Burpengary Creek is a tidal creek in the

City of Moreton Bay The City of Moreton Bay, known until July 2023 as the Moreton Bay Region, is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the north of the Brisbane metropolitan city in South East Queensland, South East Queensland, Australia. Estab ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It has a total

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

area of 7,960

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...

. It is about 40 kilometres north of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, The Burpengary Creek catchment forms part of the larger Deception Bay catchment and encompasses two distinctive creeks–Little Burpengary Creek (6,360ha) and Burpengary Creek (6, 360ha). These creeks flow into Deception Bay just south of the mouth of

Caboolture River The Caboolture River is a small river in South East Queensland, Australia. Location and features Formed by runoff from the D'Aguilar Range, the Caboolture River rises below near and flows generally east, joined by two minor tributaries and f ...

, which is itself south of

Bribie Island Bribie Island is the smallest and most northerly of three major sand islands forming the coastline sheltering the northern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. The others are Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island. Bribie Island is ...

. Burpengary Creek begins in the D’Aguilar Ranges at a height of 340 metres above sea-level. The Creek continues to flow down the mountain slopes into

Narangba Narangba is a town and suburb of the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. It is located north of Brisbane CBD. This suburb has rural origins, but is being redeveloped as a residential suburb on the outskirts of the greater Brisbane metro ...

, through the pine forests adjoining Oakey Flat Road. It then flows into the residential areas of Morayfield and Burpengary before spilling out into southern Deception Bay.

History

Burpengary (meaning ''place of the wattle trees'') holds deep significance for the Aboriginal communities that lived along the creek area. They found it valuable for camping, fishing, making canoes from the trees and for access to the coastline. The last male of the local tribe, Menvil Wanmurarn (also known as Jacky Delaney), was buried alongside the Creek when he died in 1900. He was known as the King of Stoney Creek (the name of Upper Burpengary Creek). His gravesite (approx ) is listed on the Moreton Bay Region Local Heritage Register. In 1842 Robert Dixon developed the first map of the area and marked Burpengary Creek on it as Cuthbertson Creek. By 1851 the area around Burpengary Creek was well settled and used for grazing cattle and growing

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

and

bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – berry (botany), botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called pla ...

. The dairy industry had a quick demise and farmers were selling their land to Australian Paper Manufacturing (APM) Forests for the plantation of Pine Trees within the catchment. Within a short space of time, around 1958, APM eventually planted over 20,000 hectares of pine forests. Exotic

conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

accounted for almost one-third of these forests. APM made a proposal to the Queensland State Government to build a large pulp mill nearby, but these were rejected and APM abandoned the land and sold it to a South Australian property developer. However, this land was marked by the former Caboolture Shire's draft strategic plan to remain for basic rural activities and the development of urban and rural residential properties would not be permitted. This strategic plan did not withstand the widespread population growth within the Burpengary catchment area as it is now primarily used for suburban development. Continuously more bush land and plantations are being cleared for this progressive development. What this means for residential flora and fauna remains to be seen.

Fauna and flora

It is estimated that less than 7.5% of the original vegetation within Burpengary Creek catchment remains Along the Creek there are many important tree associations that need to be conserved as only remnants of them remain. Along the coast two types of forests are evident–

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen and remove sal ...

along the shores of Deception Bay and the tea trees and

paperbark ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles, bottlebrushes or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They ...

forests in the freshwater wetlands. The bulk of the catchment area includes open

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

forests, with vine forests / shrubs and riverline forests running sparsely along the edge of the Creek. The largest undisturbed Tea Tree and Scribbly Gum forest in south-east Queensland is located in Freshwater National Park, alongside Deception Bay Road. Other tree species found within this region are Smooth Barked Gums, Stringy Barks, Iron Barks, Brush Box, Hoop Pine, Cedar, Ash and Tulip Oak. Extreme care needs to be taken to preserve this vegetation to ensure that it is a safe haven for the numerous species of wildlife that lives within the Burpengary Creek catchment. Burpengary Creek catchment is home to diverse range of native animals, despite the widespread clearing of native plants and trees to make way for suburban development. There are over 150 bird species, which have been observed along Burpengary Creek. Some of the more common birds that have been sighted include the

eastern whipbird The eastern whipbird (''Psophodes olivaceus'') is an insectivore, insectivorous passerine bird native to the east coast of Australia. Its whip-crack song is a familiar sound in forests of eastern Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Heard mu ...

noisy friarbird The noisy friarbird (''Philemon corniculatus'') is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southern New Guinea and eastern Australia. It is one of several species known as friarbirds whose heads are bare of feathers. It ...

galah The galah (; ''Eolophus roseicapilla''), less commonly known as the pink and grey cockatoo or rose-breasted cockatoo, is an Australian species of cockatoo and the only member of the genus ''Eolophus''. The galah is adapted to a wide variety of m ...

sulphur-crested cockatoo The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...

tawny frogmouth The tawny frogmouth (''Podargus strigoides'') is a species of frogmouth native to the Australian mainland and Tasmania and found throughout. It is a big-headed, stocky bird often mistaken for an owl due to its nocturnal habits and similar colouri ...

laughing kookaburra The laughing kookaburra (''Dacelo novaeguineae'') is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a whitish head and a brown eye-stripe. The upperparts are mostly dark brown but there is a mottled light ...

kingfishers Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

, honeyeaters,

Australian king parrot The Australian king parrot (''Alisterus scapularis'') is a species of parrot endemic to eastern Australia ranging from Cooktown in Queensland to Port Campbell in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Found in humid and heavily forested upland regions o ...

and

Australian magpie The Australian magpie (''Gymnorhina tibicen'') is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea, and introduced to New Zealand, and the Fijian island of Taveuni. Although once considered to be three separate ...

. Burpengary Creek catchment is also home to one of Australians endangered frog species the giant barred frog. This frog lives in the moist forests borrowing beneath fallen leaves and loose soil during the day and comes out at night to forage for food. Alongside this endangered Australian animal there are also other frog species, including the

ornate burrowing frog The ornate burrowing frog (''Platyplectrum ornatum'') is a species of ground frog native to Australia. It was moved to the genus ''Opisthodon'' in 2006, following a major revision of amphibians, and is now classified in the genus ''Platyplectrum' ...

, the rocket frog and the whistling tree frog. The

brown tree snake The brown tree snake (''Boiga irregularis''), also known as the brown catsnake, is an arboreal rear-fanged colubrid snake native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, eastern Indonesia (Sulawesi to Papua), Papua New Guinea, and many island ...

, green tree snake,

carpet python ''Morelia spilota'', commonly known as the carpet python, is a large snake of the family Pythonidae found in Australia, New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea), Bismarck Archipelago, and the northern Solomon Islands. Many subspecies are rec ...

, Australian coral snake and rough-scaled snake also live within this catchment area and are generally seen between the months of October to January. Other reptiles that can be found within this region are Burton's legless lizard, eastern water dragon,

bearded dragon ''Pogona'' is a genus of reptiles containing eight lizard species, which are often known by the common name bearded dragons or informally (especially in Australia) beardies. The name "bearded dragon" refers to the underside of the throat (or " ...

and the lace monitor. Native mammals within this area include:

northern brown bandicoot The northern brown bandicoot (''Isoodon macrourus''), a marsupial species, is a bandicoot found only on the northern and eastern coasts of Australia and nearby islands, mainly Papua New Guinea. It is not, however, found far inland. Description ...

, red-necked wallaby, platypus, ringtail possums, brush tail possums and the grey-headed flying-fox. Furthermore, native bees can also be found within the Burpengary Creek catchment.

Environmental threats

People, plants and animals are the three main threats to Burpengary Creek. Along with widespread settlement along Burpengary Creek came clearing of native plants, pipes built underground, soil erosion, hardening of creek beds and homes built in the flood path, which in turn results in continuing of private and public costs. Early settlement days saw the introduction of horses, cattle and domestic pets, which has seen widespread degradation of natural vegetation which suppresses re-growth and fauna being killed. Introduced species of plants, such as camphor laurel, privet bush, Chinese elm and balloon vine have overrun and in some instances destroyed native vegetation. Burpengary Creek has risen more than 2 cm over the past 20 years and this trend is expected to rise dramatically.

Recreational activities

Burpengary creek is a good fishing spot and it has nearby boat ramps that allow for easy access to the Creek. There are boat ramps at O’Leary Avenue in Burpengary and at Uhlmann Road boat ramp into Caboolture River with only a short trip around the bend into Burpengary Creek. It is also noted for having large quantities of mud crabs in the lower reaches of the Creek. Grassy areas within the parks along the Creek line allow for family picnics, flying kites, and general outdoor activities such as Boules or a family game of cricket. Another option is bird-watching at the Caboolture Regional Environmental Education Centre (CREEC) on Rowley Road, Burpengary.

Bibliography

References