The Shire of Mundaring ran their first ever Blue Sky Festival on Saturday 17 March 2018, and the DRB Nats had a stall there. It was a sustainability-focused festival based on themes such as biodiversity, renewable energy, waste management and saving our bushland. It was a local, non-commercial, low waste and plastic free event and brought together a range of organisations and community groups who all shared common values in highlighting the importance of environmental issues and sustainability in the Mundaring Hills. This included EMRC, Trillion Trees (formerly Men of the Trees), Kanyana, the Wildflower Society, and more.
Our stall consistently attracted visitors. This was primarily thanks to the two main attractions we had. The first was the ever-enthusiastic naturalist and ABC Radio “Birdman”, Eric McCrum. He was meant to hold two nature road shows at 11am and 2pm but in the end he simply answered questions all day long—and was still talking at 3.30pm.
One aspect of particular interest was Eric’s talk and display of a Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus) (above). Eric explained that the Nyoongar name for the Thorny Devil was mullewa, and that is where the town of Mullewa gets its name. The Thorny Devil lives in very dry parts of the country and Eric explained how they got their water. Apparently, every night as the dew forms, it collects on the spines on the back of the Thorny Devil. The spines are all joined together by gutters and all the gutters connect to the corners of its mouth, and so the Thorny Devil drinks the dewfall.
Drew shows off his Banded Huntsman to fascinated kids
The second main attraction was Drew Wallace, one of the DRB Nats’ youngest members, aged 11. He proved to be a very capable presenter of arthropods—going all day long too. He was a big hit: children and adults watched with amazement as he skilfully handled his pet scorpion on his hand and allowed his Banded Huntsman to crawl up his arm. It could run both sideways and forwards due to the way its legs are designed. It was such a good spider-friendly message to give, without any lectures.
Having the stall proved to be an excellent way to teach the public more about our natural history and also to promote the work of the WA Naturalists’ Club and the Darling Range Branch. We gave out brochures and collected email addresses via our free raffle to place on our visitors’ mailing list. The winners of the raffles were a member, Lynda Tomlinson, and visitor Stevie Braun.
Thanks to Frankie Wallace for organising it, to Eric and Drew and to all the members who helped staff the stall, including Joff Start, Joan Start, Tony Start, Diana Papenfus, Mike Green, and if I have forgotten anyone, thank you too. Frankie has already decided we will be back next year with an improved display.
Rachel Green