Around 25 members, past KRMB members and visitors from other branches attended our Christmas get together for a BBQ lunch at Lake Richmond. It was good to once again meet up with Anne and Otto Mueller, Peter Wilmott, Roz Hart and Margaret Larke.

Prior to settling down for lunch a group of us took the opportunity to take a short walk around the northern portion of Lake Richmond, which is expected to experience some impact from a project to duplicate the Water Corporation’s waste water pipeline to Point Peron. Some of the shrubs bordering the track had recently been pruned back and we noticed some colourful insects congregated at the cut end of some wattle branches. At first it was thought that they were Jewel Beetles but Otto Mueller was able to identify them as Jewel Bugs. Jewel Bugs are members of the Scutelleridae family (refer to the Queensland Museum fact Sheet that can be found at www.qm.qld.gov.au/Learning+Resources/Resources  – enter Jewel Bugs in the Search Box to locate the fact sheet). Some are also known as Harlequin Bugs. They feed on sap and seeds, which explains why they were congregated at the damaged end of the wattle branches, and also on the seedpods of the same wattle tree. The colourful bugs represent the nymph stage that will later develop into the adult form known as Shield Backed Bugs (refer to the accompanying photograph which shows an adult amongst the colourful nymphs).

There were many Pelicans present on the lake with groups flying off and new groups arriving on a regular basis. Other birds that we noted during our walk included Black Winged Stilts, Musk Duck, Black Duck, Great Cormorant and Pied Cormorant. Whistling Kites made regular sweeps over the edge of the lake while Crested Terns hunted over the lake itself. A pair of Ospreys slowly glided low overhead giving us an up close encounter with these majestic birds.

Back at the Pergolas we cooked our BBQ then sat down to a most enjoyable lunch. Otto Mueller was the winner of the raffle for the Christmas Hamper. Many thanks to Anne and Alan Bellman for running the raffle.  Colin Prickett