• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
lizard

Moggill Creek

Catchment Group

  • Home
  • About MCCG
    • History Of MCCG
    • Catchment In Context
    • Governance
    • Benefits to our catchment
    • Projects
    • Why Do We Care
    • Volunteering
    • The Cottage
  • Get Involved
  • The Nursery
  • Activities
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Projects
    • Cottage Talks
    • Kids’ Day
    • Working Bees
    • Photography Competition
    • Platypus Survey
    • Creek Health Monitoring
    • Private Land Rehabilitation
  • Catchment Field Guides
    • Birds common in our Catchment
    • Butterflies in our Catchment
    • Declared plants in our Catchment
    • Dragonflies in our Catchment
    • Freshwater fish in our catchment
    • Freshwater turtles in our catchment
    • Frogs in our Catchment
    • Ladybirds in our Catchment
    • Mammals in our Catchment
    • Rare and vagrant birds in our Catchment
  • Plants
  • Wildlife
    • Birds
    • Butterflies
    • Dung Beetles
    • Feral Animals
    • Koalas
    • Native Fish
    • Platypus
  • Landscape
    • The Creeks
    • Soils
    • Vegetation
    • Land Use
    • Geology
    • Land Restoration
  • Media Centre
  • News & Newsletters
    • Latest News
    • News Archive
    • MCCG Newsletters
  • Bush Bites
  • Reference Material
  • Useful Links
  • Membership
    • Membership Information
    • Member Sign Up
    • Membership Renewal
    • Request Password
  • Contact MCCG

mccgadmin

Wildlife Matters!

August 31, 2021 by mccgadmin

Threatened Species Profile – Koalas

The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is probably Queensland’s most iconic threatened species, and we are lucky enough to have them living in our local area. You can’t mistake their unique features like a large round head, big furry ears and a big black nose. But sadly, koalas are threatened with extinction. In southeast Queensland, the reasons for this precarious situation are mostly attributed to loss of habitat but they face other threats locally such as being hit by cars, attacked by dogs and disease.

A new Koala Conservation Strategy was released in 2020 by the Queensland government to direct and better coordinate recovery actions. One of the actions in the Strategy is to have improved koala habitat mapping so that important habitat can be protected. There is core koala habitat throughout our local area with some of it classed as Koala Priority Areas, which are afforded the highest protection because they are considered important to safeguard koala populations. If you want to know whether your property is mapped as core koala habitat you can request a property report or use the interactive mapping available on Queensland Globe: (https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/management/vegetation/maps/map-request)

In addition to providing important koala habitat locally, we also host the Moggill Koala Rehabilitation Hospital, which specialises in treating and rehabilitating koalas for return to the wild. They are also trialling a new Chlamydia vaccination to beat the devastating disease plaguing the koalas.

You can help support our local koala population by retaining large established trees, planting koala food trees, watching out for them on the roads at night, keeping dogs confined at night, and reporting sick or injured koalas. If you want to go koala spotting, we have recently recorded them in Anstead Bushland (see photo), Moggill Conservation Park, John Sprent Reserve and areas of Mount Coo-tha. Look out for them on Mt Crosby Road and Lake Manchester Road. If you’re looking for some koala-inspired day trips, check out the picnic areas and reserves around Wivenhoe Dam.

If you see a sick or injured koala, please call the hotline on 1300 ANIMAL (1300 264 625).

Manda Page

Anstead koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)                       Photo: Manda Page

 


Published in

Filed Under: News

Know Your Wildlife!

August 31, 2021 by mccgadmin

How well do you know the local wildlife? You are invited to meet the Wildlife Identification Challenge!

Can you identify these three insects using the MCCG Digital Field Guides for Ladybirds?


These are all larval phases of ladybird species that help to control aphids, mealybugs and powdery mildew respectively on garden plants. The mealybug ladybirds are especially interesting because they camouflage themselves to look like their prey, so be careful when spraying or picking mealybugs off your favourite plants – you could do more harm than good!

ANSWERS:

(Top photo)  28-spotted Ladybird (Epilachna virgintioctopunctata) – photo Ed Frazer

(Middle photo)  Mealybug Ladybird (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) – photo Ed Frazer

(Bottom photo)  Fungus-eating Ladybird (Illeis galbula)- photo Ed Frazer

 


Published in

Filed Under: News

Platypus Update

August 10, 2021 by mccgadmin

There has been a lot of activity with the Platypus in the past week.

The female near my hide has been emerging from her den most mornings and again late in the afternoon. She comes out for two or three dives and then retreats. She doesn’t travel far and before she comes out there is a lot of stirring of the water as she is probably rearranging the plug of earth she has at the entrance of her den. I think she is mainly just getting wet to keep the moisture in the nest as the eggs and young Puggles need to be kept moist. She probably feeds a little on her outings, but at this stage she is probably relying on the reserves in her tail to supply the rich milk she exudes from her belly for the Puggles to grow.

Platypus having a scratch. Platypus vary in colour but most have lighter colour underneath. Photo: Ed Frazer

The real activity has been from two males. I noticed the female going towards the den and there was quite a commotion not far away. Two Platypus were fighting near the edge of the creek and water was splashing everywhere. It went on for only a few minutes and then one swam along the surface at high speed up the creek. A few seconds later the other followed. It was very unusual to see three Platypus at the same time as they are usually very solitary animals. While I am pretty sure the female now has hatched her eggs, it appears the males are still searching out mates. Unlike the females the males swim very quickly in large hops of about 30 metres, mostly on the surface with a long bow wave. The females make several dives about 45 seconds apart with a stream of bubbles showing where they are feeding. The dives travel only a few metres and they are easy to trace with their bubble stream.

All up I think we have 5 Platypus in the two large pools along our property and it will be interesting to see how many are sighted in the MCCG Platypus Survey in September. The males cover a kilometre or two of the creek and use several dens in different places so there is no guarantee they will be around our area in the survey.

Azure Kingfishers digging out a nesting tunnel. Photo: Ed Frazer

Two Azure Kingfishers have been taking turns at digging out a nesting hole directly opposite my main hide. They do check out several possibilities, but this pair look serious about this hole behind a group of roots sticking out of the bank.

For more information on previous annual Platypus Surveys click here

Text and photos by Ed Frazer.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: azure kingfisher, Moggill Creek, Platypus, Puggles

Wildlife Matters!

August 1, 2021 by mccgadmin

What an interesting little bird the Latham’s Snipe is.  A migratory bird that breeds in Hokkaido Japan and travels south to Australia for feasting and sun.  They are quite secretive so you will be lucky to see one.  Read all about them in August’s Wildlife Matters written by Ed Frazer and published in The Bulletin.

Latham’s Snipe (Gallinago hardwickii) Photo: Ed Frazer

 

 


Published in

 

 

Filed Under: News

Know Your Wildlife!

August 1, 2021 by mccgadmin

Test your skills each month with MCCG’s Wildlife Identification Quiz!

You’ll find Know Your Wildlife towards the back of every month’s The Local Bulletin.  Answers can be found by searching in the MCCG Catchment Field Guides.

Here is the August quiz:

Can you identify these three native birds? Which of them are
wetland birds and which prefers drier areas?

1.

photo: Ed Frazer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.

photo: Ed Frazer

 

 

3.

photo: Ed Frazer

 

 

 

Answer:

  1. Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis)
  2. Lewin’s Rail (Lewinia pectoralis)
  3. Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius)

The Rails are wetland birds, whereas the Painted Button-quail prefers open, dry woodland.

 


Published in

Filed Under: News

The Ladybird Catchment Field Guide is up!

August 1, 2021 by mccgadmin

Over 30 ladybirds (and some larvae and pupa) are featured in the latest MCCG catchment field guide – who knew we had so many different species!

Much thanks to Ed Frazer for his keen eyesight, photography and identification skills producing this fabulous new field guide.  Click on the link to check it out.

Common Spotted Ladybird Photo: Ed Frazer

Filed Under: News

Platypus on the move

July 23, 2021 by mccgadmin

It looks like a bumper year in Platypus activity in Gold and Moggill Creeks this year.

After several years of poor rainfall and little flushing out of the creeks, more consistent water flow has restored the aquatic habitat and the animals appear to be responding.

Platypus Photo: Ed Frazer

Ed Frazer has been monitoring part of Gold Creek that includes two large stretches about 400 metres long and 8 metres wide that were the local swimming holes in past years.

There have consistently been three breeding females in these ponds that have regularly been monitored in the annual Platypus Survey carried out each September. He suspects that they didn’t breed last year because of the poor condition of the creek.

“There has been a lot of activity up to mid-July with mating season starting” Ed said. “I regularly see the females feeding as late as 8am as they build up their condition for the egg laying and raising their two young. The good water conditions have resulted in a plenty of food, especially the Dragonfly larvae which I think is a major part of their food in our area.”

The females tend to move around the snags in the creek where there has been a considerable build-up of rotting down leaf matter where the insects feed. Luckily we haven’t had a strong flood in the creek that cleaned out this habitat as often has happened after a period of drought in the past. The females sighted had thick tails a sign of good condition for raising their young.

“The male Platypus behaviour is quite different at this time of year. I see them travelling through at impressive speed, sometimes on the surface, but often in shallow dives coming up for air every 45 seconds at a distance of about 30 metres. They are looking for mates at this time of year”.

By July 17 sightings suddenly ceased and Ed thinks that early egg laying had started and the females were in their dens incubating the eggs that take about 10 days to hatch.

In August the activity will slow down while the young are small and the females are using their reserves built up in the tails to supply food for the small puggles. 

By September the young will be more demanding and the females will be out more in the early morning and before dusk to keep up their food. This is when the MCCG Platypus survey is held while the activity is at its height.

There is plenty of other activity in the creek to watch while waiting for the Platypus to put in an appearance. There are a number of Striated Pardalotes building their tunnels in the banks of the creek this year as the soil is nicely moist from the recent rains. They are lining their nesting chambers with feathers and trying to out-compete their neighbours with their distinctive three note call.

Azure Kingfisher Photo: Ed Frazer

The beautiful Azure Kingfishers are flying rapidly along the length of the pools stopping to perch on overhanging branches ready to strike on any fish near the surface. Their activity seems to be co-ordinated with the Platypus as they appear to be taking advantage of the fish disturbed by the strenuous stirring up of the fish on the bottom of the creek. They too will start building their nesting chambers in the banks of the creek and they should have a good chance of raising 4 young with the ideal conditions this year. There is also a beautiful Grey Goshawk that patrols along about 2km of the creek looking for prey just under the overhanging trees.

Grey Goshawk Photo: Ed Frazer

There are a lot of good photo opportunities around the local creeks and MCCG holds its annual Photography Competition in October each year, so a good turnout should be expected after two lean years of near drought.

 

Words and all photos by Ed Frazer

Filed Under: Bush Bites, News Tagged With: azure kingfisher, Gold Creek, Grey Goshawk, Moggill Creek, Platypus

Wildlife Matters

July 5, 2021 by mccgadmin

In this month’s Wildlife Matters we have – Powerful by name, powerful by nature, is brought to you by Jasmin Zeleny.

Have you seen or heard a powerful owl in your neighbourhood? These incredible apex predators with an almost 1.5m wingspan are a sight to behold.

Read all about them here!

Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua) with Ringtail Possum – photo by Jasmin Zeleny

Filed Under: News

Know Your Wildlife!

July 5, 2021 by mccgadmin

Test your skills each month with MCCG’s Wildlife Identification Quiz!

You’ll find Know Your Wildlife towards the back of every month’s The Local Bulletin.  Answers can be found by searching in the MCCG Catchment Field Guides.

Here is the July quiz:

CAN you identify these three native birds using the Digital Field Guides?

&

What do they have in common?

1.

2.

3.

Answer:

1. Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons) – photo Ed Frazer

2. Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) – photo Ed Frazer

3. Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) – photo Ed Frazer

&

These birds are all fantails – members of the genus Rhipidura.

 

 


Published in

Filed Under: News

Winter is here and so is the Latest Newsletter!

June 28, 2021 by mccgadmin

The Winter Newsletter is another real treat!  It is full of excellent reads about native bees, frogs, ladybirds, turtles and much, much more. Learn how the ‘Foam Bark Gully Gang’ have created a birdwing butterfly corridor on their connecting properties in the western suburbs. Get to know a couple of the MCCG team and find out how our fabulous annual Kids’ Day at the Cottage event went.

And your two big don’t forgets…

Get snapping for the MCCG Photo Competition in October

Please fill in the Members Survey – we want to hear from you!

 

Go and check it out for yourself  Winter Newsletter

Pssst! We are also on the lookout for more volunteers with all different skills to help us continue all the behind the scenes work of Moggill Creek Catchment Group.  Could you join the MCCG team? More info in the newsletter.

 

Leafcutter Bee on foam bark flowers  Photo: D&A

 

Read all the Past Newsletters

 

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: birdwing butterfly, Easter Cassia, Janine Nicklin, Mon Repos, Tracey Read

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 12
  • Page 13
  • Page 14
  • Page 15
  • Page 16
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 89
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

  • Latest Newsletter
  • Photo Competition
  • Projects
  • Creek Health Monitoring
  • Calendar of Events
  • Working Bees
  • Catchment Field Guides
Get  Involved!
MCCG on Facebook MCCG on Facebook
MCCG on YouTube MCCG on YouTube
MCCG on Instagram MCCG on Instagram

Secondary Sidebar

  • Home
  • About MCCG
    • History Of MCCG
    • Catchment In Context
    • Governance
    • Benefits to our catchment
    • Projects
      • Old Gold Creek Sawmill Forest Walk
      • Anzac Tree Daisy Project
      • Bird Project
      • Bird Project – Deerhurst Street Park
      • Creek Health Monitoring
      • Pacey Road
      • Rowena Street Park Restoration Project
      • Streamsavers
      • Smith’s Scrub
    • Why Do We Care
    • Volunteering
    • The Cottage
  • Get Involved
  • The Nursery
  • Activities
    • Old Gold Creek Sawmill Forest Walk
    • Projects
    • Cottage Talks
    • Kids’ Day
    • Working Bees
    • Photo Competition
    • Platypus Survey
    • Creek Health Monitoring
    • Private Land Rehabilitation
  • Calendar of Events
    • Events Calendar
    • Events List
  • Catchment Field Guides
    • Birds common in our Catchment
    • Butterflies in our Catchment
    • Declared plants in our Catchment
    • Dragonflies in our Catchment
    • Freshwater fish in our catchment
    • Freshwater turtles in our catchment
    • Frogs in our Catchment
    • Ladybirds in our Catchment
    • Mammals in our Catchment
    • Rare and vagrant birds in our Catchment
  • Plants
  • Wildlife
    • Birds
    • Butterflies
    • Dung Beetles
    • Feral Animals
    • Koalas
    • Native Fish
    • Platypus
  • Landscape
    • The Creeks
    • Soils
    • Vegetation
    • Land Use
    • Geology
    • Land Restoration
  • Media Centre
  • News & Newsletters
    • Latest News
    • News Archive
    • MCCG Newsletters
  • Bush Bites
  • Reference Material
  • Useful Links
  • Membership
    • Membership Information
    • Member Sign Up
    • Member Sign In & Renewals
    • Request Password
  • Contact MCCG
  • Donations
  • Affiliate Noticeboard and Directory
    • Affiliate Directory
    • Affiliate Noticeboard
      • Affiliate Noticeboard Post Item
      • Affiliate Noticeboard Edit Item

© MOGGILL CREEK CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT GROUP INC.
ABN 57 981 459 029
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US

ACNC-Registered-Charity-Logo_RGB

Proudly supported by

aus-gov-logo
BCC-Logo-ILoveBNE

© MOGGILL CREEK CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT GROUP INC.
ABN 57 981 459 029
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US

Proudly supported by

supported-by