Item prepared by Brian Donaghy

The main Friends of Mound Springs (FOMS) working bee for 2023 was shaping up to be one of the biggest and busiest that FOMS has ever organised. Eighteen FOMS volunteers, nine vehicles, and tasks ranging from track maintenance and marker installation to multiple fence inspections and repairs and vegetation surveys. Participants were Colin Harris, Rick Moore, Hadyn Hanna, John Tagell, Chris Lemm, Brian Wheeler, Brian Donaghy, Merilyn Browne, Bernice Cohen, Bren and Bis Lay, Erik Dahl, Masto Myles, Heatheranne and Peter Bullen, Caryl and Duncan Ross-Watt and Simon Lewis.

Most of the FOMS group travelled to Leigh Creek on Monday 19^th June, overnighting at the Outback Resort, along with SA Arid Lands Board Community Landscape Officer, Hamish Longbottom. There the group had an opportunity to inspect Merilyn Browne’s new camper trailer, a compact, light- weight marine ply camper which Merilyn had built and decorated herself from an imported kit. On the second day the group travelled to Strangways Springs to link up with Sam Stuart and the Arabana Rangers, accompanied by a newly formed Aboriginal Rangers group based at Berri, who had come up to see how the Arabana team operated.

While the Arabana Rangers checked and repaired the ~4km perimeter fence at Strangways, the Bill Giles memorial seat was oiled, brochures topped up and the Springs Walk and Woolwash Walk raked where necessary. The interpretive signs at the entrance have weathered and will need replacing − Sam offered to get them installed if FOMS can get new signs up to him.

That night it rained – steady drizzle commencing in the early hours of the Wednesday morning. With some foreboding, the group continued to William Creek to refuel and review the situation in view of the weather. With further rain forecast, and being particularly mindful of the potential of the large convoy of vehicles to damage station tracks, it was reluctantly decided to cancel the remainder of the trip and commence the journey south. The FOMS group farewelled the Arabana and Berri Ranger teams at William Creek.

The FOMS group reached the Curdimurka siding for lunch, where Bren Lay braved the wintry drizzle to launch the second edition of a Field Guide to the Plants of Outback South Australia.

Written by Bren and Frank Kutsche, the second edition has been updated by Tim Croft and Jürgen Kellermann, updating botanical names and adding some 10 new species. Bren presented copies of the revised book to Colin Harris and Simon Lewis.

Most of the group then continued on to Leigh Creek for Wednesday night, although we did farewell Heatheranne and Pete Bullen at Marree. Thursday saw most FOMS participants journeying home, with a highlight being many of the creeks emanating from the Flinders Ranges flowing over the Leigh Creek – Hawker road.