Aussie Backyard Bird Count

SAVE THE DATE -20th- 26th October 2014 for the Aussie Backyard Bird Count at the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve, 3 Community Court, Highfields.

Take Part in the first ever Australian Backyard Bird Count. Further information to come.  View the official website for more info and for the link for the free app available in October.

http://aussiebirdcount.org.au/

September is Biodiversity Month

Biodiversity Month is held in September each year and aims to promote the importance of protecting, conserving and improving biodiversity both within Australia and across the world.

The Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve at Highfields is a diverse biodiversity area. Why not visit this local reserve in the month of September to enjoy the best of what nature has to offer in your own backyard.  September at the Rogers Reserve will start to show Spring at it's finest, you will enjoy the last of the Wattle in flower and the beginning of many flowering native grasses and wildflowers, along with nesting season for many of the beautiful birds that reside within the reserve.

Biodiversity encompasses every living thing that exists on our planet and the environment in which they live. From the smallest one-cell microbe to the enormous majesty of the blue whale. From the depths of the Pacific Ocean to peaks of our tallest mountains, biodiversity forms part of an intricate and interdependent web of life in which we are all a part.

Australia is home to between 600,000 and 700,000 species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. About 84 per cent of our plants, 83 per cent of our mammals, and 45 per cent of our birds are endemic — that is, they are only found in Australia.

Find out how you can do your part to protect biodiversity here...

(Source: www.environment.gov.au)

Rogers Reserve nominated for Environment Award

We are very excited to announce that the Friends of Rogers Reserve has been nominated for an Environmental Award with the Condamine Alliance.

The Group has been nominated for their commitment to educating the public on the environmental significance of the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve at Highfields, in particular for the informative guided plant tours through the reserve, hosted by plant expert Trish Gardner. Condamine Awards recognise and celebrate outstanding contributions to natural resource management in the Condamine catchment. 

We are very honoured to be nominated. Fingers crossed! Finalists are announced on the 12th of September. More information on the awards here...


AWARDS UPDATE - 17th September 2014

While we didn't make the final cut for the Condamine Alliance Awards - we are thrilled to see the Friends of Franke Scrub on the Finalists list! For those of you who don't know much about this area - Franke Scrub is a similar area to the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve and is located on the Western Side of Highfields and is the only other area of remnant bushland vegetation of its size in the local area. The Friends of Franke Scrub have been looking after this area for many years and have had their own wins with Council to save this biodiversity area in the past - the nomination is well deserved! If you would like to find out more about Franke Scrub and it's location please view their blog: http://frankescrub.blogspot.com.au/

Join our Fauna Survey

Want to get involved and help the Friends of Rogers Reserve, but aren't able to do hands on work such as weeding?  Join in our Fauna Surveys and submit your wildlife sightings from your visits to the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve for our statistics records.

It is easy to get involved and anyone can join in.  Simply record your sightings of birds, marsupials, reptiles, insects and anything that catches your eye during your visits to the reserve and send the records through to us for record-keeping. We have created an excel spreadsheet that you can print or edit on your computer to make recording your wildlife sightings easier to manage.  Many of the common species of wildlife found in the reserve are already listed on the spreadsheet for easy referencing.  Email us at rogersreserve (at) yahoo (dot) (com) dot (au) to request a copy of the file.

Any photographs taken during your visit that you would like to submit for use on this blog will also be greatly appreciated with full credit given.

We recommend also recording any Koala and Echidna sightings within the reserve and in the local area with Koalatracker and Echidna Watch which is managed by the Wildlife Preservation Society of Qld.

Gorgeous Galahs are at home in Highfields Reserve

I happened to spot this beautiful Galah emerging from a large tree hollow in a eucalyptus tree at the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve.  This hollow was located closer to the Rogers Drive side of the reserve and the Galah was up very high.  The bird happily sat at the entry of its home while I took a few photos.

The Galah is one of the most abundant and familiar of the Australian parrots, occurring over most of Australia. The term galah is derived from gilaa, a word found in Yuwaalaraay and neighbouring Aboriginal languages. Also known as the "Rose-breasted Cockatoo", Galah's feed on seeds from the ground and will travel long distances for food. The galah nests in tree cavities. The eggs are white and there are usually two or five in a clutch. The eggs are incubated for about. 25 days, and both the male and female share the incubation. The chicks leave the nest about 49 days after hatching. Galahs, like all birds in the Cockatoo family form permanant pairs, meaning they mate for life.

(Reference source:  birdsinbackyards.com.au, galahs.com.au)

J.G.

Galah (Eolophus roseicapillus) in natural tree hollow at Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve, Highfields.

The galah was up so high, I couldn't capture the whole tree in one photo, so this is the top section to show more of the height and size of the tree in which the hollow resides at Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve, Highfields.