D’Aguilar Range
Maiala; Manorina; Boombana; Jolly’s Lookout
Four small parks with rainforest vegetation west of Brisbane
Access
These parks can be easily reached from Brisbane. The main access is by travelling along the Waterworks Road, Ashgrove, towards the Enoggera Reservoir and The Gap. Follow the Mt Nebo-Mt Glorious road from here as it winds up through the hills and you will eventually come to Jolly’s Lookout and Boombana National Parks. If you continue up the road you will eventually come to Manorina and in turn Maiala National Parks. There is an alternative route from Brisbane via Samford and Highvale. Sections of this route are gravel and care should be taken. Maiala is 42 kilometres from Brisbane.
Activities
Because of their proximity to Brisbane, these parks provide an ideal opportunity to partake in a variety of nature-oriented activities. If you wish to learn more about the rainforest there is the Rainforest Self Guiding Nature Walk at Maiala National Park. This is a short circuit which has a brochure keyed to markers along the track. At each marker you can read descriptive passages about the things you can see in front of you. During the school holidays and on some weekends there are special ranger-led.activities for both children and adults. Details of these activities are well advertised and can be obtained from the National Parks and Wildlife Service. As well as these activities there are more than 20 kilometres of walking track. These four parks are part of a large complex called the Brisbane Forest Park which, along with other State Forest areas, provide one of the best places for recreation near Brisbane.
History
The first known inhabitants of the D’Aguilar Range National Parks were the Kamilaroi Aborigines. The names of two national parks are derived from the dialect of this tribe. Maiala means ‘quiet place’ in the Kamilaroi dialect and Boombana means ‘trees in bloom’. Manorina National Park was named after a colony of bell miners {Manorina melanophrys) that are found there. Jolly’s Lookout was named after a past mayor of Brisbane. Maiala was the first national park declared in this area and was reserved in 1930. Jolly’s Lookout followed in 1938 and Manorina and Boombana in 1948.
Features
The rainforest of the D’Aguilar Range National Parks is home for many unusual animals. The tiger quoll (Dasyurops maculatus) is found here. It is a member of the Dasyuridae family. These animals serve a very important part in the ecology of the rainforest, keeping small animal numbers in check. Unfortunately the dumping of cats and the destruction of the quolls habitat have caused the decline of these beautiful creatures.
There are also two types of bandicoot found here, the short-nosed bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus) and the long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta). They dig up the ground looking for insect larvae and if you look in the picnic areas early in the morning you will see these diggings.
Deep in the rainforest you may be lucky enough to see a noisy pitta (Pitta versicolor). This is a beautifully coloured bird which spends a large part of its time on the forest floor hunting for its food. It has been called the anvil bird because of its habit of smashing snails on rocks. The noisy pitta feeds on snails and insects. This is often the only evidence you will have that you have come close to where a pitta is. The noisy pitta also has a distinctive call. It has been interpreted as sounding like ‘walk to work’. If you sit still for a while and imitate this call you may entice a pitta close enough to catch a glimpse of it, as they tend to be rather curious.
Another bird you may see is the paradise riflebird (Ptiloris paradiseus). It can sometimes be seen in the highest trees, hanging upside down and napping its wings. This is a male paradise riflebird displaying to a female. Because of the height that this bird is most usually seen at you may get the impression that the male riflebird is a dull black. If you are lucky enough to sec it close up and in the sunlight however, you will appreciate why it has been called the paradise riflebird. Its plumage is an iridescent purplish-green and velvet black with a purplish sheen. The female riflebird is a drab brown. Both have rather long curved beaks which they use to extract insects from under bark on logs and tree trunks.
One unusual amphibian found at Maiala is the Mt Glorious Torrent frog (Tandactylus diumis). It was first found here and this is one of the few localities where it can be found. It lives near the raging torrents and will jump into the water at the slightest sound. You may also see the occasional Macleay’s swallowtail (Graphium macleayanum macleayanum) or a regent skipper {Euschema rafflesia rqfflesia). These two butterflies live in the rainforest and only feed on certain rainforest plants. They are brilliantly coloured and provide a contrast to the deep green of the plants.
Rainforest trees have had to adapt to living in a moist and often dark environment. Many of the trees have root projections called buttresses. These buttresses probably serve a number of functions in the life of a tree. As the rainforest topsoil is very shallow, buttresses are a means of stabilisation. If you look at the wood inside a buttress you will see that it is very fibrous and so is probably used to store plant food. Another suggestion has been that these buttresses also help the plant ‘breathe’.
One particular plant that has adapted to life in the forest is the strangling fig (Ficus watkinsiand). Figs are the favourite food of many rainforest birds
and consequently many of their droppings contain fig seeds. Sometimes these droppings will land in the fork or crevice of a tree. Should suitable conditions prevail the seeds will sprout and start growing. The roots grow towards the ground and the leaves towards the sun. What normally happens is that the roots thicken and fuse to encase the host tree. As the host tree grows, it is effectively ringbarked by the fig roots. This is just one of the many ways plants have adapted to life in the rainforest.
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