Samford Eco-Corridor

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Samford, QLD
Samford Eco-Corridor

Come and join us! Funds went towards the cost of equipment, plants, landscaping materials, signage and promotion.

The Samford Eco-Corridor is a community-based project working to re-establish local plant species in the Samford Parklands and to create a beautiful natural area for the benefit of people as well as wildlife. This long-term project involves clearing areas of invasive weeds, replanting with species originally found in the district, creating a natural corridor for wildlife and protecting the river from erosion. The first community planting in 2014 was of endangered gallery rainforest near the South Pine River; the second, on Earth Day 2018, was a grassy eucalypt woodland on the adjacent hillside. The Eco-Corridor can be used as a revegetation model by local landowners (whether on a creek or hillside) and for educating the community and schools about Samford's wonderfully diverse flora and fauna. The project was originally funded by a grant from the Queensland Government ‘Everyone’s Environment’ initiative, matched by a contribution for Moreton Bay Regional Council. We are managed by a sub-committee of the Samford & Districts Progress & Protection Association and our main partners are Moreton Bay Regional Council and the Samford Branch of Native Plants Queensland (SGAP). The project team, who are volunteers themselves, rely on other volunteers donating time to work on the Parklands site (our 'regulars' come from as far afield as Paddington, Petrie and Mount Nebo, as well as members of the Samford community). The work involves controlling weeds, re-mulching, lopping and planting. Additional volunteers are always needed for our regular working bees, held on the second Sunday of each month from 2pm to 4pm (excluding summer holidays) and for community planting days. We carry out monthly bird surveys in conjunction with members of Bird Queensland. We also undertake periodic surveys of other fauna, such as butterflies, spiders and fish, at which we encourage community participation. If you would like to become a volunteer at one of our working bees, please first contact the Council bushcare team at [email protected]. They will send you a volunteer agreement and a link for an online induction, which will greatly speed up the process on site.

04/10/2026

Free Guided Bird Walks are Back!
Bookings now open

As part of our community engagement program, we will hold a series of free guided bird walks during National Bird Week 2025, which runs from Monday 19 to Sunday 25 October. All walks will start at 7 am sharp. To ensure the best experience, the number of participants on each walk may be capped. Subject to demand, our four proposed dates and venues are as follows:

- Monday 19 October: Samford Eco-Corridor (allow 2 hours+)
- Wednesday 21 October: QUT SERF, Camp Mountain (allow 3 hours+)
- Friday 23 October: Samford Eco-Corridor (allow 2 hours+)
- Sunday 25 October: Samford Eco-Corridor (allow 2 hours+)

Please send your expressions of interest to [email protected], nominating two days of the week in order of preference (e.g. ‘1. Sunday 25 October. 2. Monday 19 October'). We will try to accommodate as many requests as we can on a first-in, first-served basis.

Also provide the name of each person attending if there is more than one. Confirmations and further details will be sent by email.

Upon confirmation, please arrive at the relevant venue by 6.45 am for signing on and briefing, so we can start birdwatching at 7 am sharp. We recommend you wear a hat, sunscreen and insect repellent. Binoculars are essential for this activity: birdwatching is extremely difficult without them. Please ensure you have access to at least one pair per family.

In the meantime, we also recommend downloading two free apps: eBird (for recording sightings) and Merlin (for bird ID and calls), both published by Cornell University.

We look forward to seeing you there.

18/09/2026

On 15 September, our birders recorded 68 species and counted 254 birds in about 3 hours following the usual route, which another solid total for this time of year. We were mesmerised as we watched an Azure Kingfisher fly back and forth across the waterhole, from a prominent perch on one side to a more concealed location within foliage on the other. Other notable highlights were watching a Brown Goshawk harassing an adult White-bellied Sea-Eagle in the sky to the east and getting very close to a covey of 6 Brown Quail foraging quietly on seeding grasses by the road to the SCHub. We recorded all 3 local species of fairywren (Variegated, Superb and Red-backed) and 2 of the ‘little brown jobs’ (White-browed Scrubwren and Brown Thornbill). The only winter visitor still hanging around was a Spotted Pardalote near the waterhole. Our only early summer migrant was Sacred Kingfisher heard beyond the waterhole. We added a new record for the site, with a Eurasian Coot seen in the South Pine River below the Bowls Club, which brings the site total to 167 species. Full details of the survey can be found on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S393012706. The photos were kindly supplied by Tom Tarrant: Little Black Cormorant, Varied Triller, Brown Quail.

16/09/2026

Bushcare
During our Council-assisted afternoon bushcare session on Sunday 13 September, our volunteers split into 2 teams. With site conditions now very dry, one team watered the new understorey and infill plants in rainforest revegetation zones P1 and P1 using watering cans filled at the tennis centre. Most plants were given about half a can of water, but our 20 precious Richmond Birdwing Vines planted during the People for Nature Biodiversity Workshop received a full can (up to 9 litres). A second team weeded the lower section of riverbank planting P4, bagging any weeds that were running to seed, and removed numerous young Climbing Asparagus plants from rainforest zone P2. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed socialising over another delicious afternoon tea kindly provided by Karen on behalf of Samford Progress. We thank all attendees for a job well done.

We were surprised to find that a young Creek Sandpaper Fig (Ficus coronata) only a couple of metres high was already producing fruit (see photo).

23/08/2026

Bird survey
On 19 August, our birders recorded 70 species in about 3 hours following the usual route, which is an impressive total for late winter. An early highlight was seeing a platypus swimming across the river, which surprisingly was still there at 10.15 am on the return leg. Other notable sightings included a pair of Pacific Bazas soaring fairly low to the south, an Azure Kingfisher fly past to land of a branch overhanging the river, a pair of White-eared Monarchs near the waterhole, and all 3 local species of fairywren and all 3 ‘little brown jobs’ (White-browed and Large-billed Scrubwren and Brown Thornbill). We also heard the spontaneous 'motorboat call’ of a Spotless Crake by the track to the waterhole. Winter visitors included a female Rose Robin and a Spotted Pardalote. Full details can be found on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S384824801. The photos were kindly provided by Peter Cabral Photography: Platypus, Australian Pipit, Bar-shouldered Dove, Little Pied Cormorant, Rainbow Lorikeet, Red-backed Fairywren (female), and Little (Rufous) Shrikethrush.

13/08/2026

Bushcare
During our Council-assisted afternoon bushcare session on Sunday 9 August (immediately following the Echidna workshop), most volunteers worked in the riverbank planting P4, which hadn't been weeded for a couple of months. We welcomed new volunteers Patrick, Kathy and Neil who undertook a site induction with Council Environmental Officer Debbie McQuattie. We bagged any Madeira Vine and seeding weeds for removal, but other weeds were dropped in situ as mulch. Some Creeping Inch W**d was left in large piles to break down or dry out. Lesley worked in rainforest zone P2 where vine weeds are starting to appear as a result of the May/June wet spell. A couple of volunteers watered the young grasses we planted at the top of hillside planting P3 last month (conditions over the past few weeks have gone from wet to very dry, just like a tap being turned off). Watering was a slow process involving wheelbarrow runs back and forth to fill up water containers at the tennis centre. Afterwards, our volunteers enjoyed a sumptuous afternoon tea kindly provided by Joy and Bill on behalf of Samford Progress. We thank everyone who came along.

11/08/2026

Echidna Detectives workshop

An hour before Eco-Corridor bushcare on Sunday 9 August, City of Moreton Bay Council organised a workshop on echidnas for Land for Wildlife members presented by Dr Kate Dutton-Regester from UQ Gatton and WPSQ. Kate carried out her PhD on echidna reproduction using a captive population of Short-beaked Echidnas. Breeding can take place breed from anytime from May to September. Before mating, the female is followed by 2 to 12 males (an 'Echidna train') waiting for the short period when she is receptive (just a few hours). The gestation period is 16-18 days, after which the female lays an egg the size of 5 cent piece and uses her beak to move egg to the pouch. Interestingly, an echidna's pouch is temporary, only developing during pregnancy. Once the young echidna leaves, the pouch soon disappears. The female can't rest while being pursued by the males and does not feed during incubation, gradually losing fat (measured in the study using MRI), so she can only breed only once every 2 to 6 years.

The Short-beaked Echidna is Australia's most widely distributed mammal and is widely assumed to be common, but we don't have the evidence (there are fewer than 10 official records per LGA over the past few years and most of these observations were in urban areas). Anecdotally people are saying that they are seeing fewer live Echidnas, yet finding more dead on roads. WPSQ already had a program called Echidna Watch for reporting sightings and Kate got a grant from the Qld Government for a citizen science project called Echidna Detectives where volunteers look for signs such as s**ts, diggings, tracks and damage to termite nests. The curved s**t with blunts ends measures 5-7 cm (about the size of a cocktail Frankfurt) and sparkles under torchlight because it contains insect exoskeletons. Volunteers use a leaf of stick to collect s**ts in a ziplock bag, with a record of the date, location and time. The diggings and tracks are bit trickier to identify because they can be wide and shallow, or deep, but differ from the triangular cone shapes of bandicoot diggings. The hindlegs of echidnas point backwards, so their claw marks can be seen in their tracks. Kate's team is also using camera traps, thermal imagery (including drones) and detection dogs to find echidnas, and is monitoring their movements using radio-tracking.

Echidnas have a low body temperature for a mammal (35 degrees) and they love cool conditions, so they are mostly active at night in Queensland (whereas in Tasmania they are active by day and have more body fur). In hot weather, they may go into torpor for a few days or even hibernate under logs for many weeks. Most people think echidnas eat only ants and termites, but they will take other invertebrates, including earthworms, and even been recorded eating turtle eggs. The lifespan is about 20 years in the wild and up to 50 years in captivity. They are usually solitary and are not territorial. The main threats are habitat loss, roads and feral animals. Some local echidnas seem to be losing body hair, but the cause has not yet been determined.

Peter's photo of an echidna at the Eco-Corridor was a stuffed and mounted specimen (did you realise?), but we hope to record a live animal one day.

To encourage echidnas in your yard, leave some fallen logs to rot down. If you see an Echidna, take a photo and report it on the free iNaturalist app and the data will flow through to Kate's team. If you'd like further information, you can contact Kate at [email protected].

21/07/2026

Bird survey
On 17 July, our birders recorded 61 species in about 3 hours following the usual route. Silvereyes continued to be found in good numbers this winter, but the highest count was for two flocks of Topknot Pigeons totalling approximately 90 birds altogether. Australasian Figbirds were also plentiful, with one large flock sitting in the top branches of a dead Waterhousea. It was very pleasing to find all 3 local species of fairywrens (Superb, Red-backed and Variegated), some which were in the rank vegetation beyond the waterhole and to hear a White-eared Monarch nearby. An Eastern Yellow Robin was gathering nest material along the edge of riverbank planting P4, so we hope the pair is successful with raising young. The grand finale while sitting in the netball shelter cross-checking our bird list was watching an Australian Hobby zoom low over the riverine canopy heading upstream. We had been alerted by the alarm calls of Noisy Miners and watched this sleek raptor as a it covered a few hundred metres in very quick time. Full details can be found on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S372950741. Peter's photos are of Australasian Figbirds, Eastern Yellow Robin, Lewins Honeyeater, Superb Fairywrens (female and dull male on fence) and Variegated Fairywren (bright male).

07/07/2026

Bushcare
On Sunday 5 July, our wonderful volunteers (welcome John and welcome back James) focused on the hillside planting P3 during our Council-assisted afternoon bushcare session. We began by weeding around the grasses we planted in June, which were already getting encroached by various weeds after the recent rain. We also pruned and weeded the eastern boundary of P3, which had long been neglected owing to our previous focus on riverbank rainforest planting P4. During the previous week, Peter and Ken had pre-dug over 50 holes (using our new Ego 56V auger kindly funded by Samford Progress) ready for planting Lomandra longifolia along the boundary and Pittosporum multiflorum and Dodonaea viscosa as infill shrubs. This preparation greatly speeded up the planting process, which was important given that the water had to be ferried from a tap at the tennis centre. The plants were funded under our CMB Healthy Environment Grant and purchased from Kumbartcho Community Nursery at Eaton's Hill. Afterwards, our volunteers enjoyed another delicious afternoon tea provided by Karen on behalf of Samford Progress.

26/06/2026

Bird survey
On 18 June, our birders recorded 69 species in about 3 hours following the usual route. Silvereyes were again the most numerous species (about 40, including a few of the Tasmanian subspecies with brownish flanks). Other notable sightings included flocks of Topknot Pigeons and Long-billed Corellas flying over, 5 White-headed Pigeons in a wattle at the top of the hill and a couple of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes by the track towards the NPWS buildings. Roger managed to get a recording of the Lewin's Rail by the track to the waterfall, including growls and a clip clop call. We also heard Pale-vented Bush-hen along the river bank below the Ecotrail. Winter visitors included a Rose Robin and Spotted Pardalotes. Hirundines were well represented Welcome Swallows and Tree Martins hawking over the paddocks and soccer fields. Full details can be found on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S358953941. Peter's photos are of a Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Little Pied/Little Black Cormorants, Superb Fairywren (dull male and female), Brown Honeyeater, Blue-faced Honeyeater, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike and Golden Whistler.

Address

Plantings Behind The Netball And Tennis Courts, Mt Samson Road
Samford, QLD
4520

Telephone

+61404169826

Website

http://samfordprogress.org.au/

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