JORGENSON PARK WALK & NATURE SURVEY

DARLING RANGE BRANCH APRIL EXCURSION REPORT This was a joint excursion with Friends of Jorgenson Park (FoJP) which is a very keen, but smallish, group of volunteers dedicated to restoring the one-time golf course to something like its original bushland status. Their ‘leader’ Joy explained to the 11 members and ...

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FLORA OF KALAMUNDA NATIONAL PARK

DARLING RANGE BRANCH MAY MEETING REPORT Members of DRB may have been forgiven in thinking that their May meeting was going to be a ‘flora-walk in the park’—Kalamunda National Park in fact—presented by Gooseberry Hill resident Ken Patterson. Perhaps they expected an evening of interesting observations of the flora and ...

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“Botanic Obsession”

Excursion March 2017 Thirteen members plus one visitor arrived at Faye Arcaro‘s four acre property “Botanic Obsession” in Jandakot on March 18 hoping to see lots of insect activity, especially native bees. Unfortunately the day was overcast and grey and activity was at a minimum. But Faye’s enthusiasm more than ...

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Kangaroos in our Garden

MARCH Meeting 2017 Branch President, Mike Green, presented an illustrated talk on kangaroos in their garden, continuing a theme of focussing this year’s DRB talks on natural history in the Hills area. Kangaroos are herbivores that are native to Australia and its neighbouring islands. They are marsupial mammals of the ...

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Native Bees In Your Garden

Faye Arcaro, photojournalist and enthusiastic advocate of organic horticulture, presented us with the first talk of the year, at our new venue. This was a well-attended meeting with as many visitors as members. There are more than 2000 native bee species in Australia and academic reference sources about them are ...

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Mound Springs

Ecologist Val English presented us with a talk on mound springs at the November meeting. Having joined the Department of Parks & Wildlife in 1994, Val was responsible for setting up the flora survey database of endangered/threatened species; she is now Principal Ecologist with the Species and Communities Section.Mound springs ...

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The World of Honey Possums

Prof Don Bradshaw presented a talk on this tiny, rare WA mammal that is neither a possum nor a devourer of honey. Professor Don Bradshaw, Chair of Zoology and Senior Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Animal Biology at UWA, presented a talk on Honey Possums to a well-attended meeting on ...

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Darwin, Australia and Luck

Our guest speaker for the first talk of 2015 was Dr Patrick Armstrong, Adjunct Professor at Edith Cowan University and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Royal Society of WA. Patrick’s talk entitled “Darwin, Australia and Luck”, providing us with an historical perspective of the naturalist Charles Darwin, was timely ...

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Woylies – July Meeting Report

Research ecologist Dr Adrian Wayne’s discussion could have been titled ‘The ups and downs of Woylie populations in WA’ , for that is what has happened in recent years to these endearing little macropods, with several serious crashes that sent researchers scrambling for answers before it was too late. Adrian brought ...

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