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Moggill Creek

Catchment Group

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News

Wildlife Matters!

August 1, 2021 by mccgadmin

What an interesting little bird the Latham’s Snipe is.  A migratory bird that breeds in Hokkaido Japan and travels south to Australia for feasting and sun.  They are quite secretive so you will be lucky to see one.  Read all about them in August’s Wildlife Matters written by Ed Frazer and published in The Bulletin.

Latham’s Snipe (Gallinago hardwickii) Photo: Ed Frazer

 

 


Published in

 

 

Filed Under: News

Know Your Wildlife!

August 1, 2021 by mccgadmin

Test your skills each month with MCCG’s Wildlife Identification Quiz!

You’ll find Know Your Wildlife towards the back of every month’s The Local Bulletin.  Answers can be found by searching in the MCCG Catchment Field Guides.

Here is the August quiz:

Can you identify these three native birds? Which of them are
wetland birds and which prefers drier areas?

1.

photo: Ed Frazer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.

photo: Ed Frazer

 

 

3.

photo: Ed Frazer

 

 

 

Answer:

  1. Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis)
  2. Lewin’s Rail (Lewinia pectoralis)
  3. Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius)

The Rails are wetland birds, whereas the Painted Button-quail prefers open, dry woodland.

 


Published in

Filed Under: News

The Ladybird Catchment Field Guide is up!

August 1, 2021 by mccgadmin

Over 30 ladybirds (and some larvae and pupa) are featured in the latest MCCG catchment field guide – who knew we had so many different species!

Much thanks to Ed Frazer for his keen eyesight, photography and identification skills producing this fabulous new field guide.  Click on the link to check it out.

Common Spotted Ladybird Photo: Ed Frazer

Filed Under: News

Platypus on the move

July 23, 2021 by mccgadmin

It looks like a bumper year in Platypus activity in Gold and Moggill Creeks this year.

After several years of poor rainfall and little flushing out of the creeks, more consistent water flow has restored the aquatic habitat and the animals appear to be responding.

Platypus Photo: Ed Frazer

Ed Frazer has been monitoring part of Gold Creek that includes two large stretches about 400 metres long and 8 metres wide that were the local swimming holes in past years.

There have consistently been three breeding females in these ponds that have regularly been monitored in the annual Platypus Survey carried out each September. He suspects that they didn’t breed last year because of the poor condition of the creek.

“There has been a lot of activity up to mid-July with mating season starting” Ed said. “I regularly see the females feeding as late as 8am as they build up their condition for the egg laying and raising their two young. The good water conditions have resulted in a plenty of food, especially the Dragonfly larvae which I think is a major part of their food in our area.”

The females tend to move around the snags in the creek where there has been a considerable build-up of rotting down leaf matter where the insects feed. Luckily we haven’t had a strong flood in the creek that cleaned out this habitat as often has happened after a period of drought in the past. The females sighted had thick tails a sign of good condition for raising their young.

“The male Platypus behaviour is quite different at this time of year. I see them travelling through at impressive speed, sometimes on the surface, but often in shallow dives coming up for air every 45 seconds at a distance of about 30 metres. They are looking for mates at this time of year”.

By July 17 sightings suddenly ceased and Ed thinks that early egg laying had started and the females were in their dens incubating the eggs that take about 10 days to hatch.

In August the activity will slow down while the young are small and the females are using their reserves built up in the tails to supply food for the small puggles. 

By September the young will be more demanding and the females will be out more in the early morning and before dusk to keep up their food. This is when the MCCG Platypus survey is held while the activity is at its height.

There is plenty of other activity in the creek to watch while waiting for the Platypus to put in an appearance. There are a number of Striated Pardalotes building their tunnels in the banks of the creek this year as the soil is nicely moist from the recent rains. They are lining their nesting chambers with feathers and trying to out-compete their neighbours with their distinctive three note call.

Azure Kingfisher Photo: Ed Frazer

The beautiful Azure Kingfishers are flying rapidly along the length of the pools stopping to perch on overhanging branches ready to strike on any fish near the surface. Their activity seems to be co-ordinated with the Platypus as they appear to be taking advantage of the fish disturbed by the strenuous stirring up of the fish on the bottom of the creek. They too will start building their nesting chambers in the banks of the creek and they should have a good chance of raising 4 young with the ideal conditions this year. There is also a beautiful Grey Goshawk that patrols along about 2km of the creek looking for prey just under the overhanging trees.

Grey Goshawk Photo: Ed Frazer

There are a lot of good photo opportunities around the local creeks and MCCG holds its annual Photography Competition in October each year, so a good turnout should be expected after two lean years of near drought.

 

Words and all photos by Ed Frazer

Filed Under: Bush Bites, News Tagged With: azure kingfisher, Gold Creek, Grey Goshawk, Moggill Creek, Platypus

Wildlife Matters

July 5, 2021 by mccgadmin

In this month’s Wildlife Matters we have – Powerful by name, powerful by nature, is brought to you by Jasmin Zeleny.

Have you seen or heard a powerful owl in your neighbourhood? These incredible apex predators with an almost 1.5m wingspan are a sight to behold.

Read all about them here!

Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua) with Ringtail Possum – photo by Jasmin Zeleny

Filed Under: News

Know Your Wildlife!

July 5, 2021 by mccgadmin

Test your skills each month with MCCG’s Wildlife Identification Quiz!

You’ll find Know Your Wildlife towards the back of every month’s The Local Bulletin.  Answers can be found by searching in the MCCG Catchment Field Guides.

Here is the July quiz:

CAN you identify these three native birds using the Digital Field Guides?

&

What do they have in common?

1.

2.

3.

Answer:

1. Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons) – photo Ed Frazer

2. Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) – photo Ed Frazer

3. Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) – photo Ed Frazer

&

These birds are all fantails – members of the genus Rhipidura.

 

 


Published in

Filed Under: News

Winter is here and so is the Latest Newsletter!

June 28, 2021 by mccgadmin

The Winter Newsletter is another real treat!  It is full of excellent reads about native bees, frogs, ladybirds, turtles and much, much more. Learn how the ‘Foam Bark Gully Gang’ have created a birdwing butterfly corridor on their connecting properties in the western suburbs. Get to know a couple of the MCCG team and find out how our fabulous annual Kids’ Day at the Cottage event went.

And your two big don’t forgets…

Get snapping for the MCCG Photo Competition in October

Please fill in the Members Survey – we want to hear from you!

 

Go and check it out for yourself  Winter Newsletter

Pssst! We are also on the lookout for more volunteers with all different skills to help us continue all the behind the scenes work of Moggill Creek Catchment Group.  Could you join the MCCG team? More info in the newsletter.

 

Leafcutter Bee on foam bark flowers  Photo: D&A

 

Read all the Past Newsletters

 

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: birdwing butterfly, Easter Cassia, Janine Nicklin, Mon Repos, Tracey Read

Ladybirds, Ladybirds and more Ladybird Beetles!

June 18, 2021 by mccgadmin

When I started on this project of producing a Ladybird Field Guide for the MCCG I thought I might find about 8 species on my property. In a relatively short time I found over twenty species, some of which are very small and can only be reliably identified by taxonomists looking at their minute differences with a microscope.

The really colourful ones are relatively large, but are easily overlooked. Ladybirds are just as prevalent in the gardens in Kenmore as the large properties of Brookfield and Pullenvale so they are easy to find if you look closely.

Many are important beneficial insects helping control pests of citrus and some organically grown vegetable crops such as broccoli and cucumbers. There are also two species locally that eat plants, but their damage is minimal and one, the 28-spotted Ladybird, seems mainly to eat Deadly Nightshade on my property and while it should also be interested in Tomatoes and Potatoes though I have never seen one on my Tomatoes.

The rarer, almost identical 26-spotted Ladybird eats leaves of Pumpkins and I found one and a larva on a neighbour’s pumpkin patch.

28-Spotted Ladybird showing marks where it has been rasping the surface of a Deadly Nightshade weed. The big piece cut out of the leaf was probably by a grasshopper.

Many of the most colourful species feed almost exclusively on Aphis on a wide range of plants including Roses and Hibiscus and several vegetables. They lay their eggs usually on the underside of the leaves near the Aphids and when the larvae hatch they also feed on the Aphids and consume up to about 50 a day as they grow larger. The adults also eat other small insects and some supplement their diet on pollen during hard times.

A Common Spotted Ladybird feeding on Aphids which are oblivious of the danger and even climbing over their predator.
The upright standing eggs of a Three-banded Ladybird under a Milk Thistle leaf.
A final instar larva of the Variable Ladybird that has just shed its exoskeleton.

 

Another important group of Ladybirds eats scale insects which are important pests of Citrus, Roses and other crops and several native plants. They eat the young scale before they develop their hard waxy coat. Where scale are present they are usually attending ants that feed on the “honey dew” that scale excrete. The ants protect the scale from predators, including Ladybirds, but the Ladybirds pull in their heads and feet under their domed exterior and the ants can’t get to them. They lay their eggs under the scale to protect them and their larvae have many spines.

A Red Chilocoris Ladybird feeding on young scale insects on a grapefruit leaf. This species is sold for biological control of several varieties of scale in their citrus industry.

The fourth group feed on Mealybugs, which are an important pest of a wide range of commercial crops and even native plants.

A Mealybug Ladybird on a Ficus leaf searching for mealybugs.

They are most easily found on some of our Brisbane Box trees. Their larva are an amazing imitation of a mealybug.

The larva of a Mealybug Ladybird, which looks almost identical to the Long-tailed Mealybug but moves much faster.

The Fungus-eating Ladybird is the sole fungus specialist and eats Powdery Mildew a major crop disease of a number of vegetables and other plants when temperatures fall and moisture condenses on the leaves in the mornings. It is commonly found under the leaves of pumpkins as the fruit are ripening. It is thought that the beetles can detect powdery mildew by smell.

A Fungus-eating Ladybird grazing on powdery mildew under a pumpkin leaf.

A number of Australian Ladybird species have been distributed to New Zealand and the U.S.A. to control pests in horticultural crops. One of our Ladybirds (which are called Ladybugs in the U.S. but they are really a beetle not a bug) has saved the U.S citrus from the particulaly destructive Cottony Cushion Scale.

 

The only problem is that we exported the Cottony Cushion Scale to the U.S in the first place!

 

Photographing such tiny animals with a high powered macro lens in the field has been a challenge. I found mid-morning was best as the Ladybirds were warming up in the sun and not moving around as they do later in the day when they tend to hide on the back of the leaves when they detect movements and shadows. I collected some of the 1 to 2mm black ones on the native trees by shaking the branches over an upturned umbrella and staging the photographs on a leaf while they are playing dead but that doesn’t last long before they take off and they are hard to keep in focus. It is possible to collect the Ladybirds and cool them in the fridge and stage the photos with good lighting to allow well focussed photos with a full depth of field. I prefer not to as I enjoy the challenge of using the natural light and conditions in the field and, if possible, show them in action feeding.

All photos and text by Ed Frazer.

Filed Under: Bush Bites, News Tagged With: ladybird

2021 Members Survey

June 17, 2021 by mccgadmin

The MCCG Committee is wanting to hear from you!
How do you use your membership?  Which activities do you enjoy participating in?  What would you like to hear more about?  What would you like the committee to know?
Please take 5 minutes now to fill in this Members Survey, your feedback is important as it will help us plan and deliver the MCCG events and activities more effectively to you.

Filed Under: News

Public Talk – June 24th – Dr Paul Campbell from ‘Save the Bilby’ Fund

June 1, 2021 by mccgadmin

Thursday 24th June, 6.30pm for 7.00pm in Brookfield Hall

ERADICATING FERAL CATS – A CASE STUDY

 

Australia’s extinction rate for mammals, is the highest in the world. The two major factors creating this extinction crisis are predation by foxes and feral cats, and habitat loss. Feral cats now occupy 99% of Australia.

Save the Bilby Fund (STBF) established a 25 sq km fenced predator exclusion enclosure in Currawinya National Park in 2003 and introduced bilbies there in 2005.

Researchers detected feral cats inside the fence in 2012 and by 2014 the breeding population of bilbies was wiped out.

STBF took over the formal management of the Currawinya bilby enclosure from National Parks in 2016 and commenced an intensive program that removed the feral cats, oversaw the upgrade of the perimeter fence and reintroduced bilbies there. The removal of cats took over 4 years of intense effort and involved several methods, some much more successful than others.

This presentation will outline the process we undertook to eradicate feral cats, leading up to the successful re-introduction of bilbies into the enclosure in April 2019. Through this process Paul has gained an appreciation of why conservation groups underestimate the resilience of feral cats and the difficulty in eradicating them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bilby Photo Wayne Lawler

 

Presenter

Dr Paul Campbell is a Director of Save the Bilby Fund. He has a PhD from the University of Queensland for his ecological modelling of the fauna and flora of Fraser Island.

Paul has been a director of Save the Bilby Fund since 2010 and helped implement their ‘Bilby Tracks’ citizen science trips to outback Queensland. He is an experienced guide and outback traveler into some of the most remote parts of Australia.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: bilby, feral cats

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