You are not connected. The newsletter may include some user information, so they may not be displayed correctly.

Merri e-News - May 2020

Merri e-News - May 2020
This email contains graphics, so if you don't see them, click here to view it in your browser

Merri E-News

May 2020

Newsletter of the Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC)

Galada Tamboore Chris Clarke smallIf you want to know about our community events please subscribe to our events emails. You'll be notified of upcoming activities. 

Access our webinars

Missed one of our webinars?  Recordings and related material are available on our Digital Resources page.

  

2019 Annual Report cover webCheck out Merri Creek Management Committee's recent achievements by reading our latest Annual Report. Here's a few snapshots for the year:

  • 1,132 volunteers provided hands-on help;
  • 6,192 people participated in environmental education activities;
  • we delivered 313 community events and school-based sessions;
  • we partnered with 85 organisations;
  • we worked with 30 clients and funding bodies;
  • our financial bottom line was again positive!

 

Bat detector spectogramIn mid-February 2020, community volunteers and Merri Creek Management Committee staff bravely ventured out after a rainy afternoon to Merri Park in Northcote for the final nest box monitoring session for the season. Thirty-two nest boxes were installed in trees in Merri Park in September 2019. The group was on the lookout for microbats, in particular Gould’s Wattled Bat and the White-striped Free-tail Bat, both of which use hollows and, potentially, nest boxes. Both types of microbat are thought to be in the area. 

 

 

pesticide detectives samplingThe ecological effects of pesticides in waterways was explored as part of an exciting citizen science project called Pesticide Detectives in 2019. This federally funded program is a collaboration between RMIT University and citizen science volunteers. 

 

Perons tree frog CR Craig LuptonSixteen participants enjoyed exploring nocturnal nature at the Alphington wetlands in late December 2019, with the help of staff from Merri Creek Management Committee and the City of Yarra. The wetlands are nestled beside the Yarra River in Alphington. 

Participants learned to recognise local frogs by their calls and collected data using the Melbourne Water Frog Census app. The highlight of the evening was hearing at least three Peron’s tree frogs (Litoria peronii) calling from the wetlands The last time Peron’s tree frog was recorded in the City of Yarra was more than 25 years ago, in 1994. (photo by Craig Lupton, City of Yarra). 

 

Leptoplebiidae MayflyNine keen volunteers helped collect important citizen science data on waterbug diversity on the Plenty River as part of the November 2019 Waterbug Blitz. 

MCMC's Waterwatch Coordinator worked with Waterbug guru, John Gooderham, to help participants collect and identify waterbugs from three Plenty River sites - the Gorge in Mernda, near the Whittlesea township, and upstream of the township at Wildwood Rd.

 

 

 

Powerful Owl with Ring tail 17 April 2020 1b in Fairfield by Craig LuptonA female Powerful Owl has been spotted with a Common ring-tail possum in her claws, not far from the Merri Parklands. Craig Lupton, Senior Biodiversity Officer, at Yarra City Council, photographed the bird near the Yarra River in  Fairfield on 16 April 2020. Craig said: "She’ll sit on it [the possum] until dusk, devour it, then fly off into the night to continue looking for a mate and foraging."  

As an apex predator, this urban Powerful Owl commonly feeds on Ring-tail possums, young Brush-tail possums, and quite possibly Grey-headed flying foxes and some species of day birds. It's inspiring to see these birds utilising our precious urban bushland areas.

 

Litter Workshop presenting actionsTen community members gave up their Sunday to participate in a litter workshop, jointly run by Friends of Merri Creek and Merri Creek Management Committee, in late November 2019. The aims of the workshop were to:  

-  Learn about the current litter problem in Merri Creek and the source of this litter;

-  Come up with actions participants could undertake, personally and with their social connections, to reduce litter coming into the creek.

 
Merri Creek Management Committee. 2 Lee St, East Brunswick, Victoria, Australia 3057  (view map in new window )
Phone:(03) 9380 8199     Email:
© Merri Creek Management Committee
Do you want to receive email notifications of Merri Creek events? {modify|itemid:1489}Modify your Subscription{/modify}
Not interested any more? Unsubscribe from all emails from MCMC
Have you been forwarded this newsletter and you would like to subscribe? Its free!
Go to http://mcmc.org.au/get-involved/subscribe