Killarney Biodiversity Weekend

Checking waterway health

 We were lucky enough to be involved in a  Biodiversity weekend at Killarney. There were so many experts presenting on such a wide variety of subjects it was really difficult to decide which of the concurrent talks to attend.  In the end we split up to get the widest possible exposure to all the fantastic information available. We learnt about waterway health and rehabilitation, native bees, soils, social media networking, insects for agriculture and so much more.  On the last day we did a field trip with 2 waterway specialists who helped us locate and identify lots of critters who's presence is indicative of waterway health.  Below are some of the insects we found.

Some stuff we have done since our last blog

Much has happened since our last blog post.  Among other things we have been involved with many events related to our local environment.  

Wildlife box monitoring in Oxley hoping for gliders.

Back in June 2012 we attended another Glider Network monitoring morning with some of the "usual suspects" and some locals.    We found evidence that there is still a small population of gliders in the area.  This was really exciting as they are quite rare so close to suburbia.   We note the new local Neighborhood Plan has provided significant habitat protection.  Hopefully it will  be enough to allow these precious native creatures to continue to inhabit this area.  We can all do our part by making our own backyards friendly to our native fauna.

Meeting with local councilor

Again in June 2012 we attended a meeting with our Brisbane City Council member Milton Dick.  Local residents appreciated the opportunity to discuss issues such as lighting, public space mowing, storm water drainage and we appreciated the recent provision of a rubbish bin in the nearby park.

Council Habitat Brisbane event

 In August 2012 Brisbane City Council put on a "thank you" event for Habitat Brisbane volunteers.  Being around the same time as Brisbane Exhibition it was a cold morning for an outdoor event. But the park looked great and it was fantastic to see the "before" and "after" shots of the work that had been completed there.  It is still a really challenging site being in a flood plain it is often inundated with fast flowing water knocking over small trees and clearing the under-story   Fortunately our own site rarely overflows but all the habitat groups struggle to control weed infestation.  Our thanks to the council for the opportunity to chat with like minded people.

SGAP plant sale

We always look forward to the regular plant sale held by the Society for Growing Australian Plants (SGAP).  This one, held in October 2012, was no exception and we went home with  car load of new plants, all Australian natives.  Thanks to SGAP sales our home garden has many unusual or even rare native plants which provide habitat for many types of native fauna. We are lucky to have a variety of native bees and lizards living in our yard.  Pretty sure there are lots of other native free loaders in our yard as well.

Kev Hooper Park bridge corner

2009 June 13th

2010 May 8th

 Recently we posted details of some of our work with Kev Hooper Park Bushcare Group. The core group is very small but many others have helped over time and their efforts have been well rewarded with tremendous results.  Every volunteer cannot always turn up for every working bee, life often gets in the way no matter how keen we are to help. So it is always exciting to have some new helper come along to our events held every month on the second Saturday, normally around 8.30am but earlier in the summer.

2012 June 24t

2010 December 11th

Today's photo's are closer shots of the place we first started our bushcare work at Kev Hooper Park.  These before and after shots spanning just 3 years show the difference a few dedicated people can make working just a few hours each month on the second Saturday of the month.  The group also enjoys chatting while at work and a relaxing morning tea where often we are lucky enough to have a group member bring some special dish to share. 

Kev Hooper Park first area planted

2009 May 9th-Beginnings-clearing weeds

Our most exciting work increasing habitat in the Inala area is our efforts with Kev Hooper Park Bushcare Group.  We started at the first bridge crossing the creek from Rosemary Street end.  There were a couple of wattle trees but otherwise mostly tall weedy grass all the way from the mown grass to the waterline.  The first task was to clear some of the grass and plant our first trees, mostly varieties of eucalyptus that would provide good shade and habitat when grown.  The picture taken on May 9th 2009 shows the vehicle parked near the bridge, note the path on mid right of the photo.

2010 Jan 9th-First planting

By January 2010 the first mass planting was growing well and we are really seeing the difference our work has made.  Instead of lawn and tall weedy grasses there is now a reasonable width of native plants along the top of the creek bank.  Also working down the bank towards the water most of the grass is gone now and natives planted instead.  The first trees are still there but not growing as quickly as we would like.  Also lots of native grasses and Dianella.

2010 March 13th-2nd Planting 

By March 2010 the first planting in this areas was doing really well so we extended the planted zone by putting in another mass planting.  Picture March 13th shows the plants just in the ground and mulch just around each one.  The later Photo of May 8th shows the area fully mulched and again the new plants seem to be doing well.

2010 May 8th-2nd Planting-mulched

2011 Jan 22nd-2nd Planting-growing

By January 22nd 2011 the 2nd planting is growing well.  Note again the path on mid right which shows the same area as that of the original photo in 2009. The most recent photo on June 24th 2012 shows this same area now.  From just a couple of wattle trees and weeds we now have some native bush habitat enjoyed by lots of native fauna. 

2012 June 24th-real habitat now

Coca Cola staff event at Kev Hooper Park Inala

Coca Cola staff get direction from group leader Craig Toms

Teamwork in action, mass planting

The Kev Hooper Park Bushcare Group, in conjunction with Habitat Brisbane, very much appreciate the contribution of staff from Coca Cola when they participated in planting and cleanup of Boss Creek near Rosemary Street Inala in October 2011. The group brought fantastic enthusiasm and energy and worked together as a team to quickly plant an incredible total of around 1200 native plants! An immense area of creek bank was heavily planted and then watered in with minimal direction from our busy team members Craig Toms and John Maelich.

Craig brought 800 plants to the event but it soon became apparent the Coca Cola team would have them all in the ground and be looking for more, so another 400 were quickly brought to site. These were then planted and all watered in.  Even then the team were not satisfied and set to work cleaning up all the rubbish including removing a shopping trolley from the creek itself.  

Another team activity removing a shopping trolley from the creek

It has been difficult for the small bushcare group to keep up with the weed control in this area but it is hoped that the natives will continue to grow, all be it in competition with weedy grass species.  The true value of this work will become apparent over time.  Already since the Bushcare group started at this site in 2009 we have seen the return of native species of plants and animals including bandicoots and butterfly species

Huge pile of removed rubbish on completion of work

Qld Glider Network event

Camera in place, checking pictures.

Recently we joined a Qld Glider Network activity in some bushland near Inala to find and check nest boxes for gliders.  We were fortunate to find two families of gliders, probably Squirrel Gliders, and also a couple of brushtail possums.  Many of the empty boxes showed that they were used from time to time and we had at least one unexpected nest box resident, a Lace Monitor (Varanus varanus), hopefully you can see it's leg and tail sticking out the bottom of the box  in the picture.

Lace Monitor

Measuring the height of the box

Qld Glider Network has  developed a specialised rig for seeing inside a nest box with minimal disturbance to any residents.  This allows an electronic view of what is inside without having to climb up and open the box itself.  The rig can also be used to measure the distance from ground to the box.  Other records are also taken, location, tree species and what side of the tree the box is on.  Over time it is hoped to have a better understanding of gliders preferences so that future boxes will more closely suit their needs. Nest boxes are also used by many of our bird species, bees and even ants can colonise a box.  There has been much destruction of Glider habitat and in particular the large old "dead" trees with many hollows which used to be used by so many of our native creatures.  We are lucky to retain a small population of Gliders and we must protect what is left of their habitat to keep even this small remnant of the glider population in our area. 

Almost too high for the rig!

Sunlight hazard

 A number of gliders in this box

Win with parking

Truck parked over the entry to bikeway

We have recently had a big win with a local parking issue. We reported that trucks were regularly parking over the entrance to the bikeway on Boundary road and provided photographic evidence to Sandy at our local council office.  Almost immediately a plan was put in place to mark the area with no standing signs which now have been put in place, thanks to local member Milton Dick and his team.

Trailer parked over entry to bikewa

The trucks were blocking the entry to the bikeway meaning they were directly in the path of pedestrian and bicycle traffic between the railway station at Darra and Inala.  Hopefully now that the signage is in place trucks will not park over the entry even though there still remains I big problem with trucks parking on Boundary road.