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Other / 21.05.2026

Herewith is the farewell text I submitted: It has been increasingly difficult to source new material. Alas, this is my last piece in a sequence of over 350 stretching back to July 2011. I consider it a privilege to have shared, in these pages, my love of the mountain’s species rich flora and fauna which is everywhere around us. I thank the editors of the Tamborine Times, the Tamborine Mountain News, The Scenic News, and the flourishing reincarnated Tamborine Mountain News, for their support in publishing this column. You can view the albums, videos and blog on my website: www.speciesdiversity.au – the first sentence was omitted because of constraints in fitting it all in.

In an email exchange with the editor culminating in one I sent her on May 1, I pointed out that three of the last four pieces were at the back of the paper, which I felt was a demotion, which she denied. I found it strange that since she resurrected the TM News in April 2024, my pieces have been consistently in the front half of the paper, sometimes on a very early page, but that she feels this situation cannot be continued…. Read Complete Text

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Film Diary / 13.04.2026

It is an all too rare occurrence finding Peter Hendry a new moth to identify. I took the photo this morning, just over six months to the day since the previous time. Peter’s reply arrived within two hours. The species is found in the south west Pacific Region and in Australia in Western Australia, The Northern Territory, Queensland, Norfolk Island and New South Wales. Wingspan is 4.5 cm.

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Film Diary / 08.04.2026

The power lines were in place long before the then owner of the house planted the row of tibouchina in Central Avenue, which I filmed more than twenty five years ago and photographed today. They have been regularly pollarded since, to prevent them encroaching on the power lines. I have never seen them looking so well as now. I suppose tibouchina are the autumnal equivalent of Spring’s jacaranda. Both species are endemic to Central and South America. 

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Film Diary / 07.04.2026

I decided to photograph the huge clearing in the rainforest bordering Eagle Heights Road, wrought by Cyclone Alfred a year previously. I was intrigued by its scale, glimpsed as I repeatedly drove past. The cyclone crossed the coast a little north of Brisbane. I took the photo at the edge of the clearing, noticing the amount of debris covering the ground all the way to the far side. It is hard to do the subject justice. This was my second attempt to photograph the clearing. My first attempt was a few metres in from the road through a gap in the vegetation. I thought that the leach I noticed crawling on the carpet between the bedrooms, had hitched a lift on my shoe, but seeing its engorged state made me look for evidence of a bite. The sock above my right ankle had a patch of blood on it, my first leach bite in more than five years.

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Film Diary / 24.03.2026

Today I added two photos to my albums. The first was of a red flowering gum leaf which had fallen onto the grass verge from one of the slender trees which lined the road. It caught my eye because of its shape and the subtle beauty of its colours against the vibrant setting of the hues of the grass. The species is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia and typically grows to a height of ten metres.

The second was of the huge clearing in the rainforest bordering Eagle Heights Road, which I decided to photograph a year after it was wrought by Cyclone Alfred. The cyclone made landfall a little north of Brisbane. Whenever I drove past, I sensed its scale. I took the photo a few metres in from the road. I thought that the leach I noticed crawling on the carpet between the bedrooms, had hitched a lift on my shoe, but seeing its engorged state made me look for evidence of a bite. The sock above the ankle of my right leg had a patch of blood on it. This was my first leach bite in more than five years.

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My Travels / 17.03.2026

I saw Gina my travel agent this afternoon and booked and paid for my flights to the UK (Singapore Airlines) and Ireland (Aer Lingus), for a family wedding on August 7, for which my accommodation was booked ages ago. Fortunately, the date coincides with the time-frame for my next visit to the UK/Europe to catch up with family and friends. The ticket price reflected the current war in the Middle East. Prior to booking, Clive confirmed that I would be staying with him in Somerset. While in Ireland, I intend to visit the megalithic tombs and monuments in the Boyne Valley. I’m greatly looking forward to the trip.

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Website / 06.03.2026

Carrie sent an email showing how to sort the images which I used to good effect when I replaced the three new ones. Disruptions to the site really take it out of me and, alas, I tend to send some incoherent emails as I grapple with what needs to be done. The upsets this time and in 2024 are likely due to WordPress having to support so many images online, a seemingly inherent fault of the site. Watch this space. PS 9.3.26 Carrie emailed me, explaining that large image libraries can make management a little more cumbersome, but is a fairly common situation rather than a fundamental problem, which is good to know. WordPress remains the most popular format globally, for creating websites.

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Website / 27.02.2026

I emailed Carrie Wilson of Scenic Rim Design, accepting her Hosting and Care plan for my website which she sent an hour ago, but could not attend to immediately. Keer Moriarty, the editor of the Tamborine Mountain News, gave me Carrie’s contact information on 13.2.26 and Carrie and I have exchanged numerous emails since, which included a most helpful one on 24.2.26 which at last enabled me to upload three new images. Unfortunately, one of them ended up behind an image from last year and I could not find a means to change the sort order. There is a Sort Images panel at the top of the gallery, which I opened and foolishly hit on the first of the four options. Immediately the gallery was made unrecognisable and it became clear that the only way order could be restored was for Carrie to install the website database to 26.2.26 which she did on 4.3.26, requesting  confirmation that the Albums are in the correct sort order, which I provided.

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Film Diary / 22.02.2026

I wanted to photograph the cycad for several days. It had been relocated to the edge of a block which was cleared of buildings and vegetation. It was beginning to establish itself when a fierce wind split the trunk, causing part of it to fall to the ground. The trunk can grow to a diameter of 80 cm. Its outer layer is covered by the persistent remains of leaf bases.  The cycad is an ancient, long-lived and slow-growing species, which is endemic to coastal south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales. The cylindrical cone is among the largest of all cycad cones.

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Film Diary / 17.02.2026

The fungi, which I photographed today, were among several growing on or near the same tree stump in Central Ave which I photographed in April 2025. I sent the mycologist three images, hopefully of different species, and I await a reply from him.