Allora Mountain Flora and Fauna Reserve

Sightings anywhere within a 250 km radius of Toowoomba, but excluding the local survey area (see above), for the period 1 Sep - 30 Nov 2010.
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Rod Hobson
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:03 am

Allora Mountain Flora and Fauna Reserve

Post by Rod Hobson »

Folks,

On the 08th of this month fellow QPWS employee Mark Cant and I spent most of the day rambling over the Allora Mountain Flora and Fauna Reserve on the eastern Darling Downs. The main objective of this trip was to check on a population of the rare and threatened Hairy Anchor Plant (Discaria pubescens) that had previously been reported from the reserve. We were successful in this venture in finding a small area containing about 60 of these shrubs many of which were flowering. Later in the day we found another good population of these plants close by along the verge of Forest Plain Road on the edge of Allora township.

Hereunder is a list of the fauna recorded on this day for the reserve with Brown Quail and Little Bronze-Cuckoo being new species for the "Spring Beyond - 2010" list:

MAMMALS:

Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Whiptail Wallaby

BIRDS:

Australian Magpie
Australian Kestrel
Brown Quail
Galah
Torresian Crow
Pied Butcherbird
Laughing Kookaburra
Apostlebird
House Sparrow
Australian Wood-Duck
Common Starling
Red-rumped Parrot
Zebra Finch
Crested Pigeon
White-throated Gerygone
Striated Thornbill
Common Myna
Noisy Miner
Rainbow Bee-eater
Weebill
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Tree Martin
Grey Butcherbird
Rufous Whistler
Pied Currawong
Grey Fantail
Silvereye
Double-barred Finch
Speckled Warbler
Leaden Flycatcher
Little Bronze-Cuckoo (seen and heard)

REPTILES:

Bearded Dragon

BUTTERFLIES:

Chequered Swallowtail
Dainty Swallowtail
Wanderer
Meadow Argus
Cabbage White
Common Grass Blue

On this morning, whilst driving down the northern boundary of the reserve along Reserve Road I noticed a small flock of about six House Sparrows fly from a farm yard into the reserve. They landed in a Box Thorn and I was intrigued to see that one of the birds was quite aberrantly coloured. All of this bird's head, throat and chest was snowy white with a brilliant canary yellow along its primaries and tail feathers. The rest of the bird was of normal House Sparrow colour and pattern - a very pretty bird indeed. Perhaps a lack of black pigment in its make-up?

Regards
Rod Hobson
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