Members! Place a cross on your 2017 calendars on the third Thursday of each month as a reminder to attend our Cottage Talks!
A wide range of new topics will be covered in this year’s program, co-ordinated by Dale Borgelt.
Click here for more info.
News
First working bees for 2017
We trust you’ve all had a wonderful break! Let’s launch the new year with an assault on the many weeds that have proliferated due to our recent humidity and storms. The weeds definitely did not take a break!
Planning is underway for this year’s working bees. These events are vital to protect and revitalise our creeks but they also offer some wonderful conversations and camaraderie! The McKay Brook Bushcare Group, shown below, is testament to this!
Click here to see what’s in store for January 2017.
Mannikins in Brisbane
Have you ever seen a Chestnut-breasted Mannikin?
These beautiful chestnut brown finches can be seen in long grasses and lantana thickets near water across Northern and Eastern coastal Australia, including right here in Brisbane. They eat grass seeds, usually from the stalk rather than taking them from the ground.
Click here to learn about these interesting little birds in Jim Butler’s first issue of “Feather Fascination” for 2017. Jim’s article includes a stunning photo supplied by Ed Fraser which shows a Mannikin feeding from a grass stalk.
Weeds don’t take holidays!
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Everyone at the MCCG wishes our friends and supporters a safe and festive holiday season and a New Year that is abundant with new life and new projects!
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Although many of us are still enjoying a break, we’d like to remind you that our first working bee for 2017 will be on Saturday 7 January at McKay Brook.
If you can spare a few hours that afternoon, please contact Bryan Hacker.
Check our Working Bee Calendar for more info and to see Bryan’s contact details.
If you can spare a few hours that afternoon, please contact Bryan Hacker.
Check our Working Bee Calendar for more info and to see Bryan’s contact details.
MCCG farewells a friend
The Moggill Creek Catchment Group has recently lost a founding member and one of our most staunch supporters.
Emeritus professor Graeme Wilson passed away peacefully at his home on December 14th.
Please click here to view the death notice for Graeme in the Courier Mail. It provides an insight into the life and many achievements of our dear friend.
He will be deeply missed.
GREEN ARMY 2016 GRADUATION
THURSDAY 15 DECEMBER – RAFTING GROUND SITE.
CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU to our Green Army trainees for their outstanding contribution throughout 2016.
A graduation ceremony for each team will be held on Thursday 15 December at the Rafting Ground site near Boscombe Road.
Work for 2016 will end on 18 December and start again in mid to late January.
For more info, please contact Adrian Webb on 0412 672 283.
Note: The Green Army is an initiative of the Australian Government provided for young Australians aged 17–24 years who have an interest in protecting their local environment.
For more info, visit our Media Centre
Highlights of the 2016 Annual General Meeting
2016 marks the 19th year of the MCCG’s operation. A very successful and well attended AGM (57 Attendees) was held on Monday 28th November.
A comprehensive and engaging report was provided by MCCG Chairman Warren Hoey. It provided an insight into the diverse activities undertaken by the group and the extraordinary dedication of its section leaders and bushcare volunteers.
Interesting facts 2015-16:
- Membership now stands at 540
- The Nursery distributed 14,106 free plants in 136 species native to the
catchment - Volunteers donated 2590 hours of their time to 90 working bees
- Our catchment has the highest Land for Wildlife uptake
of any catchment in the Greater Brisbane area.
Interesting people:
Warren paid tribute to the MCCG’s many dedicated volunteers, in particular longstanding Newsletter Editor, Graeme Wilson. He presented the Treasurer Joanna Yesberg with an award and expressed gratitude to members such as Gordon Grigg and Graeme Wilson who have remained loyal to the group since its establishment 20 years ago.
Read more:
The full Chairman’s Report is available here. It holds reports and pictures from bushcare groups and projects, and it details some of the challenges ahead. It is a recommended read. See also the MCCG Facebook page.
New management committee:
Cr Kate Richards, Councillor for the Pullenvale Ward, presided over the election of the 2017 committee. Cr Richards commended MCCG’s initiative to convert delivery of its quarterly newsletters to email.
Guest speaker:
The guest speaker for the evening was Professor Rob Capon of University of Queensland’s Institute of Molecular Bioscience, who presented a riveting discussion about an exciting and simple new way to reduce cane toad tadpole numbers. Stay tuned to our website for more info – in the meantime, you can learn more about this initiative by clicking here.
Some new committee members for 2017
(photo courtesy of Dale Borgelt)
Avian Residential Planning – Building Birds Nests
Birds are remarkable builders and Jim Butler’s latest edition of “Feather Fascination” gives us an insight into the complexities and science of nest building.
Considerable effort is expended in creating these temporary homes which provide exactly the right conditions to ensure the survival of each individual species.
Photo courtesy of Ed Frazer
Click here to open the latest issue of “Feather Fascinations” and learn about the extraordinary building behaviours of birds.
Creek Health Monitoring Survey Sunday 27 November
The second Creek Health Monitoring Project (CHMP) event for 2016 is scheduled for Sunday 27 November.
Find out more from the brochure here.
If you’ve been previously involved or even if you have never participated and would like to take part, we’d love to make contact!
Since early 2011, MCCG has run this project to monitor and assess the health of Moggill Creek and its tributaries in relation to riparian conditions, the physical and chemical properties of the creek water and the biological data on abundance and diversity of local fish and macro-invertebrate fauna.
We have six teams, each of which monitors two sites from the upper reaches of Moggill Creek to its junction with the Brisbane River.
We are keen to get undergraduate and graduate students involved. You will have the opportunity to learn new, practical skills in assessing waterway health including macro-invertebrate and fish identification, habitat assessment and water quality testing.
To find out more or to sign up to help, contact Adrian Webb on 3774 1407 or 0412 672 283, or email him at [email protected]
* WHAT REVISION DAY * CANCELLED
Saturday 26 November 2016
Unfortunately the Waterway Health Assessment Training (WHAT) Revision Day at the Yoorala Street Community Garden, The Gap has been cancelled.
If, however, you have attended previous training sessions and are still interested in attending a 2017 session, please e-mail Anna Bourke, emphasising that you are a volunteer member of MCCG Creek Health Monitoring program. Anna’s email address is: [email protected]
If you have not previously attended a WHAT session or if you have missed one in the last 12 months, please email Anna and provide an EOI in attending our WHAT program in 2017. We will record your details and send you a draft calendar of events shortly so that you can plan in advance to attend future events or promote to your network.
During training, we generally go over each component covered by WHAT, including:
- use of the horiba for phys/chem parameters
- fish sampling and id
- macro invertebrate sampling
- rapid assessment of riparian condition (vegetation assessment)
We incorporate all these items into one monitoring event to demonstrate how this might look for your group on the ground.
Please consider joining us – we’d love to hear from you!
