In this month’s Wildlife Matters – Spiky Sightings, Rebecca Bain brings you in to the interesting world of the Echidna. Did you know about Echidna trains? Or what about EchidnaCSI the citizen science app?
To read the column click here
Short beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) Photo by Rebecca Bain
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 June quiz:
Which of these is NOT a marsupial?
Yellow-footed Antechinus (Antechinus flavipes) – photo Rebecca Bain
Fawn-footed Antechinus (Antechinus bellus) – photo Ed Frazer
Fawn-footed Melomys (Melomys cervinipes) – photo Ed Frazer
Answer:
The Fawn-footed Melomys is a rodent, a placental mammal, whereas the Antechinus are marsupials and carry their young in a pouch.
Published in
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 May quiz:
Which of these birds is a brood parasite?
Photos by Ed Frazer
Answer:
The Fan-tailed Cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis) is a brood parasite – it lays its eggs in the nests of
flycatchers, fairy-wrens, scrubwrens and thornbills, particularly the Brown Thornbill, Acanthiza
pusilla.
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In this month’s Wildlife Matters, Bryan Hacker had the good fortune to witness a noisy interaction between a feisty Cockatoo and a Lace Monitor.
To read the column click here
Photo: Bryan Hacker
All Wildlife Matters columns can be found in the Media Centre
Published every month in
Moggill Creek Catchment Group has lost one of its longstanding
members who has worked tirelessly as part of this volunteer action
group with the aim to conserve and improve the natural environment of
its catchment on both private and public land.
Since 1999 Mike has led the Gap Creek Bushcare Group working
to transform weed-filled undergrowth, and grazed paddocks, into a
creekside rainforest filled with a wide variety of local native plants. It also
includes a large planting of Richmond Birdwing vines to contribute to a
western Brisbane corridor hoping to bring back the threatened Richmond
Birdwing Butterfly species.
Far more often than scheduled working bees, the presence of his old
station wagon regularly parked at the Brookfield Rd entrance was
evidence that Mike was quietly working, bushcaring, somewhere on site.
Mike put in an enormous effort to bring the local landholders together to
plant indigenous species and create a healthy riparian zone along Gap
Creek. A very visible outcome is the establishment of a beautiful walking
trail along one side of the creek from Brookfield Road near Deerhurst
Road to Kookaburra Street which allows the local community to
appreciate the site’s on-going transformation into wonderful habitat for
native fauna.
Mike was always a strong advocate for the environment and his
enthusiasm and knowledge will be greatly missed by the MCCG. His
family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, Mike’s friends make
a donation to MCCG, either directly or via this gofundme site:
www.gofundme.com/f/hk6c42-michael-s-humphreys-memorial-gifts-for-bushcare
Vale Mike Humphreys.
Our usual Wildlife Matters column in The Local Bulletin focuses on our incredibly diverse wildlife in the catchment but this month we have a slightly different focus. Wildlife thrives in a healthy habitat and we are very pleased to feature one of our catchment sites that is being restored and well looked after.
Here is the clickable link for the YouTube Video
All Wildlife Matters columns can be found in the Media Centre
Published in
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.
We will provide the answers to each quiz right here in the first week of every month!
Here is the April quiz:
Which of these butterflies is NOT classified as a swallowtail?
1.
2.
3.
Chequered
Answer:
The Tailed Emperor (Polyura sempronius) is classified as a Nymph, NOT a Swallowtail.
Published in
Now is the perfect time to grab a cuppa and take a good few minutes to relax and read another great MCCG Newsletter. The Autumn Newsletter is packed full with so many interesting stories. There are frogs, hairy nosed wombats, echidnas, spoonbills, egrets, whipbirds, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, azure kingfishers and info on our volunteer efforts with bush care groups, working bees and much, much more. Honestly, there is too much to list here!
Go and check it out for yourself Autumn Newsletter
Or read all the Past Newsletters
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.
Echidna Photo: Dave Edwards
The Moggill Creek Catchment is not well off for water to supply the district’s wildlife. Apart from the Gold Creek Dam and Gold and Moggill creeks there is little other permanent water. Even then the upper parts of Moggill Creek have dried out in recent droughts. The non- permanent creeks dry out rather quickly as most have porous, rocky bases in the upper reaches.
There were a few farm dams left over from the dairy and fruit farms in past times and recently a few dams have been built on private acreage. Unfortunately sites are often difficult and many have leaking problems and their water holding capacity is small. To make the most of what is available to encourage the wildlife and especially the small birds, reptiles and mammals that are dependant on reliable water sources, we need to improve the habitat around those existing water sources.
Dams with clear areas around their shores are only attract a range of aggressive birds such as Magpies, Butcherbirds, Magpie Larks, Ibis and Kookaburras. The same is true of the creeks where they have been cleared of overhanging vegetation. Ideally creeks should be planted with overhanging trees such as Sandpaper Figs, Mellalucas and creek Lillipillies. The trees should be reinforced with extensive plantings of shrubs, and patches of sedges, grasses and Lomandra.
Farm dams need similar treatment, but only the high side of the dam and where the water comes in need to be planted. Wattles make a useful planting higher on the banks and Grevilleas also do well around dams. Planting in the dams should include some broad-leaved plants for the frogs as well as sedges. Be careful with water lilies particularly if the dam is shallow. Avoid Hardy waterlilies and use Tropical Waterlilies and Night Bloomers as they don’t spread and choke out the dam.
If you establish a good habitat around the dam or creek side you will be rewarded by a large range of beautiful birds such as Azure Kingfishers and a wide range of water birds, small mammals such as echidnas and water dragons. A well plated dam or creek side with a good tree canopy will go a long way to keeping out invasive water weeds. It will also contribute to making the creek a more suitable habitat for Platypus.
Find out about the 87 species of Butterflies found so far in Brisbane’s Big Butterfly Count 2021.
Guest speaker Cliff Meyer will show and tell all at our first 2021 MCCG public meeting. To read Cliff Meyer’s bio click here.
7pm Thursday 25 March Brookfield Showground Hall.
A wonderful talk to enjoy and it includes a static display of the 87 species recorded to date.
Blue Tiger Butterfly Photo: Jim Pope
