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View Newsletter South East Queensland JULY 2012 Volume 6 Number 3 Newsletter of the Land for Wildlife Program South East Queensland ISSN 1835-3851 CONTENTS 1 Motion sensor cameras capture our wildlife 2 Editorial and contacts 3 Fauna Vignette 4 Weed Profi le: Busy Lizzie (Impatiens) The Noisy Pitta (above) is a colourful Motion sensor rainforest bird that specialises in eating 5 Fauna Profi le: cameras capture rainforest snails and was caught on fi lm at Room for Rent (for the a Land for Wildlife property in Logan. These Australian Owlet-nightjar) our wildlife Mountain Brushtail Possums (bobucks) shown below were photographed at night uite a number of fauna monitoring near Toowoomba. 6-7 Our Wondrous Flying: Qcameras have been set-up around Mammals (Part 2): SEQ on Land for Wildlife properties and on Flying Foxes and people Council reserves. Some of the data received If you would like to share wildlife pictures to date has been fascinating, showing that 8-9 Property Profi le: that you have taken on your property, there is a lot more activity occurring during or have any tips on fauna monitoring Partnerships in Ecological daylight hours than anticipated. Some data techniques, or ways to capture images of has been especially rewarding for property Restoration (the GCCC’s animals at night, please contact your local owners who have put eff ort into retaining VCA program) Land for Wildlife Offi cer. and restoring habitat for certain animals, and they are now seeing wildlife using 10-11 Fauna Profi le: these areas. Article continued on page 15. Crakes and Rails of SEQ 12 Letters to the Editor: % How to deter window attacking kookaburras % The advance of Cat’s Claw Creeper 13 Book Reviews 14 The Carbon Farming Initiative 16 A New Quoll Record for SEQ Published by SEQ Catchments, through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country editorial ext month marks my eighth year in this This edition has a bit of a bird and bat focus Njob. Almost unheard of by modern day with great articles on our little-known chop-and-change standards. A few Land for nocturnal owlet nightjar and the six species Land for Wildlife Wildlife Offi cers in SEQ beat my tenure and of rarely seen crakes and rails. I aspire to Extension Offi cers we have about 200 members who joined take photos as impressive as the ones the program back in 1998 and are still in the shown in this article by Todd Burrows. South East Queensland program. About 200 new members join the It is rare that weeds or pest animals SEQ Land for Wildlife program annually and suddenly “disappear” from our Brisbane City Council it is nice to be a part of something that is environment. I can think of house sparrows All enquiries, 3403 8888 still as relevant today as it was when it fi rst and the prickly pear as two examples; both Jenny Staples Anna Barnes started. of which have declined signifi cantly due to Cody Hochen Scott Sumner I recently purchased a SLR camera and its known (cactoblastis) and unknown reasons. Peter Hayes Tony Mlynarik arrival has sparked a surprising level of Nick Clancy provides us with another Catherine Madden delight and a necessity to learn about all species, Impatiens, a previously common Gold Coast City Council those dials and buttons usually ignored on environmental weed, now hardly seen at Darryl Larsen, 5582 8896 cameras. With a professional photographer all. Lexie Webster, 5582 8344 who knew exactly how to use his camera, The backpage depicts a photo of SEQ’s Todd Burrows, 5582 9128 I recently visited several Land for Wildlife most endangered mammal. Although this properties to capture images of properties Ipswich City Council specimen was found dead, I take hope and their owners. After such days I know Andrew Bailey, 3810 6633 from this fi nding as it indicates that we still exactly why I have worked here for eight Stephani Grove, 3810 7173 have enough habitat to support this top years. predator. Lockyer Valley Regional Council The Land for Wildlife program seems Kaori van Baalen, 5462 0376 Thank you to those Land for Wildlife to do so much more than off er nature members who contributed stories and I Logan City Council conservation advice. It is one of the am always delighted to receive images or Lyndall Rosevear, 3412 4860 only extension programs still off ered by articles from our readers. Stay warm this Nicole Walters, 3412 4859 governments and gives some landholders chilly winter and I hope you enjoy this a sense of connection with other like- Rachel Booth, 3412 5321 edition. minded landholders and verifi es that Rebecca Condon, 3412 4979 other landholders and agencies value Moreton Bay Regional Council “messy”, “unkept”, “grassy”, “shrubby” and Danielle Crawford, 5433 2240 “unproductive” areas of bushland. Some Deborah Metters Clinton Heyworth, 5433 2351 landholders just like the greenery and others Land for Wildlife Redland City Council have expert ecological knowledge, but they Regional Coordinator Maree Manby, 3820 1106 are all contributing to the protection of our SEQ Catchments native wildlife. So thank you. Scenic Rim Regional Council Keith McCosh, 5540 5436 Landholder Registrations, Land for Wildlife SEQ - 1/7/2012 Somerset Region Trevor Page, 5424 4000 Registered Working Towards Total Area under Total Area Retained Michelle Ledwith, 5422 0516 Properties Registration Restoration Sunshine Coast Council 2905 702 53,759ha 4,367 ha Alan Wynn, 5439 6477 Dave Burrows, 5485 0229 Ed Surman, 5475 7358 Marc Russell, 5475 7345 Forward all Letters to the Editor, Land for Wildlife South East Queensland is Nick Clancy, 5439 6433 Fauna Vignettes and My Little Corner a quarterly publication distributed free of charge to members of the Land for Wildlife Stephanie Reif, 5475 7395 contributions to: program in South East Queensland. Toowoomba Regional Council The Editor Print run - 4895 All enquiries, 4688 6611 Land for Wildlife Newsletter Back copies from 2007 - 2012 SEQ Catchments available for download from PO Box 13204 www.seqcatchments.com.au/LFW.html George Street QLD 4003 Back copies from 1998 - 2006 Burnett Mary Region 07 3211 4404 available upon request to the Editor. [email protected] ISSN 1835-3851 Gympie, Fraser Coast, Land for Wildlife is a voluntary program North & South Burnett, that encourages and assists landholders Bundaberg and to provide habitat for wildlife on their Baffl e Creek Regions properties. For all regions contact the Burnett Mary Regional Group, 4181 2999 www.seqcatchments.com.au/LFW.html 2 Land for Wildlife South East Queensland July 2012 FREEFR BOOKS SEQSE Catchments is giving away free copiesco of Mangroves to Mountains revisedre edition RRP $50.00 to selecteds contributors of published FaunaF Vignettes and My Little Corner fauna articlesa in 2012. Limit of two free books per newsletter edition. Please send your article and/or vignette photographs to the Editor (details pg. 2) Hollow, Snakes and Nightjars ur property fronts a saltwater creek nightjar and it did not seem worried Othat has mangrove covered banks. at all by the python. In the past, I have Occasionally, I explore this corridor of noticed that owlet-nightjars will move mangroves for rubbish and wildlife. to another hollow when disturbed. On one excursion I spotted a brushtail I wonder if during the night, owlet- possum in a hollow. After casually nightjars check out a range of hollows passing this hollow on a later date I to make sure there are safe places for noticed it had fi lled with freshwater retreat during the day if they have to from all the recent rain. As I approached fl ee from disturbance. it, I noticed a slight ripple in the water. The sunlight refl ected a pattern I was I guess snakes would be keeping owlet- familiar with – Carpet Python. It was nightjar numbers in check and this coiled into a very tight ball completely would be just part of nature. submerged underwater. I waited for The last time I saw the snake, it was about 15 minutes for it to surface and up on the roof beams in our shed for when it didn’t, I decided to go and get maximum heat. This is also where the my camera. I visited the site a couple of possums live. I have also noticed that times over the next week and noticed owlet-nightjars like to sun themselves in it had moved to another branch and it the afternoon. They move to the edge of had shed its skin. their hollow during the day and it would I emailed a photo of the submerged appear that they pick hollows that face snake (see lower right image) to a west. friend who was a reptile breeder and Amanda Johnston he informed me that snakes often soak Land for Wildlife member in water to loosen their skin before Ransome, Brisbane shedding and also to kill mites. He also said that Carpet Pythons can stay underwater for up to an hour. Photos right from top: An Australian I went back to the site a week later Owlet-nightjar, Common Brushtail to check on the snake and found it Possum and a Carpet Python entering another hollow 20 metres submerged in water to soften its skin away in a Grey Mangrove tree. This tree prior to shedding. All three animals were had three tall hollow trunks and the photographed utilising hollows in old mangrove trees. snake had entered through one of these hollows. I noticed that the hollow above Photo below: The Carpet Python after it was occupied by an Australian Owlet- shedding its skin. Land for Wildlife South East Queensland July 2012 3 weed profi le Now you see me, now you don’t: Busy Lizzie and the amazing disappearing act usy Lizzie or Impatiens (Impatiens in urban bushland throughout South Landholders who were battling with this Bwalleriana) belongs to the East Queensland (SEQ).
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