Eddie Dell was the first speaker at our initial meeting for 2017. He spoke about the birds on his Sawyers Valley property, where he has identified 38 species. He brought in a New Holland Honeyeater’s nest—a tiny one—from which two young birds had hatched and later flew off to a new life. He also spoke of the invasive nature of Hardenbergia sp. vine climbing on a living tree.

Otto Mueller spoke about the WA Museum and his many years of work there as a volunteer. He brought in a number of his meticulously prepared specimens, including a dragonfly, case moths and a crane moth, hanging and hover flies (the latter eat aphids) and told something about each one. Another specimen was the skull of a bandicoot.

Anne Mueller pointed out the miracle of a microscope in revealing the detailed structure of insects.

Joy Dell brought in photographs of wildflowers which grow on their property. One was a Caladenia sp. orchid and the other was Leschenaultia biloba.

Robin Roe, who grew up in Gingin, brought in a rock specimen from the area which was sent to the UK for investigation. It proved to be limestone from the River Marne in France, where it was used in the manufacture of millstones. These were exported to the UK and from there sent to WA. Photographs of the stones were displayed.

Yvonne Paterson made a trip to the Great Western Woodlands last year, from which she read her daily diary entries for the Helena and Aurora Range area, recounting many details including a very rewarding meeting with a group of Aboriginal people.

Pauline Dilley, a welcome visitor from KMRB, told us of her swims in Shoalwater Bay and some of the species that she meets, especially the balers (a type of mollusc.)

Margot Bentley mentioned an excellent biography on the life of William Dampier: A Pirate of Exquisite Mind by Michael and Diana Preston, which tells of his three circumnavigations of the world—a huge feat at that time. The authors have researched many events and practices of the period which makes reading this book a rich experience. She also mentioned two ABC Radio National programs worth seeking: ‘Offtrack’ at 10.30 am on Saturday, compered by Ann Jones on natural history related subjects and ‘Conversations’ with Richard Fidler at 3.00 pm Monday to Thursday, meeting a wide variety of interesting people. A recent interview with a shark researcher dealt with a female leopard shark which gave birth to three baby sharks without any male intervention and a ‘walking shark’, which is 80 cm long and lives and hunts in shallow water, ‘walking’ on its four fins.

Margot Bentley