Birdlife Southern Queensland - Darling Downs Local Branch
The first BSQDD excursion for 2025, held on 15 February, was a joint activity with Toowoomba Bird Observers at a private property beside Lockyer Creek in the Lockyer locality (between Helidon and Murphys Creek).
Key Biodiversity Areas is a global program strongly supported by BirdLife Australia (read more here); designations provide a focus for conservation effort but are not legally binding. For the past few years, the Darling Downs group of BirdLife Southern Queensland has been acting as Guardian for the Key Biodiversity Area described as Bunya Mountains and Yarraman KBA.
After abandoning our initial plan of Duggan Park due to high winds and the potential of falling branches, it was decided to head to a more sheltered site nearby, which proved to be a brilliant decision.
The Palms is a tiny patch of rainforest surrounded by farmland and woodland just north of Cooyar.
Wrapped around the edge of the escarpment Prince Henry Drive has a reputation as one of the best birding spots in Toowoomba, and certainly lived up to that when we visited.
Only half an hour north-west of Toowoomba, Jondaryan is a birding hotspot and well known as a reliable site to see Painted honeyeaters at the end of the year.
Cooby Dam is a popular recreational water spot just north of Toowoomba. To say it was low on water at the time of our visit is something of an understatement. It was around 35% full!
Despite the lack of water the site still supports a vast array of birdlife, and is one of the best birding sites around Toowoomba, and we had a very enjoyable time on the day we visited.
Ten determined members and friends of the Darling Downs group ventured to Lake Broadwater, south-west of Dalby at the western edge of the main cropping belt, on 24 July 2021.
Irongate is a gorgeous little conservation block just outside of Pittsworth, and it is mainly surrounded by farm land. This was our second visit to the site, almost a year to the day after our first visit, and we found an abundance of birdlife.
It was a cold morning (four degrees) when we set off but it turned out to be a very enjoyable and eventful morning.