Merri e-News June 2023

Over the last few years we have been pleasantly surprised to see and hear the occasional Growling Grass Frog in the Merri Parklands in northern Fawkner. It is many decades since these endangered frogs have been recorded this far south on the Merri. We need your help to find out more about these frogs, whether they're breeding in the vicinity, whether they’ll make use of the new wetland that Merri-bek Council has developed nearby, and how we can best support them to thrive in the Merri Parklands.

PLEASE DONATE: Donations of $2 or more to the Merri Creek Environment Fund are tax deductible.

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If you wish to be acknowledged in the MCMC Annual Report, please email us at: admin@mcmc.org.au

Pay by Direct Deposit or by Cheque -  please use the Donation Form.

To find out more about the Merri Creek Environment Fund, follow this link.

Are you interested in the challenge of managing our highly-regarded not-for-profit environmental organisation? Our long time manager, Luisa Macmillan, is taking a step back from the role and we are now looking for a new Executive Officer to fill her shoes. Luisa will stay on for a while in a part-time capacity. You can find the details, including the position description, by following these links: NRM Jobs or Ethical Jobs. Please feel free to contact us if you'd like to know more. Applications close 21 June. 

We have recently been granted $48,866 for a new project through Melbourne Water’s Liveable Communities, Liveable Waterways grant program. The project, Restoring riparian flats and escarpments in Craigieburn and Epping, focuses on a 1.2km-long stretch of Merri Creek downstream from its confluence with Aitken Creek in Craigieburn.

This project will help restore endangered Creekline Tussock Grassland, Riparian Scrub and Escarpment Shrubland vegetation communities, and provide habitat for the vulnerable Growling Grass Frog. The area has been degraded by previous land use and invasive weeds which threaten the remnant vegetation. We will use targeted weed control and revegetation activities, in collaboration with Friends of Merri Creek’s Wednesday Volunteers and student groups from Melbourne Polytechnic. Contact the Friends if you're free on the 4th Wednesday of each month and want to get involved.

MCMC is concluding our leadership of a three-year partnership grant project for Hume City Council which has supported outdoor nature play for early years' communities. 

This project has fostered early years leaders in Hume to discover marvellous natural local areas to visit and enjoy, yet leave no footprint. As an added step, some of the early years' centres are acknowledging Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung language and seasons by using this seven season's calendar developed by Merri-bek (formerly Moreland) Primary School to plot children’s birthdays.

On a chilly Tuesday night in May about 30 keen participants came along to learn more about the frog species of the Whittlesea township. 
Firstly we trained the participants to recognise the calls of the 16 frog species found in Melbourne through a game of 'Frog bingo.' We then walked from Whittlesea Community Activity Centre along Bruce’s Creek where we heard the Victorian Smooth Froglet (Geocrinia Victoriana) and Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera).

We finished up at the Whittlesea Secondary College frog pond behind the Whittlesea community garden, where we heard the previous two species again, plus Spotted Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis) and Southern Brown Tree Frog (Litoria ewingii). All frog calls, and species were recorded and submitted via the Melbourne Water Frog Census app.

Subscribe to future froggy events, at 'Events - Frog Walks and frog census'- HERE.