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Kids’ Day at The Cottage is on June 8th

May 26, 2025 by mccgadmin

The much loved annual Kids’ Day at The Cottage is on June 8th. Please join us ~ everyone is welcome!

Wildlife Matters! Requiem for a Creekside Titan

May 12, 2025 by mccgadmin

It is with great sadness we report that the much celebrated and loved Queensland Blue Gum (or Forest Red Gum, Eucalyptus tereticornis) of the Creekside Street Park (situated between Creekside Street and Boyd Terrace) has fallen, after heavy rains and flooding in March 2025.

This enormous tree, with a trunk around 1.5m in diameter and a girth approaching 5m, has attracted admirers for many years, and was festooned with large hollows, a wild European beehive, as well as providing shelter and nectar for native bees and many other insects. Several mistletoes (of at least three species) were also present in its upper branches. Its passing is a loss to the catchment, as its habitat value was very high, with lorikeets and parrots nesting in its hollows, and was clearly much used by brushtail possums, as the numerous scratch marks on its trunk shows. No doubt many other hollow-dwelling animals made use of it as well. A tree of this size predates white settlement, and it can be clearly made out on some of the earliest aerial photography available in Brisbane (from 1946) and seems just as large then as today (see Brisbane City Plan 2014 mapping).

Queensland Blue Gum brought down by March 2025 flood – photo Jim Pope

The tree had fallen due to being undercut by recent floodwaters and its fall has also damaged the popular walking bridge beside it, a favourite for pedestrians, cyclists, and children wanting to explore the creek from a secure vantage point. Similar trees within Queensland are thought to be between 200 to 400 years old, so we have been truly lucky to have such a venerable specimen in our catchment. Such trees may weigh between 40 and 60 tonnes, so their biomass is impressive. Previously, Queensland Blue Gums were used in construction and housebuilding, and their durable timber (ironically) used for bridges.

Queensland Blue Gums are particularly desirable species for fauna, with koalas using the boughs for resting, and favouring their leaves for food. Their winter to spring-flowering season provides numerous nectar-feeding animals (such as migrating honeyeaters and flying foxes) with a significant source of nectar and is obviously also seasonally important for beekeepers. For this reason, some ecologists consider this tree a “keystone species” providing important or even essential habitat for some fauna at a local and regional level.

Main trunk blocking the creek crossing – photo Sandy Pollock

Why not honour this tree by planting a tubestock seedling in a large back paddock, or join one of the Moggill Creek Catchment Groups planting days? Its exciting to think that this might be the start of another streamside titan, to be admired and enjoyed by future generations

Sandy Pollock and Jim Pope

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Quarterly Talk – March 25th – Dr Richard Noske -Birds and Eucalypts of Gap Creek Reserve environs

March 4, 2025 by mccgadmin

Join us for the first of the public quarterly talks for the year on March 25th

Kenmore Library (access via lift)

Time: 6:30pm arrival for, 7:00 pm start (~9:00 pm finish)

Refreshments provided

Birds and Eucalypts of Gap Creek Reserve environs

Richard has been monitoring the birds and flowering phenology (timing) of nectar-bearing trees at more than a dozen sites in Southeast Queensland almost every month for 12 years. In this presentation he will summarise his findings for the vicinity of Gap Creek Reserve in the western part of Mt Coot-tha Forest, which lies in the north-east corner of Moggill Creek Catchment. From May 2012 to March 2017, he recorded 91 bird species, though 13 of these were recorded once or twice only. Six of the 7 most frequently recorded species were honeyeaters, which accounted for almost a quarter of all records. The numbers of birds peaked in March and early winter, and were lowest in summer, reflecting the migration of honeyeaters to and from southern states.

Ironbarks are the commonest eucalypts in the area with three species replacing each other according to altitude, and flowering mainly during winter and spring. Spotted Gums are the second commonest eucalypts, with the summer-flowering Large-leaved (Henry’s) Spotted Gum Corymbia henryi replacing the more widespread winter-flowering species (C. citriodora) at lower altitudes. However, the species attracting the largest numbers of nectar-feeding lorikeets and honeyeaters is the autumn-flowering Gum-topped (Grey) Box, which within Mt Coot-tha Forest, occurs only on the ridges fringing the western edge adjacent to Brookfield. As these nectar sources are vital to both migratory and resident nectar-feeding birds, local community groups could make a valuable contribution to understanding the impact of climate change on flowering seasons by regular monitoring of eucalypts.

Richard Noske’s Bio

Dr Richard Noske obtained a PhD from the University of New England, NSW, and was a Senior Lecturer in Biology at Charles Darwin University (CDU), Northern Territory, for 26 years. Soon after moving to Brisbane in 2010, he joined Birds Queensland (BQ) and served as its President from 2012 to 2016. He was actively involved in the production of the educational website Our Local Birds and currently serves on committees for BQ Research Grants and Protect the Bush Alliance. In addition to three books, a dozen book chapters and numerous non-refereed articles, Richard has authored or co-authored 150 peer-reviewed journal papers, mostly concerning the behaviour and ecology of tropical birds of Australia and Indonesia. He was Chief Editor of Indonesian bird journal Kukila for 20 years and has been Chief Editor of BQ’s journal Sunbird since 2019. Richard has guided many bird tours in northern Australia and Papua and has worked with Japan’s NHK TV on three bird documentaries.

In person – After Hours Library Meeting Room Access Instructions:

Kenmore Library, 9 Brookfield Rd, Kenmore QLD 4069

The after hours lift access will be activated manually by Committee prior to the meeting.

Use the lift on the ground floor to come up the Library level.

Meeting Rooms are down the hall (left from the main library glass doors)

Wildlife Matters! A chance observation of combat between two large male goannas

March 1, 2025 by mccgadmin

We had arranged to meet up last October 24^th and do some work on the Old Gold Creek Sawmill Forest Walk at the end of Gold Creek Road. Neither of us could have expected to be diverted by an amazing biological show we chanced upon, already well underway on the last creek crossing. Two large male goannas were locked in serious, vigorous combat! We were gobsmacked! Camera phones out immediately. The goannas (Varanus varius) took no interest in us, they were much too busy, often standing high on their hind legs, chest to chest, their tails used as props, their arms around each other, pushing, pushing, to and fro, sometimes falling over and rolling and thrashing on the ground, tails swishing, clawing each other and each apparently trying to get on top and hold down the other. And this went on and on as we watched, agog.

They were about the same size and early on it seemed to be a contest of strength only, with little or no biting. But biting became more common as the fight continued and blood was shed, smearing onto the combatants. Towards the end, it became quite brutal, until one finally succeeded in pinning the other down, each still with a hold on the other, sometimes between clenched teeth. After we’d been watching for about 50 minutes the clinch ended suddenly. One escaped and dashed off, disappearing into the bushes upstream. The victor left in the same direction a couple of minutes later and we saw no more.

Conferring later, we found we had both been very impressed by their persistence, and their stamina, and you can judge the strength of their commitment by watching the (condensed) video below.

Male combat in reptiles must be quite common but may usually be less prolonged. Perhaps this bout was a long one because the contest was so even. This is not the sort of thing one can expect to see often, or at all, even if you are a goanna afficionado. One of us has a biologist colleague with a sufficiently serious interest in varanid lizards to be an invited speaker at international conferences. But despite his many hours of field work he has yet to observe male combat. Indeed, there seem to be few substantial reports, and most record brief engagements, sometimes interrupted by the observer’s presence.

So, what is this all about? We’re sure you’ve realised already that there must have been a lady goanna somewhere nearby. We couldn’t see her, but there was probably some compelling scent wafting in and these two each wanted the owner of it for himself. Yes, this is all about goanna love and, in contrast, we are sure you will be pleased to learn that their mating behaviour is said to be ‘very tender’.

Gordon Grigg and Andrew Wilson

Photos and words by Gordon Grigg and video courtesy of Andrew Wilson

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Wildlife Matters: A Baboon on my bin!

January 22, 2025 by mccgadmin

A Baboon on my bin!

While trimming and binning branches in suburban Kenmore, I noticed that I was being watched by a recently displaced eight-legged resident, that had climbed out of the foliage in my familiar red Brisbane City Council rubbish bin. With prominent white facial hairs contrasting with a dull black head and large, close-set, knowing eyes forming little black mirrors, the resemblance to an African baboon or middle-aged gorilla was remarkable. Add to this the impressive black mouthparts and muscular, colourful legs set in dynamic stance, all went to make this small animal leave a big impression on me.

Northern Green Jumping Spiders (Mopsus mormon) are common suburban residents in leafy gardens. Reaching 15 – 18 mm in size, they are thought to be one of the larger jumping spiders in Queensland. They are part of the Salticidae (jumping spider) family, a very large and diverse group of spiders in Queensland, forming a very significant part of the natural biodiversity present within the Moggill Creek catchment. They exhibit sexual dimorphism, with females larger, and greenish overall, with orange and whitish markings on their head. Males have blackish heads, with a black topknot and whitish side whisker-like hairs. Viewed close-up, both sexes are remarkably colourful.

Active and sophisticated hunters, Northern Green Jumping Spiders, search and locate prey using their very large eyes. True to their moniker, they can jump significant distances to capture prey, and are excellent at plotting and planning their maneuvers, due to their great visual acuity. A safety or dragline attached to their abdomen stops them from falling too far in the rare event they miss a prey item. As undiscerning predators, Northern Green Jumping Spiders feed on many kinds of insects, but moths, flies and ants (and sometimes other spiders) found on trees and shrubs are common prey. As skilled and daring hunters, sometimes prey much larger than their own body size may be taken (such as damselflies or small grasshoppers).

Females are involved in nest preparation, with an elongate leaf rolled into a cylinder, and a whitish web-nest or egg sac constructed in which eggs are laid. Three compartments, one with the eggs, another with the female, and the other the male, are constructed, which suggests cooperative parental care or defense. Some behaviors observed strongly indicate nest guarding.

I left my red bin lid open overnight, to let any other insects in the foliage escape, and hopefully make it back to safety. But I thought about the baboons in my back garden for quite a while.

Sandy Pollock

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Wildlife Matters! Fawn-footed Melomys

November 5, 2024 by mccgadmin

IN EARLY March (2024) we noticed that a lot of wisteria leaves accumulated at the back of our letterbox and we wondered who, and why. Some small animal?

But the letterbox stands on a pole and is plastic and very smooth, without ‘hand holds’ to enable an animal to get to the slot at the top of the fold-down door. It normally hosts a couple of katydids, but they couldn’t harvest leaves. A human, for some unimaginable reason?

We left the leaves there, and soon we noticed they had been spread all over the bottom of the letterbox box to a depth of 4-5 cm. Surely some animal (with sticky feet?) must be responsible. After a week or two we got a glimpse of the inhabitant, and in mid-March, this photo. It was some sort of mouse-like critter.

I sent the photo to our Land for Wildlife Officer and after some consultation with colleagues there was agreement that it was probably a Fawn-footed Melomys (Melomys cervinipes), a native rodent. The ‘Melomys’ bit is reasonably certain, the ‘probably’ is because the other species of Melomys in this area, the Grassland Melomys (Melomys burtoni) prefers grassland habitat.

Fawn-footed Melomys (Melomys cervinipes) in a letterbox Photo: Gordon Grigg

On checking, the Melomys was sometimes visible and sometimes either not there or buried under leaves. They are nocturnal, so should be ‘at home’ during the day. Several times it was in full view, just sitting still and looking at us. Once I saw just its back above the leaves; presumably sleeping. It brought in some new leaves, and seems to do some ‘housekeeping’ on them.

Letters come, and the occasional large parcel, but it apparently tolerates these disturbances and as I write this, it is still in residence.

The katydids are no longer there. We wondered if the melomys had eaten them, but they are recorded as being vegetarian, eating leaves, shoots and fruits they get by foraging in the canopy where they usually make a spherical nest leaves. I do wonder if they are strict vegos though. Many mainly vegetarian animals will take a meaty snack if one is available. The spider looks pretty fit though.

There are, or were, four species of Melomys in Australia (the Bramble, Cay Melomys ( Cay Melomys (M. rubicola M. rubicola) became extinct recently). The Australian ones have relatives in Papua-New Guinea and Indonesia and collectively they are sometimes referred to as ‘mosaic-tailed rats’.

Gordon Grigg

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MCCG Photo Competition Winners 2024

November 5, 2024 by mccgadmin

The 2024 MCCG Photo Competition was a huge success. Thank you to all the photographers for your entries and congratulations to all the winners.

The photo competition could not run without the fabulous volunteers who generously give up their time each year. A massive thank you to the photo competition organising committee lead by Rebecca Bain with support from Robyn Frost, Bostjan Kobe, Janine Nicklin, Bruce Siemon and Geoff Lawrence and to all the volunteers who also support during the week.

Enjoy the winning entries in each category.