11 Platypus sighted in the Annual MCCG Platypus Survey!
The Annual MCCG Platypus Survey was held on September 13th with some restrictions in place due to COVID-19. Approximately 55 volunteer observers participated. There were 11 definite sightings, and in addition, several ‘possible’ observations. The number of platypus seen is similar to the last couple of years, but lower than some previous surveys over the past 15 years of annual surveys. This may be due more to a lack of rain, with platypus less mobile and remaining in pools, than to a declining population. We also may miss some animals because they simply do not appear on the survey morning!
To read the full report from the. 2020 survey click here
To see some of the platypus sighting videos go to the MCCG Youtube Channel
To learn more on how to protect our local platypus click here
Platypus hatchling late 2019 Photo: Ed-Frazer
What’s the difference between a Bunya & a Hoop Pine?
In the winter 2019 issue of the MCCG Newsletter, a photo of a Bunya Pine was incorrectly labelled as a Hoop Pine. This was corrected by in the Autumn 2020 issue, where it was pointed out that the Hoop Pine (Araucasia cunninghamii) has much smaller leaves than the Bunya Pine (Araucasia bidwillii). These two types of native pine can also be readily distinguished even from a distance by differences in shape and form. The photo below shows a Bunya Pine (on the left) growing next to a group of Hoop Pines in Rowena St. park, just across the footbridge from the Rafting Ground Reserve.
Here is the link to read the Autumn Newsletter
Photo: Jim Pope
Cockatoos – a messy menace or a helpful friend?
Did you know Sulphur-crested Cockatoos play a profound role in shaping plant and animal communities?
In his latest issue of Feather Fascination, Jim Butler explains how cockatoos are actually helping their food-plants (& many species) through complex interactions!
To find out more, head to Jim Butler’s Feather Fascination September 2020.
Photo: Sulphur-crested Cockatoo – Ed Frazer
Know Your Wildlife!
Test your skills each month with Jim Butler’s Wildlife Identification Quiz!
You’ll find Know Your Wildlife towards the back of every month’s The Local Bulletin.
We will provide the answers to each quiz right here in the first week of every month!
So, do you have your answers ready for the September quiz? The correct answers are:
1. Shining Bronze Cuckoo
2. Fan-tailed Cuckoo
3. Eastern Koel
ps: If you need some help, we’d recommend searching our digital field guides! Open them from the side menu:
These alphabetical lists provide a wealth of local information about wildlife. They feature thumb-nail images which expand to a larger view when you click upon them.
Keep an eye out for next month’s quiz!
Working Bee Saturday 5th Sept
The next Working Bee will be at our Mabb Street Site (Mackay Brook)
Saturday 5th September at 2:30 – 4:30 pm
We will be focussing on an invasion of cat’s claw.
Please come if you can – we need lots of help
For more information click here
Have you seen these gorgeous birds?
In the latest Bush Bites from Ed Frazer you can see some of the real beauties we have in our catchment. Learn more about the Rainbow Bee-eater, the Noisy Pitta and the Rose-crowned Fruit-dove.
Click here to see them all
Rainbow Bee-eater – © Ed Frazer
Three Gorgeous Birds by Ed Frazer
We have three spectacularly coloured birds in the Moggill Creek Catchment that have similarly beautiful colours, but very different lifestyles.
They are the Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, The Noisy Pitta and the Rainbow Bee-eater.
Rose-crowned Fruit-dove – © Ed Frazer
The Rose-crowned Fruit-dove visits from the end of September and leaves around Easter each year to move to warmer areas up the coast of Queensland although I have experienced one overwintering in Brookfield. They breed while here in a nest that is not more than a few sticks in the fork of a tree 5 metres or more off the ground. They lay just one egg.
The diet consist mainly on native fruit and they prefer small purple/black fruit which they swallow whole. They also will take small figs and Lillipillies.
Despite their brilliant colours they can be well camouflaged, and they crawl through the branches of the trees in which they are feeding. They are surprisingly abundant in the catchment and have two quite distinctive calls that give their presence away. I am sure they are prey of some raptors such as Sparrowhawks and Goshawks and unfortunately, they are frequent victims of our window strikes.
Noisy Pitta – © Ed Frazer
The Noisy Pittas don’t live up to their name in the Catchment as they seldom call during the winter months when they are here. They come down from places like the Toowoomba Range and the Bunya Mountains where they breed in the summer and where they call incessantly while raising their young.
The Noisy Pitta is always associated with dense leaf litter where they forage for insects and worms. They are a very wary bird as they have to be on the lookout for danger which is unfortunately mainly domestic cats in the Catchment. By September they have gone back to higher ground and I am not aware of any staying in our area over the summer.
Rainbow Bee-eater – © Ed Frazer
The Rainbow Bee-eater is the only one of the trio that frequents the Catchment all-year-round. In the 1970s and 80s they were very common around our paddocks and often lined up along the fences from which they made darting sorties to catch the bees that make up the main portion of their diet. By 2000 they were seldom seen or heard so I encouraged my family to keep beehives and now we see them frequently and we also get a plentiful supply of honey.
They breed communally in tunnels made in the sandy banks of the Brisbane River. They are often heard before they are seen, and they make an attractive rolling drrrrt sound as they gracefully dart around catching bees. They are said to eat other insects such as wasps and dragonflies, buy I see them only eating bees. I am not aware of any serious dangers to the species and they are widely spread around the coast of Australia.
2020 Photography Competition is OPEN!
Get your cameras out and start snapping to enter this year’s competition. There is over $1300 up for grabs in cash prizes, thanks to the generosity of our local sponsors.
Entry is open to all members of the public, the young and the not-so-young, with an open category and our **NEW** Digital Young Persons (grade 1 – 6) category.
For all the entry information click here
2019 Entry by photographer Solveig Gillis
Tree Planting Report August 23rd
Moggill Creek Catchment Group (MCCG) Tree Planting on Sunday 23 rd August 2020
The Huntington/Tuckett bushcare group looks after a section of the ‘riparian zone’ of Moggill Creek
that extends from the footbridge at the bottom of Branton St. Kenmore Hills through the parklands
to Rafting Ground Rd. The group has been operating for about 20 years and during that time has
planted most of the trees that can be seen in the area. On the morning of Sunday 23 rd August, we
planted another 420 native trees and shrubs in two locations that had previously been occupied
mainly by weeds.
One of our regular working bee members, Baheret Sabet had asked us to organise a special tree
planting to commemorate the centenary of the arrival in Australia of the Bahá’í community, of which
she is a member. We had planned to host around 20 of their local youth group at the planting, but at
the last minute this had to be curtailed due to an announcement from the Queensland Premier the
previous day that stricter Covid-19 restrictions were being implemented, limiting numbers at
outdoor gatherings to 10. However, with some rather frantic last-minute reorganisation, we were
able to proceed with the planting, albeit with a reduced participation to comply with the new
restrictions (see photos).
A new member of the group, Julian Tuckett, who attended the working bee with his daughter
Martina, has a historical connection to the area. They recently moved to Brisbane from north
Queensland. Julian’s great grandfather, who gave his name to Tuckett St., was the owner of the dairy
farm that used to occupy much of the area where the bushcare group now operates. Julian and
Martina are now helping us to return at least some of the land to the native forest that dominated
the area prior to logging and land clearing in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries!
Jim Pope
Chairman, Moggill Creek Catchment Group
