January 13, 2020
By: Michael Fox
Koala Mum & Joey: Fox Gully
Our annual Clean Up is creating a wonderful home for our Koala families as well as a welcome place for walkers and family picnics.
Date: Sunday March 1st 2020
Start time: 8am
Meet at: Mt Gravatt Summit carpark – near Love Well Project
Please join our Clean Up teams picking up rubbish or removing Lantana
November 9, 2019
Fishbone Fighters on the trail
By: Michael Fox
Our Griffith Mates Bushcare team joined us again today to help eradicate the invasive Fishbone Fern Nephrolepis cordifolia from Fox Gully Bushcare Zone 10.
As always the team was an interesting mix of international students: Osaka Japan with its amazing aquarium, cold Gansu in north-west China where winter temperatures range from -13°C to a toasty 3°C, and a local student with a French heritage whose passion is environmentally sensitive urban planning.
Fishbone Fighters hard at work
The Fishbone Fighters worked hard first cutting back the prickly Barbed Wire Vine Smilax australis which will tear an unsuspecting Bushcarer’s arms to pieces. However, Barbed Wire Vine is very hardy local native which can tolerate a hard cutback to allow access for weed removal.
Proud Fishbone Fighers
Thanks again to the extraordinary Griffith Mates Bushcare team who have been partnering with Mt Gravatt Environment Group since April 2013.
November 1, 2019
Koala spotting
By: Michael Fox
Griffith Mates joined us again last Saturday for Bushcare. Always a pleasure to show off our forest even if there was not much in the way of flowers to show off in the dry conditions.
Koala Mum with Joey snuggled up
One surprise we could provide was a Koala Mum and Joey in a tree on Acacia Way.
Energy and laughter a great mix
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The Griffith Mates Bushcare team is always a ball of energy and laughter.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Thank you team you are always help me remember the reason I do Bushcare work: the next generation.
October 29, 2019
Brisbane First Chinese Scout Group
By: Michael Fox
130 participants planted 450 native shrubs, vines and grasses … another successful National Tree Day and another large area of Fox Gully Bushcare restored.
As in past years many community groups returned for our 2019 event:
Welcome to Resurge Digital Team … looking forward to meeting again in 2020
Holes ready: planting underway
Please accept my apologies if I got any names wrong or missed any groups. I normally do this report soon after the event.
Thank you to the BCC Habitat Brisbane team who organised the plants, mulch and holes for the planting.
National Tree Day is always an inspiration, having all these community members helping us restore the Reserve.
Weeding team returns
The Weeding Team cleared a huge area of the invasive Fishbone Fern Nephrolepis cordifolia, Fishbone is a native but not to Brisbane bushland and parks where it is an invasive weed.
Thanks to the Teams work Fishbone is well on the way to be eradicated from another part of Fox Gully Bushcare.
Griffith Mates Team
Of course it is never all work and no play.
Georgia (left) and Jake planting
Three months on and thanks to the watering done by Jake, Georgia and Robyn while I was away, only four plants have died, our best result ever. And click on the photos to see the amazing growth of Native Sarsaparilla Hardenbergia violacea which is already growing out the top of the green plant shelters.
Spangled Drongo
Jake, Georgia and Griffith Mates have been working with me to finish the planting. Watched over by a Spangled Drongo Dicrurus bracteatus.
September 24, 2019
Share visual stories of Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve with family and friends and support our ongoing restoration work and wildlife research.
The theme of this year’s annual Photographic Workshop was Aspects and Viewpoints: look for a viewpoint that emphasises the story and the aspect frames the subject. Participants learned to tell a story using lighting and depth of field to capture their experience of being in the bush.
Calendar: $15ea plus $4.00 post & packing.
July 22, 2019
Kookaburra welcoming committee
By: Michael Fox
Everyone loves to welcome the Griffith Mates Bushcare team to Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve. Even the Kookaburras were ready to welcome our visitors.
Common Spotted Ladybird life stages – larva, adult, pupa
While we waited for the Team I explored the Fairy Fan Flower Scaevola aemula and found three life stages of the Common Spotted Ladybird Harmonia conformis. The larva stage looks nothing like the adult however they still perform valuable pest control services for your garden, feeding on sap-sucking aphids. The pupa stage (right) looks more like the adult Ladybird beetle. The best known adult stage (middle) also feeds on aphids.
Meeting the locals
Most of our Griffith Mates visitors had not seen Lady beetles before and they were eager to meet these miniature Australians.
Cotton Harlequin Bugs nymphs
On the back of Macaranga leaves we found pretty Cotton Harlequin Bug Tectocoris diophthalmus nymphs
Walking from Mt Gravatt Campus to the Bushcare work site along Acacia Way we could hear the Pardalotes chip-chipping in the trees and Australian King-Parrots Alisterus scapularis whistling in the distance.
Going bush
Equipment collected, we headed off track to the day’s work site.
Great work Team – weeds bagged for removal
The target for the day is the invasive weed Fishbone Fern Nephrolepis cordifolia. Once the Team is briefed on the difference between Fishbone Fern and the local Basket Fern Drynaria rigidula they dived removing and bagging huge clumps of roots for removal off site.
Thanks to Griffith Mates Bushcare Team
17 Team members and 51 hours of restoration work. A great morning’s work.
Leading the Team to Mt Gravatt Lookout to meet their taxi we discovered the Fairy Home made by one of our Gully neighbours.
Open the door to discover a special climate change message from the Fairies.
July 18, 2019
By: Michael Fox
Fruit Piercing Moth Eudocima fullonia
The Clairvaux Bushcare Team are not only great at clearing weeds they also love finding wildlife and added a new moth species to our Flora & Fauna for Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve database: Fruit Piercing Moth Eudocima fullonia.
Hairy Mary Anthela varia
Morag McKinnon found a Hairy Mary Anthela varia moth caterpillar at Gertrude Petty Place Bushcare.
The Hairy Mary caterpillar has stiff spines that tend to break off in your skin and make it itchy.
July 8, 2019
By: Michael Fox
Thanks to Fflur Collier, BCC Wildlife Conservation Partnerships I have been able to make valuable additions to our Flora and Fauna of Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve research.
Accurate identification of fungi species can be extremely difficult so tentative identification is used in some cases. Please share any insights or corrections.
May 22, 2019
Clairvaux Bushcare Team in action
By: Michael Fox
I was very happy to welcome our Clairvaux Bushcare Team back to declare war on Guinea Grass regrowth. The team first removed the seed heads before removing and piling the grass in swales to compost and reduce water runoff.
Guinea Grass Megathyrsus maximus is a fast growing environmental that crowds out local native species and creates a significant bushfire risk. Originally from Africa Guinea Grass has been bought to Australia as a pasture grass and has local herbivore species to control its growth so dead grass accumulates as a loose fast burning fuel for bushfire.
Fruit Piercing Moth caterpillar
The team found a number of “bugs” including a new moth species to add to our Flora and Fauna of Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve. The Fruit Piercing Moth Eudocima fullonia is curious creature. The caterpillars feed on local Tape Vine Stephania japonica while the adult moths feed by piercing a wide variety of fruit species, often causing the fruit to rot.
Purplewinged Mantid
The students were not fazed by anything including finding this Purplewinged Mantid Tenodera australasiae climbing over his shirt.
Golden Orb Weaver spider
Or this beautiful Golden Orb Weaver Nephila plumipes spider or the tiger hiding in the long grass.
Black Woodland Cockroach
Or even this Black Woodland Cockroach Platyzosteria melanaria
Australian native cockroaches do not invade our houses or spread disease preferring to stay in the bush feeding in trees on pollen, bark and leaf material. Some species in the genus Panesthia have adapted to eating decomposing wood, and have similar micro-organisms in their gut as those found in termites (Order Isoptera).
What an amazing team of Bushcarers!
A huge area of Guinea Grass regrowth de-seeded and piled for composting on-site. Eradication will take another couple of years as we break the cycle of seeds.
The support of extraordinary and generous partners like the Clairvaux Bushcare Team allow us to restore large areas of our Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve habitat.
May 12, 2019
By: Michael Fox
The Australia China Youth Association (ACYA) Discovery Team joined me again on Saturday morning to take on a forest of Guinea Grass Megathyrsus maximus var. maximus.
Guinea Grass, a 2m pasture grass introduced from Africa, is now a common and widespread weed of crops, orchards, vineyards, gardens and bushland. Large fast growing non-native grasses like Guinea Grass increase fuel loads and bushfire frequency in urban bushland.
The key to eradicating Guinea Grass is removing the seeds before they are spread by being eaten birds or stuck to the fur of other animals.
The ACYA Discovery Team tackled the forest with a vengeance, first removing and binning seed heads before removing the grass and putting into piles to compost onsite. It seemed every time I looked around there would be someone with a huge bouquets of Guinea Grass seed heads that would impress a florist. It will take another couple of seasons to get the Guinea Grass under control but each time we nail the seeds there is less work to do next season.
Acacia Shield Bug nymph
The Discovery Team title comes from the amazing diversity of wildlife found whenever we work together.
Two species found on Saturday are new to our database: Flora and Fauna of Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve: Insects, Beetles, Bugs and Slugs.
Acacia Shield Bug nymph Alcaeus varicornis
Green Strip Leaf Beetle
Green Strip Leaf Beetle Calomela pallida
The Discovery Team find so many new species that sometimes I can’t find an id immediately: like this pretty moth caterpillar.
The Team is not scared of anything. Reanna was so happy to find this discarded snake skin. Perhaps she may have been a little slower to collect the skin before it was discarded.
Variable Ladybird Beetle larvae
The Team are interested in everything, so when I found the larvae of a Variable Ladybird Beetle Coelophora inaequalis they were fascinated to learn that Ladybirds come from a larvae which also eats Aphids and other garden pests.
Enter a caption
The well named Lance-leaved Rattlepod Crotalaria lanceolata (weed) also appealed when I demonstrated the potential as a musical instrument.
Thanks again to the ACYA Discovery Team. Looking forward to welcoming you back next semester to help us discover more wildlife species living in Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve.
Report Koala sightings
Sheamus O'Connor - Young Citizen of the Year 2012
Environmental Protection Award - Brisbane's Spotless Suburbs
