deroceras reticulatum, Lehmannia nyctelia, Arion intermedius and Limax maximus.  As usual for dry forest, the introduced species were common close to buildings and in areas of former pasture, and scattered in fairly low numbers elsewhere.
Kevin Bonham.

Fungi List for T.F.N.C. excursion to Quarantine Point, Bruny Island 9 May 04.
[An asterisk (*) after the name indicates that the species is a Fungimap target species]
  List compiled by Genevieve Gates and David Ratkowsky
 

Collybia / Gymnopus sp.	Gymnopus sp. “brown frilly”	Agrocybe sp
Hexagona vesparia	Boletus sp. “wedgensis”
Stropharia sp. on dung	Pycnoporus coccineus	Mycena sanguinolenta
Podoscypha petalodes	Agaricus sp. “marzipan”	Cortinarius sp. tawny cap, lilac stipe
Crepidotus variabilis	Dasyscythus sp. white	Galerina sp.
Laccaria sp.	Phellinus robusta / badius	Tubaria sp. with white ring
Russula lenkunya	Phlegmacium sp.white stipe, tawny cap	Mollisia sp.
small, grey Cortinarius sinapicolor	Mycena sp. dark brown, striate	Marasmius sp. hh
*Omphalina chromacea	*Laccocephalum hartmannii	Psilocybe subaeruginosa
Amanita sp.	Postia pelliculosa	Scleroderma cepa
Bovista sp.	Boletus sp. “ sandy”	Calocera sp.

Echo Sugarloaf 5 June

Echo Sugarloaf is a new State Reserve consisting of 122 ha of formerly private forest on a 198m hill overlooking Randalls Bay, south of Cygnet.  Forest types include silver peppermint forest, grassy blue gum forest and old-growth shrubby white peppermint forest.  The understorey ranges from open grassland to dense wet scrub on the southern slopes.  For this outing,thirteen of us followed the track from the quarry on the Channel Highway south to the summit of the sugarloaf, which offers excellent views over theHuon  River.  The walk is only about 1 km each way and quite easy.
The mycological squad found about 25 species of fungi and I was able to"Harry Butler" a live adult of a species of Roblinella snail so far known only from Echo Sugarloaf, so that those present could see it.  This was one of ten snail species for the day, the others being Caryodes dufresnii, Helicarion cuvieri, Prolesophanta nelsonensis, Paralaoma mucoides (first record from Echo Sugarloaf), Paralaoma halli, Allocharopa sp. "Wellington", Pernagera architectonica, Planilaoma luckmanii and Thryasona diemenensis.  In total I now have 13 spp. from four visits to this area.  Several of the species present are "wet forest" snails that wouldn't normally be expected in such open country.
A raptor seen on the return trip was probably a brown falcon although those of us expert enough to identify it for sure couldn't get close enough to confirm this.  After the trip, five of us went to Garden Island Creek where at least 70 spp. of fungi were seen.
Kevin Bonham
.
Fungi List for T.F.N.C. excursion to Echo Sugarloaf and Garden Island creek on 5 June 2004
[An asterisk (*) after the name indicates that the species is a Fungimap target species]
  List compiled by Genevieve Gates and David Ratkowsky
Echo Sugarloaf
 

Amanita xanthocephala*	Boletus sp., ‘wedgensis’	Byssomerulius corium	Collybia eucalyptorum
Cortinarius sp., brown	Dermocybe austroveneta*	Gymnopus sp.	Heterotextus peziziformis
Hydnangium carneum	Laccaria sp.	Lepiota sp., ‘sooty’	Lepiota sp., ‘greyish lilac scales’
Mycena carmeliana	Mycena sp.	Panaeolus sp.	Psilocybe subaeruginosa
Ramaria lorithamnus	Ramaria ochraceosalmonicolor	Rhodocollybia butyracea	Rickenella fibula
Russula sp., pink cap and stipe	Scleroderma cepa	Stereum illudens	Trametes versicolor
Tremella mesenterica*	Tubaria sp.
Garden Island Creek
Agaricus austrovinaceous	Agaricus sp.	Agaricus sp., ‘marzipan’	Amanita sp., white
Amauroderma rude*	Ascocoryne sarcoides*	Ascomycete - white disc with black hairs beneath	Austropaxillus muelleri
Bisporella sp., ‘green- yellow’	Byssomerulius corium	Calocera sp.	Chlorociboria aeruginascens
Clavaria amoena	Clavicorona piperata	Clitocybe clitocyboides	Clitocybe sp., ‘grey brown’
Coltricia cinnamomea	Coprinellus disseminatus	Cortinarius sp., ‘goldy top’	Crepidotus sp., orange
Crepidotus variabilis	Cystoderma amianthinum	Dermocybe austroveneta*	Galerina patagonica
Entoloma readiae	Entoloma sp., ‘orange splotch’	Flammulina velutipes	Grey, hard jelly fungus, ‘tapioca’
Geastrum triplex	Gymnomyces sp.	Hebeloma sp., large	Heterotextus peziziformis
Hypholoma fasciculare, ‘var. armeniacum’	Inocybe sp., ‘blondie’	Laccaria sp.	Lactarius eucalypti
Leotia lubrica*	Lepiota sp., greyish lilac scales	Lepista nuda*	Leucocoprinus sp.
Lycoperdon perlatum	Marasmius elegans*	Marasmius sp., ‘angina’	Marasmius sp., ‘horsehair with brownish cap and close cream gills’
Mycena austrofilopes	Mycena cystidiosa	Mycena epipterygia	Mycena sp., conical, brown on wood
Mycena vinacea	Mycena viscidocruenta*	Oudemansiella radicata*	Pholiota multicingulata
Pluteus sp., yellow	Pluteus sp., no margin	Podoscypha petalodes	Postia pelliculosa
Psathyrella sp.	Pseudohydnum gelatinosum*	Rhodocollybia butyracea	Rickenella fibula
Ripartities sp.	Russula lenkunya	Ryvardenia campyla	Scleroderma cepa
Stereum illudens	Stereum rugosum	Tremella fuciformis*	Tremella mesenterica*

Tolman’s Hill Outing July 3rd 2004

The day was cool and the wind had decided to stop for a change as we set off from the Museum to meet the rest of the party at Ridgeway Reservoir- making the party 13 in number.
We followed the track that took us to the top of Tolman’s Hill.  The low heath country was a good hunting ground for our various interests as we broke up into small groups.  Not many plants in flower but the common heath gave us bright splashes of colour here and there.  The birds were in good voice and a frog (Crinia signifera) was calling from a pond while we sat to enjoy a morning snack.
We followed the track back to another that took us below the reservoir – this outing was after David Leaman’s talk on Problems of Water and its Conservation.  There was plenty of water on the tracks and in the overflow stream from the reservoir.
The sun was shining on the northern side of the gully, a good place, the leaders decided for lunch.  So we followed – David looked at his map during lunch and decided we should keep going up the steep bank as the quickest return route – we followed again.
My gym boots were not meant for gripping that kind of terrain – happily there were four or more helpful people to get me going, while David laughed from the top, holding a video camera.  “Smile you’re on candid camera” – he is not a gentleman !  We followed the reservoir fence back around to the cars.
I really enjoyed my day in the bush again.  All good fun !

Plants flowering on the Tolmans Hill excursion    Anna McEldowney
 
 

Pimelia nivea	Goodenia lanata	Tetratheca pilosa	Epacris impressa
Astroloma humifusum	Leucopogon collinus	Correa reflexa	Acacia myrtifolia
Banksia marginata	Lissanthe strigose	Pultenaea juniperina	Themeda triandra
Pterostylis (formerly longifolia)	Billardiera longiflora (fruit)	Comesperma volubile	Olearia erubescens

Fungi List for T.F.N.C. excursion to Tolman’s Hill, 3 July 2004
[An asterisk after the name indicates that the species is a Fungimap target species]
List compiled by Genevieve Gates and David Ratkowsky
 
 

Amanita xanthocephala*	Ascomycete - small brown cup	Austropaxillus muelleri	Byssomerulius corium
Calocera sp., single rods	Clavaria amoena	Clitocybe sp., large, pale brown	Clitocybe sp., whitish
Cortinarius spp., several brown species	Crepidotus variabilis	Cystoderma amianthinum	Dermocybe austroveneta*
Dermocybe splendida*	Gymnopilus sp., small, tawny	Heterotextus peziziformis	Hydnum repandum
Inocybe sp.	Laccaria sp.	Mollisia sp.	Mycena carmeliana
Mycena sp., small, white, thread-like stipe, no odour, on leaf litter	Oudemansiella radicata*	Podoscypha petalodes	Postia sp., ‘black-yellow’
Psathyrella sp.	Psilocybe sp., ‘bruni-islander’	Psilocybe subaeruginosa	Ramaria lorithamnus
Russula lenkunya	Scleroderma cepa	Stereum hirsutum*	Stereum illudens
Stereum sp., ‘drab’	Thaxterogaster sp.	Tremella fimbriata	Tremella mesenterica*
Tricholoma sp., grey

No Democracy, Please; We’re Conservationists ?

Previously, comment has been made in the Bulletin about this Club’s role in conservation advocacy and participation in the larger conservation movement that has arisen during the life of this club.  Some years ago we formulated a Conservation Policy centred around our primary concern on protection of biodiversity (published on our website).
One of our concerns has been the amount of misinformation and distortion that we see as pervading many of the public utterances on the subject.  Many of these have focussed on forestry, and particularly on spectacular forest types such as Eucalyptus regnans, as core issues in conservation in Tasmania.  More clamorous conservation advocates use the most spectacular forestry practises to alarm the public even when the biodiversity issues are marginal at best.  While we certainly recognise that forestry is relevant to conservation, we don’t regard it as the only issue and we do regard forestry as a legitimate industry.
The upshot of this is a standoff in a war of words.  Forestry claims that it has science on its side when it is often secretive.  Even in definitive statements like the RFA it virtually ignores issues such as local destruction of protected species by 1080 poison.  Many public statements about 1080 by conservationists have also been inaccurate, giving forestry an excuse to keep phasing it out (for decades now !).  As usual with complex political issues, most people are confused and often polarised.
Tasmania has been and continues to be an Australian focus for conservation.  Those of us with detailed knowledge cannot but help noticing how much is said in the name of conservation that is not a consensus or even a well informed view of the issues.
On a formal basis, most States including Tasmania have a publicly funded Conservation Trust with a role in conservation advocacy and coordination.  It has long bemused us that this club is not regularly consulted even though we clearly have qualified and interested members in conservation issues.
The ongoing fracas on conservation seems about to erupt again with calls to usurp the role of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust with a new forestry-issues-centred body.  The club members with whom I have discussed this regard such a move as unnecessary and most likely a grab for power and funds.
In this election year its already hard to avoid the avalanche of “Conservation” propaganda, much of it squandering public funds in attempting to justify inefficient national conservation programs.  We would all benefit of the conservation movement was more united in its diversity, and more trusting.         Don Hird

Federation Meeting  The next meeting of the Federation of Tasmanian Field Naturalists Clubs is scheduled for the weekend of November 19.  See Genevieve or the next Bulletin for details.

Mammal Survey Group We intend to apply for a permit to recommence these activities.  Unfortunately bureaucracy (including significant financial imposts) have made the process much more difficult than previously.  In other States, such activities are actively encouraged. 

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