Joseph's Coat Moth at Glen Gowrie

15th March 2015

A stunning Joseph's Coat Moth was the highlight of our first visit to Glen Gowrie Environmental Park at Gowrie Junction today. Glen Gowrie Environmental Park is located on a small hill in a residential area on the south- eastern side of the country town. The area consists of dry rainforest scrub and can be accessed from Parkway Drive.  There are a couple of designated car parking spots at the entrance to the park, which is marked with green and yellow painted timber signage (reflective of the Rosalie Shire Council days).  There is a cement path entrance to the park located in between two houses to access the park after which a mowed track winds up the hill through the remnant bushland to the top, where the hill is largely cleared with a few selective trees remaining overlooking a great country view.

The environmental park was sadly littered with a great deal of rubbish along with the remains of bush camp fireplaces.  Weeds such as asparagus, wild choko vine and the horrible tiger pear were prolific amongst the native vegetation.  Someone has also installed a number of bee boxes in trees along with a few bee hives that we're buzzing with activity on the ground.  Two lovely Bottle trees grace the top of the hill with really nice rural views over rooftops to the surrounding valleys. Wildlife was minimal on the time of our visit with only Noisy Miners, Pale-headed Rosellas and Scaley-breasted lorikeets to be seen. Orchard Swallowtail Butterflies were plentiful and the sighting of two Joseph's Coat Moths were the highlight of our visit.

This little hilltop patch of scrub could certainly do with some tlc. It would be nice to see surrounding property owners In the estate, get involved in cleaning up the rubbish and maintaining some of the environmental weeds, so that the native plants can floirish.
The cleared grassLands and walking track were recently mowed and well maintained.
B & J

(iPhone 6 photo) More photos to come. 

My Instagram photo of the Joseph's Coat Moth was shared by Southern Queensland Country Tourism on their Facebook Page 😀