The Cubberla Witton Catchment Network (CWCN) never fails to deliver on fun holiday activities and the upcoming holidays are no exception!

Choose from:

Thursday 26 September 2019 – Building Humpies, Cubbies, Teepees or a Little Lean-to

Let’s build our own little meeting places where we can sit with our friends and have a great time. First we choose the materials and decide on what type of little hut we’ll build. Of course, we need to be architects, engineers and builders at the same time because we not only want our little house to look great, but also want it to be strong and not collapse. To make them waterproof may be a challenge, but we’ll definitely try….
Who:               Prep to primary school age children

Where:           CWCN Centre, 47 Hepworth St, Chapel Hill (UBD 178 A11)
When:             9:30am—11:30am 


Fee:                 $15 per child ($10 for CWCN members)

Tuesday 1 October 2019 – CWCN’s Scarecrows are Coming Back!

We can’t wait, because we have missed our friends. So let’s roll up our sleeves and create our wonderful scarecrow family. Many hands wanted. These scarecrows are hungry. A lot of straw is needed to make them into chubby good looking neighbours. They will find their permanent spot in CWCN’s edible garden at the back of the Centre for everyone to see and enjoy! And we’ll make our very own little scarecrows to take home too……

Don’t miss out on this special event!!

Our very own wildlife photographer Ed Frazer, the mastermind behind the MCCG online Catchment Field Guides, will share his photography secrets at Brookfield Hall on Thursday 19th September. Ed’s talk commences at 7.00pm.

Ed has delighted us with his many stories in our Bush Bites series. Most of the accompanying photos have been taken on Ed’s 54-acre property alongside Gold Creek at Brookfield.

Ed will discuss how he has been able to locate and photograph 172 bird species and several types of mammals including echidnas, platypus, koalas, antechinus, phascogales, and gliders.

He will also share his secrets about photographing elusive butterflies and dragonflies.

Ed will explain the use of trail cameras and camouflage hides, strategies he uses to find and get close to take the subjects of his prize winning shots. He’ll also provide information about managing your property and garden in order to attract wildlife.

© Ed Frazer 

Our colleagues at Cubberla-Witton Catchments Network invite you to a bird walk this Saturday 21 September, starting at 7am.

This walk will be a first in this location and is intended to assess the birdlife on site and observe changes over time following rehabilitation work conducted.  

This site is an important bushland remnant and part of the Witton for Wildlife fauna movement corridor.  

Where to meet?  at the Clarina Street Park entrance in Clarina Street, Chapel Hill.

For more info, contact CWCN by phoning 3378 1465 or  0427 599 890.

One of the most adorable birds in our catchment,  often heard but seldom seen, is the Owlet-Nightjar.

You may be lucky enough to see one of these little owls standing in front of their hollow, catching the sunlight. Why?

Head to our Feather Fascination page to find out!

Jim Butler’s latest article reveals a feast of interesting facts, and it is accompanied by a lovely photo provided by Tina Haybroek.

It’s PHOTO COMPETITON time and we strongly advise you to get your cameras out NOW!

The MCCG Photography Competition is held every year in October so it’s time to get snapping!

This is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your photographic skills by capturing the essence of our local area in digital format!

Entry is open to all members of the public, the young and the not-so-young, with several open categories and a **NEW** Digital Young Persons (grade 1 – 6) category!

For all the details about the categories in this year’s competition, please click here.

You may recall an article last week about three platypus that Ed Frazer has been tracking in Gold Creek. Here’s a magic update to that story!!!!

While checking on the Platypus early each morning for the past two weeks I have noticed the frequent presence of the tiny jewel-like Azure Kingfishers. 

I began to wonder if they were deliberately accompanying the Platypus to get any fish they disturbed! They turned up far more often than I would expect by chance.

This morning I had the pleasure of watching the small Platypus with the lump on the tail working a stretch of about 120m along Gold Creek from 6am to 7.10am. 

The Azure Kingfisher pair were present and it was obvious they were changing their watching posts up and down the creek to keep close to the Platypus.

Platypus Survey watchers: you may get see a real gem of the bird world along with the Platypus on 8 September. Look out for the beautiful Azure Kingfisher!

© Ed Frazer 

The MCCG Management Committee is calling for expressions of interest from MCCG Members for funding support (up to $2000 per property) to carry out bushcare work. This would apply to activities such as weed removal and control, mulching of cleared areas, re-planting with native species etc. on private properties within the catchment.

Consideration will only be given to proposals that significantly enhance native plant biodiversity and improve wildlife habitat. Preference will be given to applications for work that is beyond the resources of the property owners themselves. 

The aim will be to collate bids into one or more larger applications to apply for funding from external sources. Proposals should:

• specify the location and area of the work
• outline the tasks to be carried out
• summarise the benefits to be achieved and 
• provide a detailed budget for materials and labour.

Photographs of the relevant areas should also be provided. The number of native plants and shrubs required should be specified, but there will be no cost since suitable plants will be supplied free of charge by our Native Plant Nursery.

All work must be performed and/or overseen by approved contractors. As a guide the cost of contractor support can be estimated at approximately $75/hr for one person/supervisor and a further $60/hr for additional staff. (These approximate costs include overheads etc.)

Expressions of interest should be submitted via email to the MCCG Secretary via email: [email protected].

The closing date for submissions is Friday 20th September 2019.  

Our 2019 Platypus Survey will be held bright and early  on Sunday 8 September.

Local wildlife photographer Ed Frazer knows there are platypus about, so he’s started early with his own survey!

We’re grateful to Ed for sharing his findings. Take a read! It’s almost guaranteed to make you sign up for the official survey day! Here’s Ed’s report:

As the annual Platypus Survey is just a few weeks away I decided to check out the two long stretches of Gold Creek along the boundary of our property.

A long time ago these sections were part of the Dart dairy farm and the favourite local swimming and picnic spots.

Nearly every year a platypus is sighted in the first pool. This section starts at the end of Adavale St and goes about 150m into our property.

The next section starts at the gravel bar between the two stretches and finishes at the bridge into the Goldmont estate. Both pools vary from 10m to 20m wide and up to 3m deep.

The second pool has not been surveyed for platypus to date so I thought it was worth a closer look.

My observation of the second pool over 10 days revealed three separate platypus! One large one, probably a male, and two smaller ones. One of the smaller ones (pictured below) has a huge black lump on its tail.

The three platypus have been seen travelling from the first to the second pool over the gravel bar of about 10m.

So far I have only been able to photograph them in very low light, so I have set up three infra-red trail cameras. The first night I got an echidna and a water rat.

Hopefully I will soon get a close-up of the platypus travelling over the gravel bar.

Out of 10 days of observation I have seen one or more platypus each day, with the exception of two days.

With two platypus watchers there will definitely be a good chance of spotting one or more during the survey!

RSVPs for the survey close 31 August. For more info about the survey and how to be a part of it, please click here.

Most of us are aware that the Richmond birdwing butterfly is listed as a vulnerable species in Queensland.

You may also be aware of a groundbreaking project across South East Queensland to plant “corridors” of the birdwing butterfly vine (Pararistolochia praevenosa and P. Laheyana) to support the butterflies during their immature stages as larvae.

But what about the adult butterflies? How can you attract them into your garden or property?

The Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network has produced a guide of naturally occurring native plants which are attractive to Richmond birdwings. The listing was written by Dr. Don Sands. Please click here to open the guide:  Australian Nectar Plants for Adult RBB

To read more about the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly, please click here.

The MCCG wishes to thank the RBCN for allowing us to share their article.