Yellingbo and surrounds's Journal

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
On a mild and mostly overcast morning, our Our Youth Reference Group conducted their first Insect Survey within the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area. Hosted by Nic, one of the YRG members with a passion for insects, the group searched high and low to find the fascinating creatures we would otherwise overlook.
Some of the highlights were the Sydney Stick Insect, Gippsland Spiny Crayfish (yes, we know, it's not an insect!!), an owl pallet containing a tiny jaw bone, Orbweavers, a Crevice Weaver and numerous species of ants, leafhoppers, beetles and moths. Observations were added to iNaturalist.org, supporting the creation of long-term data records of species found within the region.
A lovely day out! Thanks to all those who attended on the day!

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
On a still and balmy 14 deg C evening, our Citizen Science volunteers and Youth Reference Group combined forces to conduct a twilight survey within the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area.
Focusing on frogs, our Youth Reference Group recorded the calls of the Common Eastern Froglet and Eastern Smooth Froglet using the Frog ID app. They also spotted a few juvenile Striped Marsh Frogs, alongside multiple Brown Tree Frogs hiding in the leaf litter.
The other half of the group had a more general intent, looking and listening for any sights & sounds. They recorded 9 bird species including a Southern Boobook, a Swamp Wallaby, Ringtail Possums, Eastern Smooth Froglets (the only frog species heard calling), Whistling Tree Frogs, an Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog and a Peron's Tree Frog, uploading them to iNaturalist.org to contribute to our long-term data sets.
We were all fortunate enough to spot three to four Yellow Bellied Gliders feeding on a Manna Gum. A beautiful sight indeed!
A beautiful night out in nature with some fellow citizen scientists during International Citizen Science month! 🙂

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
It was a calm, 12.4 deg C morning as 10 of our Citizen Science Bird & Frog survey team hit the tracks of Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area, recording 36 species of birds (Brian declared the Black-shouldered Kite the highlight, and it's always fabulous to hear the raucous Laughing Kookaburra). We saw 1 species of frog (Striped Marsh Frog) and heard 2 others (Eastern Smooth Froglet & Common Eastern Froglet), a Swamp Wallaby looked on peacefully as we walked by, and there was some interesting fungi! The summer bird visitors appear to have mostly left for their migration north, leaving our resident birds to enjoy the YNCA bush.
Two new people came along, and 1 person was back for their 2nd time, amongst the regulars - they all said they'd be back - brilliant!
The Manna Gums looked majestic against the blue skies and the conversation came easily as we shared time with like-minded people. Huge thanks to Brian for taking notes of the species we saw 🙂

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
The forecast was for showers, but that didn't stop our group of 10 intrepid citizen scientists venturing out today for our flora & fungi survey. We were rewarded with blue skies and warmth from the sun on our backs, despite the 13 deg C morning. The mostly still morning - gusting up to 1.3 kmh - helped us feel warm as we set out to undertake some 20m transect and 1x1m quadrat surveys, a survey method new to half of our citizen science team today. It was fantastic to watch everyone keen to learn this technique, help each other, and build on the skills they'd developed in previous sessions IDing and recording the flora species observed.
Feedback over lunch was that doing the transects and quadrats helped you stop and notice species that may have been overlooked ordinarily, thinking it was "... just another ..." Turns out we hadn't recorded one of those species on this site before, the Trailing Ground-berry Acrotriche prostrata. Great job Karin noticing it was different and looking harder, noticing the trail of clustered flowers along the stem.
It's been a dry start to 2024, hence, perhaps, few fungi so far in this patch of Lowland Forest, but we did get around 6mm rainfall overnight and early this morning, which may have helped bring out what we believe to be the tiny, delicate Rainforest Horsehair Marasmius crinis-equi growing on fallen leaves and Forest Wire-grass stems. Amazing to see their long, fine steps (stems) growing from these - gorgeous!!
A special thank you to Robert for baking Anzac Day biscuits and sharing these special treats over lunch! 😊💓