Dates for the Diary

• Coal Point Progress Committee Meeting 
  
  Mon 8th Dec, Progress Hall 5-6:30pm. No meeting in Jan 2015
• Carols By The Lake: Toronto Foreshore: Tues 9th December 6-9pm. Carols, choirs, fireworks, Santa & market stalls
• Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group : Wed 10th Dec  5-6.30pm @ 23A Amelia St. No meeting in Jan 2015
• Local Landcare in December:
  Carey Bay Wetlands 4th, 11th Threlkeld 4/12/14 with TIN
  No Landcare on 25/12/14 or 1/1/15. Back in the Bush on 8/1/14
• Toronto Greenway Landcare: Every Saturday of the month 7:30am-9:30am between Carey and Cook Streets. Contact Joan for more info 4959 1472
• Seasons Greetings at Gurranba:Thursday 18th Dec 11am-1pm. Like-minded Locals enjoying  lunch. RSVP please to Suzanne, contact details coalpointprogress@gmail.com ...yo ho ho 

Seasons Greetings at Gurranba

An invitation is extended to Progress members, newsletter distributors, interested locals and landcarers to gather together at Gurranba Reserve on Thursday 18^th December from 11am-1pm and share some festive food.

The open air event is an opportunity to sit back and relax and enjoy one of our reserves in the company of like minded locals doing their bit in their own way.

If you’re interested in finding out about what the Threatened Species project has been up to and offer some suggestions for 2015 we’d love to catch up too.

So we can cater sustainably RSVPs are greatly appreciated to Suzanne at coalpointprogress@gmail.com or by phone/sms 0438596741 or on CPPA’s young Facebook page

‘tis the Season to be Jolly

…especially if you’ve recently been recognised for your amazing efforts.

Some extraordinary locals have been receiving accolades for ‘a job well done’ both regionally and statewide.

Locals, Mark & Leanne Shields, of Shields Auto Repairs took out the Automotive Services category of the 2014 Hunter Local Business Awards. The tirelessly working dynamic duo managed to mobilise enough of their 2000 business supporters to get more nominations submitted in one week than it took most to get in the eleven week nomination period. An indication of the strength and loyalty of their customer base that has grown from word of mouth due to their mechanical expertise, enthusiasm, friendliness and honesty.

The Tidy Towns crew, Kelly Hoare and Lyn Pacoe pulled together another overall win for Toronto in the Tidy Towns Population Category D (4,001 – 10,000). Congratulations to all the drivers of the projects and the passengers that support them.

There was a Tidy Town triumph in the Environmental Education section for the Toronto Fire Station’s Model Fire Retardant Native Garden thanks to the amazing efforts of Fire Station Commander Tim Brown and Landcaring legend Lois Simpson. 

There was also a win in Litter Reduction Award for the Tossers Can be Binners program spearheaded by Steve Dewar and supported by all the converted tossers in town. The Lake Macquarie Light Rail received a Highly Commended award so here’s to you Choo.  

The combined efforts of enthusiastic locals implementing great ideas is what makes our neck of the woods such a great place to be. Yeah team Toronto!

Climate Change Report Findings

What did the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have to say when they released their most recent report on 1st November?

The environmental news blog Grist provides a compact 10 point summary

1. We humans really, truly are responsible for climate change… and ignoring that fact doesn’t make it less true. “Human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history,” the report states. The atmospheric concentration of key greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — is “unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years,” the report warns, and our fossil-fuel driven economies and ever-increasing population are to blame.

2. Climate change is already happening. Each of the past three decades has been warmer than the last, and warmer than any decade since we started keeping records. Sea levels are rising. Arctic ice cover is shrinking. Crop yields are changing — more often than not, getting smaller. It has been getting wetter, and storms and heat waves are getting more intense.

3. … and it is going to get far worse: “Heat waves will occur more often and last longer … extreme precipitation events will become more intense and frequent in many regions. The ocean will continue to warm and acidify, and global mean sea level to rise,” the report states. If we stick to our current path, we could see 3.7 to 4.8 degrees Celsius of warming — or even more — by the end of the century.

4. Much of recent warming has been in the ocean. About 90 per cent of the energy that has gone into the climate system since 1971 went into the ocean. That means a warmer, expanding ocean, which fuels stronger storms. It also means rising sea levels and eroding coastlines.

5. The ocean is also becoming more acidic. By taking in so much of the carbon dioxide that humans have been spitting out since the industrial revolution, the ocean has become 26 per cent more acidic and its pH level is falling. Scientists think this could have widespread and severe effects on marine life — increasingly, ocean acidification is being referred to as the “other CO2 problem.”

6. Climate change will hit developing nations particularly hard, but we are all vulnerable. Climate change will make food systems more volatile, exacerbate health problems, displace people, weaken countries’ infrastructures, and fuel conflict. It will touch every area of life. Economic growth will slow as temperatures warm, new poverty traps will be created, and we’ll find that poverty cannot be eliminated without first tackling climate change.

7. Plants and animals are even more vulnerable than we are. As climates shift, entire ecosystems will be forced to move, colliding with one another. Many plants and small animals won’t be able to move quickly enough to keep up, if global warming marches forward unabated, and will go extinct.

8. We must switch mostly to renewables by 2050, and phase out fossil fuels by 2100. To avoid the most damaging and potentially irreversible impacts of climate change (e.g., from the report: “substantial species extinction, global and regional food insecurity, consequential constraints on common human activities, and limited potential for adaptation”), we’ll need to make sure our greenhouse gas emissions are cut severely by the middle of this century. We should aim for “near zero emissions of CO2 and other long-lived GHGs by the end of the century.”

9. We already have the answers we need to tackle climate change. We have the necessary technologies available, and economic growth will not be strongly affected if we take action, the report argues. As the cliché goes, all it takes is the will to act. But we must act in unison, the report states: “Effective mitigation will not be achieved if individual agents advance their own interests independently. Cooperative responses, including international cooperation, are therefore required to effectively mitigate Green house gas emissions and address other climate change issues.”

10. This dire report is decidedly conservative. So the actual effects of climate change could be even more severe, and even stranger, than what the IPCC describes.

Conversations about the CZMP

At a recent Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) workshop the participants were informed that Lake Macquarie will be one of the most impacted cities in NSW by climate change through extreme storm flooding, permanent inundation and coastal erosion & recession. The plan covers the Coastline, the Channel and The Estuary which includes the catchment and is where we live.

The CZMP outlines a ‘No regrets’ approach aimed at building resilience and improving knowledge and preparedness for other actions.

For existing developments the strategy is PAR

Protect: seawalls, beach nourishment, dune stabilisation, vegetation, groynes and offshore breakwaters

Accommodate: retrofit. redesign. rebuild, evacuation planning, acquire and re-lease

Retreat: sacrifice land, relocate, buy back/leaseback, acquisition

For future development an AAA strategy is proposed

Avoid: prohibit/refuse, fill to raise land

Accommodate: siting requirements, design standards, evacuation planning

Accept: business as usual, sacrifice/abandon

At the community workshop participants were given the opportunity to put forward and discuss issues they felt needed attention in the Coastal Zone Management Plan and an opportunity to prioritise some of the 122 proposed actions.

Council has a Have Your Say website to garner community input and the guiding documents are also available on LMCC’s website and for viewing at the library.

Our narrow peninsula community has relatively high proportion of foreshore compared to many areas in the City. It would be worthwhile taking a bit of time over summer to make your priorities heard on the Coastal Zone Management Plan, this document will be guiding the development of foreshore lands into the future.

Have you got a Bush Fire Survival Plan in place?

Summer is definitely here and things are heating up.

If a bushfire threatened your home would you and your family leave early or stay and defend your well prepared home? This is the first of many things to consider as detailed in the RFS Bush Fire Survival Plan which guides you through some key decisions that may need to be made

1. How will you PREPARE. ACT. SURVIVE?

2. Will you Leave Early or will you Stay and Defend?

3. What will your triggers be to act?

4. What will your back-up plan be?

The Survival Plan has lots of useful information like :

Equipment that is handy to have on hand: such as ladders, spades/shovels, mops & buckets, hoses long enough to reach every part of your house, 

Things to do to prepare your home

• Cut back overhanging trees
• Check the condition of the roof and replace damaged tiles
• Clean leaves from the roof and gutters
• Plant a fire retardant garden that can act as an ember curtain
• Consider installing a static Water Supply sign if you have a water tank or swimming pool
• Enclose underfloor areas
• Store wood well away from the house
• Check the condition of external wall and seal gaps
• Have a non-combustible door mat
• Remove and store any flammable items away from the house
• Make sure the pressure relief valve on LPG cylinders face outwards so flame is not directed at the house
• Keep mulch away from the house and grass short

The Toronto Fire Station on Ridge Road has lots of brochures about various aspects of keeping you and your property safe. There is also the award winning fire retardant garden, showcasing ideas for planting your very own ember curtain of dense, moisture-retaining foliage, as well as a selection of plants that have less volatile oils, do not drop large amounts of debris and have smooth bark, highlighting that we can have a garden and live safely in a bushland suburb.

Waste Not Want Not

Steve Dewar recently ventured oversees and couldn’t help but notice how waste is being treated, he provided the following summary.

Most South American countries are way ahead of Australia when it comes to waste and recycling. You can return bottles to point-of-sale for refunds, they are phasing out plastic bags and waste containers are common alongside containers for recycling and organic waste, even in the poorest country, Bolivia. 

Here is the plastic bag phase-out for Argentina: Limit 3 bags till March 2015; 2 bags till June; 1 bag till August and Sept 1 2015 no more bags will be given out!

In a publicity pamphlet for Argentina-they explained how long it takes things to degrade in the environment: Paper-6 months; cigarette butts-1 to 2 years; chewing gum-5 years; wine cartons-5 years; tin cans-10 years; plastic bags-10 to 20 years; leather-25 to 40 years; plastic bottles-100 years; aluminium cans-60 to 100 years; plastic foam-never; glass-never; batteries-highly contaminating over years. 

Something we can all do is sort our waste and remember to take our reusable bags shopping…leave some in the boot and you’ll never be without one.

What would a low carbon low waste Christmas look like?

Do you know where your Feline Friend is?

As the holidays approach caring for our pets goes hand in hand in caring for the local wildlife. 

Bushland blocks can be a killer kitties fast-food service so if you’re filling a birdbath make sure you’re not filling your felines tummy as well.

According to the Australia Wildlife Conservancy a cat can take 5-30 animals a night. Keeping your cat in at night can reduce the number of kills it makes by half. 

The LT Creek Sustainable Neighbourhood Group was concerned about the impact of carousing kitties on the local wildlife and has created a brochure to encourage residents to protect our fauna and responsibly care for their feline friends.

The brochure outlines the many benefits to keeping kitty under control; they avoid being road-kill, or stolen, getting into fights and remain healthier.

Also covered are general care tips, legal responsibilities, cat and wildlife management and desexing advice the brochure can be downloaded from the Sustainable Neighbourhoods website. 

Neighbours Noticing Nature

Intrepid nature noticer, Fiona Hawke whilst at Birriban Reserve “found a decapitated rabbit. The innards had been cleared out, apparently through the neck. There was a feather attached to some gizzard near the carcass”. Could this be the Powerful Owl on the prowl again? …and some aquatic sightings, in the last month I have three times seen from my kayak a seal about 50m off Threlkeld Reserve.”

Whilst we may not have noticed any Powerful Owls breeding this season our local Wildlife carer Catherine Wroe  “saw an osprey and her offspring fly over today !! (19/11/14)

Two very large white birds, possibly Eastern Great Egrets, according to the birds in backyards birdfinder, decided to perch above Puntei Creek at Carey Bay Wetlands and keep an eye on the landcarers for a while on 20/11/14.

During the ongoing hunt for Tetratheca juncea along the West Ridge an amazing grove of ferns and Macrozamias (Cycads) was stumbled upon…it was so different to the majority of the vegetation along Coal Point it was peacefully beautiful.

Whilst the exact identity of the many Macrozamias is yet to be confirmed if they were Macrozamia flexuosa these are an at risk species with an estimated total population of only between 2,500 and 10,000 mature individuals and declining. The major threat to this unusual cycad comes from over-collecting and land clearing. This cycad has leaves that are bent alternately in opposite directions. The other identity option could be Macrozamia spiralis which has a twisted shaft. Both  Macrozamias have been recorded locally.

Greenway Landcare

The Toronto area of the local Sustainable Neighbourhood group extends into Toronto and are keen to seek supporters  for Landcaring along the Greenway- every Saturday morning of the month from  7.30am-9.30am. Carey St to Cook St For more information and landcaring locations contact Joan Steele e: steelaljo@gmail.com  mob 0425201322, ph 49591472

ADOPT A LOCAL PIECE OF GREENERY

While out for a walk around our Coal Point - Carey Bay reserves, why not choose a newly-planted tree or shrub to adopt and share some Christmas care.

Just take some extra water in your drink bottle and give your special plant a drink each time you pass. This simple gesture will help it survive and thrive over the heat of summer and will hearten our Landcarers, who spend hours trying to keep water up to the new plants over Summer.

Dates for the Diary

• Coal Point Progress Committee Meeting : Monday 10th Nov. Progress Hall 4-6pm
• Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group : Wednesday 12th Nov. The Hub, 97 The Boulevarde 5-6.30pm 
• Landcare Every Thursday in November -Ambrose St, Yural Reserve and West Ridge.An expert bush regenerator and volunteers lend a hand. Contact Robyn for details 4959 1507
• Yoga at Gurranba: Saturday 22nd Nov. 9.30-10:30 , Free, All Welcome 
• Carols By The Lake: Toronto Foreshore: Tuesday 9th December 6-9pm. Carols, choirs, fireworks, Santa & market stalls
• Nativity on Display: Thurs 4th-Sun 7th Dec Toronto Uniting Church. 150 items of the Christmas story. Free
• Toronto Greenway Landcare: 2nd Sunday of the month 9am-noon between Carey and Cook Streets. Contact Joan for more info 4959 1472
• Online Calendar: coalpointprogress.blogspot.com.au

Yoga at Gurranba

Local yoga teacher Tracy Hewson, is offering a free yoga session in Gurranba Reserve on  Saturday 22nd November from 9.30 - 10.30. 

Bring your own mat if you have one. Women, men and couples are welcome. Contact Tracy for more info  0412 231 461

Gurranba Reserve is located between 306 and 316 Skye Point Road. There is ample parking, toilets and it is a leash free area.

Gurranba means ‘place of brambles’ although you won’t find many there now. Landcarers have removed Lantana and Mother of Millions from the foreshore zone which has enabled the Casuarinas and Themeda grass to return and flourish.

A Dash for Cash for Containers

National Recycling Week is upon us and apart from keeping the yellow bin’s contents recycling friendly, there’s an opportunity to take one more step to make more space in the bin and get involved the Cash for Containers Campaign.

From the Boomerang Alliances website ... 

The last push is on for the introduction of a 10c container deposit scheme. The NSW government is promising to make a decision

by the end of 2014.  

You can make a difference with a personal note to Premier Mike Baird saying you want a 10c refundable deposit on all beverage containers (plastic, glass bottles and aluminium cans) to reduce litter and increase recycling.

Australia currently wastes 8 billion containers every year – and we all know where many end up – on our roads, parks, beaches and in the ocean.  It is time to implement a proven solution.

“The benefits of a modern CDS...include – a doubling in recycling; new network of drive through recycling centres for a range of products servicing households and commercial sector; growing the recycling chain and local processing; and improved beverage and retailer marketing.  

A modern CDS lifts Australia’s recycling and anti-litter efforts to a new sustainable level.  All the other options on the table require industry or government funding – piecemeal, often tokenistic and under risk of being withdrawn as budgets tighten or priorities change. “

Make a difference with a Mo

The Movember Foundation seeks to change the face of men’s health through many different programs aimed at improving the health outcomes of the men in 21 countries. 

Priority issues are prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health. In addition, the Awareness & Education project seeks to educate and inform men on health issues men face. More information is at: http://au.movember.com/programs

There are several locals home grown mos on the go and an online community of mo-bros and mo-sistas supporting the mo-hood.

The recently re-elected Chair of the Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group, Nico Marcar is participating in his 1st Movember campaign and donations to Nico’s Mo are for a worthy cause.

TASNG Annual Report from The Chair Nico Marcar

The AGM for the local Sustainable Neighbourhood group was held on 9/10/14 and a new Committee elected

Chair                          Nico Marcar

Assistant Chair            Suzanne Pritchard

Secretary                    Lois Simpson

Treasurer                    Tricia Hunt

Assistant Sec.             Tony Stephens

Alliance Rep.              Steve Dewar

Once again, our achievements are due to the hard work of our committee and project leaders. Special thanks to John Gill for the rigour and enthusiasm he has shown as Secretary since the inception of TASNG (sadly, John will not be nominating this year and he will be greatly missed) and to Steve Dewar for again representing TASNG at the Alliance meetings. Sadly Era Wellsmore (our former treasurer) died in June from a prolonged fight with cancer; Era made a great contribution to TASNG, the Coal Point Progress Association (CPPA) and the Toronto Tidy Towns Association.

We have continued to work closely with the Sustainability Alliance of Council (thanks to Rachelle and other Council staff) to consolidate our group, deliver our projects and advertise our activities through the Council website and pamphlets. We also maintain an excellent working relationship with the Coal Point Progress Association (CPPA), thanks to Suzanne Pritchard, and the Toronto Tidy Towns Association, thanks to Kelly Hoare and Lynn Pascoe.

There are currently three teams operating:

1. Recycling and Waste Management (Steve Dewar leader)

2. Cycling and Pedestrian (Nico Marcar leader)

3. Landcare (Robyn Gill leader); this team is closely linked with the CPPA landcare project.

In addition, we continue to maintain a close association with the Community Gardens project (Chris Murphy leader), which operates at The Hub (formerly the Toronto Senior Citizens Association), Toronto.

We successfully completed two community projects this year;

(i)             'The Tossers Can Be Binners' project which aimed to minimise littering near Woolworths and Aldi and surrounds through the installation of bins, recycling facilities, signs, commissioning of a mural on a wall of the carpark facing The Boulevarde and graffiti cleaning on the stairwell of the parking station (with grants from Combined Clubs via Toronto Worker's Club and Keep Australia Beautiful), Steve Dewar leader and

(ii)            A 'Fire Retardant Garden Demonstration' project with an 80 m sq garden of fire retardant plants established at the Toronto Fire Station (with a grant from Council and with enthusiastic support from the firefighters!), Lois Simpson leader. Both projects garnered considerable community support and publicity, including at their launches.

We have also been proactive with requests to Council for improving cycling facilities at Fennel Bay Bridge and locations in the Toronto area. We continue our interest to interact with Council on improvements to cycling and pedestrian access, further discussions on the next phase of the Toronto Streetscape Master Plan and community consultations on specific DAs.

TASNG Landcare

The Toronto Area of the Sustainable Neighbourhood group encompasses Toronto and supporters are sought for Landcaring along the Greenway- 2^nd Sunday of the month from 9am-noon. Carey St to Cook St contact Alex steelaljo@gmail.com or Joan Steele 0425 201 322, 4959 1472

CZMP up for Comments

Lake Macquarie Council has released the Draft Lake Macquarie Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP). It describes a 10 year plan that defines the nature and extent of coastal risks and ecological health issues for the coastline (beaches), the estuary (lake & catchment) and Swansea Channel. Our area is classified as part of the estuary.

Some useful reads include the Summary Draft Framework for implementation and Part B-Estuary.  “The primary goal of the Lake Macquarie CZMP is to develop: ‘Resilient coastal landscapes and communities.’ 

The term ‘resilience’ describes the capacity of systems (ecological or human) to absorb or adapt to change, such as external shocks and internal pressures, but retain fundamental functions and relationships.”

The CZMP covers a lot of issues that have relevance to our community. An Urgency and Importance matrix was used to develop a list of prioritised threats/issues. This is one factor that will be used in determining what actions will be implemented.

Category A-Critical Tasks : Urgent and Important

• Stormwater runoff from urban sub-catchments
• Sediment, nutrient and organic matter loads
• Moorings 
• Damage to riparian vegetation (estuarine tributary creeks) 
• Inappropriate bank and foreshore stabilisation methods 
• Foreshore filling 
• Recession and inundation
• Foreshore erosion 

Category B-Important Goals: Not urgent but High importance

• Alteration of natural foreshores 
• Terrestrial invasive species 
• Aquatic invasive species 
• Sea level rise 
• Damage to foreshore aquatic vegetation communities 
• Private recreational infrastructure 
• Dinghy storage 
• Health and safety of lake users 

Category C- ‘Distractions’: Low urgency and importance

• Heavy metal contamination 
• Recreational fishing 
• Vehicle access 
• Community connection with environmental and historical values 
• Public access to the lake and foreshore 

There are a series of workshops with light refreshments provided:

• 15 November 2014:Community workshop (Estuary) Club Macquarie, Argenton. 10:30am-1:30pm 
• 17 November 2014:Community workshop (Channel) Swansea Centre, Swansea, 5:30pm-8:30pm 
• 19 November 2014:Community workshop (Coastline) Blacksmiths Surf Club, Blacksmiths,5:30pm - 8:30pm 
• 20 November 2014:Community workshop (Estuary) Morisset Multi-purpose Centre, Morisset,6:30pm - 9:00pm 

The CZMP is available for downloading off LMCC’s website, viewing at the library and commenting on at the Have Your Say website

A cornucopia of clumps

Several locals have been reporting Tetratheca juncea out in bloom from as far away as Kilaben Bay Fire trail and Awaba.

Tetratheca juncea

Closer to home a cornucopia of clumps have been located along the West Ridge and documented as part of the Threatened Species project.

Some interesting observations so far have been that the Tetratheca juncea is being found only on the southern side of the Ridge, there are areas where there are multiple clumps in close proximity and then spots where it’s not. It is already starting to set seed and becoming less obvious as the blossoms wither and drop and leave only the leafless stems. 

Once the locations are mapped it will provide an opportunity for targeted bush regeneration to remove the threat of weeds to this ‘at risk’ species. This offer will be available to private landholders who are interested in caring for their clumps.

If you know you have a clump and would like some bush regeneration support contact Suzanne cppa.tsls@gmail.com .

A bird in the Hand

The inaugural Great Aussie Backyard Bird Count occurred recently and if you missed it don’t fret it will be on again next year. You may even like to get a head start and commence birdscaping your block for the local flock.

The  Aussie Birdcount website has some great planting advice along with some plant focused resources from Trees In Newcastle’s Habitat Garden page

• Plant for vertical and horizontal structure-variety is the spice of life
• Plant for shelter by creating dense protective thickets or rambling climbers amongst trees
• Plant for food.  Nectar and seeds are both important and mulch is great for insects
• Plant local plants that provide the right food and shelter
• Create diversity- small birds love variety
• Plant below trees- Noisy Miners find dense plantings less attractive
• Planting for seasonality means food will be available all year round
• Remove exotic species that produce berries and replace with local natives
• Reduce lawn area by planting native grasses for the seed eaters
• Use small gardens effectively by planting fewer species in greater numbers
• Provide fresh water

Grey Butcherbird Nest at Stansfield Reserve

As part of Threatened Species project a full round of Spring Bird surveys were carried out on 15/10/14 around Coal Point-Carey Bay under overcast skies and “wintery” cold conditions. In spite of the weather the highlights were 

• White-browed Scrubwren and Eastern Whipbird at Burnage Reserve, 
• Superb Fairy-wren, Brown Thornbill and Yellow-faced Honeyeater at West Ridge and
• Nesting Grey Butcherbirds at Stansfield reserve.

The full report produced by Tom Clarke on the 2014 Spring Survey can be viewed here.

Neighbours Noticing Nature

If you go down to the bush today you’re sure of a big surprise.

There’s been quite a bit of biodiverse action in the bush of late. Whilst out Landcaring the crew spied a tiny Spotted Pardalote and a small quail.

Rod Mackay stated ”I've only ever noticed these (Scaly Breasted Lorikeet) in the Coal Point area in the last six months or so.

We had a flock of Musk Lorikeets a few years back in the tree out the front of the Carey Bay squash courts but haven't seen them since. Must have ‘flown the coop’”!

Another alert local found a headless Squirrel Glider in Threlkeld reserve, the cause of the decapitation became more apparent when resident bird experts Liz & Chris passed on some avian information
“We first heard the Powerful Owl from somewhere around the water tanks near Whitelocke Street and then it moved further southwest along Coal Point so that we heard it again from about the area of the Progress Association Hall.“

Around Laycock Street a Pheasant Coucal has been making a few appearances …the Noisy Miners make sure it doesn’t get to stay very long.

Jenell and Noel Heslop have been building and watching nestboxes...

“About three years ago, Noel constructed a Galah box, as per the internet bird website, and hung it on one of our Sydney Blue Gum trees near the front of the house.  For two years we had Galah’s nesting, last year we had the privilege of watching one of the young Galah’s fly from the box into the wild blue yonder.

This year at nesting time the Galah couple returned, but they began acting strangely, they started to ring bark their tree.

We decided to remove the box, as we didn’t want the tree ringbarked. When the box was on the ground I looked inside and here were two black eyes and a furry striped face looking back at me.  A Squirrel Glider had moved into the bird box.

We quickly located the box to another spot up the back yard, with the glider still inside.

Noel also built a Rosella box, and that has been occupied by a family of Rosella for about four years running. We love watching the native wildlife going about their business.”