Spotted Gum Corymbia citriodora | Mount Gravatt Environment Group

By Michael Fox

A beautiful sunny morning and in the sky two beautiful Square-tailed Kites Lophoictinia isura soaring wings spread wide as they do lazy loops above the trees.

The kites have returned for the forth year to their nest in the Spotted Gum and now have two chicks poking their heads up. The kites are top level predator feeding on small birds, insects and lizards so to have a pair breeding in the forest provides some evidence of a healthy habitat providing sufficient food.

Tuesday Bushcare is always an adventure in spotting flora and fauna. Spring breeding season however is special.

Koala Spotter Steph found a Mum and Joey in a tree above where we were working.

We also spotted a handsome Beaded Dragon Pogona barbata hiding in plain sight. Good camouflage.

Butterflies are also thriving. We found this Australian Painted Lady Vanessa kershawi getting a drink from the damp ground. Note the distinctive club antenna.

Plant native daisy species like Golden Everlasting Daisy Xerochrysum bracteatum to attract and feed the Painted Lady caterpillars.

The beautiful Rosella Hibiscus heterophyllus attracts native bees, insect eating birds and is also edible.

Mike Fox using TreePopper to remove Ochna

Spring means the weed Mickey Mouse Plant Ochna serrulata is covered in seed: one bush completely filled a weed tub. Recent rain also softened to ground so we were able to use the TreePopper to remove the weed with minimal disturbance to the soil and no use of herbicide.

Corky Passion Vine – variety of leaf shapes

Most of our work at this season is removing Corky Passion Vine Passiflora suberosa which has spread aggressively in areas where we have cleared other weeds. Corky Passion Vine can have very different leaf shapes so we are careful to follow the vines to the base so we can check for the corky stem and remove the roots to stop re shooting.

Griffith Mates (l-r) Laura, Lothar, Vikram, Sienna and Herman

By: Michael Fox

The Griffith Mates team helped us reach an important milestone last week. The final stage of a five year project was reached as the last patch of Fishbone Fern Nephrolepis cordifolia has been cleared at our Fox Gully Bushcare site Zone 13.

Lost in Fishbone jungle

A team from FWR Group started the daunting task of clearing the Fishbone jungle from the gully.

In its natural environment, Fishbone Fern is usually found growing in rocky areas, on rainforest margins, or as an epiphyte on palm trees in the wetter parts of tropical and sub-tropical Australia. (Weeds of Australia)

Conservation Volunteers (CVA) team

In urban areas where Fishbone Fern has been cultivated as a garden plant it has escaped into remaining patches of bushland crowding out indigenous species. Six species of native fern are indigenous to the Fox Gully habitat. Removal of the weed is allowing natural regeneration of indigenous grasses, ferns and vines.

Removing Fishbone Fern is a time consuming job so the support of a team from Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) was a major boost for the project.

Common or Varied Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina

It is a particular pleasure to welcome Griffith Mates back as they always have a great interest in our local wildlife. They even insisted on walking through the forest from Mt Gravatt Campus.

So it was good to be able to show this perfect specimen of Common Aeroplane Phaedyma shepherdi butterfly posing on a Spotted Gum Corymbia citriodora.

Squirrel Glider Petaurus norfolcensis

We finished the morning by checking the nest-boxes introducing our visitors to some of our cutest wildlife.

“That is a tiny flower.” Photo: Herman Kai

And Australia’s smallest flower on Native Cherry Exocarpos cupressiformis. Looking for flowering bushfood trees is difficult when you need to carry a magnifying glass.