Downfall Creek Bushland Centre

Station 1: Welcome to the Mountains to Mangrove Senses Trail

Audio recording: 53 seconds
Transcript reading time: 1 minute

[Didgeridoo, clapping sticks, and singing by First Nations peoples]

Narrator: Welcome to the Downfall Creek Bushland Centre Senses Trail audio guide! Scan the QR codes at each of the 12 signs along this short trail to discover the secrets of this bushland and connect more deeply with your 5 senses – sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.

Before we begin, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we gather, the Turrbal and Yuggera people. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, and culture. We pay our deepest respects to elders both past, present, and emerging.

Station 2: Things to know about this trail

Audio recording: 1 minute 23 seconds
Reading time: 1-2 minutes

Narrator: Right now you are in Raven Street Reserve - a 33-hectare urban bushland reserve, which is equal to 55 football fields! That might sound large, but it's actually small for a bushland area as it isn’t big enough to support some wildlife species that should be living here, like koalas. Raven Street Reserve, along with Milne Hill Reserve, Chermside Hills Reserve and Remick Street Bushland, together are the Chermside Hills Reserves.

The signs at each station have their own unique bronze frames that have been specially crafted for you to touch and enjoy. These frames contain bronze casts of the leaves, seeds, and seedpods from plants within this reserve.  Take a moment now to have a feel of their different shapes, sizes and textures.

[Bird sounds, approximately 15 seconds]

That was the commonly heard twittering of the Grey Fantail, which you can see a picture of on this station’s sign. A cousin of the Willie Wagtail, it is extremely acrobatic and wiggles its tail feathers while catching insects. It makes a small cone-shaped nest from cobwebs, bark and grass, that sits wedged between several branches. 

Station 3: A wetland neighbourhood

Audio recording: 1 minute, 40 seconds
Transcript reading time: 2-3 minutes

Narrator: In front of this sign is a small wetland.  Wetlands are areas where water lies on the ground all year round, or for just some of the year after it rains. Water is sometimes difficult for wildlife to find, which is why wetlands are important and diverse ecosystems, where many different types of animals and plants benefit from the food and shelter it provides.

Did you know, plants and animals that live in a wetland often have special survival features? One example is trees of the Melaleuca genus. These trees can tolerate very wet, waterlogged, and even salty ground. You can identify some species of these trees nearby by their creamy orange-white papery bark, and tough pale green leaves.  Their bark feels a little spongy to touch. You might like to compare how their bark feels compared to the bark of other trees around the track.

[Green tree frog croaking]

That’s the call of a green tree frog, which you might hear in this wetland after a downpour of rain. This large frog can grow almost as big as your hand, and though usually green, it is known to change colours to brown, blue, or almost black.

Unlike you or me, frogs don’t drink water. Instead, they absorb water through their skin, which makes them very sensitive to the environment. Therefore, whether there are frogs or not can tell us if a wetland area is clean and healthy for other animals to live.

With the importance of water fresh in your mind, now might be a good time to have a sip of water if you have a water bottle on you before you move onto the next station. 

Station 4: Plants need a home too

Audio recording: 1 minute 58 seconds
Transcript reading time: 2-3 minutes

Narrator: The frame of this sign has mostly gum nuts on it, which are from different eucalypt trees found in this reserve. You may find some of these on the ground, alongside eucalyptus leaves which range in colour from bright green to dull green and red. Picking up one of these leaves and scrunching it in your hand will release a subtle, minty, kind of smell.  

As you approached this sign, you may have noticed that the there’s slope in front of you, with the hill starting on the right of the track and sloping down into a gully on the left of the track. On the hillsides the soil is shallow, and the surface is rough and stony. These are harsh living conditions for plants, as there are not many nutrients in the soil and rainwater flows away quickly. Some plants can survive though – you will see Red Bloodwoods, Tallowwoods and Rough-barked Apple Trees sparsely scattered here. You will also see heath plants here, which look tough and are sometimes prickly. They survive by retaining water and absorbing the few nutrients available with the help of special fungi attached to their root system, called Mycorrhizal fungi. 

Banksia spinulosa, commonly known as Candlestick Banksia, is one of the most noticeable shrubs in the heaths due to its bright long golden flower heads. It also gives off a lovely sweet honey fragrance. Make sure to have a whiff next time you walk by one.

Another iconic plant found in the upper reaches of the reserve is Xanthorrhoea johnsonii, the Forest Grass Tree, which can reach up to two metres or more. Forest Grass Trees have rough black trunks and grow very slowly, at a rate of about one centimetre per year!  So, their height can give you a rough idea of their age.

On the left of the track near the gully the soil is richer and has more nutrients but is more heavily shaded. Some species found here, like Lophostemon swaveolens or Swamp Box, have larger leaves to capture more sunlight.

Station 5: A food web woven

Audio recording: 1 minute 13 seconds
Transcript reading time: 1-2 minutes

Narrator: This sign has a picture of a food web, which is a glimpse into some of the interactions that really happen here in Raven Street Reserve.  So, although it doesn’t always sound or look like it, bushlands are very busy places.

Let’s start with eucalypt trees. These often produce flowers that have lots of pollen, a favourite food for herbivorous or plant–eating bats, like the Black Flying Fox and the Grey Headed Flying Fox. Possums like the Common Ringtail or Brushtail also like to eat the leaves of eucalypt trees.

These bats and possums then become food for local predators, like the non-venomous Carpet Python or the Brown Tree Snake, who may catch them off guard or when they are sleeping. When these snakes eventually die, and join the other dried flowers, leaves and dead branches that fall from trees, everything gets broken down in the soil by scavengers and decomposers like bush cockroaches and termites.  Fungi and bacteria in the soil also play a role in this break-down process.  Eventually everything contributes to nutrients in the soil, which begins the cycle again, by creating the conditions that are necessary for eucalypt trees and other plants to grow. Everything in the food web has an important and vital role to play in sustaining life in the bushlands. 

Station 6: Heath plants need fire

Audio recording: 1 minute 7 seconds
Transcript reading time: 1-2 minutes

Narrator: Heath communities need fire for many reasons:

• to rejuvenate
• to encourage some seeds to germinate or grow
• to maintain the diversity of plants, and
• to reduce the accumulation of fuel load.

In other words, getting rid of how much stuff there is to burn, which prevents big bushfires. Some plants, such as the Black She Oak, need fire to survive.  Without fire every 7-15 years, these trees won’t reproduce, and eventually they will die and not be replaced.  If you take a closer look at some of the trunks of trees you will see they have been blackened, which is evidence of bushfires.

Isn’t it amazing that some fire is necessary for many of the ecosystems in the Australian environment?  However, these fires need to be controlled so that they are not too hot, and so that the wildlife and people living nearby are safe.

Planned burns on Brisbane City Council land, including this reserve, are used to maintain the health of the forest and lessen the impact of wildfires.  Council officers involved in fire management activities are trained in bushland management, planned burning techniques and wildfire suppression, and take care to minimise the impact of fire on local wildlife.

Station 7: Hollows gone - big trees are terrific homes

Audio recording: 1 minute 41 seconds
Transcript reading time: 1-2 minutes

Narrator: Across the top of this frame is the flower spike of a Grass Tree, which I mentioned before. Take a moment to feel the contours of this awesome sculpture. Flower spikes like these produce a lot of nectar and attract many insects, birds and mammals.  

[Song of a Forest Kingfisher]

That’s the song of the Forest Kingfisher, a cousin of the Kookaburra, but much smaller. It has a deep blueish back and head and is white underneath. The Forest Kingfisher is more commonly seen in the warmer months during its breeding season. You may even see it flying in or out of a termite’s nest or tree hollow where it nests.

Big trees, with their cracks and hollows make terrific homes for our native wildlife.  Here in Australia, about 300 of our frog, reptile, mammal, invertebrate and bird species, like the Forest Kingfisher, need tree hollows. They use them for sleeping, nurturing their young and as shelter from the weather and predators.

Tree hollows take a long time to develop; up to 100 or even 200 years.  Many of the big old trees in this reserve were cut down long ago and used for timber when early settlers arrived in Australia.  That’s why where big trees are still forming their hollows or there aren’t any big trees, Brisbane City Council installs nest boxes, giving animals somewhere to sleep and be safe.  You may have even noticed a couple of nest boxes nearby. This bushland reserve is a protected area, so the trees here will eventually grow big and old enough to develop tree hollows.

Station 8: A useful place

Audio recording: 1 minute 50 seconds
Transcript reading time: 1-2 minutes

Narrator: Let’s take a moment to relax and take a few deep breaths, in through the nose for 5 seconds and then out through the mouth for 5.  Breathing in….2….3…4…5….and out…2….3….4…5, releasing all tension in your head, neck, and shoulders.  In…2…3….4….5…and out….2….3….4….5.  Releasing tension and feeling yourself relax. 

Now picture a time, long ago, when you would’ve been surrounded only by the natural environment.  Hold in your mind the picture and sounds of a pristine bushland area.  Around you are lots of different trees and leaves rustling in the wind.  The sound of a creek close by.  The gentle perfume of colourful bush flowers tickles your nose.  Birds dance and sing in the sunlight.  And you, your friends and family are all living together as a community.

[Didgeridoo, clapping sticks, and singing by First Nations peoples]

Since time immemorial, First Nations peoples have used the native plants around them for food, fibre, shelter, and medicine.  This requires an in-depth understanding of the seasons, when plants flower and produce seeds, and how plants should be prepared as food or for fibre, tools, or weapons.   

These spaces continue to hold significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. 

Station 9: Green spaces are special

Audio recording: 1 minute 50 seconds
Transcript reading time: 2-3 minutes

Narrator: We hope you’re enjoying your journey through this green space. Green spaces are special because they protect biodiversity. Biodiversity is short for 'biological diversity', where bio means all living things and 'diversity' refers to the huge variety of living things. Bushland reserves such as Raven St Reserve are perfect for protecting biodiversity. They also support life by helping to maintain natural biological systems, such as the water cycle, heat management, and the carbon cycle.

Vegetation helps to slow down the speed and volume of water, which helps to reduce flooding and act as a filter to keep our waterways clean and healthy.

The shade that urban bushlands provide help to keep our city cool. This is also very important when it comes to keeping waterways the correct temperature. Too hot and the fish, frogs and waterbugs will die. As you stand under the shade of the trees along this trail, think about how warm it feels to stand under the heat of the summer sun in comparison.

Of course, bushlands are also carbon sinks, which means that they store carbon dioxide by absorbing it out of the atmosphere and converting into the building blocks they need to grow. In return, they provide us with the oxygen we need to breath.

Bushlands are also places for us to relax and have fun. Spend time here walking, riding on permitted bike tracks, bird-watching, reading, drawing, taking photographs or just sitting still.  Something in our spirits makes us yearn for the wonderful experiences only provided by nature in the bush.

Take a moment now to just really look at and appreciate this wonderful but sometimes forgotten place that gives us so much.

Station 10: Bushland is threatened

Audio recording: 1 minute 32 seconds
Transcript reading time: 2-3 minutes

Narrator: Though we all know how beautiful and important our bushlands are, they are constantly under threat. Clearing native vegetation for urban development such as roads, houses, and farming is a large and obvious threat to our bushlands, but threats in the form of introduced animals like foxes, rabbits, cane toads and feral cats, as well as uncontrolled domestic pets such as horses, cats and dogs place considerable pressure on our native plants and animals too.

Pet cats in particular are responsible for the deaths of 110 native animals on average each and every year ^*, which is why under Council’s Animals Local Law 2017 they must be kept from roaming.

Weed species that invade our reserves kill and take up space for native plants that provide habitat for native animals, which means they also serve a significant risk.

Although fun and exciting to some people, sports such as trail and quad bike riding, mountain bike riding and horse riding, and even walking, when not enjoyed in designated areas, can be some of the most environmentally unsustainable and damaging activities. Why? Because they cause erosion – firstly, by damaging plants that hold soil together, and secondly by shifting soil, both of which, come storm season, cause severe erosion when large rain flushes through.

There are some simple steps we can all take to ensure the bush continues to exist well into the future. Jump to the next QR code to find out how you can help.

_{* Source: Dielenberg, J., Murphy, B., Dickman, C.., Woinarski, J., Wooley, L., Calver, M., Legge, S. (2020, 15 May). Lock up your pet cat, it's a killing machine. The University of Sydney. https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/05/15/lock-up-your-pet-cat-its-a-killing-machine.html}

Station 11: How you can help the bush

Audio recording: 1 minute 8 seconds
Transcript reading time: 1-2 minutes

Narrator: Protecting the bush can be easy.  Start by staying on the designated walking or bike tracks and taking any rubbish you have with you. Have your dog with you? That’s great – just make sure you always keep it on a lead and carry a bag with you to pick up its poo.

You can help the bush from the comfort of your own home too, through good pet management.  If you have an aquarium and need to dispose of fish or plants, make sure you put them in the bin and not in your local creek.  If you have pets like dogs or cats, please make sure they are contained in your yard or house. Keeping cats inside at night is especially important, to stop them from preying on native wildlife.

Want to be an even better bush neighbour? You can help by planting native plants in your garden to encourage more habitat. You can get 2 for free each financial year through Brisbane City Council’s Free Native Plant program, right here at Downfall Creek Bushland Centre’s distribution hub.

Once you’ve done your backyard or balcony, why not join your local Habitat Brisbane or Creek Catchment group, to give back and rejuvenate the bush? Find out more on Brisbane City Council’s website.

Station 12: Who knows you were here?

Audio recording: 1 minute 37 seconds
Transcript reading time: 2-3 minutes

Narrator: So…have you left footprints or tracks? Have you carried your rubbish with you? What have you left behind that shows you were ever here at all?

Many animals hide by day, sleeping and resting in tree hollows, on branches, under rocks and bushes or in burrows, and they only come out at night to feed. Quite often, an animal’s scats and tracks are the only signs it was ever here at all.  

Scats are animal droppings usually found on the ground.  There are some on the frame of this sign, cast in bronze.  Each animal’s scat has a distinctive shape, size, texture, and smell.  Many animals can be identified from their scats alone.

Tracks are also featured on this frame.  Tracks are not simply footprints but can be any markings left by any part of the animal’s body.  For example, claws and teeth of birds, reptiles or mammals can leave scratch marks and holes in tree trunks from climbing or finding food.  Find a smooth-barked tree nearby and you will most likely see some wildlife tracks.

Thanks for joining us on the Senses Trail today. We hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about Raven St Reserve and connecting with the bush. See you next time!

[Didgeridoo, clapping sticks, and singing by First Nations peoples]