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Merri Creek

Article by Jean McConnachie

The Merri Creek (the Merri Merri) flows from Heathcote Junction, in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, southwards to meet the Yarra River at Yarra Bend Park.

It is managed by the Merri Creek Management Committee. With the help of the community group committed to helping preserve the Merri Creek, called the Friends of Merri Creek.

The Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies (CERES) is located along the creek at Brunswick / Northcote. This is a great place to visit to find out just about everything about environmental sustainability. There is a café, eco house, nursery, bicycle recycler, farm, community gardens etc.

Since being revegetated, wildlife has been returning to the area. Every year since the first sighting in 1992, the Return of the Sacred Kingfisher Festival is held. Yellow tailed black cockatoos have been back in the area since 2003.

Go to the Ceres website to find out more.

Walking the dog after work - April 2005

The Merri Creek in flood - February 2005

Pollution at Merri Creek
Rubbish washed down via the storm water drains is filtered from the flood waters and can be seen hanging in the vegetation - this is only a small proportion of waste that flows down the creek into the Yarra and then to the bay. These pictures show how high the flood waters do rise.

Saw Flies
Sawflies are a type of wasp. Their name refers to a saw-like device they use to split open leaves and bark to lay their eggs. These hatch into sawfly larvae or caterpillars as shown in the photo.

They congregate in large masses during the day, and spread through the trees at night and eat the leaves. Most trees are able to survive an attack which only lasts for a month or so during the summer.

In fact this is seen as a natural method of pruning, as the trees are encouraged to shoot fresh leaves. They are also called spitfires, because when disturbed they jerk up their heads and tails and exude a sticky substance that smells like eucalyptus. This is a good defence mechanism as they appear to be a large creature rather than small bite size pieces. Even so, they may be eaten by large birds such as currawongs and cuckoo shrikes. When knocked to the ground the caterpillars are helpless. You will often see helpless masses squashed along the bike path.