On the first weekend of April 2022, Queensland Trust for Nature (QTFN) held an Invertebrates adventure weekend workshop at Mount Mellum Nature Refuge. This workshop aimed to provide participants with the skills and experience to sample, survey and identify invertebrates they may find in various ecosystems and habitats in a range of forest types across their own properties.

Check out the Mount Mellum Invert Adeventure Project on iNaturalist to see over 528 observations logged by participants including the identification of 212 species of invertebrates from waterways and streams, terrestrial and arboreal rainforest and open Eucalypt forest. You’ll see a range of interesting invertebrates from colourful day moths and vibrant beetles to hairy burrowing spiders and giant king crickets. If you look through the observations in this project, you’re bound to come across some interesting species that you’ve likely spotted on your own property or maybe photographed during the most recent "Things with Wings" challenge.

After spending the weekend at Mount Mellum with a group of enthusiastic and passionate scientists and naturalists alike I am reminded of the quote by John Muir, “In every walk in nature one receives far more than he seeks”. Upon reflecting on the weekend workshop, I conclude that this rings true for me. A weekend filled with storytelling, knowledge sharing, invertebrate and macropod identifying and more generally the experience of thoughtful exploration of the forest at the macro level.