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Program Meeting, Tuesday, May 28–Wildflowers and Birds of Southwestern Australia
February 16 @ 9:28 pm
Kangaroo Paws, Donkey Ears, and Frogmouths: Wildflowers and Birds of Southwestern Australia with Bob Fleming
Last September (spring in the southern hemisphere), Bob Fleming visited Australia’s southwestern region. Join us for an evening journey, as he shares some of what he experienced there.
An island continent for some 45 million years, it is no surprise that Australia features a splendid assortment of unique mammals and birds. The western edge of the country, separated from the rest of Australia by extensive deserts, might almost be considered a botanical island. The Southwest Botanical Region alone, which is a third larger than Oregon, is home to some 8,000 species of plants, of which 80 percent are endemic. And these plants support a number of birds and other animals, including Black Cockatoos, Western Rosellas, and mound-building Malleefowl. Mammals and reptiles found here include Gray Kangaroos and Spiny Echidnas, plus venomous Western Brown and Red-bellied snakes.
At a casual glance, much of Australia’s southwest landscape is rather uninspiring, with limited trees, drab bushes, and no great vistas of colorful wildflowers. Uninspiring, that is, until one looks more closely and realizes that every few miles there is yet another species of spider orchid, or carnivorous sundew, or Banksia.
The plants that flourish here have adapted to the nutrient-poor soils and almost annual fires that sweep over the ground. Most plants sprout from underground bulbs or tubers once the fire has passed, while others feature thick lignite, almost fireproof bark. The saving feature for the plant and animal life in the southwest is the humid wind that blows in from the Indian and Southern Oceans. The moisture captured by the Stirling Range provides enough rain to allow this astonishing array of species to prosper.
Bob, a zoologist-naturalist, has organized and led natural history tours to many biological regions of the world. On this, his fifth visit to Australia, he traveled with friends, two of whom were from Eugene.
Program Meetings
Our monthly program meetings have something for everyone. During the last year we hosted programs by naturalists, wildlife artists and expert birders on a variety of topics from the birds of Hawaii, to ravens, wolves, and people, to the migration of red knots. Participating in a program meeting is a fun way to get involved with Lane County Audubon. Meetings are free and open to all.
We are currently meeting on Zoom and in-person as conditions allow on the 4th Tuesday of each month between September and May at 7:00 p.m.