Many of our wonderful bushcare volunteers will enjoy a well deserved break over Christmas!
For details about our working bee dates during the holiday period, please visit our Working Bee Calendar.
Birds on summer holiday
You may not recognise the appearance of the Eastern Koel in this short video of Tim Sigg’s, but if you watch it through to the end, there’s a good chance you’ll recognise the bird’s call as one you’ve heard recently.
Eastern Koels visit Australia from Indonesia and New Guinea for an annual Summer vacation. They holiday along our Eastern seaboard, as far South as Victoria. They are here to breed right now and will stay till around April.
There is some speculation that climate change is extending their range further South. Interestingly, the further South they travel, the earlier they return home from vacation.
The Eastern Koel (Eudynamys orientalis) is a cuckoo and in true cuckoo fashion it is a brood parasite. It lays its eggs in the nests of other species – generally local birds such as wattlebirds and figbirds. When the cuckoo chick hatches it forces the eggs and chicks of the resident birds out, and the parents of the resident bird take responsibility for feeding the invader.
The Eastern Koel is a striking bird. The male has glossy black plumage with red eyes, whilst the female is spotted black and white. They are generally shy of people so are usually heard more than they are seen! We are grateful therefore to Carson Dron for sharing his lovely photo of a female, taken in September at Anstead.
To learn more about our summer visitor, please visit our Online bird list and scroll down to the Eastern Koel. You will see more local photos, together with links to relevant articles of Jim Butler’s Feather Fascination.
* link used with the permission of Tim Siggs
CWCN Christmas activities
Each Christmas our Cubberla-Witton Catchment Catchment Network colleagues never fail to deliver a wonderful program of children’s educational activities. Here’s their invite for 2018:
The holidays are approaching fast. and CWCN again has a great program ready for our young crowd. Lots of hands-on engagement and fun learning, and all about the environment and/or sustainability. Of course, there is a small healthy morning tea included in all activities. All activities take place at the CWCN Centre, 47 Hepworth St, Chapel Hill (UBD 178 A11). They start at 9:30am and finish at 12:00 noon. We charge a fee of $15 per child ($10 for CWCN members).
Thursday, 20th December 2018
‘Tis the Season—Time to Create Your Very Own Christmas Tree and Decorations
Prep to primary school age
What a fun way of getting ready for the festivities! How about making your very own tree by using recycled wrapping paper from last year or from a birthday? The end result will be a stunning wall hanging celebrating the season. Of course, there is more. We have aprons but recommend that you don’t wear your best outfit!
‘Tis the Season—Time to Create Your Very Own Christmas Tree and Decorations
Prep to primary school age
What a fun way of getting ready for the festivities! How about making your very own tree by using recycled wrapping paper from last year or from a birthday? The end result will be a stunning wall hanging celebrating the season. Of course, there is more. We have aprons but recommend that you don’t wear your best outfit!
Thursday, 10th January 2019
Fenella Flutterwing & Munching Mike – Enviro Detectives at Work Investigating Butterflies
Prep to early primary school age
Who doesn’t like butterflies? Seeing them makes us feel happy, and we know it’s summer. We look for young detectives who want to know more about butterflies. What better way than finding all the answers by putting wings on and becoming a butterfly for one morning. This is learning by having fun! And we top it all by celebrating a butterfly wedding!
Tuesday, 15th January 2019
Colourful Bottle Cap and Other Creations
Prep to early primary school age
Plastic is everywhere. It’s not like compost which turns into good soil for growing vegies or flowers. Where do all the many milk, soda and juice bottles end up? What do you do with the many caps of all these bottles? Let’s reuse them and create something amazing. Become a bottle cap artist for one morning and after that, we’ll recycle even more plastic and transform it into fun items you can use at home.
Colourful Bottle Cap and Other Creations
Prep to early primary school age
Plastic is everywhere. It’s not like compost which turns into good soil for growing vegies or flowers. Where do all the many milk, soda and juice bottles end up? What do you do with the many caps of all these bottles? Let’s reuse them and create something amazing. Become a bottle cap artist for one morning and after that, we’ll recycle even more plastic and transform it into fun items you can use at home.
Thursday, 17th January 2019
Tristan Truffle and Pixie Cap — Enviro Detectives at Work Hunting Fungi
Primary school age
What’s all this talk about fairy rings, witch’s butter, little pixies, ghost and ghoul fungi and toadstools? Our enviro detectives have a lot of work to do. They’ll figure out what mushrooms are, how they work, and why they are so important. Then there is also the issue of solving a crime, just the right thing for our detectives. This truly is a morning for investigators who are also budding scientists. Lots of hands on activities promise fun.
Tuesday, 22nd January 2019
The Fantastic Plastic, Tin & Cardboard Concert Band!
Prep to primary school age
Yeah! We are making music. Before we give our first concert, we have to understand what sound is and how it comes about. That alone is lots of fun because we hear elephants, see rice dance, feel and see sound move. Then we have to create our very own instruments. Can an old shoe box be a ukulele, a pipe, a trumpet or a raspberradoohoo (I bet you want to know what that is)? Can drinking straws sing, beakers imitate animals, can kitchen rolls sound like rain? Have you ever played a thongaton? We’ll have loads of fun!
For full details and to register please download the flyer: CWCN_School_Hol._Flyer_summer_2018-2019_final
Birds upon Bovines – symbiosis perfected!
The Cattle Egret’s story is so interesting!
We have all seen these white birds sitting atop of livestock. And yet, during their breeding season the Cattle Egret’s plumage changes so much (and so beautifully) that they look like an entirely different species!
This month Jim Butler brings us some wonderful facts about these “New Australians” – relatively recent arrivals to our shores.
You will learn about their global expansion and breeding and feeding habits, and the reasons behind their affiliation with livestock.
Please click here to open the November/December 2018 issue of Feather Fascination.
Another notable AGM
Our 2018 AGM was held on Monday 26 November at the Brookfield Hall.
Our new committee was elected in and we were all captivated by Dr Ian Gynther’s discussion about a novel approach to conserving the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly.
We acknowledge with gratitude the tireless work of our outgoing committee members:
Joanna Yesburg (Treasurer for over 10 years), Sanja Oldfield (Secretary), Letitia Norton (Grants Officer) and Geoff Lawrence (Photo Competition Manager for over 10 years).
We are indebted to them for their generous contributions, expertise and support over the years and we wish them all well for future ventures.
Please visit our Contact Us page for details of our incoming committee for 2019.
The Chairman’s report contains a summary of the group’s work throughout the 2017-2018 financial year. It’s recommended reading, highlighting the group’s diversity and featuring facts, figures, stats, highlights and photos from the year: {module_literature,i,195204}
Mt Coot-tha Zipline – what do you think?
Brisbane City Council is inviting community feedback on two major planning components of the proposed Mt Coot-tha Zipline:
- the draft Mt Coot-tha Zipline Land Management Plan, and
- the Zipline Development Application (DA) .
Feedback regarding the Land Management Plan may be lodged until the end of December, but residents must submit feedback on the DA by 14 December.
Members of the community certainly have mixed views regarding the Zipline development so you are encouraged to voice your opinion during this limited time window.
The draft Land Management Plan, together with maps and Council newsletters regarding the proposal are available on the BCC website.
Details regarding the submission of feedback can be viewed by clicking here.
To further acquaint yourself with the proposal, you may also wish to visit the Mt Coot-tha Protection Alliance website, a community-run website which outlines several concerns.
A link worth sharing!
Birdlife Australia recently announced the winners of its “2018 Australian Bird Photographer of the Year.” And the results are stunning!
If you enjoy photography, please click here to visit the Birdlife Australia website and enjoy a showcase of winners across 7 different categories.
International Volunteer Day
Location: Worldwide event
Type: Event
Organiser: United Nations
Contact: http://www.un.org/en/events/volunteerday/
The Rescue Project – What’s your story?
“Have you ever rescued a riverbank? A tract of bush, native tree or a garden, a waterway, an eroded beach or some farmland? A native animal or bird?
What do you feel as you tend to tired earth, or engage with the intrinsic value of an old-growth giant, or look into that creature’s eyes?
In some way, do these things rescue you?
In the act of environmental rescue we nurture a tree through drought, we restore a place, or we restore a native animal, to health. But this is not a one-way encounter.
In rescuing we too receive something in return. In the act of giving back, there is a quiet emotion we might feel that nourishes ourselves, and sometimes whole communities.”
This is Rescue. What’s your story?
The Rescue Project is a partnership between Landcare Australia and the University of NSW. It’s part of a research study looking at why, as individuals and community groups, we continue to carry out small acts of rescuing animals and landscapes in the face of a global environmental crisis.
It also asks what role citizen storytelling across online media can play in motivating an environmentally concerned public.
You can join the project. To participate all you need to do is join the Rescue website and upload a 500 word story by January 2019 about rescuing habitat or animals.
Like to learn more? Click here to open the Rescue website.
Rowena Park rescue 
Fragility of the Antechinus (courtesy Ed Frazer)
South East Queensland – let’s catch up!
Healthy Land and Water invites you to a number of community forums following the release of its 2018 Report Card. This is an annual assessment of the pressures facing our waterways, their current environmental condition, and the level of social and economic benefits waterways provide to local communities.
Four community forums will be held across South East Queensland between late November and mid-December. They allow you the chance to share and discuss past and current projects in your region and to raise opportunities for future projects. Experts will discuss how they’ll be undertaking an upcoming review of the SEQ Natural Resource Management Plan. There will also be discussion around the 2019 National Landcare Program.
For more information, visit the Healthy Land and Water website or call Jenn Meyer on (07) 3177 9130.
Even if you’re not able to attend, we recommend checking out the website – it has some great info about projects, events and resources to help us protect our own patch of the SEQ environment.
