The Clairvaux McKillop Bushcare Team returned again yesterday clearing another huge area of weeds and having fun finding beetles, spiders and millipedes.
Underside of Leaf Beetle with legs tucked away.
One interesting find is a Leaf Beetle we have not found before in the Reserve. I have been getting frustrated trying to identify the species. However, now I know there are over 3,000 species I feel a bit better. “Beetles in the family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles. In Australia there are over 3,000 species of leaf beetles feeding on living roots, leaves, stems, flowers, pollen, fruits and seeds. Some larvae feed inside living plants.” Queensland Museum I have submitted our observations to iNaturalist and hope to get a species id so it can be added to Flora and Fauna of Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve.
Millipede
It is common for these beetles to drop to the ground when disturbed probably a defence mechanism. These cute beetles tuck their legs in very neatly effectively creating a flat surface that will just slide off the leaf.
The team also found a Millipede which have an important role in recycling the leaf litter on the forest floor releasing valuable nutrients for the flora.
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Pyramidal Theridion
Our first spider find was Pyramidal Theridion Theridion pyramidale: resembling a pyramid in shape and Theridion is a genus of tangle-web spiders with almost 600 described species around the world.
I was impressed that team members identified Golden Orb-Weaver Nephila edulis without my input. They also talked about the way the web glows gold in the sun. The Atlas maps shows these spiders are found all over Australia.
Black-headed Orange Wasp Gavrana spinosa is a new species for Flora and Fauna. Ichneumon wasps are not dangerous for humans but they perform valuable pest control services in our gardens by parasiting moth larvae.
A beautiful morning to welcome our friends from Clairvaux MacKillop College and bonus our best Koala spotters had left a large arrow on the track pointing to a cute ball of fluff curled up against the cold. A special treat for our visitors, many of whom had never seen a Koala in the bush.
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Birds Nest Fungi
It is always a pleasure to welcome the students to work with me in the bush … aside from a mile of weeds removed they always find interesting flora and fauna.
Special finds included tiny Birds Nest Fungi Cyathus novaezelandiae. These fungi have cups holding egg-like peridioles: with a hard outer casing which holding a mass of spores. The peridioles are splashed out by rain drops.
Garden Fungi underside
Another special find was Scarlet Bracket Pycnoporus coccineus dressed out in fluorescent bright orange. Bracket or wood decay fungi are typically found on dead trees or branches. Mycelium from the fungi grow through the dead timber releasing enzymes that break down and recycle plant material.
The Scarlet Bracket fungi is common in bushlands and gardens. Note of the pores on the underside.
Derick the Grey Butcherbird
Burton’s Legless Lizard
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We were closely watched by a handsome Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus the team named Derick. Our Butcherbirds and Kookaburras love to join us at Bushcare so they can snap up insects for breakfast.
Our Tuesday Bushcare team relocated this week to help Pieter Demmers with his restoration of Coucal Corner on one of the Mountain gullies feeding into Ekibin Creek.
Restoring the Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve habitat is one of the most satisfying projects I have ever undertaken. I realised this today when our newest volunteer, Eleanor, PHD student at Western Sydney University, commented on our National Tree Day planting.
Eloise helping me glue fern to log.
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Tuesday last week the team ‘planted” eighty Basket Ferns Drynaria rigidula. When I say “planted” we actually super-glued many of the ferns to rocks and logs. Basket Ferns naturally grow on top of rocks and logs so we decided experiment. The most successful approach seems to be wrapping the fern with woven coir matting with extra extra coir to improve water retention while the fern gets its roots into the rock or log. I always thought of ferns as plants you find in moist gullies not on top of mountains and particularly not on top of rocks.
Young an energetic is obvious. What always blows me away is the diversity of study areas … nano-technology, business, education and of course environmental studies: undergrad and masters levels, and the diversity of family heritage with students from East Timor, Malaysia and PNG.
Saturday’s job was site prep for this year’s National Tree Day planting which will restore the missing mid-story habitat so vital for birds, butterflies and bees.
First step in preparing for our yearly planting clearing the site and the Team removed fifteen bags of weeds.
And we have found a couple of new Koala spotters … one was in a tree just above where we were working and another was spotted beside the track up to the Summit.
Thank you to our Griffith Mates partners. Together we are making a difference.
One of my real pleasures with Bushcare is sighting wildlife to add to add to our Flora and Fauna of Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve.
Today’s special find is a Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor. For years I have been getting reports of wallabies in the Reserve and Roly Chapman Bushland Reserve across Klumpp Road. So it was a particular pleasure to sight this visitor this morning while doing Bushcare near our 2018 National Tree Day planting.
See a small cloud of Dainty Swallowtails Papilio anactus doing a bit of speed dating in the sun above our National Tree Day planting was very special.
I had to wait patiently till this cute specimen decided to pose for me.
Dainty Swallowtail caterpillars like Orchard Swallowtail Papilio aegeus feed on our backyard citrus. So please be patient with your caterpillar friends who will only eat a few leaves and reward you with beautiful new butterflies to brighten your garden.
One of the curious creatures we found is a Wattle Notodontid Moth Neola semiaurata caterpillar. When disturbed the caterpillar will “ferociously” react by raising its tail with its horn and eye patches.
A Two-tailed Leaf Beetle Aproida balyi was also found feeding on Cobblers Pegs. An attractive bright grass-green with dark brown edges and characteristic horns.
Channel-billed Cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of other species and depend on those birds to hatch and feed their chicks. In this case a pair of Torresian Crows are playing host to this chick that is already larger than its “parents”. The Crows average size: 50cm, while the Channel-billed Cuckoo has an average size of 62cm.
It is mosquito season so we regularly check the drinkers for mossie larva. Something we were not expecting was finding mossie larvae that feed on other mossies and not people. Adult Toxorhynchites speciosus feed on plant juices not blood.
Check before you flush the mossie larvae in your birdbath. If you have some Toxorhynchites speciosus larvae perhaps scoop them out ready to return once your birdbath is refilled. Remember to also catch some of the small larvae to feed the mossie eating Toxorhynchites speciosus.
Brisbane’s natural areas are a precious resource for both nature and people.
Please provide Council with feedback on the draft Brisbane Off-Road Cycling Strategy. The current strategy is putting large areas of our limited urban bushland at risk.
The Council’s Brisbane Off-Road Cycling Strategy which focuses on opening up bushland for mountain biking, may be a threat to special places like Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve.
In the past a small number of illegal mountain bikers ignoring Council signs have caused huge damage to the sensitive bushland our community members have spent thousands of hours restoring: 176 volunteers contributed 606 hours in the 2019/20 financial year.
Erosion caused by illegal mountain biking – Jan 2021
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While less of problem in 2021, illegal mountain bikers are still making new tracks destroying plants and causing erosion. Even riders on the fire roads can’t resist the temptation to go “off-road”. Riders using the Acacia Way maintenance track have caused erosion that is undermining a mature eucalypt tree.
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Branches and mulch used to close tracks
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Illegal tracks dramatically increase erosion on steep slopes as water is channelled down hill. Closing down and repairing illegal tracks is a labour intensive and costly exercise: closing one track has required several metres of mulch, hundreds of branches recovered from the bush and laid on the track to stop bikes and start restoring the ground by collecting silt before it is washed downhill.
Even with these efforts by Council staff are not enough. I received a report this morning of orange barrier fences being removed and a father and son riding though the bush from the Summit to Gertrude Petty Place. Repair work like this uses scarce Council funds that could be used for improving facilities for all visitors.
National Tree Day 2018
As a BCC ratepayer and volunteer Habitat Brisbane Bushcare leader I am very concerned that a small percentage of our community are lobbying for a “free-ride” with access our bushland reserves without accepting the cost of that access. (A free-rider problem is a type of market failure that occurs when those who benefit from resources, public goods (such as public roads or hospitals), or services of a communal nature do not pay for them.)
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National Tree Day 2015
Habitat Brisbane Bushcare volunteer contribution is typically $4 for every $1 invested by Council: provision of plants, tools and training. Bushcare is a very low risk activity which contributes to the health of our urban bushland while reducing maintenance costs for Council. On the other hand, off-road cycling is a relatively high risk recreational activity that damages bushland, increases maintenance costs and dramatically increases the potential for legal action against Council.
This article focuses on Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve because I have deep knowledge of this area with fourteen years actively restoring the Reserve, researching the flora and fauna and engaging an increasing number of community members in restoration or observing the dramatic increase community members walking in the bush. While I do not have the same knowledge of other Brisbane bushland reserves they will have same sensitive habitat and I can make general observations about the potential impact of off-road cycling on other reserves.
Signage: The current track no bikes signage is very small, very limited and ineffective for the target audience: typically young males riding fast and totally focused on riding not signs. Tourists are one group that definitely better signage: one rider I stopped going down the walking track from the Summit was a visitor from South America. Others simply claim they have not seen signs. Signs need to be larger and spread along the tracks so everyone is well aware of the rules: no excuses.
Vandalised no-bike sign
Fines with no Enforcement = no behaviour change: While off-ride cycling is illegal in the Reserve and subject to $500 fines enforcement appears to be non-existent. As I understand the situation the very Council Officers, Rangers / Habitat Brisbane Officers, who spend time on the ground in the Reserves are not allowed to even issue fines, let alone that stronger action.
The draft Brisbane Off-Road Cycling Strategy (BORCS) “seeks to reduce unauthorised [illegal] track construction” (page 6). It is hard to understand the logic of a strategy that manages illegal behaviour by rewarding the bad behaviour.
Most visitors to the Reserve are responsible however there are a small number that ignore the rules putting walkers at risk, damaging sensitive wildlife habitat, increasing maintenance costs, even vandalising the limited signage that exists.
The Off-Road Cycling Strategy suggests that “Increasing the authorised recreational use of natural areas will also increase casual surveillance which helps to deter illegal activity.” (BORCS page 11) While Cialdini’s Social proof is a valuable tool for influencing and changing behaviour, our experience using this to manage behaviour Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve has had mixed success. The very demographic we are dealing with: young males, means that our Bushcarers: typically retired and female, have to be very careful because violent verbal abuse is common. If this is an ongoing problem in a popular and busy Reserve like Mt Gravatt what control will there be in other reserves that do not have active Bushcare groups.
User Pays: Any football club or other community group that wants to uses Council land like parks and reserves are responsible for their own costs: lease fees, public liability insurance and property maintenance. While many and possibly most off-road cyclists are not part of a formal group that could provide public liability insurance and pay lease fees, they are still increasing costs and litigation risk. If the Council accepts this as a cost of providing valuable recreational activities this must not come out of limited environment budgets that are critical to habitat protection and restoration: “Council is continuing to invest in the protection and restoration of our city’s biodiversity, and we are on track to achieve the target of having 40% of Brisbane as natural habitat by 2031.” (BORCS page 8)
As a ratepayer I have contributed to Bushland Acquisition Program. I am concerned that land purchased to protect our urban bushland may now be “given” to a very small percentage of community members for their personal use. “More than 4300 hectares of land have been purchased and protected through Council’s Bushland Acquisition Program since 1990. The preservation and management of biodiversity within Brisbane’s natural areas is of vital importance.” (BORCS page 8)
Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve has no permanent water and no safe access to water or breeding opportunities in surrounding bushland.
The Koala Drinker research is providing vital baseline information on the potential of providing water for wildlife to maintain and strengthen populations of vulnerable Koala Phascolarctos cinereus and other species in isolated urban bushland habitats. The Koala Drinker Research Project is supported by Communities Environment Program and sponsored by Ross Vasta MP.
We are also working with Cr Steve Huang on his concept for a wildlife bridge across Klumpp Road from the bottom of Fox Gully to the Hibiscus Sports Complex then Mimosa Creek.
2020 has been a difficult year with most of our Bushcare events cancelled. So I decided to check in with our partner “nature” to see what has been happening while we have been distracted by a COVID pandemic.
2016 National Tree Day planting expanded the previous year’s planting of small forest bird habitat. A combination of Habitat Tripods and insect attracting plants to feed Fairy Wrens.
Our 2017 National Tree Day site was a closed car park blocked off and overgrown with weeds. Cleared of weeds, mulched and replanted the site is starting to regenerate healthy habitat for Koalas and small forest birds. .
The 2018 National Tree Day site needed special preparation because the large amount of asbestos (fibro) dumped there. The BCC Habitat Brisbane team organised professional asbestos removal contractors to clear the site. We then covered the site in a thick layer of cardboard fridge boxes from Harvey Norman. The cardboard was then covered in mulch and planted so any residual asbestos will be locked in by plant roots.
2019 National Tree Day was restoration of a very degraded area where BCC contractors had cleared a large area of Lantana Lantana camara. Plants were chosen to maintain the view while restoring native habitat. The special site has an amazing view out to the Bay Islands hence the track name: Eastern Outlook Track. A great spot to sit and enjoy the winter morning sun.
National Tree Day 2020 had to be cancelled however the BCC Natural Areas team stepped up and organised contractors to plant a large area at the Summit.
2021 is already looking good with Clean Up Australia on Sunday March 7th.
Mount Gravatt Environment Group 