2014 End of Year Overview from Jarowair

2014 has proved a wonderful year for everything Wildlife here at our little Land for Wildlife patch "Jarowair" in South-East Queensland.  While it is hard to list everything, here is an overview of our discoveries and adventures with wildlife this year:

• 11 Months of the year were in Drought, with a long heat wave in January 
• Rehabilitated/rescued Wildlife released on our property included, three Common Brush-tailed Possums, one Koala and a Tawny Frogmouth.
• New Fauna Species discovered at Jarowair included:  Feathertail Glider, Nankeen Night Heron, Owlet Nightjar, Dwyer's Snake, Brown-headed Honeyeater,Golden Whistler, Bandicoot, Grassland Melomys and Common Dunnart, Stoney Creek Frog and Wrinkled Toadlet.
• We had sightings of a few species that had not been seen for some years at Jarowair and these included:  Rufous Bettong, Salmon Striped Frog, Pacific Baza and Burton's Snake Lizard.
• This year our property Jarowair was approved membership of the Wildlife Land Trust.
• Some of our Jarowair Photos featured in the Summer edition of the Queensland Murray Darling Land for Wildlife Newsletter.
• We held our first night time Glider Spotlighting Tour and gave a guided tour of our property to local wildlife enthusiasts.
• We trapped a Wild Dog on our property and also gained footage of another and have been working with the Toowoomba Regional Council Pest Management Section on removal of this environmental pest locally.
• Some un-invited guests (Yellow-footed Antechinus) decided to move into the house and despite removing 11, there still remains to be one cheeky one who has out-smarted our "catch em alive trap" and remains hoping around the house during the night.
• We have been approached by an International Wildlife Chanel about filming a native wildlife documentary on our property in 2015.

Other wildlife adventures away from home this year included:

• Weekly volunteering with Koala Rescue and Rehabilitation organization at Return to the Wild Inc.
• Volunteering at World Environment Day in Toowoomba, spreading the conservation message and selling Wildlife Nesting Boxes.
• Wildlife Nesting Box Display and stall at the Cabarlah Markets.
• Brendon's Jarowair Nesting Boxes were displayed at the Geham Country Craft Fair in September.
• Hosted a night time tour group on a guided spotlighting tour through Nielsen Park, Toowoomba as part of the Friends of the Escarpment Parks outing.
• Started and ran an arduous campaign to protect the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve at Highfields, which proved successful in a win , preserving the last patch of remnant bushland in Highfields, which proved successful with Toowoomba Regional Council Councillors choosing to vote for the option to preserve the reserve rather than the intended option to clear trees and undergrowth in a 3 meter wide area through the centre of the reserve for an un-necessary path.
• Started and became the group co-ordinatior for the "Friends of Rogers Reserve Group" at the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve, which consists of a group of local people meeting once a month to maintain the bushland reserve in Highfields.
• Organized Clean Up Australia Day at Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve at Highfields.
• Judi won the State Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland "Margaret Thorsborne Award"  for outstanding contribution by a member for my successful campaign to save the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve at Highfields.
• Joined the Committee for the Toowoomba Branch of the Wildlife Preservation Society and took on the role of Newsletter Editor.
• Judi's photo of a Satin Bowerbird Bower featured in an exhibit for school children on "Animal Architecture" in Science World in Canada.
• Met some amazing like minded people
• Thoroughly enjoyed reading other's blog posts about their own patch of environment and local areas all over Australia and the World and being educated on all things wildlife and being inspired about great places to visit in Australia.

Happy New Year from the four of us and thank you for following our blogs this year, for your lovely comments, encouragement and helpful advice with identification of different species.  We are thankful for our neighbours who support our wildlife vision and for the family and friends who have made an effort to see our view of the world around us - we hope we have educated some of you and changed your view on our countries amazing wildlife and the need to protect their habitat.  We look forward to another wonderful year in 2015 and wonder what wildlife wonders we will come across at Jarowair in the new year.

Brendon, Judi, Cam & Kiki and all the critters. 

Happy New Year from the Gray Family at "Jarowair" South East Queensland.