Nestbox orders- Habitat enhancement for Biodiversity month…September

As a Biodiversity month bonus The Toronto Men’s Shed will be building some nestboxes for local landholders for local wildlife and we need to know how many to build.

The storms over the past few years have resulted in many hollow bearing trees being lost. Installing a nestbox provides a safe and dry refuge for many local animals.

Spotted Pardalote

The animals that we’ll be giving a helping hand to are Pardalotes, microbats and Squirrel gliders.

Pardalotes (pic) are tiny birds that forage high in the eucalypt canopy and are also found in woodlands. They regularly are sighted in the Coal Point bird surveys. They forage for and eat insects, especially lerps which feed on tree sap and can cause dieback if their numbers get out of control. The Pardalotes play a key role in maintaining the health of the forest by controlling lerp numbers. Pardalotes naturally nest in tunnels they dig out of a bank but quite happily will nest in the right sized nestbox.

Microbats are tiny insect eating machines, with a body length of 11cm and wingspan of about 25cm some are so small they can fit in a matchbox. They live locally and if you watch the canopy of the gum trees on dusk you might see them flitting about in a rapid, jerky flight path, they’ve been seen around the streetlights at the top of Whitelocke St. Their favourite foods are moths, beetles, caterpillars, spiders, termites and they can polish off over 1200 mosquitoes in an hour. This makes them an asset around any home and for any garden.

Squirrel Glider nest boxes can also be built but are best for folk who live next to the West Ridge, Stansfield or Threlkeld Reserves

The Animals in our Bigger backyard page on the CPPA website has links to information sheets and booklets to help you build your own nest boxes if you feel the urge.

If you would like to order a nestbox please contact Suzanne from the Committee.

Securing a future for the local Squirrel Gliders

The TSLS project aims to provide suitable habitat for the local Threatened Species, of which the Squirrel Glider is one.

Squirrel Gliders are hollow-dependent, they need tree hollows…or nest boxes to survive. In order to give them the best chance of survival around Coal Point the TSLS project is coordinating a mass installation of nest boxes on September 6^th to celebrate Threatened Species Day in conjunction with Lake Macquarie Landcare’s Super Saturday Session.

The Toronto Men’s Shed has developed a prototype nestbox and will be going into production over the next month. 

Do you want a nestbox on your block? 

Please contact Suzanne (Committee contact) with your location details.

A trial of the location and installation process will be conducted as part of the Hunter Region Landcare’s Network meeting on August 9^th at noon at Progress Hall.

Once the nest boxes are up they will be monitored each season to see if they are being used. This is an easy and cost effective way to determine the size and extent of the local Squirrel Glider population. It will make it possible to monitor individuals and hopefully track their movements. If you’re interested in being a part of the scientific monitoring of this local population, as part of your studies or for interest, please get in touch, it’s a great opportunity to contribute to a local project.

The recent spotlighting expedition was a wild and windy night in which the Squirrel Gliders were absent but the more robust Ringtail (4) and Brushtail (5) possums were about in the canopy.