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.