News

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.
 
 

Soak up some Spring sunshine!

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This Sunday we have four bushcare groups meeting in various locations:

  1. Gap Creek, led by Mike Humphreys – 3374 1467
  2. Huntington on Tuckett, led by Jim Pope – 3374 4181
  3. Brookfield Showgrounds, led by Damien Egan – 0400 737 122
  4. Upper Brookfield on Galvin Road, led by Phil Bird – 0407 664 909
    (you can see Phil’s latest group update here).

Can you spare a couple of hours to help in the restoration of these areas?

It’s not difficult work and newcomers are always made to feel very welcome.

For details, please check our Working Bee Calendar.

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.

Platypus-a-plenty!

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Seventy-six bright-eyed volunteers set their alarms VERY EARLY to take part in the annual MCCG Platypus Survey on Sunday 10 September.


They were rewarded with 15 sightings! …. which they believe were of 12 platypus that were active on that morning.

You can read about the survey and see this year’s report, including photos, by clicking here.

Members are also invited to hear all about this year’s survey and all thing platypus at our Cottage Talk featuring Tamielle Brunt this Thursday 21 September at 10am.


Photo courtesy of Ed Frazer

For more info about the Cottage Talk, please contact Dale Borgelt: [email protected] or phone:3374 1035

Birds in tunnels

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We have two WONDERFUL articles guaranteed to fascinate …  They reveal the curious parenting and foraging behaviours of the Striated Pardalote.

Jim Butler’s September issue of Feather Fascination provides a very interesting read: {module_literature,i,176534}

Photo courtesy of Ed Frazer

And if you’d like to see some amazing photos from Ed Frazer, together with an account of his experiences photographing two Striated Pardalotes in a tunnel on his Brookfield property … click here ! 
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IT’S HOLIDAY TIME !!!

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Fun activities are waiting for all budding scientists and young lovers of nature!


Cubberla-Witton Catchments Network has announced their Spring School Holiday Activities and we must say the program looks pretty amazing!


 		 There will be something to please children of all ages and interests!
Hands-on involvement as well as crafts and storytelling ….
Lots of action and fun-filled learning for a variety of age groups.
 

The program and registration form can be found in the flyer below and on the Cubberla-Witton Catchments website.

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