ALERT. A large brown snake crossed the circuit path yesterday (23 September) just in front of a dog and its companion. Be on the look out!
Newsletter, 11 September
I opened this week’s Chronicle (approx. 12 September) to find an article, about page 30, on the Mt Rogers
dog-walking status. It includes Mary’s photo with her three dogs but there’s no
reference to the wonderful work she’s done over many years by fostering
retrievers before their re-homing.
It was good to see Hoot showing Buddy and Bomber one
of the cross-country routes this morning. We humans had a look at the
delightful Cryptandra amara growing
in the middle of the reserve. The tiny white bell-flowers are reminiscent of
heather and both species belong to the worldwide Heath family. Beyond and
around the Cryptandra there’s Urn Heath, Hardenbergia, Kangaroo grass and a range
of other native grasses. This patch is one of Mt Rogers’ natural treasures and
the landcarers vigilantly try to keep African love grass (ALG) out of this
area.
When nine staff from Telstra came to landcare on 29th
August we showed them this patch as an introduction to Mt Rogers and why we
care for and about the reserve. Next they worked hard to remove the ivy that’s
been growing up a large Banksia for several decades. Damon, from Ginninderra
Catchment Group, brought the Landcare trailer in later to remove the equivalent
of two wool-bags of ivy. It was taken to Canberra Sand & Gravel’s
green-waste site at Parkwood to be composted at high temperatures. It’s odd to
think of ivy having berries and seeds but I’ve seen ivy’s inconspicuous flowers
attracting many bees with their perfume. Perhaps ivy offers pollinators nectar
as well.
For several
hours the T-team also walked through the reserve pulling out or cutting &
daubing small Cootamundra wattles. They also cut seed-heads off isolated ALG
plants and then dug out the tussocks. Two or three deciduous trees were also cut
down near Mt Rogers’ summit. One was a hawthorn and another an apple which
probably grew from a discarded apple core. The Telstra team, who had been given
a choice of ways in which to spend a day
on volunteer work, in Telstra’s time, were as impressed with the views from Mt
Rogers as we were with their contribution towards removing invasive weeds in
the reserve. Telstra donated $350 to the Mt Rogers account, money that will be
useful for publications and perhaps tools or the latters’ sharpening.
Over time we hope the wattle species which occur
naturally will take over from the over-fertile Cootamundra wattles but in the
meantime these trees will give several years of shelter and food-sources to
small birds. As the Cootamundra wattles’ blooms lose their brilliance other
species such as Silver and Black wattle are taking over. Hickory wattles bloom
later in the year providing a succession of nectar and pollen for pollinators.
If you hear birds’ contact calls stand and watch as the birds forage for
caterpillars, other insects and invertebrates among the blossoms.
A couple of days of perfect spring weather drew me
towards walking around the reserve after the family’s support of a successful
soccer final on the Sunday. Already on “cloud nine” the views from and the
brightness of life in the reserve kept up my euphoria. We enjoy the Brindabella
backdrop and the spectacular views towards One Tree Hill beyond Hall and over
to Wallaroo Road. If the “works of man” turn us on then looking over the
suburbs towards Black Mountain, Mt Majura and even Gungahlin has its own
appeal.
We can watch the progress of the Lawson development.
It’s designed to fully protect the endangered Natural Temperate Grasslands
between McKellar and Giralang. Hopefully
the vegetation where the grassland meets the Ginninderra Creek corridor can be
improved and restored as part of the development. McKellar wetlands and
Giralang Ponds have been in the news frequently for unusual birds sighted there
amongst the reed-beds. A Landcare Day held at Palmerville was well attended, I
hear. It’s to be hoped a group will form to care for the Landcare Forest there.
The planted trees commemorate lives and special occasions for families.
Palmerville features in the new edition of the $5 Belconnen’s Treasures as does a brief description of Mt Rogers.
Angharad and I indulged in a wildflower walk on Monday
September 1st though we did earn our enjoyment by dealing with any
ALG tussocks that we came across. We first called in to Bridget’s, which is the
name I gave to the Woody Grassland remnant behind Woodger Place, Fraser. The
Creamy candles, which I feared the Hazard Reduction Burn had destroyed, are
just beginning to flower. I hoped to find Purple Hovea but there were several
Twining Glycine instead and they’re possibly flowering earlier than usual.
Amongst the leaf-litter there were Bulbine lilies. Sometimes their yellow
flower clusters were visible but their stalks had some lengthening to do to
bring the flowers where bees could easily reach them.
On the sunny grassland slope there was almost a swathe
of Early Nancy lilies. Their leaves are barely visible but the white petals are
patterned with purple. Elsewhere in the reserve there are others showing. But
it can take a while to “get your eye in” and find them amongst the grass. They
probably favour places where the native grassland and the soils have not been
disturbed. 2014’s spring is a “good year” for them, showing that the amount and
sequence of rainfall and spring warmth all contribute to growth. Nearby there’s
a collection of Grevilleas with a range of flower colours. The spider-shaped
flowers are favoured by honeyeaters and sometimes Silvereyes. They’re not,
technically, a Mt Rogers species but they are doing more good than harm in our
Not-Canberra-Nature-Park-reserve.
Alas there’s a growing pile of garden rubbish in this
area which includes soil, lawn mowings and small prunings. Perhaps it’s burying
some of the lilies. Neighbours reported that people in a 4WD had used the very
rough track up from Daley Crescent as a practice run. Presumably they combined
the vehicle’s trip with bringing dumpings from their garden instead of taking
them to the green waste site at Parkwood. Garden waste does rot down in time
but if it contains seeds, berries or grass-runners their presence makes the
Landcare volunteers’ work harder.
Through the reserve there are native Clematis with
pale yellow flowers. It would be more decorative if they climbed up tree trunks
but many of them seem to scramble over the ground. Later the seeds will have
Old Man’s Beard-plumes which allow them to blow away. Another creeper I re-found
was Love Creeper, Comesperma volubile. It
has vividly blue flowers which I first thought were orchid-like. It’s one of
those species which may have been much more common on Mt Rogers decades ago but
we came across its striking colour when a shaft of light highlighted them
during a working-bee a few Septembers ago. The stems are quite woody as they
also scramble over the leaf-litter but even so the original plant has
disappeared.
Many people have noted instances
of spring-like bird behaviour. There are courtship chases, changes in birds’
songs and a preference for feeding on protein to build up reserves of
food-energy for egg production, laying and incubating. For several weeks it’s been
common to see magpies and smaller birds carrying nesting materials. Four
kookaburras were seen together recently. Some of them co-operatively “laughed”
for the Telstra team at one point. I wonder if they have a nest hollow
somewhere?
Increasingly there have been
sightings of Rainbow Lorikeets. Their calls are distinctive. They’re certainly
quite frequent visitors to middle Flynn and now Mt Rogers. They will also
require nest hollows and, being over-assertive, may out-compete other
hollow-nesting hopefuls. Rainbow Lorikeets are native birds but not native to
the Canberra region. It’s said a few became naturalised after being released
from an aviary in Hawker about 17 years ago. But on a similarly colourful but
more positive note a flock of 4-6 Superb Parrots came through to check out the
reserve on Wednesday. It’s likely they’re part of the group that’s favoured the
trees around the AIS car-parks over winter. Keep your eyes and ears alert if
you’re near the AIS, though there’s Noisy minors there also.
Have a search through the seven
or more years of newsletters at mtrogerslandcare.blogspot.com to see whether
this spring is earlier than others.
I’m working on a list of small,
common garden weeds and may put a few copies up in the notice box. You may wish
to add ones which are annoying at your place. The next working bees are on
Sunday 28th and Monday 6th, though the latter is a public
holiday.
See you “on the hill”,
Rosemary Convenor, Mt Rogers Landcare Group 6258 4724
7-11.09.14.
