We all know that birds love trees.
But in fact they need a lot more than trees in order to secure adequate food, shelter and safe havens for breeding.
Open Jim Butler’s March issue of Feather Fascination in which he shares a story that features the prolonged creation of inappropriate bird habitat.
Magpie Lark feed its young in a tree – photo courtesy Malcolm Frost
ALERT: Papaya ringspot virus poses a serious threat to Queensland’s $25 million papaya (or pawpaw, or papaw) industry, which is located mostly in the north.
To protect our papaya production areas, two papaya ringspot biosecurity zones have been created to stop the disease from spreading.
Check the Business Queensland website to see which zone you are in before you move your pawpaw/papaya plants or seeds.
Please be aware the Section 11 working bee scheduled for Saturday 1st February has been put back a week to Saturday 8 February.
The group will meet at their Mabb St site and they will be working across the creek from Belford Street.
Start time is 2.30pm.
Best to park at the end of Belford Street (UBD Map 177, K7). Turn to your right and walk upstream, cross the bridge and head downstream and you will soon find the crew.
Bring protective clothing (long-sleeved shirts, jeans, sensible shoes/boots), gloves, drinking water, hat and sunscreen. Refreshments are provided!
Please come if you can – new members are always welcome and they’d love some help!
For more info please contact Bryan Hacker on 3374 1468.
The Huntington/Tuckett bushcare has changed the date of their next working bee. It will be put back by a week to Sunday 1st March, instead of the previously advised 23 February. Start time is 8:30am.
The group, led by Jim Pope, has hit the new year at full speed!
Last year their Habitat Brisbane bushcare section was extended from Tuckett Street Park down to the footbridge at the bottom of Branton Street. This encompasses the riparian zone on the western side of Moggill Creek, opposite Kensington Circuit at Brookfield.
The group’s first working bee was held at Kensington Circuit on Australia Day, and the objective was to clear the area to make way for new plantings.
With eight new volunteers turning up on the day, the group made great progress and the difference was notable! What a great start to 2020!
Jim extends a warm THANK YOU to all his wonderful volunteers, old and new!
If you’d like to get involved, please contact Jim on 3374 4181.
Great progress on Australia Day – next step: planting!
Although the rain has fallen it will take resilience and time to recover from our catastrophic Summer break. There are many lessons to be learned.
The SEQ Fire & Biodiversity Consortium’s annual Fire Science Forum may be of interest to many. Topics include prescribed burning, smoke, fire ecology, infrastructure risk, fire weather and an overview of Queensland’s 2019/20 Bushfire Emergency
The event will be held at the Queensland State Library on Tuesday 17, March.
For more info and to purchase tickets, please head to Eventbrite.
“The harvest we have sown is today emerging from the smoke haze.”
These words are taken from Jim Butler’s first issue of Feather Fascination for 2020.
It is a thoughtful and beautiful piece of writing, contemplating the complexity of our relationships with birds and our dependence on them to continue their vital role in maintaining our very existence. The article sends a powerful message about human behaviour, gently delivered around a poem and painting about a robin.
Please click here to read on.
Pale Yellow Robin © Ed Frazer The DNA evidence is overwhelming!
It testifies that songbirds of the northern hemisphere are descendants of birds which lived in Australia 45 million years ago.
And the little Leaden Flycatcher is one of these remarkable species, whose songs delight us!
Head to Jim Butler’s Feather Fascination December 2019 to learn more.
Male Leaden Flycatcher – © Ed Frazer
If you’ve been following Ed Frazer’s reports about the platypus families he’s tracking in Gold Creek, you may be interested in these photos of the platypus mother in the Goldmont reach.
Ed took these shot from a distance of about 3m at about 4.30am one morning last week when it was still dark.
The platypus mum fed in the small pool outside the den for about 10 minutes before going in to feed her babies.
Unfortunately Ed missed out on photographing her entering the den as it was too dark to get the long lens to focus in time.
We’re sure you’ll agree that they are remarkable photos!
All photos are copyright of Ed Frazer
Our 2019 AGM was held on Thursday 28 November.
The new committee was elected in and we were all captivated by Dr Melinda Laidlaw’s talk on weed ecology, surveillance, priority weed identification and how to use the Weed Spotters App.
We are grateful to Melinda for volunteering her time and sharing her expertise.
The Chairman’s annual report contains a summary of the group’s work throughout the 2018-2019 financial year.
This year’s report is full of photos and really informative check-ins from the bushcare groups.
It features highlights of the year, such as Kids Day and the Photo Competition, and includes photos from many years ago which indicate the longstanding and continuing achievements of the MCCG.
The final lines of Jim’s report summarise the successes of 2019:
Overall 2018/2019 has been an excellent year for Moggill Creek Catchment Group, with lots of interesting and invigorating activities and talks and several new initiatives. Our bush care work was impacted by the ongoing drought but let’s hope that conditions return to something more like normal soon! In the coming year I’m sure that with the help of our enthusiastic members and volunteers, we can continue to grow and flourish.
Read Jim’s full report here:
MCCG Annual Report 2018-2019 (7245 KB)
Please visit our Contact Us page for details of the incoming committee for 2020.
It’s November 2020 and we are pleased to bring you a second installment about Ed Frazer’s platypus family sightings.
Well, perhaps not so pleased, because it seems the drought is making life difficult for this platypus mum.
Here is the latest of Ed’s reports, regarding the second platypus family he is monitoring:
The female platypus with the den in the Goldmont reach of Gold Creek is having a difficult time. The creek is rather shallow in this reach and it is drying out rapidly.
The pool outside the den is slightly deeper than most of the rest, but clearly the pool is not big enough to continue to support a family of platypus unless it rains soon.
Platypus den in the Goldmont reach
I haven’t seen the platypus mother for several days but I know she is still active at night because of the clues she leaves.
As she enters her den she leaves a wet mark on the log where I have previously seen her climbing up.
Print on a log left by the platypus entering her den
She also leaves paths through the weed patch that is rapidly drying out. The insect larvae she feeds on such as caddis fly, dragonfly and midges will also be concentrating in the damp weeds as the water level goes down.
Food sources are starting to dry upIt will probably be easier for her to get food for a while as the water goes down with all the creatures retreating to the small area of water left.
But it won’t take long before that supply is exhausted as she and the babies which are due out any day will have to compete with others feeding in the same reduced area.
There is a large eel, a short-necked turtle, lots of fish and wading birds including a beautiful Intermediate Egret in full breeding plumage.
This Intermediate Egret shares the platypus family’s feeding ground
Unfortunately the opportunist “Dump Chooks” (Sacred Ibis) have found the spot too. One came first about a week ago and it has now brought its mates. There are usually six poking around in the shallows.
Ibis moving in, in search of foodHopefully it will rain soon and all will be well, but I think it will be touch and go for this family.
She may be able to lead her young about 200 metres down to the Adavale reach where the first family are in a much deeper part of Gold Creek, but there are several dry parts sections that may be difficult for the young platypus to negotiate.
Perhaps they could release some water from the Gold Creek Reservoir to help the Platypus and other wildlife in the creek if it doesn’t rain soon?
Do you know anyone who can help with Ed’s suggestion regarding a water release?
Photos are copyright of Ed Frazer
