August 1979 
T.F.N.C.BULLETIN 
Page 3 
WHY OUTINGS? 
Our name - FIELD NATURALISTS - implies that we are 
a group of people who get out where the action is - 
gaining practical experience at "grass-roots level". 
SURE ! We have a lot of interesting evening meetings, 
with speakers who share with us some of their expertise- 
and an interesting collection of people they are - giving 
us a background of knowledge on which to build when we 
look for, find, and observe the real thing on our outings. 
Members who come to evening meetings only, don't realise 
how much they are missing out on the pleasure and 
satisfaction of doing their own thing in the bush, 
mountain or seashore. 
That's another good thing about Field Nats. It embraces 
such a wide variety of interests - plants, rocks, birds, 
insects, reptiles, marine life, stars - you name it - 
we've had speakers on it l not all in one year, of course- 
there are not enough months. 
But when it comes to the outings - an outing could 
concentrate on one aspect - but the rest are all around 
us. The aim might be to look for frogs and lizards, but 
in addition to that, the bird lover will note the birds, 
the plant lover will notice the plants, the geologist is 
sure to be looking to see what rocks are in the area, 
and so on. They will all chat about what they have noticed 
to the rest so that many of us become 'allrounders', the 
Bush becomes a friendly place, we are at home in it because 
we recognise in it so many things that are familiar. 
So...if Geology is your favourite, don't stay at home 
because it's "only plants this time" - turn up to every 
outing and see how your favourite interest fits in with 
all the others. The 'now' word is "ecology" - how all 
branches of nature fit together and affect each other. 
It's good to be an 'allrounder' even if one specialises. 
Our June outing was Geology. Dr Max Banks planned to 
show us the evidence of which Charles Darwin wrote when 
he visited Hobart in the 1830's. We were a convoy of seven 
cars and the itinerary took us to North Hobart, Digney St. 
Ridgeway Rd, Mt. Wellington road and summit, Waterworks 
Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay Beaches, and Taroona 
foreshore. At each place he read us the relevant part of 
the journal, explained it in the light of presentday 
knowledge and then showed us the evidence in the rocks and 
banks around us. Those who stayed at home 'because it was 
Geology this time' (or for other reasons) missed a really 
good day - rides to the pinnacle, lunch at the Waterworks, 
walks by the seashore - all extra pleasures added to the 
very clear and easily understood information imparted by 
Dr. Banks. 
