Early Summer (BALLAMBAR – season of butterflies) is here and it is just beautiful. Mind you, in Halls Gap it would be more accurate to call it the season of cicadas as once again we have a huge chorus every warm day. To me it is the sound of summer, but to many the pitch is actually painful. In fact some tourists have gone straight home, unable to live with it. But it is confined to the moist valleys. This year we seem to have at least three species, green, black and yellow-brown. All beautiful, especially those lacy wings.
November was beautifully wet, but it is drying out fast. The spring and early summer flowers have been dramatic. What the next couple of months will bring we do not know. A large part of the park is very dry and each thunderstorm brings fear of lightning strikes.
In addition to our reports on what is happening in and around our own park, I have invited Dot Hoffmann to tell us a little about nature parks in Hong Kong.
BEYOND THE SMOKE BOOK
Next newsletter I hope to have a summary of the financial report on the project. All grants have now been received and acquittals done.
Copies of the book are still available, either over the counter at Brambuk, or direct by mail as a special offer to FOGG members for $20 or $27 including postage charges. Please phone Margo direct on 5356 4524.
The Community Association of Halls Gap also has a special offer to FOGG members of their CD ‘Alive in Grampians-Gariwerd’ for $20 plus postage. Ring David Witham on 5356 4300. The CD has 8 songs composed by Fay White with the local community, and sung by the Gariwerd choir.
Margo Sietsma