News

20th Annual Platypus Survey Celebration – All welcome – Sunday 14th September

August 15, 2025 by mccgadmin

Following the early morning platypus survey (0430 – 0730 am), everyone is welcome to join in the 20th Annual Platypus Survey celebration!

Sunday September 14th – Brookfield Showgrounds Bar – 0830-1130

0830: Sausage Sizzle run by the Kenmore Girl Guides

0830 – 1130: Interactive waterbed investigations, environmental displays, arts and crafts and games

0900 – 1000: Wildlife Show by WildCall

1015: Welcome and celebratory speeches by MCCG Chairperson, History of the platypus survey by Dr Tamielle Brunt

1030: Cutting of the celebration cake and photo time with a life-size platypus!

Don’t forget to support future surveys with platypus merchandise and the fundraising raffle.

If you would like to volunteer as a ‘platy spotter’ for the platypus survey register here:

Wildlife Matters: Volunteers needed for Platypus Survey

August 15, 2025 by mccgadmin

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September 14th Platypus Survey register now

August 3, 2025 by mccgadmin

It’s the 20^th year of the MCCG platypus survey!

Please register for the morning survey here.

Sunday 14^th September

4:30am – Meeting at Brookfield General Store

5:00am – Head to site with team leader and ready at site by 5:30

7:30am – Finish Survey and head to breakfast at the Brookfield showgrounds (550 Upper Brookfield Rd).

There will be a celebration in the morning from 9am at the same location. There will be cake!

It’s a huge milestone for the catchment group, more details on the celebration breakfast to come soon.

The Winter Newsletter is out now …

July 3, 2025 by mccgadmin

Enjoy reading all the latest news and happenings from the Moggill Creek Catchment Group in the Winter newsletter. Meet some of the other members and how they are supporting the group, and learn more about weeds, wildlife and natives too. Thank you very much to all the contributors. Everyone is most welcome (and encouraged!) to contribute a articles or photos.

Click her to read the Winter Newsletter

Brookie Show 2025. Our new MCCG double marquee (Photo Tracey Read)

Kids’ Day at The Cottage Land Bugs marquee with Jessa and Andrew (Photo Tracey Read)

Kids’ Day at The Cottage Water Bugs marquee (Photo Tracey Read)

Kids’ Day at The Cottage Volunteer of the Day Oliver (Photo Tracey Read)

MCCG Nurser volunteer John Crowley (phot0 Tracey Read)

June 24th Evening Talk: Echidnas with Dr Kate

June 11, 2025 by mccgadmin

Please join us for MCCG’s second evening talk for the year. Dr Kate Dutton-Regester is a wildlife ecologist and lecturer based in Brisbane (Meanjin), with a deep passion for Australian native species and community-driven conservation. She holds a PhD from The University of Queensland and has led numerous research projects across wildlife health and ecology.

June 24th at the Kenmore Library (after-hours entrance via Lift)

Doors open 6.30pm for a 7 pm start.

Refreshments provided.

Everyone welcome.

The Joys of Weeding! Wildlife Matters

May 27, 2025 by mccgadmin

Weeds can generally be thought of as plants that are in the wrong place, for example unwanted species in a herbaceous border or vegetable patch. Many of them may have positive attributes, for example as a food source for insects, birds or other wildlife. Mark Twain defined a weed as a plant whose benefits have yet to be recognized (or words to that effect). Since colonization, thousands of plant species have been introduced to Australia, either deliberately, for agriculture and horticulture, or inadvertently as overseas trade and travel has multiplied. Many of them have been beneficial, but a small proportion have had devastating consequences for agriculture and/or the environment.

I have written previously in this column (January 2023) about the devastating impact of exotic weed vines on some of our riparian zones. Cat’s claw creeper, Madeira vine and glycine can smother and overwhelm native trees and shrubs if left unchecked. For this reason, much of the time of our bushcare groups is spent weeding. While this may be less appealing to many of our volunteers than planting native species, it is essential to maintaining a healthy ecosystem and has its own rewards. There is great satisfaction in freeing a beautiful native tree from the burden of overbearing weed vines that otherwise would deprive it of sunlight and make it more susceptible to damage by storm or flood. It also provides good physical exercise and there are mental health benefits. If you have had a bad week, or are depressed by the state of the world, a couple of hours attacking weeds along your local creek can be an effective outlet for your frustrations and help to relieve stress!

Recently, the Huntington/Tuckett bushcare group was involved in some weed removal on a grander scale (see photos). During the middle of the last century, Chinese elm trees (Celtis sinensis) were planted extensively along creek banks in the local area. These are large deciduous trees that grow rapidly and provide intense shade in summer, which were presumably seen as attributes by the dairy farmers who occupied much of the area at this time. Unfortunately, they also produce prodigious quantities of seeds, spread rapidly and suppress the growth of native species by depriving them of light. Removal of these trees is an ongoing challenge and last year we received a grant from Brisbane City Council to employ contractors to remove and chip three large Chinese elms from an area near the Branton St. footbridge in Brookfield and replace them with natives. The project proved challenging, (the three trees produced around 80 cubic metres of wood chips!) and was not helped by the recent adverse weather and floods, but eventually we succeeded – see photos. Thanks to the Council and all those volunteers who braved the elements to assist with site preparation and the planting of 180 native trees and shrubs!

If you would like to join one of our bushcare groups, do your bit for the local environment, get some healthy exercise and meet some of your neighbours over morning tea please check out the MCCG website or contact me at [email protected]

Jim Pope

Industrial strength weed clearing and mulching – photo Jim Pope

Re-planting with natives, in the rain! – photo Jim Pope

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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)