With the dry so bad I have been concentrating my wildlife photography to the two large holes of Gold Creek that border our property.

Of course, the Platypus are the main interest, and now that the pups are growing I am finding the mothers are out feeding frantically through the day. One was out at 2pm in the second week in November!

Now is definitely the time to go watching Platypus!

Find the best spots by looking at the locations where they’ve been sighted in our annual Platypus Survey. Take a chair and just sit quietly and wait! Early in the morning or the last hour before sunset are the times you are most likely to see them.

Watch out for lots of bubbles rising to the surface and often a stream of mud being brought up from the bottom of the creek. I find they surface about every 45 seconds while they are feeding.

If you are lucky one will stay on top of the water to chew on the creatures it has stored in its cheeks.

But there is plenty of other life up the creek!

We have several Sandpaper Figs hanging over the water and one very old one has a huge crop ripening at present.

Every few minutes a ripe fig will fall into the water and it can be a torrent of figs falling when a flock of Fig Birds and Orioles start feeding in the tree.

Under the water are a number of Eel-tailed Catfish and I think one has a nest there too.  I am not sure if the fish eat the ripe figs or the creatures attracted by the figs.

Another that hangs around the same area is a good-sized eel. They are ultra-designed and can move with the slightest effort.

The creek has a large number of Water Dragons.

Each has a territory and there are frequent standoffs between territory owners. The area “owned” is relative to the dragon’s size and I think the males get a bit more as they appear to be more aggressive.

The Water Dragons were not to be seen as they were hibernating until late August and then they were mostly sitting on the banks or in branches of trees sunning themselves. Now it has heated up they spend much of their time in the water with just their heads poking out.

The eerie “whoo-hoo” calls of the Powerful Owl can be heard across the ridges and valleys of our catchment, especially during the evenings and nights of Autumn and Winter when they breed.

These birds hold a special fascination for birdwatchers and the general public because of their large size (Ht. 65cm; Wt 2Kg), their booming calls and their fondness for relatively large prey including possums, sugar gliders, currawongs, magpies, lorikeets and flying foxes.

They also have the peculiar habit of roosting quietly and in complete stillness during the day, with their previous night’s prey dangling from a claw below the branch they have roosted on.

But they are also a species that is classified as “vulnerable” in Queensland.

The magnificent Powerful Owl – © Chris Read

For these reasons, Birdlife Australia is conducting a Citizen Science Project to establish numbers, distribution and breeding success of this magnificent bird. The Project Manager is Rob Clements.

The project is only possible because these apex predators are moving into the suburbs of our cities to exploit the numerous prey available. They have become easily detectable by their calls.

It is easy to hear the calls but far from easy to locate the birds themselves, especially if the call is coming from up to half a kilometre away in a very bushy area where they roost and breed!

This is where triangulating can be useful – locating a bird calling at an unknown point by accurately measuring the compass directions from known points A and B.

The following Google Earth image shows a hypothetical implementation of the triangulation procedure:

The location in the image is Gap Creek Reserve. It has been used for illustration purposes only. It does NOT show the actual location of a known spot where a Powerful Owl is located.

Triangulation explained

To commence the triangulation process, two birders in phone contact stand at points A and B, which are 97m apart. When each of them simultaneously hear the Powerful Owl call they measure the direction with the compass on their smart phones. A measures the call coming for 73°E and B measures the call coming from 31°NE.

When these measurements are taken home and plotted on Google Earth, they can mark the location of the calling Powerful Owl.

In this illustration the owl was 136m from birder A, and 133m from birder B. The wavy lines plotted on the map follow the terrain and show the “ground length”, the length one would have to walk, climbing the hill to the Powerful Owl point.

The map length is the direct straight length between two points and is not plotted in this image.

How we use triangulation

Local birders Ian Muirhead and Jim Butler know the general location of a breeding pair of Powerful Owls along Moggill Creek from recordings of the owl’s calls at night.

Ian and Jim recorded their calls twice in March, 7 times in April, four times in May, and then they did the triangulation process on 10 June.

Within two days Ian and Jim found the Powerful Owl near the nest hollow on private property, having gained the enthusiastic cooperation of the land holder.

Since that time they have visited the nest site on a number of occasions.

On a day during the second week of August Ian and Jim were near the nest at 5:30pm. They saw the female first as she arrived at the “butchery” tree roost.

Minutes later the male landed beside her with a fruit bat dangling from its claw. The male then proceeded to rip the bat apart and feed sections to the female, beak to beak. After about ten exchanges, the female flew to the nest hollow and Ian and Jim could hear the chick trilling as it was fed.

Like to learn more?

If you would like to receive a recording of the Powerful Owl call by email, and/or you can hear Powerful Owls in our catchment and would like to contribute to the Citizen Science Powerful Owl Project, please contact Jim Butler at [email protected]

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It’s July 2019 and the recent rains have turned up some ant mounds that are conspicuous in mown lawns in the Moggill Creek Catchment area.

They are made by Funnel Ants, a small honey-coloured ant that is common in soils that do not have a lot of clay.

The mounds are made after rain has flooded their chambers, which in dry periods can be a metre or more under the surface.

© Ed Frazer 

When conditions are good the funnel ants build shallow chambers in the root zone of the grass. They bite into the grass roots and feed on the sap that flows out. Funnel ants do not have a bite that hurts people.

The males and fertile females (Queens) develop with wings and fly in November to mate. The Queen lays eggs that all hatch as females and they build up into a colony of workers by late January.

Heavy infestations will damage the growth of lawns and they are difficult to control. Commercial pest control companies have access to products that give reasonable success, but these insecticides are not available to domestic buyers.

If you want to see the funnel ants you have to dig quite deeply as they only come to the surface while they are cleaning out their chambers after rain.

Or you can view an image and learn more about these ants, whose scientific name is Aphaenogaster longiceps, by heading to the Australian Museum website.

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In my last Bush Bites article I shared my love of birds and discussed the diversity of birdlife in Deerhurst Park, an area of parkland which runs between Brookfield Road and Gap Creek Road in Brookfield.

In this article I will introduce you to another amazing birding site within our catchment: Gold Creek Reservoir, an entry point to an extensive network of trails that lead as far as Lake Manchester and the Enoggera Reservoir. Gold Creek Dam is managed by SEQ Water.

BIRDING SITE #2: GOLD CREEK RESERVOIR

This birding site is registered with Australia|eBird (ebird.org/region/AU?yr=all) as: GOLD CREEK RESERVOIR: Latitude: -27.4628622 and Longitude: 152.883352.

The Gold Creek Reservoir is an eBird “Hotspot”. The eBird site has received 1100 checklists submitted by birders who have visited the site over the years!

When overseas birders visit Brisbane, most would visit the Gold Creek Dam. You are encouraged to submit checklists for all visits you make. Contact me to learn how!

Where is the site?

The address of the site is: 6810 Gold Creek Rd, Brookfield QLD 4069.

This is the western end of Gold Creek Road. To get there by car go to the end of Brookfield Rd at the Brookfield Show Ground, where it meets Gold Creek Rd at the roundabout. Then drive west to the end of Gold Creek Rd. The Dam is about a 15-minute drive from Kenmore Village.

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Where to look for birds?

1. Main Tracks

The bushland surrounding the Gold Creek Dam is part of Brisbane Forest Park. There is a designated walking trail around Gold Creek Reservoir, in addition to the extensive fire-trail network on the hills.

The 4.5km Gold Creek Walking Track circumnavigates the Reservoir and it is an excellent way to enter all the divergent habitats there. The start of the walking track is found at both ends of the dam wall, walk clockwise or anticlockwise!

The Gold Creek Walking Track traverses grassland habitats, tall eucalypt forests, riparian zones and rainforest microhabitats in the protected gullies and good views can be had of the birds on the water at particular points.

It is a moderately difficult trail. If there is the chance to go birding for the whole day then the Reservoir tracks are the entry point into one of the most significant trail networks on Brisbane’s doorstep. Gold Creek tracks connect to longer tracks that lead to the birds at Lake Manchester and at the Enoggera Reservoir.

Cody Hochen is a Wildlife Conservation Partnerships Officer with Brisbane City Council.

Earlier in the year we approached Cody for information about the Richmond birdwing butterfly. In spite of his hectic schedule Cody took time out to write the following article for our newsletter.

Paul Wright also allowed us to publish his stunning photo of a male Richmond birdwing.

We extend our thanks to both Cody and Paul for their generosity.

… and we present the following article for your enjoyment!

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Bringing back the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly to Brisbane

Author:  Cody Hochen

The plight and recovery of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is well known amongst Wildlife Conservation Partnerships Program (WCPP) and Moggill Creek Catchment Group (MCCG) members.

From being a common sight in the streets of Brisbane to becoming locally extinct in just over 100 years, the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly has become a flagship species for recovery in south-east Queensland.

Most MCCG members would know someone who has been involved in some capacity, most notably, Dr Don Sands and Dale Borgelt who have been there from the beginning.

Dr Sands has taught me a lot and has been the driving force behind the recovery and mass planting of Pararistolochia praevenosa (Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Vine) throughout its range. These plantings have led to a marked recovery of existing populations on the southern Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast and its hinterland ranges. Despite similar plantings in Brisbane, Richmond Birdwing Butterflies are yet to recover.

To build on the 30 odd years of work from many enthusiasts, WCPP started a project called ‘Bringing back the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly to Brisbane’ in March of 2017. With over 50% of bushland in Brisbane on private properties, we are in the ideal position to work with some of our 700 WCPP properties throughout Brisbane to help achieve our goal.

With the help of WCPP members, Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network (RBCN), MCCG, Habitat Brisbane Groups and Dr Sands our first goal was to find what vines had been planted and ground truth them.

Over 6 months we located 1100 Pararistolochia praevenosa on private and public land, mostly in the western suburbs of Brisbane. It was interesting to find them spread in a corridor throughout the entire western suburbs all the way from Chelmer to the Gold Creek Reservoir.

Finding these vines allowed us to create a database and in-turn create a mapping platform in Atlas of Living Australia of existing vines. This map also allowed us to identify gaps in the corridor and find suitable properties with the right habitat type in the area to help fill the gap.

Our aim is to have a core site every 2 – 3 kilometres within this corridor.

©  Paul Wright

In the past small populations in Brisbane have relied on one or two isolated sites to survive. This has resulted in “in-breeding depressions” which have led to local extinction. Having vines spread throughout a corridor would allow female butterflies to travel throughout Brisbane without having to rely solely on laying their eggs on one isolated food source to survive.

So far, adding to the vines found, we have planted a further 330 vines on WCPP properties. These have been either to bulk up smaller patches of existing vines or create a new ‘core site’ in a gap in the corridor. Being a specialised vine that likes constant moisture and small doses of sun, it has been a difficult task finding appropriate sites.

After plenty of research and working with property owners to plant the vine we have bought the number of vines to 1430 spread across 52 WCPP properties, 7 Habitat Brisbane sites and 1 Brisbane City Council Reserve in Brisbane.

Our hope is to join up with current and future plantings in other councils both north and south of Brisbane. Discussions are under way to create a similar corridor from Samford, north to existing populations of the butterfly west of Caboolture and also throughout the Logan Council, south to an isolated population in Ormeau.

Like Brisbane, these plantings are to boost numbers as well as add to natural occurring populations and help existing populations of the butterfly move from isolated areas and spread throughout South-east Queensland.

As well as fragmentation and inbreeding, another threat to Richmond Birdwing Butterflies is the introduced exotic vine Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia elegans).

This close relative to Pararistolochia praevenosa, Dutchman’s pipe is deadly to Richmond Birdwing Butterflies, tricking females to lay eggs on them and killing the young larvae. Unfortunately, Dutchman’s pipe is prevalent throughout the western suburbs of Brisbane and grows in similar rainforest/riparian habitat to the Birdwing Vine.

Collecting information on the sites on which Dutchman’s pipe occurs and working with WCPP members to control this invasive vine has been a part of the project.

After a long dry spell, we are waiting for more rain to plant another 100 vines in the western suburbs and to the north and south of Brisbane to help fill in the gaps.

We hope to continue to plant 100 vines a year as well as work with WCPP members to maintain their existing vines and tackle the ghastly Dutchman’s pipe. Maintenance involves fertilising, initial watering and continual watering during dry spells.

We are privileged to be in a position to help build on the 30 years of the recovery of the Richmond Birdwing butterfly in Brisbane. It is positive to be working to a plan and we feel confident that this stunning butterfly will once again call Brisbane home in the near future.

For more information about butterflies in our catchment, please click here.

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I wondered when I wrote this title if “personality” was the correct word for bird behavior or if it just applied to humans, so I looked it up in the dictionary.

I came across the definition: “the combination of characteristics and qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character”. Well that was exactly what I meant about my bird ‘friends!”

Take for instance “Kook”, a Kookaburra I have known all 6 years of his life.

His parents were reasonably “friendly” and would follow my wife around on her tractor and catch the insects she would disturb while mowing.

But Kook was barely a year old when he would land on my buggy after mealworms he saw me feeding other birds. It wasn’t long before he was landing on the telephoto lens of my camera to get my attention!

He hung around with his parents when they bred again, as is normal with Kookaburras. The previous youngsters assist the parents to raise their siblings.

I set up my camera to photograph the family feeding the baby and gave Kook a few mealworms to take to his new brother or sister. Even though I had seen Kook take an insect or two to the nest he didn’t seem to have his heart in the job. He swallowed all the mealworms I gave him and then some more, but I never got him to take some to the nest.

This year Kook is back landing on my camera and fighting off the Willie Wagtails to get the mealworms, but he is taking them to his own nest to raise another generation.

The Willie’s have all got different personalities. One will land on my knee and get the mealworms, but its mate will chatter away on the ground a few meters away and no encouragement will get it to come up to get them from my hand.

If Kook turns up they both will dive bomb him and sit on his back picking at his feathers until he flies away in frustration!

When we first came to this property in 1973 we built some nursery buildings before we built the house and we used to have our lunch outside. We were often visited by a very elegant, but standoffish magpie. We used to throw it bits of fruit cake and it would come quite close to get them.

I decided that wasn’t a good diet and collected a few worms from the compost heap. It just ignored them even though we had seen it pulling worms from their holes. I don’t think it recognized them out of a hole! I overcame this by coating the worms with cake crumbs and all was well.

We have large numbers of magpies on the property and they breed here every year. None has attacked us as I am sure they know we are soft touches for a feed.

I’m sure the way to stop Magpies divebombing is to make friends with them.

A few years ago someone dropped off a pure white domestic duck at our ponds fronting Adavale St. It settled in and has become close mates with a wild Pacific Black Duck. Mostly they stay together during the day but sometimes the Black Duck will fly off with the mob to another dam on the property. As it gets close to nightfall “Puddleduck” gets very anxious until her mate returns and they settle down together for the night.

We have another duck, a Wood Duck, with a broken wing. These ducks are usually difficult to approach and fly off when we get within about 20m. This one has recognized it is safe if it keeps close to the nursery where there are plenty of people during daylight hours and will only reluctantly move out of the way when we pass.

The most spectacular birds we have had visiting over the years have been the Major Mitchell Cockatoos. We have known them for about 30 years and we understand the original pair that came to us were pushed out from a group of about six that lived for many years up towards the Gold Creek Reservoir.  The female was in bad shape with a lot of feathers removed and bare skin on her breast. We fed them and they got so used to us that they would tap on the window for us to come out and feed them. They were obviously descendants of aviary escapees a long time ago as this is not their natural habitat. They have some interesting battles with the visiting cockies.

About 20 years ago I was walking up the hill after some heavy rain and I heard some baby birds crying at the bottom of a tree. I found two cold little things with barely a pin feather and put then in my shirt and took them home and raised them.

They turned out to be two beautiful Major Mitchells!

Once they were fully grown we let them out and they went about 10m up a Grey Ironbark near our house. The original two Majors came after hearing them begging and one immediately took off with the parents. The other cried until I rescued it after 3 days and he never joined the others.

The original three eventually built up to seven, but lately I have only seen four.

Their feeding was interesting. The female always went to the food first. After she had a few mouthfuls she would allow the male to join her. The youngsters were always emphatically shoved away. After the parents were full they seldom waited for the youngsters to have much before they would make a characteristic call and off they would all go.

I am convinced that there are different personalities with these birds and that their differences can’t be put down to natural instinct.

Maybe the Willie that sits on my knee is the female and her inhibition to sitting on my knee is overcome by her higher requirement for food because of producing eggs.

But that doesn’t apply to Kook’s behavior and anyway I like to believe they are responding to me and making my life more interesting.

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If you love birds there is always an opportunity to take your passion to a new level!

My love of birds appeared within me, infusing my being, when I was about 10 years old. My parental home was a couple of hundred metres from the shores of Botany Bay and there were parks and bush all around me, with plenty of birds. The safe freedom of my childhood meant I could go bush anytime I was not at school, and I did! Only returning home for food! Neither my parents nor my sister were at all interested in birds. It did not come into me from any outside person. The birds made me theirs.

When you have a passion for something, it’s amazing how much you learn without even trying!  These days I am considered to be a “birder”.  I spend time observing birds locally and on holidays, and I write birding articles for The Local Bulletin and the MCCG website. I also contribute to a citizen science project which involves taking surveys of the amazing diversity of birdlife in Deerhurst St Park.

Anyone can join these types of projects and, if you’d like to get started I’m happy to point you in the right direction!

Where is the site?

Deerhurst St Park (See mudmap below) stretches either side of Gap Creek from Brookfield to Gap Creek Road.  It is a riparian zone, meaning the plants and animals are located beside a river or creek. Deerhurst St Park is a significant animal corridor between the north-eastern section of Brisbane Forest Park (Mt Coot-tha) and the Moggill Creek Catchment forests in the west. The entire public section is about a kilometre long and averages 60m wide. The entry points are from Kookaburra Street and Brookfield Road. There are good walking tracks throughout.

The site has been registered with Australia eBird and Birdata as: DEERHURST ST PARK: Latitude: -27.4910278 and Longitude: 152.9221111. Bird survey data can be entered at either of these sites as they interchange data. We are encouraged to submit surveys from all visits we make.

Who can visit the site?

The site is a public park and as such can be visited at any time. As well as birders, people walk their dogs on the tracks, and bike riders ride through the park from Gap Creek Rd to Brookfield Rd.

What is the site like?

The site is very well vegetated with some gigantic old eucalypts. Many years of revegetation have been carried out by the Moggill Creek Catchment Group and they are still very active in the park. This section of the Gap Creek is rocky with some deep ponds. The amount of water in this Creek section is variable, but the deep, large ponds mean that there is often residual water when the Creek is not flowing.  The Creek Monitoring Project was active in this area and found the water to be of good quality and with plenty of fish and invertebrates. It is a high quality and fun site. The site is quite flat, so that people of all fitness levels can be comfortable. There is no wheelchair access. There are picnic tables at the Brookfield Rd end of the park. There are no toilets in the park.

What birds are found there?

More than 76 bird species have been observed in this small park. The species count is dominated by riparian zone specialists. There are residents, nomads, summer migrants, winter migrants, and vagrants. It is always interesting, and because of the water that is often there, you would always expect to see a good number of birds.

The full list of birds can be found on the two sites where the site is registered; or by emailing me at [email protected].

Special bird?

The most striking bird that is present in Spring and Summer at this site is the Rose-crowned Fruit-dove. Often when you make a visit to this site as you get out of the car the first call you hear is the mournful call of this spectacular Fruit-dove. Knowing they are there is one thing, but finding them in your binoculars is another! Clearly worth the effort. The photo was taken by Ed Frazer at Brookfield.

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