On Sunday 18th August 2019, MCCG hosted a working bee in Tuckett St. Park, Kenmore Hills for 14 students who are enrolled in Environmental Science or Environmental Engineering (SCIP) courses at QUT.

The event was coordinated by Andrew Wills from Brisbane City Council (BCC) and Mark Creyton from QUT.

It was hosted by MCCG Chairman Jim Pope, ably assisted by Bryan Hacker and Keith Schaeller (a member of the Huntington/Tuckett bushcare group).

The aim was to give the students some practical experience of bush-care work, including weed identification and clearing, use of herbicides (cut and paste) for the removal of woody weeds, planting of natives from tube-stock and basic health and safety considerations.

The group was blessed with good weather and the students learned to identify and remove numerous weed vines including glycine, madeira vine and balloon vine, as well as castor oil plants, wild tobacco trees and small Chinese elms.

They also planted and watered-in approximately 80 native plants supplied by the MCCG Nursery. The event finished with an excellent lunch provided by BCC.

Overall, a good time was had by all and the MCCG hopes to host a similar event next year.

Come join a member of the Queensland Urban Utilities SAS Laboratory team and Creek Catchment Officer, Anna Bourke, to explore the options for storing your water quality data and how to interpret and make sense of what you have collected.

The August Waterway Health and Assessment Training (WHAT) will get you thinking about your water quality monitoring program and drill down to really clarify the purpose of your program.

This is critical info for anyone interested in monitoring creek health and providing and protecting aquatic habitat!

RSVP’s are due via email by 31 August! Check our Creek Monitoring Calendar for all the details.

 

We are putting a callout for anyone who has any information about local Tallowwood trees.

These eucalypts have an important place in our local history and we would like to feature a story about them in our next newsletter.

We’d love to hear from you if:

• You have any info about local Tallowwoods and/or info about their local history 
• You know of any notable Tallowwoods that are suitable for photoing
• You have a Tallowwood floor of know of a building which features this timber.

If you can help, please contact Michelle at [email protected] or by phoning 0400 795 767.  

Keep Australia Beautiful Week is held late August each  year to raise awareness about simple things we can all do to reduce our impact on the environment and encourage action.

This year it runs from 19-25 August.

For more info, head to the Keep Australia Beautiful website.

Could you have a WILD MACADAMIA TREE  on your property?

There are potentially thousands of wild macadamia trees hidden away on private properties or in bushland so Healthy Land and Water, in conjunction with Brisbane City Council, is calling for your help to find them! 

If you know of an old macadamia tree that could be more than 100 years old, they would love to hear from you!

While plantation macadamia trees are abundant in Australia, their once-plentiful wild relatives are under threat, with estimates suggesting 80 per cent of all wild macadamia habitat has been lost since European settlement.

So Healthy Land and Water has launched ‘The Wild Macadamia Hunt’ which is calling on Brisbane residents to find and register macadamia trees. Leaves will be genetically analysed to help determine the best way to conserve the species for the future.

This is a citizen project you can be part of from your home!

For more information visit the Healthy Land and Water website.

“Last evening we went up and watched the male Powerful Owl bring a bat to the butchery tree and feed the female and then she flew into the nest hollow and fed the young.”

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The Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua) is Australia’s largest owl.

These impressive birds are being seen in suburban locations more often these days and many call our catchment home.

Birding enthusiasts Ian Muirhead and Jim Butler are tracking the behaviour of a particular breeding pair of Powerful Owls. Our opening sentence gives an indication of just how special this experience is.

In their latest Bush Bites article, Ian and Jim share some of their tracking methods and invite you to contribute to the Birdlife Australia Citizen Science Powerful Owl Project.

To read more, please click here.

Can you contribute to a road kill map of Brisbane?  

Alex Vanek from the Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee (B4C) is developing an app to allow people to report wildlife road injuries and deaths.

Alex is encouraging us to attend workshops and download the app, which provides insight into exactly where wildlife road crossing actions need to be implemented across Brisbane.

The intention is to gather enough data to send to Brisbane City Council, providing them with concrete data about road kill and crossing hot spots in order to build fauna infrastructure in these areas.

The workshops will be held at 3:00pm Tuesday 13th August and 9:30am Friday 16th August at the B4C Sustainability Centre Carindale.

If you are able to find and take a picture of road kill, please bring the image and location to the workshop on your electronic device to upload during the demonstration.

For more info, please email Alex at: [email protected] or phone him on: 0457 576 907.

You can also visit the Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee website.

A little known fact is that birds see do not see colour in the same way we do.

Birds can see into the ultra-violet (UV) wavelengths so their eyes perceive colours on a wider spectrum than us and they pick up more shades and contrasts.

This interesting fact was only discovered in the 1970’s.

To learn more, head to Jim Butler’s Feather Fascination August 2019, in which he elaborates on avian eyesight, and provides an insight into the life of the wonderful King Parrot.

The striking colours of a male King parrot, but the colours we see are different to how other birds view him. © Ed Frazer 

We have a wonderful photo to share with you, graciously provided by Janet De Vivo. It is a photo of a coot!

You may recall Jim Butler’s July Feather Fascination article, entitled “Salute a Coot“.

Jim introduced us to the world of the Eurasian Coot, a waterbird which most of us have seen around our waterways, wetlands and ponds.

Eurasian coots belong to the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. They are found in Europe, Asia, Africa, New Zealand and here in Australia.

The bird is mainly black in colour, but has a white shield (which gave rise to the expression “bald as a coot“).

In his article Jim also mentions that coots put their feet to good use!

The feet of a coot are not webbed but have “diagnostic flattened lobes” which serve the same purpose as duck webbing. Their legs are quite noticeably positioned a long way back which increases their ability for underwater thrusting.

Jim describes coots as “reluctant fliers” which take off by running across the surface of the water with much ado and splashing.

They attract partners by chasing them around on the water on their feet and flapping their wings, and are also very territorial, using their feet and wings to fight off invaders.

Janet De Vivo’s photo, taken recently in Cardiff, Wales, gives us a lovely view of the somewhat ungainly but very purposeful coot’s feet! Janet kindly agreed to share her photo after reading Jim’s article.

Celebrate the launch of the Moreton Bay Foundation, share your concerns about the Bay and discover how you can help to preserve this delicate ecosystem and natural wonder for future generations.

His Excellency, the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, Governor of Queensland, will officially launch The Moreton Bay Foundation at a community discussion afternoon on Friday 30 August 2019 at Brisbane City Hall.

This is a free event, with lunch served at 12.30pm. Bookings are essential as spaces are limited.

To book a place, please click here.