Samford Eco-Corridor | Community
Samford Eco-Corridor
Phone: +61 404 169 826
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25.01.2022 We have had a great response to our offer to run guided bird walks during National Bird Week 2020 as part of our community engagement program. Our experienced birdwatchers (all members of Birds Queensland) will be running four walks: on Monday 19, Tuesday 20, Thursday 22 and Sunday 25 October. Confirmed attendees (who will be notified by email from coordinator Peter Storer) should meet in the large carpark next to the netball courts in Samford Parklands at 6.45 am to sign on ...for a 7 am start. Please bring a pair of binoculars, and wear sunscreen, insect repellent, a hat and sturdy walking shoes. We still have a few places available on all four days, particularly on Sunday 25 October. Please email [email protected] if you are interested. Our birdwatchers carried out the latest monthly bird survey on Thursday 8 October when they recorded 60 species in just over 2 hours. Because of the prolonged dry conditions, the South Pine River is not flowing so waterbirds were rather scarce, with just Pacific Black Ducks and an Intermediate Egret sighted, but Pale-vented Bush Hens were calling from the riverside vegetation. Bush birds were also in low numbers, but overall diversity was still good, including Golden Whistlers, Grey Fantail (photo), White-browed and Large-billed Scrubwrens, Brown Thornbill and White-throated Treecreeper. The highlights of the morning were both raptors (bird of prey): a pair of Brown Goshawks soaring high overhead; and a pale Grey Goshawk (photos) being mobbed by a magpie and a woodswallow. Thanks to Sue Lee for the photos.
24.01.2022 Bushcare 13 September We had a wonderful turn out of volunteers on a perfect afternoon for bushcare. Sadly, the rain promised earlier in the weekend failed to eventuate so the most urgent task was to water our new Lomandra and Dianella border on the Eco-trail and to give our Richmond Birdwing vines a welcome drink. A team of volunteers followed John's trailer with its 1000 litre water tank filling their watering cans as they went (photos 1 to 4). A second team did some weedin...g along the edge of rainforest revegetation zone P1, removing seeding 'sun weeds' (photos 5 and 6), while Judy swept through the plantings looking for vine weeds (mainly Climbing Asparagus). Yet another team weeded and mulched the edge of the grassy eucalypt woodland on the hillside (photo 7). Our most experienced weeders tackled rampant vine weeds (e.g. Madeira, Dutchman's Pipe) in the adjacent remnant and showed some newcomers the appropriate techniques (photos 8 and 9). We thank all our volunteers for a very productive afternoon and Michael from Council for his cheery guidance. See more
23.01.2022 Bushcare Sunday 9 August On a cool windy afternoon, our hardy volunteers split into two working groups. One team removed 'sun weeds' from the perimeter of the hillside planting and re-mulched some barer areas. A larger group worked in the rainforest remnant tackling a bad infestation of Dutchman's Pipe Vine, Madeira Vine, Neonotonia (we prefer not call it 'Glycine' because there are several dainty native Glycine species that should not be removed) and Ochna. This rehabilitation of the remnant will help to protect our plantings from invasion by these noxious weeds. We thank everyone who contributed to another productive afternoon.
23.01.2022 Bush Care Afternoon Sunday 13 September 2 - 4pm With very little rain since last bushcare we will be weeding and watering this Sunday. We will continue to sweep for weeds in P1, P2 and P3 including around the edges of the plantings. We will continue to tackle Dutchman's Pipe and Madeira Vines in the remnant, which provides a good chance to see natural regeneration first hand.... Watering of the recently planted Lomandras will also be required, as well as lopping any branches. As per the COVID-safe plan, please RSVP via our email or fb so that we can manage our numbers and make sure people are spaced out and working in different areas. We will be following the same procedures as last month with a briefing from Council officer at 2 pm for those who haven't attended a COVID-safe bushcare session. - Unfortunately there will be no afternoon tea until restriction lift. - Please BYO gloves, there will be no sharing. - There is also no sharing of tools or equipment so BYO those as well. Please wear hat, sturdy shoes, sunscreen, insect repellant, and bring a water bottle. There have been a few ticks around so insect repellant is a must. Council will provide this if you don't have any.
16.01.2022 Bushcare 11 October This month's working bee was on a rather hot and breezy Sunday afternoon. The main task was watering our new border of lomandras and dianellas along the western edge of rainforest zones P1 and P2 because there has been no rain on site since they were planted 2 months ago. We also gave our Richmond Birdwing Vines a good drenching and marked their position with large stakes painted in Eco-Corridor blue to make them easier to find (the original orange-painted bamboo stakes have faded). Two smaller teams of volunteers continued dealing with invasive vine weeds in the remnant and re-mulching around the edge of the hillside planting. We thank attendees for another productive afternoon.
16.01.2022 Wild Macadamia Hunt update Last year we collected leaves from a Macadamia tree in Days' Road West Reserve in Wights Mountain, which is one of our main reference sites for the Eco-Corridor rainforest plantings, and submitted them to the Wild Macadamia Hunt run by Healthy Land and Water. The genetic analysis by Southern Cross University is now complete and revealed the following: Species: Macadamia ternifolia (we had correctly identified it) Age: approximately 30 years Nearest ...relatives: Mt Nebo and Samford The full results will be shown on an interactive map on the WMH webpage (www.hlw.org.au/project/the-wild-macadamiahunt). The data will help guide conservation efforts for these threatened species (one the aims of the Eco-Corridor).
14.01.2022 Bird survey Sunday 30 August This month our birdwatchers recorded 59 species and counted 194 individuals. The main highlights were a Varied Triller foraging in revegetation zone P1 and an Australian Hobby zooming past over the treetops beyond the waterhole. Other notable flyovers included Little Lorikeets, a flock of 25 Topknot Pigeons, a lone White-headed Pigeon and Fairy Martins towards the Soccer Club. Unusually, Rufous Fantails outnumbered Grey Fantails on this visit. With the South Pine River no longer flowing after the long dry spell, there were few waterbirds. This month's photos, taken by Peter Storer, are Brown Honeyeater, Brown Cuckoo-dove and Silvereye. The full list and further details can be found here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S72972920.
13.01.2022 Guided bird walks: Thursday and Sunday Our last two guided bird walks, led by Peter Storer and Julie Sarna, also received very positive feedback: " Truly an eye-opening experience!" "Thanks for a great walk this morning! We really appreciated you [both] sharing your knowledge." ... These walks took around 2 hours and the groups recorded 55 species on walk 3 and 56 species on walk 4, so the numbers increased slightly as the week progressed. The eBird lists for each day are below: Highlights of Thursday's walk were seeing an Eastern Whipbird in Lantana on the hillside, a White-breasted Woodswallows mobbing a kookaburra on the tennis lights and 6 Brown Quail foraging on the Eco-Trail. Walk 3: https://ebird.org/checklist/S75196044 Highlights of Sunday's walk were hearing a Pale-vented Bush-hen at the start of the walk, seeing a dozen Topknot Pigeons flying over and getting glimpses of a White-eared Monarch in a large Weeping Lillypilly. Walk 4: https://ebird.org/checklist/S75358652 We hope everyone enjoyed this part of the Eco-Corridor's community engagement and education program. We were asked about useful apps for birdwatching (just search the names): Merlin (free, part of eBird) Morcombe (paid app, with good bird calls) Pizzey and Knight (paid app).
10.01.2022 Spring is here and flowers everywhere are bursting into bloom. The local native plants at the Eco-Corridor are no exception. The pretty bell-like cream flowers of the Wonga Vine put on a striking show in the rainforest remnant, scrambling over trees and shrubs (photo 1). The tubular flowers are visited by small honeyeaters such as the Easten Spinebill. This hardy vine can be used as a groundcover in the garden or can be grown over a trellis or wire fence. The border around t...he revegetated areas of the Eco-Corridor comprises mainly Lomandras, but we have interspersed these with flax-lilies (Dianella species). The dainty blue flowers of the local rainforest-edge species Dianella caerulea are borne on tall spikes above the strappy foliage (photo 2). The flowers attract, and are pollinated by, a wide range of insects. They are followed by bright blue fruit that are edible and make wonderful jam. These hardy plants are not only great for borders, but they also add interest to the understorey and will tolerate a fair amount of shade. They can be mass planted to great effect. Another local species, Dianella longifolia, has more grass-like foliage and even daintier pale blue flowers and will tolerate drier conditions. See more
07.01.2022 FULL UP - Bird walks back by popular demand Our guided bird walks at the Eco-Corridor during National Bird Week in 2019 proved very popular and we’ve been asked a few times during the past year if and when we’ll be running them again, but we were wary of the ever-changing COVID-19 situation. The good news is that NBW in 2020 runs from 19 to 25 October inclusive, so we have decided to hold another series of early morning walks starting at 7 am sharp. To ensure social distanci...ng, the number of attendees per session will be strictly limited. Please send your expressions of interest to [email protected], nominating two days of that week in order of preference (e.g. ‘1. Monday 19 October; 2. Wednesday 21 October’). Make sure you have a pair of binoculars available to bring with you: birdwatching is almost impossible without them. We will try to accommodate as many requests as we can, but it will be on a first come, first served basis. Further details will be in the 16 October edition of The Village Pump and confirmations will be sent by email. Peter Storer's photos are of a few species we are likely to see on the walk: Golden Whistler, Eastern Yellow Robin and Double-barred Finch
06.01.2022 Bushcare 11 October Our next scheduled bushcare afternoon will be from 2 to 4 pm on Sunday 11 October. Please pre-register at [email protected] or via our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/EcoCorridor/) if attending. The activities for the day will be finalised nearer the day, but it looks like we will be watering again if this relentless dry spell continues. We still have plenty of invasive weeds to deal with in the adjacent remnant and we will scan the revegetation zones for any young vine weeds popping up. We may mulch some bare areas on the hill so please bring a wheelbarrow if you would like to help mulch.
04.01.2022 We apologise for this rather late email reminder about our bushcare afternoon from 2 to 4 pm this Sunday. The combination of rain late last month followed by recent heat means that we will have plenty of weeds to deal with. We'll also be re-mulching areas where weed invasion is heavy, such as along the netball court boundary of revegetation zone P2. Bring a wheelbarrow if you can. This is the last official MBRC afternoon for 2020, so we'd like to celebrate the year's achieve...ments with an afternoon tea after 4 pm. Because of the COVID restrictions, sadly we can't supply refreshments to share, so we ask everyone to bring along their own afternoon tea (drinks, snacks etc). We will also outline our provisional plans for the summer months, including the use of contractors, possible early morning working bees and potential fauna surveys. We look forward to thanking our 2020 volunteers for a job well done in what has been a challenging year. See more
03.01.2022 Guided bird walks Monday and Tuesday Our first two guided bird walks, led by Peter Storer and Vernon Kretschmann, were a great success Walk 1: On Monday our walk went for just over 90 minutes with 50 species recorded. Highlights included great views of a male Golden Whistler calling, fleeting views of a Collared Sparrowhawk carrying nest material and seeing Australasian Pipits on the mown hillside and on the road. Thank you Don Biffen for the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and D...ouble-barred Finch photos and, Peter Storer took the photo of the people on walk 1https://ebird.org/checklist/S75066787 Walk 2 on Tuesday morning was also just over 90 minutes, with 49 species recorded. The consistency is remarkable between both walks, although the composition of the eBird list was slightly different in in walk2. Highlights include the flying Pacific Baza being pursued by a magpie, a group of 7 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flying over and close views of Rufous Fantails and Double-barred Finches.: https://ebird.org/checklist/S75116868. Thank you to Di Hodge for the 2 photos of a male Golden Whistler, and one of the male Scarlet Honeyeater and the attendees on walk 2. We look forward to running the third and fourth walks on Thursday and Sunday. Also a big thank you to the unsolicited feedback: "Thanks for a really interesting and informative morning." "Well worth the trip!" [from the Gap] "Thanks to you both, for the informative and enjoyable start to the day." Just a reminder that confirmed attendees should meet in the carpark near the netball courts at 6.45 am for sign on (remember to bring binoculars)
