29th January
Four Springs Lake
Dragonflies and Damselflies with Nigel Forteath, Professor of Aquaculture UTAS.
Four Springs Lake was established in the 1990s for recreational fishing, and 16 species of dragonflies and damselflies have been seen here. Nigel and the Nats caught dragonflies, then chilled them for a few minutes so they could be identified and photographed.
12th February
Ben Lomond alpine circuit
The Field Nats traversed the Little Hell pole line circuit, reaching a height of 1546 metres. Flowering snow gentians were abundant, and the most striking wildflowers were the beautiful silver snow daisies (Celmisia). The views were magnificent, with evidence of previous glaciations and later intensive shattering of the heavily jointed dolerite rock by frost action. The great block fields and screes of Ben Lomond are said to be the most extensive in the world.
March 12th
Birds at Native Point
Seen and/or heard: Brown falcon, Brown thornbill, Brush bronzewing, Corella, Crescent honeyeater, Crested tern, Dusky raven, Flame robin, Forest raven, Golden whistler, Green rosella, Grey butcher bird, Grey fantail, Kookaburra, Little pied cormorant, Little wattlebird, Magpie, Olive whistler, Pacific gull, Silvereye, Spotted pardalote, Striated pardalote, Sulphur-crested cockatoo, Tasmanian native hen, Wattlebird, Welcome swallow, White-bellied sea eagle, White-faced heron, Yellow-throated honeyeater.
April 9th
Ferns at Northeast Park, Scottsdale
Lead by Deb Searle, and armed with fern flips, the Nats discovered an amazing variety of species for such a small area.
June 11th
Fungi foray, East Diddleum Plains
In the rainforest we saw lots of entoloma species, and Clavulinopsis amoebeae and Ascocoryne sarcoides amongst others.
September 10th
A walk along the Supply River to the Flour Mill ruins
The banks of the Supply River were lined at times with tussock grass – Poa labillardierei. Also noted were the native cranberry – Astroloma humifusum; storksbill – Pelargonium australe; the fungus Anthracophyllum archeri, and beyond the ruins: Pinkwood – Beyeria viscosa. This is in the Euphorbiaceae genus, the defining feature being a white milky sap in the stems.
October 8th
Palaeontology at Liffey and Poatina. Leader Phil Tattersall
Here is Phil’s report of the day
November 12th
Cape Portland
A visit to the Musselroe wind farm, notably to observe the flora and fauna at the Tregaron Lagoon : a mob of Forester kangaroos, and extensive areas of samphire, dodder laurel, and bower spinach
December 10th
Bare Rock, Fingal
A rocky climb in vehicles to a plateau above Bare Rock, studded with an amazing variety of flora. The native clematis and blue love creeper were still in flower, and we saw about a dozen members of the daisy family, and several species from the family Ericaceae.
