News

New date for the MCCG AGM – Tuesday February 15th

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Please join us for the rescheduled 2021 AGM

Tuesday 15th February 6.30pm for 7pm (finish 9pm)

Brookfield Hall (Showgrounds)

Welcome our incoming Chairperson Alexander (Sandy) Pollock with Zoe Bishop-Kinlyside as Secretary and Chris Bruton as Assistant Secretary.
Our guest speaker is Gordon Grigg who will introduce the Old Gold Creek Sawmill Forest Walk.
Doors open 6.30 for 7pm.
COVID changes: no refreshments (sorry), the meeting will also be on Zoom (please lookout for the zoom link via email)

Wildlife Matters

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Grass invaders! Sighted in local creek!

Invasive grass species are causing environmental havoc all over the globe. In fact, you don’t have to look too far to find one running amuck in your own backyard. Pictured here for instance is an area near Gold Creek, heavily invaded by the grass Guinea Grass, Megathyrsus maximus, a common invader of creek lines and shaded areas.

Guinea Grass near Gold Creek

But what makes a grass invasive and why are they so problematic?

When we say the term invasive it means the species is firstly, not native to Australia and secondly is having a negative impact, whether it be environmental, economic or otherwise. For example, Guinea Grass is considered invasive because it is native to Africa and has been associated with both negative environmental and economic impacts, including declines in native plant and animal species, more frequent and intense fires, and losses to crops.

Guinea Grass, like many of our invasive grasses was deliberately introduced for pasture to feed livestock in the early 1900s. When choosing plant species to introduce for pasture, agricultural scientists would conduct trials, looking for species that produced abundant yields of tasty feed (often tall, bulky grasses), were drought and disease resistant, could grow, reproduce, and spread quickly, and were resilient to grazing. These traits are indicative of both, a productive pasture, and a very successful and damaging invasive species. Many of these non-native pasture species were and continue to be selectively bred to enhance these traits, producing a ‘super pasture’, or looked at in another light, a ‘super invader’. Invasive grasses are consequentially very good at spreading and dominating native ecosystems, because that’s exactly what they were introduced to do!

So, how can we manage these pesky pasture grasses in natural areas? Well, it’s complicated and differs with the grass and the situation. Generally, however managing a grass invasion usually involves a combination of grazing or mowing, manual or mechanical removal, herbicide, and sometimes fire. Planting trees and shrubs and reducing light to the understory can also reduce grass cover and increase the number of native species. In fact, thanks to hard working local Bushcare groups, there has been some great success in reducing Guinea Grass along our creek lines. Here is a picture of a non-planted (left) and planted (right) area along Cedar Creek, upper Kedron.

Planting with natives to control Guinea Grass – before and after

Words and photos by Gabrielle Lebbink

 

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Know Your Wildlife!

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How well do you know the local wildlife? You are invited to meet the Wildlife Identification Challenge!

CAN you identify these invasive weeds using the MCCG Digital Field Guides?

Which of them was introduced to Australia as fodder for cattle in times of drought?

1.

2.

3.

 

ANSWER:

  1. Cat’s Claw Creeper (Dolichandra unguis-cati) Photo Jim Pope
  2. Glycine (Neonotonia wightii) Photo Jim Pope
  3. Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia) Photo Jim Pope

Glycine (Neonotonia wightii) was introduced to Australia as fodder for cattle in times of drought.

 

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Wildlife Matters! Predator and prey – Common Glider Dragonfly

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Dragonflies are primitive animals that have successfully survived since Gondwana times.

They are important insects that are both predator and prey and feature in the food chain of many of our most important aquatic animals. The adults are very strong hunters eating insects often taken on the wing and eaten in flight. They feed on moths, mosquitos and flies. Their aquatic larvae are voracious feeders that have an extendable lower jaw. They eat fish as large as themselves and feed on mosquito wrigglers, worms and shrimp. In turn, locally, they are a large part of the diet of Platypus and Eel-tailed Catfish that are adapted to detect them with the Platypus’s electrical detection ability and the Catfish’s whiskers. Dragonflies are such strong fliers that they can even evade capture by swallows. The only bird species I have photographed with a dragonfly is a Restless Flycatcher.

The Dragonfly  illustrated is a Common Glider Tramea loewii. After changing from a final stage nymph at the water’s edge it flies well away from the water to feed on mainly flying insects. If it is a male, after it has fed for a few days, it returns to find an area of the slow stream or pond where it established itself on a favourite twig where it can observe the patch of water it defends waiting for females to arrive. It defends its’ patch ferociously which is evident by the damage to the wings of the one in the photo. The females also bulk up away from the water and return when they are ready to mate and lay their eggs singly in the water. They lay about 1000 eggs which quickly hatch and go through 10 or more nymph stages before they emerge as adults. The time from egg to adult varies due to temperature of the water and food supply and can be as short as three months to more than a year.

Ed Frazer

Common Glider Dragonfly (Tramea loewii) – Photo Ed Frazer

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Bush Bites with Ed Frazer

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Lacewings are a diverse and interesting group that are an important part of the insect fauna in the Moggill Creek catchment area.

They are equipped with highly effective “fangs” and are vicious predators of a wide range of insects including many pests.

The eggs are unusual in that the are usually laid in rows under leaves hanging from slender stalks.

Lacewing Eggs  Photo:Ed Frazer

The hatched larvae vary enormously. One group, the Ant Lions live in dry areas, such as under the eaves of a house, where they build an inverted cone in the soil with steep sides. Ants that fall into the cone struggle to get out and are captured and eaten by the Ant Lion, which lies concealed at the bottom of the cone.

Another group of species attach objects to their backs and move around on the ground or on the stems of plants, well camouflaged as they track down aphids and larvae of other insects.

Lacewing lava with camouflage  Photo: Ed Frazer

A primitive group of Lacewings that is now only found in Australasia is the Split-footed Lacewings. These relatively large sized lacewings are known outside this area only by fossil records. While some of their larvae adorn their backs with camouflage litter others live openly on the undersides of leaves, usually in the vicinity of creeks feeding on anything they can trap with their fearsome jaws. The larva look so different from their beautiful green winged adults it is hard to believe they can make such a transformation when they pupate and metamorphize into their winged stage.

Larva of a Green Spotted Lacewing – one of the Split-footed Lacewings  Photo:Ed Frazer

Adult Lacewings range in size from about 1cm to 5cm. All have in common translucent heavily veined wings. Most are highly predacious in both the larval and adult stages and have very efficient jaws. Little is published on the life history of this interesting group, which is well represented in this area.

Small lacewing about 1cm feeding on minute insects on a leaf of grass  Photo: Ed Frazer
Split-footed lacewing the size and appearance of a dragonfly  Photo: Ed Frazer

New Survey Dates for Creek Health Monitoring Project – January 2022

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Due to bad weather last year the Creek Health Monitoring Project survey events have been rescheduled to January 2022.

Saturday 15th January 

Brookfield General Store (MC4)

Tuckett Street Park (MC5)

Saturday 22nd January 

Gold Creek (GC3 and GC1)

 

Sign up

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/181590541197

Event page

https://www.facebook.com/events/164879605828609/?event_time_id=164879605828609&ref=newsfeed

The Summer Newsletter is out!

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In the summer newsletter… We say goodbye and a huge thank you to our outgoing Chairman for the last four years – Jim Pope and welcome our new nominee for the Chair position Alexander (Sandy) Pollock. Beck Bain gives a wrap up of the 2021 photo comp, sharing photos from the winners.  Read about the Old Gold Creek Forest Walk that was established in 2021 spearheaded by Gordon Grigg.  There is information on weeds (Creeping Lantana) and seeds (native Witch-hazel) and an excellent article on the Nursery and our fabulous volunteers.  And so much more.  Check out the summer newsletter here.

MCCG Nursery Volunteers – Photo: Ed Frazer

URGENT CALLOUT TO MEMBERS!

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As you may know the 2021 AGM did not go ahead as planned on Nov 25th due to the lack of nominations to fill the roles of Chairperson and Secretary.

After 4 years Jim Pope has stepped down from the role as Chairman of MCCG.  Kathleen Walmsley is also planning to retire as Secretary but will stay on until a new Secretary is appointed.

We really do need a couple of people from our 500 members to give the committee a go and support the Catchment Group’s activities.  If we do not fill these roles soon MCCG cannot continue as we are.

We really are desperate for some new people to join the committee.

Please, if you are interested we need you to get in touch.

 

Wildlife Matters

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In this month’s edition of Wildlife Matters, Rebecca Bain shines a light on the after dark antics of flying-foxes and shares why these Aussie bats are our friends.

Know Your Wildlife!

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Know Your Wildlife

How well do you know the local wildlife?  You are invited to meet the Wildlife Identification Challenge!

CAN you identify these bats using the MCCG Digital Field Guides?

 

ANSWER:

The Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) and Little Red Flying-fox (Pteropus scapulatus) are native only to Australia, but the range of the Black Flying-fox (Pteropus alecto) extends to Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia.

  1. Black Flying-fox (Pteropus alecto) – photo Rebecca Bain
  2. Little Red Flying-fox (Pteropus scapulatus) – photo Rebecca Bain
  3. Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) – photo Rebecca Bain

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