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Table of Contents:

• Zoos SA volunteers in the Glenthorne Community Grassland
• Bushcare Information
• Park of the Month - Sat 16 May
• FoG Third Sunday BBQs
• Rare Butterfly sighting
• Volunteer Thank You Event
• Fungi workshops in City of Marion
• COOTS - Plant Propagation Workshops
• COOTS Plant Sales
• Kersbrook Plant Sale
• Tours of Glenthorne
• Friends of Kauwi-marnirla (Field River)
• Totally Unrelated
  • Rare Images of the Past
  • Free Bird Netting available
• Acknowledgement of Country

"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you." — Jane Goodall

Did you miss a Newsletter? Catch up on all our previous eNewsletters on this webpage https://www.friendsofglenthorne.org.au/news-letter/

This Saturday, volunteers from Zoos SA are visiting the Glenthorne Community Grassland. Not to simply review the work in progress, but to get their hands dirty, helping the Friends to continue to improve the Grassland.

Despite the rain expected, weeds will be cut and swabbed and removed, bird perches raised for the increasing numbers of birds to rest and scour the Grassland for crickets and other insectivore food and possibly other tasks.

We are meeting in carpark 3 at 10.00am and will work through until about noon, when a BBQ will be held in the playground area for all attending. Work will then continue to about 3.00pm.

Successful PhD candidate, Max McQuillan, will be on hand to explain his thinking behind such a grand project and give his thoughts as to how it is progressing. Questions will be encouraged so that we can all learn a little more about this wonderful, developing biological masterpiece.

We do hope that you can join us.

Where: Glenthorne National Park – Ityamaiitpinna Yarta- Carpark 3

When: This Saturday 2nd May 2026 from 10.00am until 3.00pm.

Please bring gloves, secateurs, drinking water, protective clothing etc.

The next BushCare Day to be held this year is Saturday, 2nd of May.

As usual for Bush Care Days, we meet at Carpark One behind the Shearing Shed. (To get there, follow the Park Road down from the Ranger’s Station, then turn right into Carpark 1.)

If you need any help finding us, then please ring one of the following.

Martin:  0403 804 306
Alan:     0411 595 910
Bob:     0419 408 851

Bushcare Events at Glenthorne NP-IY:

• Each Wednesday - 9am to noon.
• 1st  & 2nd Saturday 10-4pm
• 3rd Sunday 10-4pm (BBQ at 12 noon)

BushCare At RDA (Riding for Disabled) 

• 4th Saturday:   9-12pm  (RDA Front Garden) Volunteers from the Riding For Disabled will be joining us for these Bush Care days at RDA.

Always be mindful of the forecast weather for O’Halloran Hill and our Hot Weather Policy. If the BOM forecast temperature for O’Halloran Hill is 34 degrees or higher, the Bushcare Day is cancelled. See the BOM O'Halloran Hill Forecast Information

If you are unwell, please do the right thing and stay at home.

Bushcare Mailing List

If you want to receive irregular Bushcare Notifications, subscribe to our BushCarers E-Mailing List. To do this, just send an email to BushCarers-Join@FriendsOfGlenthorne.org.au

Bushcare: It’s not Rocket Science, it’s much more difficult than that.

Glenthorne National Park is being promoted by National Parks and Wildlife Service SA, as the Park of the Month for May .

A special day is scheduled for Saturday 16th May 2026, from 10am

Find out more at this link: Glenthorne May Park of the Month

Each month, on "The Third Sunday", the Friends of Glenthorne are hosting a BBQ.

We will start BushCare as normal, at 10am, and then break for lunch to host a BBQ.  Bring your family, invite your friends, or invite one of the Park Users to join us for a bit of social interaction.

GrassLand BushCare

Also, on the Third Sunday of each month, recent doctorate graduate of Adelaide Uni, Max, will continue BushCare on his Glenthorne research area, the Community Grassland. This Grassland BushCare will also start at 10am.

There is much to learn about Grasslands, and Max is willing to share his knowledge.

See the Glenthorne Grassland Website at: https://www.glenthornegrassland.com.

Earlier this week, Revegetation Ecologist, Angus Droogan-Turniski, photographed the rare Chequered Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio demoleus) at Glenthorne, near the Playground area.

This is the butterfly that was seen a few years ago by Nature Play Chief Executive Officer, Jason Tyndall and his daughter Eloise, in a densely planted pod in the northwest of the Glenthorne property.

This butterfly hadn’t, until then, been seen on the property for well over 100 years.

Cullen australicum (Tall Scurf Pea) is the caterpillar host plant and Angus has photographed the butterfly laying eggs on this plant in the nature playground. Very exciting. From the photos, it looks as if there were at least two adult butterflies spotted and egg-laying means that we should start to see numbers of this beautiful butterfly start to increase at the Glenthorne National Park – Ityamaiitpinna Yarta over the next year or two, so keep your eyes peeled.

To help this butterfly survive and multiply, the Friends of Glenthorne planted 200 Cullen australicum seedlings back in August 2023. There are about 50 densely planted pods across the Glenthorne property, and 4 Cullen plants were planted in each pod about 3 years ago, with varying success. We found that this plant survives best when planted in small groups, rather than as individuals. Often, we don’t see immediate results from the funds invested nor the work completed, but this is just another example of persistence paying off and another rare species being brought back through the combined partnership of DEW and the Friends of Glenthorne, supported by funding from Friends of Parks and Nature.

Well done to all concerned.

Where: Mitchell Park Sports and Community Centre
Address: 139 Bradley Grove, Mitchell Park
When: Thursday, 21 May 2026
Time: 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm

Make sure to RSVP by Wednesday 13 May 2026:
Fill out the online form https://forms.office.com/r/ifzvU9ynZC, or
Send an email to lucy.camp@marion.sa.gov.au, or
Call 0466 778 097.

The City of Marion are partnering with Fungimap, a national organisation dedicated to increasing our understanding of fungi, conservation, and it’s role in biodiversity.

As part of this project, Fungimap will undertake a desktop survey of historical fungi observations in City of Marion, with the aim of building baseline knowledge on the species diversity and abundance locally. This will help us monitor changes in fungi distribution and assist with further studies.

Going forward, we want to do a much better job at recording the fungi that grows here, and to do that we need your help! We have organised two workshops; one at Warriparinga (indoor session in Living Kaurna Cultural Centre) and another at Oaklands Wetlands (indoor session to be held at Marion Outdoor Pool). Please see below for more details:

 Fungi Hunt workshop and foray at Warriparinga - Thu 11th Jun 2026, 9:30 am – 12 pm https://events.humanitix.com/fungi-hunt-workshop-and-foray-at-warriparinga

Fungi Hunt workshop and foray at Oaklands Wetlands - Thu 18th Jun 2026, 9:30 am – 12 pm https://events.humanitix.com/fungi-hunt-workshop-and-foray-at-oaklands-wetlands

The current series of COOTS Plant Propagation Workshops is fully subscribed. Please contact COOTS directly to book your place in a future.

COOTS Coordinator, Jeff Reid, Mob: 0447995777, or email: cootsgroup@gmail.com.

COOTS - (Conservation Of Our Threatened Species) is a sub-group of the Australian Plant Society Adelaide Group. They have Bush care sites at Cape Jervois, and Pine Point (YP)

On each First Sunday of the Month, the Australian Plant Society - COOTS(*) group host a Plant Sale at their Clubrooms in Goodwood.

The next Gathering/Plant Sale on Sunday 3rd May 2026.

Where: 21a Richards Tce. Goodwood.
1 Minute Walk North from the Goodwood Railway Station. (East/Hills Side)

There will be knowledgeable environmentalists attending so if you have any questions about native plants, birds, insects and other such matters, please come along and have a chat with the COOTS team.

The Friends of Glenthorne National Park will also be selling native plants there, to fund our activities in the national park and the Glenthorne History book will also be on sale for just $35. Cash and credit card facilities will be available.

* COOTS = Conservation Of Our Threatened Species.

Kersbrook Landcare Group - Local Native Plant Sale

When: Sat 6th - Sun 7th June
Time: 10am-2pm.  
Where: Kerrsbrook Landcare Group
Address: 176 South Para Road, Williamstown
Contact: Kersbrook.LandCareGroup.org.au
Email: klg.nursery@landcaregroup.org.au
Mob: 0431 989 397

David Speirs is still offering Tours of Glenthorne, covering the Past, Present, and Future of the Park.

David would love to see you.

To register for a tour, either:

• Click this link , or
• Point your phone camera to the QR Code below, and then go to the Webpage that the QR code identifies.

Are you interested in helping out along the Field River?  Below is the contents of an email sent out by Restoration Ecologist Angus Droogan-Turniski.  Send an email to Angus if you want to received further communications about this group and their activities.  His email address is: Angus.Droogan-Turniski@sa.gov.au

Yasha will also be taking the volunteers on Sunday the 12th of April through the Kaurna Kardla (Kaurna Firesticks) site at Elizabeth Crescent doing some priority weed work and you guessed it rubbish removal.

🎒 What to Bring

• A hat
• Drinking water
• Some snacks (We’ll break for morning tea halfway through the session)

🧤 What’s Provided

• Gloves, safety glasses, and tools
• A first aid kit, NPWS/Green Adelaide staff will be the designated first aid officers
• All relevant safety documents

📝 Sign-In & Safety

• All attendees must sign in on arrival
• A brief safety induction will take place before we begin

In this section, information Totally Unrelated to Glenthorne, or Environmental themes, just for your interest.

Rare Images of the Past

A Stereograph exhibition at the Bay Discovery Centre.

A private collection of Stereographs "Glenelg Through the Lens of Time",  until Sunday 31st May.

See Holdfast.sa.gov.au/BDC for more details.

Free Bird Netting

Do you need some Bird Netting?  The Friends of Glenthorne have a lot of surplus, good quality, Black or White, Nylon Bird netting, ideal to protect the Fruit on your trees this coming season.

See the Photos below, to see what is available. It can be cut to the size you want.

What isn't taken soon will be dumped. Help Save the Planet by taking home your share of Bird Netting.

If you would like some, then please reply to this email.

The Friends of Glenthorne acknowledge that Glenthorne National Park - Ityamaiitpinna Yarta is part of the traditional lands of the Kaurna people and we respect them and appreciate their innate and spiritual connection with the land and waters of Glenthorne.

We aspire to work alongside them in taking care of this land and community to restore Glenthorne to be once again, a healthy native habitat.