July 14, 2011
At a recent Westpac Mt Gravatt luncheon to recognize
local volunteers, Branch Manager Paul Dennett presented Nancy Hodge with a ‘Community Champion’ certificate for her work with Mt Gravatt Environment Group.
Nancy has propagated hundreds of local native seedlings which she has then assisted us to plant. She is a regular volunteer at group working bees and our annual Clean Up Australia Day event.
Congratulations Nancy, on your award!
July 12, 2011
Fox Gully Bushcare is a finalist in the 2011 Keep Australia Beautiful
– Spotless Suburbs Award.
Fox Gully Bushcare, located on the southern face of Mt Gravatt, is one of four communtiy bushcare groups working with Mt Gravat Environment Group on restoration of this unique pieces of Australian bushland.
Reaching the finals of the Brisbane’s Spotless Suburbs competition is recognition of the strength of our local community, the important role of sponsoring organisations and the quality of the BCC Habitat Brisbane program.
April 12, 2011
Hon. Kate Jones, Minister for Environment and Resource Management joined us today at the Summit of Mt Gravatt to share our vision for restoration of this special part of our community.
L-R Hon. Kate Jones, Helen Schwencke, Michael Fox, Hon. Phil Reeves
Phil Reeves, local member and Minister for Child Safety and Minister for Sport joined myself and butterfly expert Helen Schwencke of Earthling Enterprises, hosted our Environment Minister.
Like most visitors Minister Jones was blown away by the beauty of the mountain which recalled her days of walking the eastern slopes of Mt Cootha as a child.
Our discussion covered everything from public toilets at the Summit, to habitat consolidation and wildlife corridors linking the Reserve with Mimosa Creek Precinct and Roly Chapman Reserve. The Minister asked about Koala sightings: Fox Gully and Rover Street Bushcare sites, also behind houses in Mountain Street. Also discussed were the species diversity with Echidnas and two hundred and fifty-four native plant species, as well as, the need for nest boxes to support Squirrel & Sugar Gliders in a forest with only a small proportion trees over one hundred years old.
The reality of flood recovery priorities means that government funds, for bushland restoration in the Reserve, will be limited in the short-term. However, Mt Gravatt Environment Group is currently revising our five-year Strategic Plan, so it was encouraging and valuable to be able to brief the Minister on our vision and plans for the Mountain habitat. The Minister was particularly impressed with our efforts to build relationships with Griffith University and corporate sponsors like ANZ Bank, which will help with some short-term projects.
February 28, 2011
The visit by BOIC (Butterflies & Other Invertebrates Club) reported in our local Southside Community News. 
Correction and apology: BOIC President’s name was incorrect. My mistake: I provided the wrong name to the journalist.
Ross Kendall of Butterfly Encounters is currently BOIC President.
February 8, 2011
Join Mt Gravatt Environment 
Group (MEG) for Clean Up Australia Day 2011 and help clean up the habitat of some of our special animals.
Sunday 6th March 2011, 8 – 10 am. Meet at the Echidna Magic Cafe on the summit.
Access via Mt Gravatt Outlook Drive (UBD 201:B2).
Click to Register for Summit Cleanup.
Mt Gravatt Reserve is home to koalas, echidnas, fireflies and forty-five species of butterflies.
Clean Up Australia Day is an opportunity to experience this unique bushland and improve the habitat for our wildlife.
January 29, 2011
Two large pile of weeds have been 
removed so it is time for a cuppa with the Geutrude Petty Bushcare team. Around the table today are Judy, Ian, Sarah, Nancy, Brett, Morag, Susan and Mannix.
It is always interesting to sit down with the team at Geutrude Petty. The range of experience around the table is extraordianary. Today the group included a retired business owner, an expert in breeding frogs, an envrionmental restoration professional, Meals on Wheels volunteers and a person who hiked into the Stinson wreck to clean up and carry out rubbish: a 35 kilometre treck climbng 1040 metres.
Gertrude Petty restoration is creating an amazing picnic opportunity you normally only find in a national park outside the city. Our Australian wildflowers are often small and easily overlooked. Visit Gertrude Petty virtually any time of the year and you will find amazing flowers. The Native or Ivy-leaf Violet Viola banksii are flowering at the moment.
The Gertrude Petty team meets 8am to 10am last Saturday of each month and 3pm to 5pm every Wednesday. For details/contacts see 2011 MEG Calendar.
January 17, 2011
Mycena lampadis Luminous Mushroom
Fireflies now glow-in-the-dark mushrooms!
Same mushroom under torch light
Carol, who sent the firefly photos, called me late the other night inviting me to see the glow-in-the-dark mushrooms in their gully. Extraordinary, spooky and a very very special experience: walking thought the dark with the only light these amazing fungi.
Seeing these luminous mushrooms during the day they look like just another delicate white fungi.
The Springbrook Research Centre has information on bioluminescence.
The Mountain continues to surprise and delight. Listen to my interview with Kelly Higgins-Devine: 612ABC Drive.
See more of our amazing mushrooms: read my article on Forest Fungi.
January 5, 2011
Home to koalas, echidnas, gliders, frogs, fireflies, forty-two butterfly species and two hundred and fifty-one native plant species Mt Gravatt Reserve is a unique haven in our city only 10 km from Brisbane CBD.
I realised just how valuable this resource is when we visited Wivenhoe Outlook picnic area in Brisbane Forest Park. Approximately 60 minutes from the CBD, via a slow winding road the Outlook is still definitely worth a visit. However, even protected by 25,000 hectares of national park, the first plant I noticed when I got out of the car was the familiar Cobblers Peg Bidens pilosa, a common weed on Mt Gravatt. Seeing this familiar weed actually gave me a perverse sense of optimism. We have similar weeds but we have a tiny fraction of the area to restore and we have a growing population, read: potential bushcare workforce, only a few minutes walk from the 
mountain.
Mt Gravatt Reserve is only 66 hectares however the native plant diversity is equal to 10% of all plant species in the 22,600,000 hectares of Great Britain. This extraordinary level of plant diversity is also why we have a wide range of native animal species living just across our back fences. The opportunity exists right now, to strengthen and grow something that could never be recreated in places like Great Britain or Europe.
Something truly unique to our Mt Gravatt community: waking with Kookaburras, walking with echidnas, reading by firefly light. Ok, that last one is a stretch however we do have fireflies in our gullies so keep your eyes open. Thanks to Carol Kloske for these photos of these surprising insects. Firefly Luciola nigra
Population growth is putting pressure on our natural areas and in particular the expected population growth outlined in the Mt Gravatt Corridor Neighbourhood Plan will impact on how we relate to Mt Gravatt Reserve.
How is MEG working to turn population growth into a powerful positive for Mt Gravatt Reserve?
Active restoration work:
Build awareness and change damaging behaviour:
As our community members start to really “see” what is around them every day they will discover a miniture Brisbane Forest Park just over their back fence.
December 1, 2010
Thanks to Bill and Alison Semple we have photographic evidence that echidnas are still active on the Mountain.
Alison photographed this prickly character foraging for food last week. Bill and Alison were walking on the mountain when they were made this special find.
Echidnas Tachyglossus aculeatus is one the few ground dwelling mammals found in the Reserve. Commonly called Spiny Anteater, for obvious reasons, dig into ants nests and termite mounds using their long tongue to search out dinner. Like the platypus these fascinating mammals lay eggs like reptiles then nurture their young in a pouch feeding them on mother’s milk. It never ceases to amaze me that we can find special animals like this only ten minutes from Brisbane CBD.
October 18, 2010
Keep an eye out for the beautiful Blue Tiger butterflies – Tirumala hamata visiting the mountain at the moment. Note the tiger like spots on the head.
When I could not identify any caterpillar (larval) food plants in the Reserve for these butterflies I contacted Dr Carla Catterall who kindly shared her extensive knowledge. It turns our Tigers are tourists just visiting Brisbane on holidays.
Dr Catterall advises that the Tiger Blue is a migratory species – so to 
understand why we are seeing them we need to search for info about its migratory habits rather than its food plants.
Because of these large-scale coordinated movements by many individuals at once (which are poorly understood), this species appears and disappears in large numbers from time to time (and apparently there are a lot of them in the Brisbane region at present). It is also known to migrate over water (for example, I [Carla Catterall] have seen them flying across the ocean between Gladstone and Heron Island).
The larvae would have hatched, fed and pupated somewhere else, probably a long way away from Toohey Forest (tens to hundreds of km).
Thank you Dr Catterall.
Report Koala sightings
Sheamus O'Connor - Young Citizen of the Year 2012
Environmental Protection Award - Brisbane's Spotless Suburbs
Mount Gravatt Environment Group 