Dear ,

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Table of Contents:

• Bushcare Information
• Ityamaiitpinna Yarta - Park Run
• Community Lottery
• The Great Aussie Fungi Hunt
• FoG Third Sunday BBQs
• Bats at Glenthorne
• COOTS - Plant Propagation Workshops
• COOTS Plant Sales
• Tours of Glenthorne
• Friends of Kauwi-marnirla (Field River)
• Somewhat Unrelated
  
  • Bird flu (avian influenza)
  • Soft Plastic Recycling
  • Free Bird Netting available
  • Fruit Share
  • BioDiversity Webinar
• Acknowledgement of Country

"Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
. . . 
All grown-ups were once children but only few of them remember it." — The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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

The next BushCare Day to be held this year is Saturday, 4th of July.

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.

Every Saturday morning, around the world, there are over 2000 locations where a community gather to do a Park Run.

Participation is Free, they start at 8am, and you can run, walk, or dawdle the 5km course.

We want to bring a Park Run to Ityamaiitpinna Yarta and we would appreciate your help to do this.

To make your small contribution towards our Once-off Setup fee, please visit our Crowd Funding page at:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bring-parkrun-to-ityamaiitpinna-yarta

We will keep you updated on progress.

You may also like to contribute as a Volunteer.  Each Park Run needs about 8 volunteers (No running or walking necessary).

The Community Lottery is on again.

Lottery tickets are $2 each, and the Friends of Glenthorne receive $2 for each ticket sold through the Lottery Webpage.  This is really great as all money goes to Friends of Glenthorne.  All ticket holders have a chance to win prizes.

All money raised will be used to complete the fit-out of our New Propagation Nursery.

To buy tickets, go to https://www.communitylottery.com.au/products/friends-of-glenthorne

Key Dates:

• Ticket sales open: Thursday 2 July, 12pm (ACST)
  
• Early bird close: Thursday 30 July, 11:59pm (ACST)
  
• Early bird draw: Thursday 6 August, 11am (ACST)
  
• Ticket sales close: Thursday 8 October, 11:59pm (ACDT)
  
• Final draw: Thursday 15 October, 11am (ACDT)

The full list of the 41 prizes at: https://www.communitylottery.com.au/pages/prizes

The top 6 prizes are:

• Early Bird: Toyota Corolla Hatch Hybrid Ascent Sport 1.8L Auto CVT $35,939
• Toyota Kluger Hybrid GX AWD 2.5L Auto CVT Wagon $67,451
• Toyota Yaris Hybrid Ascent Sport 1.5L Auto CVT 5 Door Hatch $32,691
• Bucket List Northern Lights and Rhine River Delights Cruise Package –25 Day Fly, Stay, River & Ocean Cruise Holiday. Prize terms and conditions form part of the full terms and conditions that can be found at www. mycruises.com.au. Cruise departs October 2027. $31,980
• 1KOMMA5 Solar package and battery (10kw solar and battery) $24,990
• 1KOMMA5 Solar package (13kw solar system) $11,990

See our Webpage https://www.friendsofglenthorne.org.au/community-lottery

Did you know that Australia has an estimated 250,000 different types of Fungi?

Did you know that of that it is vastly under-researched?  Of that total, not even 5% of Australia's Fungi have been formally described and documented by science.

The countdown is on for the 2026 Great Aussie Fungi Hunt. It kicks off in July this year.

Explore the world around you, find fungi, win prizes and contribute to our knowledge of fungi in Australia by uploading your photos and observations to iNaturalist.

Check out this video on our YouTube channel to find out more about the Great Aussie Fungi Hunt 2026 and how you can participate.

Use this free downloadable guide for tips on how to photograph and describe your fungus.

Visit the Great Aussie Fungi Hunt 2026 iNaturalist page and find out more about the Great Aussie Fungi Hunt and why we do it here.

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.

Last year, Dean Davidson, from SkyWatchers, conducted a survey of Bats at Glenthorne, using an AnaBat. The AnaBat is a sound recorder, that works in conjunction with Sound analysing software, to identify the Bat calls (eco-location) with known species of bats.

He sorted all the Anabat sound files into species, reduced the total number of files from ~30,000 down to 2745 definite IDs.

This represents over 40 days of collection; or 70 recordings per day!

Below are excerpts of Dean's report.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

We have a minimum of 7 different species, although there is some ambiguity with the Forest bat species (we definitely have Vespadelus regulus (Southern Forest bat) and V. darlingtonis (Large Forest bat), but possibly V. baverstocki (Inland Forest bat) as well): there appears to be 3 closely related Forest bat calls; so there may even be 8 species overall… The literature I have used indicates there is no way of properly establishing this without direct observation/capture (which I have no intention of doing!  ;)  )

Many of the calls show fascinating variations which I assume are due to the activity of the bats: eg: feeding, socialising, general checking out the area, etc. Some even slowly change the frequency of the lower “kick” as the recording progresses, which I tentatively attribute to the direction of flight (doppler shift?). … and some are just plain weird.

The recordings show the following species:

• *Vespadelus darlingtini (Large forest bat): 1471 recordings -mainly near the lake
• Chalinolobus gouldi (Gould’s Wattled Bat)i: 445
• *V. regulus: 362
• Ozimops planiceps (South-eastern Free-tailed Bat): 233
• Nyctophilus geoffroyii (Lesser long-eared Bat): 111
• C. morio (Chocolate Wattled Bat): 29
• Austronomus australis (White-striped Free-tailed Bat): 8

(* the Vespadelus readings are a bit arbitrary due to their near-identical calls, and inconsistent variations in the lower-frequency “kick")

- plus a large number of recordings of 2 or even 3 species together (especially at the lake site): and a few that don’t fit anything I have found in the (limited) literature I have used.

These species are consistent with the Green Adelaide literature, and those found around Pine Gully at Seacliff (although the mix of species and numbers seem to be higher than previous studies at different locations). Given that the recordings were taken in cold weather, when the smaller species are less active, I think it is a very interesting result.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Many thanks to Dan for this report.

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 7th June 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.

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.

H5 Bird flu (Avian Influenza) has been detected in SA

If you see sick or dead birds or other animals, do not touch them. 

Avoid contact. Record what you see. Report it to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888 from anywhere in Australia. 

Access the latest information at birdflu.gov.au or see the SA Health Website

If you are really keen, you may like to attend a community forum hosted by South Australian Government, in Goolwa, on Monday 6 July.

Hear from government leaders and representatives from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA, Department for Environment and Water and SA Health. Forums are free and open to the public.

Registrations are essential due to very limited seating. Register here

Soft Plastic Recycling

You may not have notcied that Woolworths are once again accepting Soft Plastics for Recycling.

You can drop off clean, dry household soft plastics at dedicated bins, which are typically located at the front of the store

Accepted Items: Plastic bags, bread bags, chip packets, frozen food bags, cereal liners, biscuit wrappers, and clean cling wrap.

Not Accepted: Hard plastics, glass, coffee cups, food waste, or compostable bags (which contaminate the process).

Where Do the Plastics Go?: Collected plastics are processed by Australian-based partners to create valuable materials. They are transformed into eco-friendly building alternatives (like saveBOARD for in-store wall panelling) and recycled into food-grade packaging, such as Woolworths-branded bread bags.

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.

Fruit Share

Do you have an un-loved or Neglected Fruit Tree?

FruditShare is a charity that harvests excess produce from backyards and farms across Adelaide and the Hills to redistribute to those in need.

FruitShare is a volunteer organisation that harvests unwanted or excess locally-growing fruit to redistribute to site owners, pickers and local charities.   And we need trees!

Sign up your tree and we will share its unwanted fruit with people in need.

Fruit that would otherwise go to waste will be distributed free to the community or used in meal programs.

What have we harvested?

• Citrus 12,120kg
• Pome Fruit (apples, pears, etc) 11,050kg
• Vegetables (mainly tomatoes) 7,685kg
• Stone Fruit 1,280kg
• Other Produce 550kg

Top Crops Harvested

• Apples 8,710kg
• Tomatoes 6,940kg
• Lemons 4,100kg
• Oranges 3,320kg
• Mandarins 1,780kg
• Grapefruit 1,700kg
• Pear 1,665kg
• Limes 1,090kg

Volunteers

• 269  registered
• 100+ participated

Food Relief Organisations

• 134  registered
• 80  received produce

If you think you could help, then

• Visit their Website: www.fruitshareadelaide.com.au
• or Contact Brett  Mob: 0408 914 139
• or Email: FruitShareAdelaide@gmail.com

Planning for biodiversity to cool cities and strengthen food systems: Webinar

Join in on Green Adelaide's Webinar Series on Wednesday 29 July from 4-5pm to learn about the importance of biodiversity for maintaining liveability, sustainability, and agro-ecology in a changing climate.

In this session, Associate Professor Douglas Bardsley will walk you through the importance of tackling these challenges in the midst of an ever-changing climate. 

Register for this Webinar

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.