The not so Beaumont Common
- Stephen Fricker
- Apr 21, 2021
- 2 min read
Beaumont Common is a small urban park in Burnside Council, the park has a remanent Grey Box and SA Blue Gum with one original Native Pine. The Common has recently had native vegetation re-established creating a refuge for native birds and insects, a place worth exploring for the nature enthusiast. Interestingly I conducted one of my first Citizen Science engagement events at Beaumont Common and although I knew the park I was a little sceptical. How wrong I was. I made one of my favourite observations of all time the Rutilia spp. below. what an awesome species I am still unclear what species it is, so anyone who knows please help out! Unfortunately, I did not see another fly like this, this trip, but there was still plenty to see.
Rutilia spp. observed by Stephen Fricker Mar 6, 2019
On this occasion, I suggested that we look at the western end of the park which had more discrete blocks of revegetation amongst majestic ancient Grey Box trees. These trees had over time developed character with many well-utilised hollows in a variety of shapes and sizes. I pondered with Mary what species would be using the different hollows. The park also had quite a few logs placed amongst the revegetation. These logs provide shelter for insects and small vertebrates such as the Southern Marbled Gecko the highlight, and a variety of invertebrates
Southern Marbled Gecko Christinus marmoratus observed by Mary Crawford hiding under a log.
I think Mary really liked this park and really engaged in finding many invertebrates under the logs that she turned with Thabata. At the time of writing, we managed to increase the number of observations within the Beaumont Common iNaturalist project from 261 to 311, although a small increase of only 5% the species recorded within the park grew 8% from 104 to 117. Unfortunately, we did not see either a Koala or an Echidna which was disappointing, the abundance of Eastern Rosella's Platycercus eximius, Magpie's Gymnorhina tibicen and Musk Lorikeet's Glossopsitta concinna made up for this.
Great outcome. :)