Recover from voting by connecting with nature!
McKay Brook working bees are held on the first Saturday afternoon of each month from 2-5pm and also on the third Sunday morning from 8:30am to 11am.
These times are subject to change and we try to give one week’s notice of any such change. It would be a good idea to check with Bryan the week before each working bee.

REMINDER FOR MEMBERS !!!

Recording Wildlife Sightings Talk at the Cottage
10 am Saturday 20th February 2016
Book your place:
[email protected] or ph 3374 1035
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The MCCG Annual General Meeting was held at the Brookfield Hall on Monday 30th November, with around 40 people in attendance.  Our Chairman, Warren Hoey, reported on the wide range of activities undertaken by the group, and paid tribute to the many dedicated volunteers involved in working groups, the nursery, the cottage, and the various projects conducted by the group.  The Chairman’s report can be read here.

 

Margaret de Wit, our local Council Member, and a long time supporter of the MCCG, gave a farewell tribute to the group and the many people in it who she has worked with since its inception.  She is retiring at the next council elections and will be missed for her help and support for the group’s activities.

 

Our guest speaker for the evening was Lexie Scott, who gave an interesting and well received talk on a day in the life of a wildlife carer. 

The MCCG 2015 Annual General Meeting will be held at the Brookfield Hall, starting at 7:30pm on Monday 30th November. Come along to hear about A Day in the Life of a Wildlife Carer from Lexie Smith, a very experienced long term wildlife carer.

There is a full set of nominations for the committee, but if you would like to help out with the group, we’d love to receive additional nominations.

See the notice of meeting and nomination form, and the minutes of of the 2014 AGM for more details.

The winners in the 2015 MCCG Photography competition were presented with their prizes at the awards ceremony in Kenmore Village Shopping Centre on Saturday afternoon.

for more information visit  <this link is no longer available>

 The Moggill Creek Catchment Group annual photography competition is nearly here. Photographs must be submitted on Saturday October 24th so you have just one weekend left to take that winning shot.

 Information on the 2015 Photography Competition and entry forms, including the Schools Category, are available for you to download on <this link is no longer available>.

Thursday 15 October 10 am- 12 Talk at the Cottage: “Why record Wildlife Sightings” by Brent Smith.
“A bird in a record is worth two in the bush”
What Brent will be talking about is how easy it can be to find out what lives in your local area and how valuable it can be to record the wildlife that you see in your area. He will be showing examples of what information is available on wildlife, how to find this information and where people are interested, how they can add to our understanding of the local environment.

Brent can explain how ehp Spot the Wildlife and collect the data. He has a background in zoo keeping, wildlife management, construction environmental management and works for ehp, but this talk is from his private passionate interest in having everyone, not just scientists, recording data relevant to wildlife and the environment.

Contact Dale Borgelt on 3374 1035 or [email protected] to book your place if you can come to this most interesting and informative talk and demo by Brent Smith about recording wildlife sightings

MCCG is looking for a volunteer website coordinator to join our team. So, if you enjoy working with computers, have an interest in local environmental matters and would like to have some fun with a like-minded group of people in a well-established community conservation group, we’d love to hear from you!

You can read more about the role in this document.

If you are interested, please contact the MCCG Secretary on 3374 1518 or [email protected].

On Sunday morning  6th Sept, 65 people braved the 4:30am start (fortunately not too cold this year!) to see if they could spot a platypus.  A total of 46 sites were surveyed along both Moggill Creek and Gold Creek (Upper and Lower).  Dr Chris Hosking and her team of willing helpers did a great job of organising everyone, and conducting them to their observation posts at various spots along the creeks so that we were all in position by 5:15am, before the sun appeared.

There were 11 confirmed sightings this year, mostly along the lower reaches of Moggill creek and mid-Gold Creek.  You can see a short video of one of the sightings here – thanks to Debra Miller and Tim Vanlint.

The team of observers enjoyed a great breakfast at the Brookfield Showgrounds, with an informative talk by UQ Honours student Tamielle Brunt on her platypus research.  Wildlife Queensland also kindly brought along an informative display, including a very well preserved platypus for people to see ‘up close’!

For a map of the observation spots, and further information on survey findings, see the Platypus Survey page.

A big thank you to all volunteers and to Chris Hosking and her team, not forgetting the providers of the breakfast!

The Annual MCCG Kids Day at the Cottage on Sunday 7th June 2015 was a great success, with attendance of over 400!

Presenters were busy the whole time with popular attractions and activities for enthusiastic youngsters, watched by equally enthusiastic family.

The Presenters, all with popular activities, were:

• John Stanisic, The Snail Whisperer;
• Geoff Monteith, insect expert;
• Jan Blok, expert on native plant ID using a key;
• Gordon Grigg and his Random Curiosities;
• Melissa Ballantyne, standing in for Tony Goodrich, with native stingless bees;
• Andrew Wilson with native seedling potting;
• Deborah Craig with pottery, leather and seed jewellery making;
• Carolyn Parsons with possum finger-puppet making;
• Martin Fingland with his great collection of native animals and reptiles.

MCCG is grateful to all our presenters who give so freely of their time, and thanks them all for agreeing to present again next year (They are booked for Sunday 29th May 2016).
Martin Fingland was almost overwhelmed by the size and spread of the audience which exceeded the ability of our sound system to reach the edges.  Next year we’ve booked him for the whole time from 10am -12.30pm so that he can present smaller shows in a marquee. (He has never seen so many kids at once.)
Then there was our wonderful team of sausage sizzlers, Warren and Julie Hoey, Richard Woodhead and John Crowley trying manfully to keep up with demand.

A great day was had by all, and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year …