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.
Summer has been a great season for flora and fauna with ten new species identified just in January. However, the season has also been a boon for weeds so we need your help to Clean Up our Koala habitat of weeds as well as rubbish.
Date: Sunday March 6th 2022
Start time: 7:30am
Meet at: Mt Gravatt Summit carpark – near Lovewell Café
I had never heard of Vampire Moths before I found this cute caterpillar feeding on Tape Vine Stephania japonica. The Vampire Moth Calyptra minuticornis pierce fruit to suck the juice, and this species along with other moths in the genus Calyptra are known as the Vampire moths because they have been observed to pierce the skin of animals such as buffalo, zebu and tapir to suck blood.
I was excited when I found a new snail. However, unfortunately, the Asian Tramp Snail Bradybaena similaris is not a native but rather a serious pest in nurseries, market gardens and vineyards.
Not the most attractive of our insects, the Wattle Pig Weevil Leptopius sp.is still part of the wildlife diversity in the Reserve. These Weevils feed on Acacia species.
The rain also bought out several plants of Native Yam Dioscorea transversa. Another exciting discovery which brings the number of native plants found in the Reserve to 285 species or 20% of all native plant species in the whole of the United Kingdom.
Want learn more about the species in Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve visit our Flora and Fauna research files.
When leaf moisture is not high enough, this can lead to dehydration and large-scale mortality events as koalas are forced to search the ground for alternative water sources, exposing them to additional threats such as cars and dogs. Conditions in which koalas will need to search for water are only expected to increase in frequency due to climate change. (Watkins, A, Schlagloth, R. and Santamaria, F. (2021) Qld Naturalist 59 (1-3))
Koalas and other wildlife living in urban Island Habitats like Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve are particularly vulnerable as access to water requires crossing busy roads and facing dogs in backyards.
Last year I spent an interesting morning with farmer Robert Frend of Wildsip who showed me the evolution of the Tree Troff starting with the very first drinker that was simply strapped to the tree.
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Early evolution of Koala drinker
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Supported by research with wildlife cameras observing Koala behaviour the drinker evolved through many versions trialling solar powered pumps and different platforms to finally arrive at an innovative designed, engineer certified and professionally built water for wildlife solution.
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Alan driving stakes to hold the Tree Troff in place.
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Our 2020 Koala Drinker Research Project demonstrated the value of providing water for wildlife, for example, six thousand visits by birds in six months. WIRES generous gift of two Tree Troffs and support from Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee (B4C) providing refill services means we are able to create a long term water for wildlife solution for our Reserve.
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The first Tree Troff is installed in the Fox Gully Bushcare site at the junction of the Geebung and Federation Tracks. Bushcare team members Phil Girle and Alan Moore worked with me to assemble and erect the Tree Troff.
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Seton Ball Valve Lockout Devices
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The Tree Troff tank will be filled from ground level with high pressure pump which also allows the water trough to be flushed to clear leaves and mozzie larvae. Installation in a public space has required some modifications to reduce temptation to tamper. Seton Ball Valve Lockout Devices provide a simple way to lock the taps.
Cameras will be installed to monitor wildlife use to provide further evidence to support deployment of water for wildlife solutions in Brisbane parks and Bushcare sites.
Most people I talk to want less Crows and more Fairy-wrens in their gardens and schoolyards.
A key factor in bringing these beautiful birds back to our urban habitat increasing the number and diversity of insects. So it is very encouraging to find increasing number of different species in areas restored with our National Tree Day events.
Cockroaches are not normally a popular insect. However, worldwide 99% of cockroaches live in bushland and do not invade our homes. Our Australian bush cockroaches perform valuable services recycling leaf litter using gut enzymes that break down tough plant cellulose.
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.
Saturday 10:30am: Site prepared – weeded and mulched, holes dug, water tank filled, soil and stakes on site. COVID Safe app set up, digital National Tree Day sign-on ready, plant info signs in-place, tables, fertiliser tabs, etc in car. Heather Woods and the Bush Monsters have helped me sort the plants and put in Seasol.
“Ok, I just need to put the plants in the car in the morning and go.” That’s when I received a message from my son in Canberra telling me: “Brisbane is in lockdown from 4pm!”
We have five and half hours to lockdown. What can we do in that time?
I got on the phone to our National Tree Day team and started sending emails to notify registered participants that the Sunday event was cancelled but if they could join us we would be onsite at 12noon we aimed to save National Tree Day. Meanwhile, Heater Woods posted on the Wishart, Mansfield & Mount Gravatt Community 4122 Facebook Group.
The number of community members who responded to the Facebook Group post was amazing.
Recruiting a mother, son and pup walking in the forest was particularly special. This family team planted a special bush food plant Sago Flower Ozothamnus diosmifolius which is a good substitute cooking herb Rosemary.
This is the second year nesting at this site. We watched while these awesome birds would fly in with long sticks in their beak which they would then weave into the nest.
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Koala Shelly and joey
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Cold on Tuesday morning so Koala Shelly had her joey wrapped up warm.
As part of our Koala researchPieter Demmers is developing a citizen science project to id and track Koalas in the Reserve and surrounds.
It is hard to beat spending a beautiful sunny winter morning in the bush with a group of energetic young people.
I joined the Griffith Mates team at Mt Gravatt Campus. Again a diverse group of students studying phycology, IT and environmental science.
Our first stop is one of the Koala Drinkers we are using to assess the value of providing water for wildlife to maintain and strengthen populations of vulnerable Koala Phascolarctos cinereus and other species in isolated urban bushland habitats.
I am really impressed when one of these sharp eyed nature lovers spotted a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets Trichoglossus haematodus entering a nest hollow in a dead tree. There is a shortage of tree hollows in the Reserve so it was a real pleasure to identify another active nest hollow.
Australia’s smallest flower?
Next stop, the curious Allocasuarinas: the male trees’ russet (red-brown) flowers on tips of leaves glowed in the winter sun and across the track a female tree with its red ball flowers growing directly from the branches. Looking very similar the Native Cherry Exocarpos cupressiformis has the smallest flowers I have ever seen and of course sharp young eyes spotted the tiny flowers and focused on an actual cherry fruit.
Aside from the Native Cherry we found a surprising number of natives in flower. Like the attractive and versatile Headache Vine Clematis glycinoides scented flowers. Of course the immediate question was “Does it cure headaches or cause headaches?
Mount Gravatt Environment Group 