pardalote | Mount Gravatt Environment Group

Kookaburra welcoming commitee - 20 July 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 - 20 July 2019

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.

Love learning about wildlife - 20 July 2019

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 - Tectocoris diophthalmus - nymphs - 20 July 2019

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.

By: Michael Fox

Mother-of-Millions

Tuesday Bushcare focused on maintenance and clearing weeds at the 2017 National Tree Day planting site.

Two garbage bags of Mother-of-Millions Bryophyllum tubiflorum removed will not eradicate this garden escapee. Complete eradication will take years however systematic control will reduce the spread while the area is cleared of other weeds.

Resurrection Plant - Bryophyllum pinnatum - leaf sprouting - 13 Apr 2018 lr

Resurrection Plant growing from a leaf.

Dumping garden waste like Mother-of-Millions is a real problem for our bushland, parks and creeks. Being a succulent it survives even in harsh conditions. Like Resurrection Plant Bryophyllum pinnatum, another invader from Madagascar, Mother-of-Millions regrows from as little as a single leaf. Garden waste like lawn clippings, prunings from shrubs and old pot plants are rubbish not compost adding value to bushland.

Dump garden rubbish in rubbish bin not in bushland.

Bird’s Nest Fungi

I was also able to show Jake and Carl some of our interesting flora.

Like the curious Bird’s Nest Fungi Cyathus novaezelandiae which propagates by the action of rain drops knock the egg-like peridioles out of the cup shaped fruit body.

Orthodontium lineare

We also found moss fruiting. Orthodontium lineare, called Cape Thread-moss in the United Kingdom, an addition to our Flora & Fauna Mt Gravatt Conservation Reserve species list.

Rasp Fern

Rasp Fern Doodia media (australis) with an, as yet, unidentified insect. You realise how well named Rasp fern is when you run your fingers over the leaves: they feel just like the rough sharp surface of a wood rasp.

Star Goodenia

Star Goodenia Goodenia rotundifolia is easy to identify with its unique leaf shape.

The yellow flowered Star Goodenia is a caterpillar food plant for the Meadow Argus Junonia villida butterfly.

Pardalote nest holes

We also found what are probably nest holes for the small Pardalotes: small birds that dig nest holes in earth banks but spend most of their time high in the trees where you can hear their distinctive “chip chip chip” call. Watch video of Striated Pardalote.