Merri Creek Management Committee

Weed Orchid SWOT2 1 webCongratulations to the Friends of Merri Creek  (FoMC) for their success in gaining the three new innovative grants. These projects will help to improve the environs of Merri Creek and tributaries, and will connect community to local nature in tangible ways. FoMC acknowledges the critical support of MCMC in preparing the project plans and grant applications. MCMC and the Friends will work together to deliver these exciting projects. 

WW Dec 17MCMC led two nights of frog discovery along Edgars Creek and the Edwardes Lake wetland in Reservoir in October and November. The excursions included educational games such as a frog quiz, waterbug discovery and frog bingo. In total 40 participants heard 11 frogs calling from two local species: the Pobblebonk and the Common Eastern Froglet. All frog calls were recorded as part of Melbourne Water's citizen science Frog Census and uploaded via the Frog Census app.

We often think of using balloons when we mark a special occasion. But if used outdoors, balloons and their ribbons and clips can end up in waterways and oceans, harming birds and other aquatic animals through ingestion and entanglement.

Balloons can be fun. But they don’t belong outside. Merri Creek Management Committee has signed on as an official suppporter of Zoos Victoria's When Balloon's Fly, Seabirds Die campaign. We won't use balloons at any events and we're encouraging others to do the same. You can  take the pledge at the Zoos Victoria website.

Enhanced Pic of Fantail Cuckoo v2

Has thirty years of restoration of the Merri Creek made a difference? Woodland birds think so!  Friends of Merri Creek quarterly birdwatch data give us a wildlife ‘census’ at the Merri Creek woodlands in Fawkner and Reservoir. These woodland have expanded by thirty hectares in thirty years. Up to 33 woodland birds now use the tree canopy, understorey shrubs, native groundcover and sparse leaf-litter strewn ground.

VicRoads land at McBryde Hood StreetsMoreland Council has joined the community in calling for a parcel of VicRoads land by Merri Creek in Fawkner to be retained as public open space. The land is zoned Public Park & Recreation Zone (PPRZ) and is actively used by the community and wildlife. VicRoads has declared the land 'surplus' to its requirements; the majority of the land is headed for a rezoning before it is sold for residential development.  Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC) is calling on the state government to show leadership to protect the land, a vital part of the Merri Creek corridor.

Resin Bee males croppedLessons from a suburban front yard:  
Over summer, a fascinating array of insect life visited the wildlife garden at the Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC) depot in East Brunswick. Their presence in the garden illustrates some valuable principles of wildlife gardening. See the pdf article.

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