Excursion Report: Binna Burra Day Excursion, 22 Feb 2025

Leaders and Report by Judy Haines & Lil Spadijer

It was a punctual start in beautiful mountain weather for our fungus walk at Binna Burra. With the greeting of a Paradise Riflebird in our ears, the seven of us set off along the top end of the Cave Circuit and made very slow progress along the track due to the abundance of insect life and fungi and a rich array of rainforest plants to admire and identify. Penny’s camera was clicking overtime and the scientific names rolling off her tongue like rainforest cascades, as insects materialised out of the complex environment to her experienced eye. I think we all picked up some more clarity on the complicated world of insects – though perhaps have a long way to go. One highlight was a Regent Skipper feeding on lantana flowers, which gave us very good views and photo opportunities.

Occasionally we would come across a bird “hot spot” with Rufous and Grey Fantails, Spectacled Monarchs and Silvereyes in mixed flocks. Otherwise there was not a great deal of bird calls in line with the post-breeding lull. And the fungi – secretive, silent and sometimes slimy. Lil demonstrated the milky exudate from the gills of a Lactarius sp. And the frequent fallen tree trunks provided a fine display of bracket fungi and more delicate agarics as they returned the wood to the soil. Fortunately Lil’s agility meant that most of us could remain safely on the path while she negotiated the rough terrain, Giant Stinging

Tree leaves and Wait-a While vines to bring us photographic specimens to look at closely. A thrilling moment was when John, passing a hollowed out fallen tree trunk by the path, helpfully heard a scratching sound from inside and with torch and camera we made out a small mammal hiding just inside – Antechinus? Notable plants were the abundant flowering Silver Plectranthus, Plectranthus argentatus and Giant Pennywort, Hydrocotyle pedicellosa with its white-pink umbels, lining the path. We saw a good variety of rainforest shrubs and trees including Long-leaved Tuckeroo, Cupaniopsis newmanii, which we were mainly able to nut out with our combined knowledge. Oddly little fruiting was in evidence – white drupes of Schizomeria obovata on the path was about all we saw.

After lunch we completed the nature walk further up the road – 1 km of original rainforest designated as Lamington NP with some helpfully labelled trees. Then we drove down to the lower entrance of the Cave Circuit and walked into the quite spectacular cave with views of lowering storm clouds over the range on the other side of the Coomera Valley (though we only had a couple of drops ourselves). The birds were quite active in this late afternoon period. We puzzled for some time over the calls of White-naped Honeyeaters en masse, with the birds keeping very close to cover. As we had seen a Grey Goshawk at the cave and there was another raptor glimpsed circling, we wondered if they were warning calls and the difficulty of spotting the birds was related to the threat. I certainly enjoyed the day and I hope (and think) others did judging by the enthusiasm of the participants and we returned home leech and tick-free, amazingly! It is a long drive toand from the Lamington plateau but we made the most of the day there, though not covering heroic distances, of course. Perhaps an overnight stay would enable more “spotting time” in relation to car travel in future. There is accommodation available and camp sites. Thanks to Lil Spadijer for photographing and identifying the fungi.