TAFE students survey two Coal Point Reserves

During the first half of the year a class of TAFE students, under the guidance of Trisha Barker conducted biological surveys at two local reserves, West Ridge- Tiirabeynba and Stansfield- Nikinba

A student report from Jacqueline Brown is available to read in its entirety online and some of the findings and recommendations from her report follow, providing a glimpse of the local biodiversity and steps we can take to retain and enhance it.

4.4 Threatened animal species at West Ridge Reserve

Our animal surveys and observations at West Ridge confirmed the likely and potential presence of two threatened animal species.

Our second spotlighting survey recorded the sighting of one squirrel glider. This validated the two squirrel glider sightings recorded for this location in BIONET Atlas NSW.

The discovery of a regurgitated pellet (with small mammal skeleton inside) at Stansfield Reserve suggested the potential presence of a Powerful Owl hunting at this locality. BIONET Atlas NSW species sightings records and visual sightings from members of CPPA confirmed Powerful owl sightings at West Ridge.

Our spotlighting surveys also recorded the presence of numerous ringtail possums which are a common food source for the Powerful owl.

Section 5- Survey recommendations

Based on our site survey findings and conclusions, suggested remedial actions and recommendations are as follows:

REMEDIAL ACTION 1

Enhance nesting sites for squirrel gliders.

CPPA as part of the Threatened Species – Last Stand on Coal Point Peninsula Project designed and completed a mass installation of nesting boxes for squirrel gliders across the Coal Point bushland reserves. Squirrel gliders are hollow-dependent and require natural tree hollows or nesting boxes to survive.

It was evident during our site surveys that some of these nesting boxes are being occupied by rainbow lorikeets, which are numerous in number across Stansfield and West Ridge reserves.

REMEDIAL ACTION 2

Address the ‘edge effect‘ issues at Stansfield Reserve

Stansfield Reserve is particularly subject to the ’edge effect’ due to the following factors:

Small, fragmented core of native bushland with extended, disturbed edges,

Asset Protection Zone on north-western edge exposes reserve to weeds and garden escapees,

Walking tracks dissect the reserve creating additional ’edges’ and encourage spread of weeds especially weed grasses and

Residential development on edges of reserve is encouraging erosion, stormwater run-off, and the spread of exotic and invasive species.

RECOMMENDATION 1

Conduct a survey of squirrel gliders at Stansfield and West Ridge Reserve including their use of tree hollows and nesting boxes.

Consider modifying existing nesting boxes and hollows to enhance use by squirrel gliders and to discourage use by other species.

This may require augmentation of hollows using Hollow Hog designs and adaptations https://www.hollowhog.com.au/

RECOMMENDATION 2

Expand Stansfield Reserve with native species planting and connection of bushland corridors

The planting of endemic native species on the residential edges of the reserve will assist in providing a buffer to the exposed edges and protect habitat and remnant vegetation. The planting of native tree, shrub and groundcover species by private property owners should be encouraged along with targeted planting of understorey species in adjacent streets and public areas.

The aim should be to connect existing reserves to create an extended vegetation corridor to enhance wildlife movement and minimise edge effects.

Neighbours Noticing Nature

So much wonderful wildlife still exists within our bushland suburb. These neighbours have shared their ‘faunal finds’ from a festive summer and made some forthright comments about walking on the foreshore with your four-legged friend.

Birds by the lake

There are several very old Casuarina trees on the water’s edge in front of my place. 

An Australian Darter spends much of its time roosting on one of the Casuarina branches that overhangs the water on the Lake’s edge.

It “goes fishing” from this spot.

When it returns it rises out of the water to stand on a rock shelf immediately in front of the Casuarinas.

Here it spends quite some time, maybe up to an hour or more, preening itself and drying its feathers (it has a wingspan of approximately 95cm), before attempting to get to its roosting spot high up in the tree.

It then waddles over to the trunk of its tree and begins to climb/clamber up the tree using both its feet claws and its wings. Quite a feat for such a big bird and quite a sight to see!

Unfortunately when the darter is drying its feathers whilst sitting on the rock shelf it is susceptible to attack by dogs not on a leash, as recently was the case.

Another bird that has been in my yard numerous times during the last few weeks is a Buff-banded rail. A neighbour saw it and thought it was a quail, along with a couple of chicks. But it is too big to be a quail, this Bird is buff!

In response to ‘Waterfront Walking’- 
(Community Quirks Dec Chronicle)

We greatly appreciate receiving the regular yellow newsletter and understand the

work involved in its compilation. As owners of a waterfront property in Toronto, we enjoy meeting the people who walk along the foreshore past our house and we acknowledge the long-standing tradition. We only ask that people keep their dogs on leashes and clean up after them.- KR

Your paragraph re Waterfront Walking is welcome information but as one of those absolute waterfront property owners I would appreciate walkers of dogs picking up their dog poo they continually choose to ignore. Perhaps if their dogs were on leads they might notice when they are pooing. It is difficult to have my small grandchildren playing on our waterfront when so many dogs are roaming free.

Locally we are very fortunate to have two leash free areas in our community, Gurranba Reserve (308a Skye Point Rd) and Puntei Park (bounded by Hampton Street and Excelsior Parade), and there’s the substantial leash free area at Speers Pt Roundabout.

Looking in the Lake

Some stunning sightings- The Gloomy Octopus aka Common Sydney octopus hasbeen spotted in an octopus’s garden off Rofe Street by a keen snorkeler.

Image (Sylke Rohrlach from Sydney, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

A Spotted Eagle Ray was sighted splashing in the shallows around Carey Bay by some regular swimmers; it circled around a couple of times to investigate the non-ray shaped object, an exhilarating experience.

Return of the Squirrel Gliders! Ye ha.

I watch for squirrel gliders every sunset, and it has been a long wait, but over Christmas I have spotted glimpses of what I was sure were gliders, and yes, I have just witnessed a glider land on an iron bark, scamper up a few metres and then glide down to a macadamia tree. Our block is now quite forested, and I have let the grasses take over. I am honestly so excited by this sighting, and it confirms my concerns for the continued loss of our old mature trees throughout the peninsula.

Not sure if you know but I believe Lyn and I were responsible for the gazetting of Coal Point as a recognised squirrel glider location on the National register.

Hope you all get a similar thrill from this sighting. I'm very thrilled.

PS I have now seen two gliders gliding together towards the same trees. I haven’t quite worked out where they’re coming from, but we have a number of boxes they could be using. I also have a couple of boxes I need to replace, which must now be prioritised.

PPS I’ve been watching the gliders again this evening and think I have a handle on what they are feeding on. We have two groves of lady fingers bananas (big block plenty of room). The King parrots like the ripe bananas and it now appears that the gliders like the flowers.

The gliders also like Cocos palm flowers which we had previously recorded and which we also have growing. I’m concerned that these little possums are relying on introduced plants, or maybe it’s simply a case of them taking advantage of a good food source. Kind regards Darrell, Lyn & Jye.

The Squirrel Glider is listed as Vulnerable NSW due to habitat loss, degradation & fragmentation, along with loss of hollow bearing trees, food sources and predation by exotic predators. There is a lot we can do locally to assist our local population survive. Installing nestboxes, providing food sources and responsible pet ownership are key to their continued survival in our fragmented landscape.

Squirrel Glider Search Success

The 2nd combined Hunter Intrepid Landcare and CPPA Squirrel Glider nest box monitoring session held in November was highly successful.

Eight participants checked 12 nesting boxes positioned in various places along the West Ridge. Each box had its identification number, location and attachment confirmed (2 boxes were relocated) and was checked for evidence of habitation and whether a leaf litter nest was present (this indicates the boxes are being used).

Some of the participants had never viewed Squirrel gliders up close and personal, with three of the boxes occupied it was a perfect opportunity to view the adorable cuteness of our threatened species!

Although this year’s glider count of 12 was down from 15 viewed last year, the real positive was that all the nest boxes checked contained evidence of glider use, whether is was a leaf nest or a residence. There was only one nestbox the Squirrel gliders weren’t using, it had been adopted by European Honey bees, who had filled the box to the brim with honeycomb.

All up, the event ran for about 4 hours, culminating in a light lunch at the hall and jovial conversation after the monitoring was completed with everyone keen to catch up again next year.

Annual Squirrel Glider Nestbox survey

Hunter Intrepid Landcare and the CPPA will be teaming up for Squirrel Glider Surveying

Delight on the Saturday 3rd of November from 10am.

We’ll begin the morning, heading out onto the idyllic West Ridge of Coal Point to survey the presence of the Vulnerable Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) in nest boxes, as well as moving and replacing unused boxes to other spots within the reserve, before breaking for lunch and finishing up.

This event is at no cost. Lunch is provided.  

Schedule: 

9:50am - begin arriving at the Progress Hall, 197 Skye Point Road, Coal Point – park at

Gurranba reserve. Landcare banners will be flying at the parking area. WHS induction

10:15am - car pool to Whitelocke St West Ridge Reserve entrance. From there we’ll survey the boxes containing previous evidence of Squirrel Glider activity, and move any disused boxes around the West Ridge Reserve.

1:00pm - begin carpooling back to the progress hall for lunch platters from Woolworths, and finish.

Requirements:: Long pants, hat, good sturdy shoes, drink bottle, keenness.

Please RSVP to Suzanne coalpointprogress@gmail.com, so we know how many people are coming and for catering.

Hunter Intrepid Landcare visits Coal Point

by Callum Reedman

On Saturday the 23rd of September, Hunter Intrepid Landcare descended on the Coal Point Progress Association, to participate in the event: “Squirrel Glider Surveying and Spotlighting at Coal Point”, within the Ridgeline bush remnants of Coal Point.

The event brought 11 participants from all walks of life along to survey the Squirrel Glider population and replace fallen nest boxes. 

Monitoring was performed by climbing a ladder up to each box and peeping in to the Glider residence, an extremely cute and rewarding experience for us if perhaps a bit scary for the Gliders. 

We looked for the visible signs of habitation, as to whether the boxes contained green leaves, or old nest signs like that of brown/grey leaves, alongside whether animals were inside, and if so, how many. 

For most of the participants, this was the first time Squirrel Gliders had been viewed outside of posters, if at all, and it was certainly an exciting time to view not just 1, but ten of the endangered Squirrel Gliders across multiple next boxes with six occupying just one. Much excitement and photographs abounded. 

We also helped replace fallen boxes, which are needed to extend and replace the tree hollows that are critical habitat for the Squirrel Gliders. The locations of the replaced boxes were logged via GPS and will hopefully become a home to a growing Squirrel Glider population in the near future.

The event ran for approximately 6 hours, culminating in a spotlighting session that night, whereby the group along with local families, sought to see whether we’d be able to catch a glimpse of the Gliders from earlier on. 

While we didn’t find any Gliders, we did spot 3 possums and a Boo-Bok Owl that, with the unique experience of exploring the bush by torchlight and the great company of friends, made for a fun night.

Overall the event was a roaring success, having replaced 2, and checked 9 nesting boxes we found 10 gliders across 3 boxes and 1 box with Rosellas. 

An enormous thanks to the CPPA for inviting Hunter Intrepid Landcare to share the lovely wildlife gems which reside in their suburb’s backyard as part of the Threatened Species Last Stand on the Coal Point Peninsula project and to Chris Mclean for running the spotlighting event along the West  ridge. 

It’s Biodiversity Month!

Biodiversity is the web of life, where individual strands link together to make something that is strong, complex and beautiful.

In our bushland suburb we can experience the best of this diversity because we still have many of the connections needed for a variety of plants and animals to survive. We have trees (young and old), shrubs and groundcovers that create places and spaces for animals to live and breed.

Many locals are doing their bit to protect our local biodiversity by having a bit of natural habitat in their backyards and keeping the weeds under control and out of the public bushland.

Many locals are responsible pet owners and keep their killer kitties indoors, and their frolicking fidos under control so we still have local birdlife such as the West Ridge Wood ducks (regularly recorded in the bird surveys) who have produced a vulnerable and fluffy flock and the Powerful Owls parents that have produced a pair of owlets this year. 

Squirrel Glider Survey & Nightlife Spotlight

On September 23rd the Squirrel Glider nestboxes will be surveyed to better understand how the local population is surviving.

Hunter Intrepid Landcarers will be undertaking the annual review, checking to see if the nestboxes are occupied, counting the occupants and relocating any unused boxes to a more potentially preferable location.

If you’re a young person and want to connect with the Intrepid tribe find the Hunter Intrepid Facebook page and register for the surveying on the Eventbrite page.

As part of the Squirrel Glider surveillance a spotlighting session for locals and the Intrepid crew will be held from 6pm with Dr Chris McLean providing the know-how as he is very much in-the-know when it comes to the night time activities of arboreal wildlife. To book one of the 20 locals tickets visit Eventbrite .

Intrepid Landcarers are coming

The roving Hunter Intrepid Landcare tribe are coming out to Coal Point during Biodiversity month on 23-24 September to assist with the annual Squirrel Glider nestbox monitoring. If your 18-30ish and want to get involved with this dynamic group get in touch through Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HunterIntrepidLandcare/

Intrepid Landcare provides a common space to inspire, connect and empower young people to join local environmental initiatives in their communities.

National Tree Day Sunday 30th July

Be inspired by nature this National Tree Day, Get down and gritty for our local community planting day on Sunday 30th July 9am-noon.

Research from Planet Ark repeatedly shows that spending time outdoors provides a range of health and wellbeing benefits, by making people happier, healthier, and calmer. A new 2017 report from Planet Ark also shows that learning outdoors can help kids develop the crucial skills Australian teachers say they will need most to face major global challenges, like climate change, critical thinking and problem solving, ‘grit’ or resilience, and emotional intelligence.

National Tree Day is a fulfilling opportunity to do something good for the environment and experience the many positive benefits associated with spending time in nature.

Schools Tree Day

The Threatened Species project is supporting Coal Point Public School to continue the creation of the Squirrel Glider Garden on Thursday 27th July. 240 plants will be planted around the perimeter providing food and habitat for critters that Squirrel Gliders like to eat.

Community Tree Day

Thanks to the support of Hunter Water on Sunday 30th July from 9am - noon a community planting of over 1000 plants will be undertaken on Hunter Water land on Whitelocke Street and on the site of the decommissioned water tank. These plantings will provide a buffer to the bushland to protect it from garden escapes and also aid in the regeneration of the ex-water tank site.

All community members are welcome to attend. The Sunrise Rotary crew will be on hand to ensure that the planting targets are met.

Registration on the National Tree Day site is helpful for catering purposes.

Long distance pollinators short on bridges, magnets and frameworks

Long distance pollinators such as the local Regent Honeyeater, Grey-headed Flying foxes and Squirrel Gliders play a major role in mixing up the genes of many plant species across the landscape. This aids the overall ability of sedentary vegetation to adapt and cope with human-driven changes such as habitat fragmentation and climate change.

To keep the pollinator networks strong long term plantings are needed for:

• Bridging plants that ensure food during bottlenecks, shortages of nectar and pollen, especially over winter 
• Framework plants that support diverse pollinator networks by providing food resources to a large number of species 
• Magnet plants that provide rich resources of nectar and pollen that attract large numbers of pollinators 

Long-distance pollinator plantings also need long-term planning

• It takes 20 years for some species to begin flowering
• Planting at low densities speeds the canopy development and increases the rate of flower production with age, it’s quality not quantity that’s needed. 
• Planting near water and on fertile soil can also increase flower production and enhance creek corridors.
• Planting less than 1km from existing mature habitat is more likely to attract hollow dependent pollinators and have a better chance of being visited by greater numbers and varieties of pollinators.

Local plants that long distance pollinators love are Swamp Mahogany, Turpentine, Broad-leaved Paperbark, Grey Ironbark, Northern Grey Ironbark, Coastal Banksia, Spotted Gum, Forest Red Gum. If you have space for a tree one of these beauties will not only provide a lifeline for the local wildlife but also grow our local forest and give some shade for you to escape the summer heat.

LEAP students lend a hand

Each fortnight during November and December Toronto High School’s year 7 LEAP class ventured out to Coal Point to assist with the surveying of Tetratheca juncea along the West Ridge. 

What a crew! Each session saw 17-21 enthusiastic students, the amazing Ms Havercamp and Mr Banks form into 3 survey groups. The team came out well prepared having researched the threatened species and set up recording proforma for the data entry.

During the first session the teams identified and tagged the TJ clumps. For the next two sessions they recorded the location on GPS and entered the data about the size and weed threats onto tablets. Over a hundred clumps were located and all of the survey data transcribed ready to be uploaded onto Bionet

The THS crew also monitored nestboxes in the survey area and to everyone’s joy a family of Squirrel gliders were recorded in one of the boxes, reinforcing the benefits for additional habitat options.

The THS crew were supported by Joel, Glen and Harvey from TIN’s landcare team who provided surveying and on-ground expertise in weed identification as Formosa lily and Asparagus fern were targeted during the field trips. Additional thanks to Coal Point Public School for providing their facilities for water stops.

Squirrel Glider Goings on

The past month or so has seen a lot of local Squirrel Glider action.

The Squirrel Glider survey was super successful with 21 people willing to come along and check nestboxes. They were rewarded with a glimpse of fur in two boxes and another two boxes having leaf nests that indicated they were being used. Squirrel Gliders often have multiple nesting sites, to avoid predators.

Coal Point Public School is doing their bit to assist the local population with a National Tree Day planting of a Squirrel Glider garden. The Year 6-Kinder/Yr 1 buddy teams planted one hundred wattles and banksias in a memorable morning . These plants are favourite food sources of the Squirrel Glider providing nectar, winter pollen and sap.  To celebrate biodiversity month in September a nestbox will be installed in the Squirrel Garden Grove.

Lake Macquarie City Council released the Draft Squirrel Glider Planning and Managementguidelines 2015 for comment until 14^th September.

The document makes several mentions of the local Squirrel Glider population at Coal Point and the importance of “effective strategic planning to ensure conservation of habitat and viable populations of gliders in areas fragmented by existing and future development”. It goes on to say that any existing population must be considered as viable (p36).  Reassuringly it states  in “locations such as Morisset and Coal Point, detailed analysis on site indicates that restoration measures could be effective in connecting (habitat) components that are currently regarded as isolated (p27).

In discussing conservation issues the guidelines states “ a separate issue for conservation is consideration of the feasibility of maintaining squirrel glider populations in urban areas in the long term. Gliders currently known to exist in some urban locations such as Coal Point where there are small Council reserves and extensive native tree cover. With the expected change in the presence of native vegetation in such locations over time, the already small glider populations will be under threat. Separate planning guidelines mat be required for squirrel glider in urban settings, when compared with rural areas or land currently zoned for conservation purposes, and this may require further scientific surveys”(p35)

The guidelines make several reference to the need for more scientific surveys to better understand the nature of the local population. The Progress Association has recently lodged a funding application that if successful would use citizen scientists to understand the movement of the Squirrel Glider within an urban bushland matrix.

Dates for the Diary

11 July Squirrel Spotlighting Soiree

• 2-4pm nest box survey
• 5-6:30pm Spotlighting 

Please RSVP 

Toronto Chamber Monthly Markets: Thursday 9am-3pm

• 2nd July Winter Holiday Market
• 6th August Taste of Winter Market
• October Greater Toronto Spring Fair Saturday 17th

Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group :

Wed 8th July The Hub, 97 The Boulevarde 5-6.30pm

Coal Point Progress Assoc.

Mon 13th July, Progress Hall,197 Skye Pt Rd 4-6pm

Squirrel Glider Surveying

Friday 22nd May was a wild and woolly one, as such not very good for the Squirrel Glider Spotlighting Soirée that was planned. The rescheduled event is looking bigger and better, will run on Saturday 11th July and involve checking nestboxes for occupation, soup and damper as well as a spotlight survey.

SG Surveying on Saturday 11th July

• 2-4 pm Activity 1 -Nestboxes will be checked along the West Ridge
• 4-5pm Informal talk and Q and A with Dr Chris McLean over soup and damper
• 5-6:30pm Activity 2 -Stag watch and spotlighting for Squirrel Gliders

Please RSVP by email or by phone TIN 4969 1500, mob 0438 596 741. There are limited numbers and the meeting point will be provided when RSVPing. You can attend either or both activities.

Local landholders who had nestboxes installed on their property will be contacted shortly to discuss monitoring of their boxes.

More Squirrel Glider good news…

Dr Chris McLean has been awarded a Lake Macquarie City Council research grant to study the Squirrel Glider (SG) population in western Lake Macquarie. An honours student will be investigating the distribution of the local SGs, trying to get an idea on the size of the local population and looking at how big a patch they need for their habitat. This information will help to understand the impact of fragmentation of bushland on the population density and the importance of local backyards not just native gardens but as habitat for threatened species.

Squirrel Glider Spotlighting Soiree

The Annual Squirrel Glider Spotlighting Soiree on the Coal Point peninsula will happen this year on Biodiversity Day, Friday 22^nd May.

The recent discovery of Squirrel Gliders (SG) in occupation of a nestbox in the vicinity of Whitelock Street has buoyed the spirits of the locals. The plan to ‘install nestboxes and they will come’ seems to be working.  The spotlighting session aims to survey the area for SG activity.

The Spotlighting Soiree will commence at 5:30pm, meeting at the crest of Whitelock St, Carey Bay, at the entrance gate to the Hunter Water land. The leading light will be held by Dr Chris McLean, SG enthusiast & expert.

International Biodiversity Day this year is a time to reflect on Biodiversity for Sustainable Development. Monitoring the presence or absence of Squirrel Gliders along the Coal Point peninsula is one way to consider what sustainable development within our community means for the local flora and fauna.

Ensuring the variety of plants and animals on the Coal Point peninsula remains abundant is the goal of the Threatened Species Last Stand on the Coal Point Peninsula project . The Environmental Trust funded project is now in its fourth year.

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.”