On Sunday the 12^th March , at the Berowra Community and Cultural Facility (Berowra Community Centre) we held the Berowra Fauna Fair.

The Fair opened with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony by Uncle Laurie a Traditional Owner in the local area.

The event was designed to engage all ages in experiencing our native wildlife and also to learn from experts in their field on 30 min talks ranging from fungi, spiders, koalas and platypus, marine life, birds, native bees and native orchids.

Over 350 people enjoyed the stalls featuring many organisations that work with our local flora and fauna. The greater Hornsby area is a native animal hot spot and home to some of Australia’s most iconic animals. Learning about these animals is a great step towards making sure they are still here for future generations to enjoy.

A big thank you to Uncle Laurie and all of our speakers:

• Vanessa McPherson and Michael Gillings, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University who spoke on Fungi.
• Wendy Grimm from the Australian Native Plant Society on Native Orchids.
• Jenny Sistrom from Sydney Wildlife Rescue on The Benefits of Wildlife in our Gardens.
• Dr Helen Smith from Australia Museum on The Secret Life of Spiders.
• Judy Harrington from Birdlife Australia on our local threatened species the Glossies and Powerful Owls as well as some of the other local birds people can see in their backyards or surrounding bushland.
• Sue Martin and Pat Schwartz from CHEN and Glenorie Environment Centre and Hills – Hornsby Rural Koala Project on detecting Platypus and Koalas in the local area.
• David Booth and Gigi Beretta, Marine Ecologists from UTS on Sydney as a major hub of marine biodiversity but also a hotspot for climate change. They discussed their work in Sydney on seadragons, seahorses, invading tropical fishes and new subtropical coral beds off Sydney
• Abbie from Kids Connecting Nature on our local native bee species and who also ran a workshop on how to make bee hotels that work.

We were also very fortunate to have many fabulous organisations contribute their local wildlife including:

• Frog and Tadpole Study Group (FATS) who brought the threatened Green and Golden Bell Frog and a Cane Toad.
• The Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park and and Sydney Bats were a hit with echidnas, blue tongue lizards and the threatened Flying Fox.
• Jabiru Wildlife who gave a fascinating demonstration of local snakes, including the red-bellied black, the Brown Snake and many others with lots of tips on safety around snakes.
• Australian Environmental Education and Nature Know Australia brought us live insect and other Mini beasts.
• Australian Wildlife Displays who brought a ringtail possum, Tawny Frogmouth, Bluetongue Lizard, Green Tree Frog, Diamond Python, Lace Monitor and Long-necked Turtle.

Other stalls included:

• Australian Native Plant Society
• Berowra Garden Club
• Apex BBQ
• Friends of Berowra Valley and their fabulous hollow tree
• Nature Conservation Council
• Birdlife Australia
• Sydney Wildlife Rescue
• Hornsby Shire Council Bushcare
• Cattai-Hills Environment Network (CHEN) & Glenorie Environment Centre

A very special thanks to Hornsby Shire Council for the community event grant that made the fair so much easier to run and Apex for contributing their entire takings on the day. Also to all of the members of Friends of Berowra Valley who contributed their time and effort in organising and running this community event.

The Berowra Fauna Fair is coming up, bigger and better than ever. With the support of Hornsby Shire Council we will be celebrating all of the marvellous wildlife with whom we share our bushland home.

On Sunday the 12^th March from 10am to 4pm, at the Berowra Community and Cultural Facility (Berowra Community Centre), The Gully Road Berowra, we will commence with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony by Uncle Laurie. The centre will be a hub of fauna based activity including native animals, information from wildlife rescue, local plants for sale, a workshop on building a bee hotel and a BBQ run by Apex.  Throughout the event there will be continuous 30-minute talks by experts on bats, birds, frogs, fungi, marine animals, koalas and more. There will be plenty of opportunity to share experiences and ask questions, or just to sit back and learn something new.

The greater Hornsby area is a native animal hot spot and home to some of Australia’s most iconic animals such as the echidna, and threatened species such as the platypus and koala. Learning about these animals is a great step towards making sure they are still here for future generations to enjoy. Other familiar friends, including bandicoots, sugar gliders and glossy black cockatoos, will also be featured in talks at the event.

Speaker Programme

Time	Talk
10am – 10.30am	Uncle Laurie Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony
10.30am -11am	Fungi Biodiversity Vanessa McPherson and Michael Gillings School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Learn about one of our most important ecosystem engineers in a fascinating talk about Fungi Biodiversity.
11am -11.30am	Native Orchids Wendy Grimm Australian Native Plant Society Genoplesium baueri  R.Br. (family Orchidaceae) is an endangered terrestrial orchid species endemic to the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia. Genoplesium baueri was spotted by Wendy Grimm in 2009, as an isolated plant growing along a fire-trail in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, near Mount Colah with members of the Australian Plants Society North Shore Group. G. baueri was previously recorded in the 1940’s around Cowan and Mt Colah. Wendy went on to monitor several populations of the rare orchid 2009-22 in local National Parks and nature reserves and published the results in Cunninghamia and was awarded a MPhil for her studies. Wendy has been part of the APS NSG Walks & Talks program at Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden since retiring as a hospital scientist in 2007 and has enjoyed a life-long enthusiasm for geology, flora & fauna and conservation of the environment.
11.30am -12pm	Wildlife in our Gardens – the Benefits Jenny Sistrom Sydney Wildlife Rescue
12pm – 12.30pm	The Secret Life of Spiders Dr Helen Smith Australia Museum Helen Smith works behind the scenes at the Australian Museum in Sydney where she helps to look after one of the largest spider collections in the southern hemisphere. These spider specimens are for research, so they are carefully preserved and labelled. But Helen also loves to get out and about to see what spiders and other little animals are up to in their day-to-day lives. Have you ever wondered why there are silk lines across the bushes glistening in the sun, or marvelled as a huntsman spider defies gravity to run across a smooth window? Or maybe you spotted a white speck moving in your lawn then realised it was attached to a camouflaged spider – what was that all about? Come for a peep into the secret world of our 8-legged friends and find out about some of the astonishing things they do every day as they live their spidery lives.
12.30pm – 1pm	Come Fly with Me Judy Harrington Birdlife Australia A talk about your special Glossies and Powerful Owls as well as some of the other local birds people can see in the backyards or the surrounding bushland. Plus some hints on attracting birds to your gardens
1pm – 1.30pm	Platypus and Koalas Sue Martin and Pat Schwartz CHEN and Glenorie Environment Centre and Hills – Hornsby Rural Koala Project An update on the wonderful work in the local area to detect platypus and koalas in our local bushland.
1.45pm – 2.15pm	Seahorses, seadragons, tropical fishes and corals: the Sydney scene. David Booth and Gigi Beretta UTS and FoBV Sydney is a major hub of marine biodiversity but also a hotspot for climate change.  Gigi Beretta and David Booth are marine ecologists who study marine fishes and corals from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney.  We will discuss our work in Sydney on seadragons, seahorses, invading tropical fishes and new subtropical coral beds off Sydney!
2.30pm – 3pm	Native Bees Kids Connecting Nature Learn about our native bee species
3pm – 4pm	Bee workshop – pre booked free for the first 18 participants ( 1 ticket per family) Book Now https://www.trybooking.com/CGKPL

Kids Events

Time	Name
10am-2pm	Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park and Sydney Bats Meet our amazing local wildlife – grey headed flying foxes (the bats), turtles, lizards, pythons and an echidna.
10am-2pm	Snake Safety – Jabiru Wildlife – live snakes and snake safety demonstration
11am-1pm	Insects and other Mini beasts Australian Environmental Education and Nature Know Australia Display of insect materials, and some live animals to interact with. Outdoor program. 2 x minibeast hunts – 11.30am 12.30pm 25 minutes each Discover local bugs and creatures and learn more about them. 15 to 20 children 2 x mindful moments in nature sessions – slow down and play with nature materials and sensory sessions 25 minutes  each 11am 12pm 12 children per session – Signup on the day
2pm-4pm	Australian Wildlife Displays Ringtail possum, Tawny Frogmouth, Bluetongue Lizard, Green Tree Frog, Diamond Python, Lace Monitor and Long-necked Turtle
2.30pm -4pm	Bee Hotel Workshop – pre-booked Kids Connecting Nature Book Now https://www.trybooking.com/CGKPL

 

Stalls

• Australian Native Plant Society
• Berowra Garden Club
• Apex BBQ
• Friends of Berowra Valley
• Nature Conservation Council
• Birdlife Australia
• Sydney Wildlife Rescue
• Hornsby Shire Council
• Snake Safety – Jabiru Wildlife – live snakes and snake safety demonstration
• Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park and Sydney Bats 10am-2pm meet our amazing local wildlife – grey headed flying foxes (the bats), turtles, lizards, pythons and an echidna.
• Australian Wildlife Displays 2pm-4pm bringing: Ringtail possum,Tawny Frogmouth, Bluetongue Lizard, Green Tree Frog, Diamond Python, Lace Monitor, Long-necked Turtle
• Kids Connecting Nature – Bees
• Australian Environmental Education and Nature Know Australia – a joint minibeast display and activities.
• Frog and Tadpole Study Group (FATS)
• Cattai-Hills Environment Network (CHEN) & Glenorie Environment Centre

 

Thank you to all those who braved the torrential rain at our frog talk a couple of weeks ago. It was fantastic to see so many people of all ages come out and learn about and meet some our local frogs. Big thanks to Kathy and the Frog and Tadpole Study Group for talking to our community. We have many events planned so subscribe to receive updates here.