Draft:Peninsula Field Naturalists' Club



The Peninsula Field Naturalists' Club (PFNC) is an Australian regional scientific natural history and conservation society. The club is located on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.

PFNC members have a keen interest in observing and sharing knowledge about the native flora and fauna of both the Mornington Peninsula and the broader Australian landscape. The primary goal of the club is to "share our enjoyment of the natural world and learn from each other and our many and varied guest speakers".

The club's emblem is the rabbit-eared sun orchid, Thelymitra antennifera, which was chosen in 1962 because it was common to the Frankston area, but is now rare.

Current activities
The Peninsula Field Naturalists' Club has monthly meetings February to December in Frankston, Victoria. In each meeting, the club invites a speaker to give a presentation on some aspect of naturalist history. Many of these members are drawn from government agencies, interest groups, researchers, environmental professionals, and club members.

On the Saturday after their monthly meetings, the club holds excursion trips around the Mornington Peninsula and further afield. These excursions regularly involve observing aspects of the natural environment including birds, orchids, fungi and geology. Many of these excursions aim to investigate ecological changes and inform conservationist activities the club undertakes.

One of the club's notable conservation efforts is their continued efforts to observe and collect data on population changes in orange-bellied parrots at Point Nepean National Park, which are currently critically endangered due to the loss of mud island habitats.

The PFNC's observations have been noted by the Entomological Society of Victoria and published in the Victorian Entomologist journal, with club members identifying the migration patterns of caper white butterflies (Belenois java) both in the Mornington Peninsula and across the state.

The club also contains a birdwatching special interest group that travels to once a month to locations around Mornington Peninsula, Port Phillip and Westernport Bay. The member's observations are commonly used for the Peninsula Field Naturalists' Club Newsletter.

The club is a member of the South East Australian Naturalists Association, a national consortium of field naturalist clubs. The club regularly hosts excursions and camps for other Victorian field naturalist clubs, such as the Field Naturalists' Club of Ballarat and Field Naturalists Club of Victoria to the Mornington Peninsula, in which they impact their knowledge of the local biodiversity, and undertake conservation activities.

History
The PFNC was founded in 1952, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Frankston. The club was formed in direct response to the success of the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, being identified as a junior group to the state club. The founding board of the club included the first president, F. M. Smith (in office 1952 to 1957), treasurer S. J. Clough (in office 1952 to 1957) and secretary Alan Spillane (in office 1952 to 1956), who also served as vice president and president over the following twenty-one years. Spillane's interest in naturalist history research led him to be published in several field naturalist journals. This includes the 1973 volume of The Victorian Naturalist, where Spillane explores the rapid decline in snow gum (Euvalyptus pauciflora) occurrence in Mount Martha and around the broader Peninsula.

Stanley Robert Mitchell, founder and president of the Anthropological Society of Victoria, as well as president of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, was a patron of the Peninsula Field Naturalists' Club and strong supporter of its formation. Mitchell was a guest speaker at the club's inaugural meeting, and would regularly contribute to the club newsletter.

Owen Dawson, club president from 1965 to 1973 and again from 1984 to 1988, has been recognised as an important member of the club, noted as being a contributor to the club's culture, twenty years after his death. Described as a bushman, Dawson served in the RAAF at Onslow, Western Australia during the Second World War, and upon returning, assisted in the collection and study of reed bees (exoneura) and nomia. Dawson was well liked in the club, leading many excursions and presenter numerous talks on his special interests, which included native bees, expanding national parks and Australian Pointer training, until his death in 2005. The Owen Dawson Track in the Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve was named after Dawson in recognition of his work.

Thomas Henry Sault, president of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (1970 to 1973) and Medal of the Order of Australia (2005) recipient for his conservation work on the Mornington Peninsula, was a long-time member and supporter of the PFNC. Sault's knowledge of the Peninsula's flora, fauna and geology was compiled into The Mornington Peninsula through the eye of a naturalist (2003), a key text in the biodiversity of the region the PFNC serves.

The PFNC has previously worked with the Victorian National Parks Association to host the 1969 Nature Conservation Survey, as well as several Photoflora wildflower competitions, alongside the Native Plants Preservation Society.

Publications
The PFNC publishes the Peninsula Field Naturalists' Club Newsletter on a quarterly basis. The newsletter details the field excursions from the preceding months, articles written by meeting speakers and high-resolution photos of observations made by group members.