News

A Never Ending Story

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Our Catchment abounds with resilient people and amazing stories!  …. not to mention postcard-perfect scenery and diverse plant-life and wildlife!

We invite YOU to share your stories in our new online feature called “Bush Bites”.


Tell us about your encounters with wildlife, nature and people, your love of the Catchment and its characters, forgotten pieces of history, stories of today – we have a captive audience!

To start the ball rolling, Ed Frazer has provided some wonderful stories about the myriad of life on his Brookfield property – and he has some amazing photos to go with them!

Take a look! His first piece is a Never-ending Story about his encounters while taking photos of Mistletoe birds – it’s a great read!  

Click here and prepare to be entertained!

And if you’d like to share your own story, please send an email to:
[email protected]

Members invitation: talk by the Curator of Brisbane Botanic Gardens

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Native Plants Queensland has kindly extended an invitation to MCCG members to join them at their Western Suburbs branch meeting, for an informative and interesting evening.  

The meeting will be held on Tuesday evening, 7 November, commencing at 7.30pm at The Hut (THECA Headquarters), 47 Fleming Road, Chapel Hill. Parking will be available beside The Hut, in Kirkdale Road or at the shops.

Following the meeting, guest speaker Dale Arvidsson, Curator, Brisbane Botanic Gardens, will present a talk entitled The Queensland Conservation Collection and Extension to the Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha.
To RSVP or to request more information, please send an email to:
Robert at: [email protected]  or

Restoring Habitats: beyond the trees – the importance of people to bushcare

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The Restoring Habitats Forum, originally scheduled for  Sunday 8 October, has been postponed until Sunday 8 November.

Brisbane City Council invites you to the forum, which will explore the human aspects of bushcare.

Participants will look at the power of nature connection, how to better create and support resilient groups and how to communicate and engage with your community. Guest speakers include Mark Creyton, Genevieve Robey and Anne Cleary.  Together with Habitat Brisbane and catchment groups, they will share how they work with and support their volunteers. Their presentations will be followed by practical workshops.

Restoring Habitats: Beyond the trees – the importance of people to bushcare 
Date:  Sunday 12 November 2017
Time:  8am-2.20pm 
Where:  Griffith University EcoCentre, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, N68, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan 
RSVP:  Bookings essential. Book your spot through Eventbrite by 5pm Wednesday 8 November. 

For more information contact Andrew Wills, Creek Catchment Officer on 3407 0215 or email: [email protected]

If you value our ecosystems

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… there is something you can do!

A new weed has been assessed as a serious threat to our ecosystems. 
It is known as Anzac Tree Daisy.
 
The good news is that landholders and volunteers at the end of Savages Rd have become quite active in tackling Anzac Tree Daisy on or near their properties.
The latest infestation they are working on goes from the top of the slope down a gully to the edge of the creek. It was quite impenetrable but we have photos to prove they are winning this battle!

Perhaps you can help?

This flyer will point you in the right direction:
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Click here to see photos and read more about the Anzac Tree Daisy Project.

Fact sheets about Anzac Tree are also available on our Plants page.


A Summer Holiday

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The Black-faced Monarch visits us here in Australia each summer, anywhere on the East coast from Cape York down to Port Phillip Bay.

At this time of the year these birds are returning to NSW and Victoria for breeding so now is a great time to spot them in our forests right here in Brisbane.

You can learn more about these songbirds in Jim Butler’s October edition of ‘Feather Fascination‘. 

Click here to visit the Feather Fascination page. 

  Photo courtesy of Ed Frazer 

 

It’s SAVE THE KOALA Day!

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And yes, we do have koalas right here in our Catchment. ‘Hot spots’ include Mt Coot-tha Forest, Gap Creek Reserve, Deerhurst Road and Haven Road.

In fact, breeding season is about to begin.

Which coincides nicely with Save The Koala Day, which falls on Friday 29 September, 2017.

Sadly, many of us are unaware that our little furry friends are in danger.

To see how we can make a difference this Friday, visit the Australia Koala Foundation’s Facebook page for Save the Koala Day.


The things you see

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.. on a working bee!

Phil Bird and his crew captured this family shot on Phil’s iPhone during their September Sunday working bee. 


She decided not to stay for morning tea!

Would you consider joining a Bushcare group? 

It only takes a couple of hours in the coolness of a morning once a month and it’s enormously satisfying pitching in to plant natives and do some weed clearing.

There’s also lots of camaraderie! A great way to kick-start your weekend!

Check out our working bee calendar for details of upcoming bushcare activities.  

Pollinator Festival – Saturday 8 October

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Come along to this family fun day and learn of the value and needs of our multitude of different pollinators and what you can do to support them in your garden.

Organised by Cubberla-Witton Catchments Network Inc, the Pollinator Festival will take place at the CWCN Centre, 47 Hepworth St Chapel Hill.

 

Our native pollinators are losing their habitat rapidly. We often forget how important they are. To protect pollinators means protecting the services they provide and generally means protecting biodiversity. 

There will be ample display material on the day.  Take the opportunity and talk to participating organisations: Bee Aware Brisbane, Birds Queensland, Bat Rescue Inc, Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club, Pollinator Link, Paten Park Native Nursery and Healthy Land and Water. 

You may want to take some food plants home and enrich your own backyard. Not only will you have more native critters visiting your garden, you will also help to create more habitat for pollinators.

For more info, visit the CWCN website or view the flyer:  {module_literature,i,177499}


Happiness is a Butterfly

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Can you picture the skies full of Richmond Birdwing Butterflies again?

That’s exactly what will happen when we work together to Bring Back the Birdwing!

Wildlife Queensland is working with South-East Queensland councils (Logan City, Gold Coast City, Scenic Rim Regional and Moreton Bay Regional) to organise the linking of two core populations of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly in 2018.

“It is critical that we connect these populations by creating stepping-stone populations of the vine to ‘join the dots’. Without this, gene flow cannot occur and the species simply will not persist in a healthy way.” Matt Cecil, Projects Manager Wildlife Queensland. 

To create these critical stepping-stones, at least 500 vines need to be planted throughout carefully selected locations in 2018. That will cost $12,500.

Propagating, growing, planting and maintaining one Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Vine to ensure it survives and thrives costs $25.

  • Do you think you can help rescue the Richmond Birdwing from extinction?
  • Could you make a tax-deductible donation now to help grow 500 of the butterfly’s host plants?


To become part of this crusade and see how much is being pledged, please click here.
 
 

Cast your vote!

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The MCCG has been selected as a finalist in the 2017 Queensland Community Achievement Awards and we are a part of the People’s Choice Award.

The People’s Choice is a Facebook poll – a fun way to raise awareness of the achievements and inspiring stories of all finalists.

You can read the bio for the MCCG and cast a vote by clicking here.

Or you can go directly to the poll at https://poll.fbapp.io/qldcaa17 and submit your vote. 

You can only vote once per day, so make sure you share the People’s Choice Award poll with your friends and family. 

The winner receives $500 from Pullenvale Ward, which is pretty handy! Plus each vote that someone makes is an entry for their chance to win a further $100. 

This has been made possible only through the generosity and passion of our talented and dedicated volunteers, and the efforts of the MCCG Management Committee.

A sincere THANK YOU to all who have contributed and who continue to support the MCCG.

To view more details about this year’s awards, please click here.