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?
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.
I love our annual Clean Up when the community turns out to help maintain our special Reserve. Heather Woods, our event coordinator, registered our largest ever team:
Meanwhile the Rubbish Teams were busy around the Summit and along the roadway collecting the usual fastfood packages and some strange parts fallen off cars.
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.
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.
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.
Heather Woods and her family, again hosted our annual Clean Up Australia event.
Twenty-nine community members, including Cr Krista Adams and Corrine McMillan MP collected seventeen bags of rubbish: drink bottles, McDonalds’ bags and car parts.
Heather organised us into three teams:
Summit Team – families cleaning up the Summit;
Guide Eliose on the job
Road Team collecting rubbish from Mt Gravatt Outlook Drive; and
Weeding Team – Lantana busting at the 2017 National Tree Day site.
I was able to show the Weeding Team members the natural regeneration of native plants where the Creeping Lantana was removed as part of National Tree Day.
Bell Flower vine is a delicate scrambler spreading in the cleared area.
A beautiful Saturday morning and I met up with an inspiring group students for our regular Griffith Mates OWeek guided walk in Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve. I vary the walk each time to highlight plants in flower and other special sights and sounds. A highlight this time was meeting Ma Poss (Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula) and her joey. (Baby possums are called ‘joey’.)
Checking nest box with GoPro and excited students watching on the iPad
Meeting at Mt Gravatt Campus the Griffith Mates team introduced students from Germany, South America, China and Japan all keen to learn more about the Australian bush.
The students were very interested in learning about our native ground orchids: Slender Hyacinth Orchid Dipodium variegatum.
I explained that, lacking any leaves, these orchids are critically dependent on their relationship with fungi in the ground.  The fungi mycorrhiza, fine root like fibres, feed the underground orchid with organic carbon and minerals collected from roots of adjacent trees.
Along Acacia Way we found Settlers Flax Gymnostachys anceps: used by early settlers to sew bags and indigenous people combined it with bark to make fishing line, Blueberry Lily Dianella longifolia and Native Raspberry Rubus moluccanus.
Leading guided walks with Griffith Mates is always a pleasure … lots of smiles and laughter along the Eastern Outlook Track.
2016 National Tree Day planting
A quick stop to inspect results from the 2016 National Tree Day planting: thickening nicely and some trees over 3 metres.
I showed the natural regeneration in the area where the invasive weed Creeping Lantana Lantana montevidenses was cleared as part of National Tree Day. Nature is very resilient if we give it a chance and the returning natives are strong evidence of the effectiveness of our Bushcare work.
Vincent and his tree
Vincent took the opportunity to check in on the tree he planted on National Tree Day.
A great walk … everyone seemed to be inspired to return and help with our Bushcare work.
Thanks to Andreas Listle for staying behind the camera and capturing memories.
In receiving the award I reflect the efforts of dozens of enthusiastic happy volunteers including Marshal and Liz who work with me on Tuesday mornings.
Our Griffith Mates partners join us for regular Fox Gully Bushcare events bringing international students to experience the Australian bush and contribute to our restoration work.
Mount Gravatt Environment Group 