So much life! - 20 February 2012

This morning I walked up to Mt Rogers arriving by about 08.45. As I passed #11 Schwarz place I noticed a "blob" in a green (introduced & deciduous later) tree in their garden....one of the Frogmouths was roosting there.

I walked up the gully from the "new drain" as Arjen & Jazz turned up that way. He said they'd been close to the summit a few days ago & Jazz "pointed" to a large dragon lizard. A few steps afterwards & three quail exploded away from them. Good news that ground-nesting birds are surviving.

Further up the gully a Willie wagtail was trying to catch a largish moth/fly/butterfly in mid-air. Three or four Grey fantails didn't seem impressed at this incursion into their territory. It's my impression that Willie wagtails are rarely seen actually on Mt R though they may be in nearby gardens from time to time.

Up and over the ridgeline and brown movement in the distance turned out to be a rabbit. There's a species we can do without. I'd seen their droppings in the regrowing burnt area some months ago but never actually seen the culprits. Let's hope someone's dog or the resident foxes will account for the rabbit soon.

Do you think people (other dog-walkers who don't share our views) encourage their dogs to chase the kangaroos? Arjen & I agreed it's so good to have a resident family of roos rather than only hosting animals which have been terrified into coming to Mt Rogers from Kuringa Drive or the creek or where-ever.

A "community meeting" between Nancy, John, Peter, Trisha, Benji and Teddy evolved near the northerly "new drain" and we noticed a wonderful white mushroom-shape amongst the grass. Later we found about seven more deep in from the end of Keane place and again, each solitarily, amongst the grass.

Whilst we have several photos of them between us I haven't identified them yet from Bruce Fuhrer's book. I found an attractive website Bill Leithhead's Website but out of the thousands of Australian fungi that's fascinating but not helpful.

With this extraordinary summer we should see more fungi emerging in response to the dampness & warmth of the soil rather than waiting for autumn.

Perhaps we should create a Mt Rogers Fungi Gallery?

Mt Rogers in February 2012

Colin, the inventor of the dog-poo-bag dispenser, has turned his hands to five notice-holders and now a brochure holder. To install the latter, permission had to be sought from City Services because it was being installed on public land. Philip Selmes as ACT Parkcare co-ordinator, helped with the concreting-in, impressively using one of the Fire Unit’s light vehicles as a water source. Colin’s also continued the African Lovegrass (ALG) cutting & bagging from where we left off after the Sunday 22^nd working bee. 

Several of our landcarers have signed up as members of Ginninderra Catchment Group. This free membership, plus signing on with an ACT Individual Volunteer Sign-on Sheet, allows landcarers to be insured whilst working on specific tasks outside official working-bee times. All of our landcarers learn about the work and the Mt Rogers species “on the job”. The next dates for volunteering Sunday 28^th Feb. &  Monday 5^th March.

Ginninderra Catchment Group’s co-ordinators are arranging for the spreading Blackberry and Honeysuckle patches to be sprayed by contractors in April. They may also be able to follow-up our ALG work by spraying the tussocks and there are areas of Chilean Needlegrass to be treated, particularly north & east of Jacob Place. Christine and Johan organised a family working-bee recently, making a dent in stands of St Johns Wort by pulling it from the soil (unexpectedly damp from this unusual summer). Morris has mown near his home for years keeping the ALG in check in a practical way by preventing it seeding.  

Today’s working-bee saw us working on ALG again but we also cut & bagged the wonderful Salsify heads to prevent their seeds ‘parachuting’  further into the reserve.  Two couples passed by. They (and Chris later) asked about the small piles of shredded paper placed regularly along the track. Perhaps they are the remains of someone’s treasure hunt. Other people use flour in such circumstances knowing that enterprising invertebrates will eat it if our dogs can ignore it. At our place snails and slugs might eventually eat the shiny paper but I wonder how long it will take to break down on Mt R.? At least it’s not plastic.

The second couple were concerned about sighting a healthy fox realising that young, inexperienced birds might easy be victims of these introduced predators. It was valuable to have their report as it helps build a picture of fox behaviour and movements. Cats also hunt on Mt Rogers as well as in their neighbours’ gardens. They’re bad news for native birds, skinks, and lizards. Keeping cats in at night doesn’t help daytime’s reptiles and many cats learn to move without activating the bells on their collars.

We’d not even begun working this morning (06.02.12.) when we were delighted to see the Owlet Nightjar peering out of its daytime roost in a nest-box near the Wickens Place carpark. Other birds were active as we worked: a White-throated treecreeper, Superb fairy wrens, Grey fantails, Silvereyes, Magpies, Rosellas, Wattlebirds, Weebills, Thornbills and a Bronzewing pigeon called. Lorraine reported seeing a couple of Superb Parrots within the last week. This is another important report as birdwatchers have been wondering whether the species has moved out of the ACT by now. Up to 170 Superbs in family groups, have been reported, some at the AIS and others near Cook Horse paddocks in mid-January. Perhaps the species is re-writing its history books! Several species of birds have been reported as having at least two broods of young in response to the food-plentiful summer.

The main bird-story for January has come from Helen & Chris’ garden where a Boobook used their Claret ash as a daytime roost. They and Lyndon managed some photos and they’re on the blogspot Ann has created and is adding-to: www.mtrogerslandcare.blogspot.com   Over time there were two Boobooks, then three and finally four. The young were much paler than their parents, colouring that seemed to accentuate the sense of amazement in their gaze. We have heard Boobooks call from mid-Flynn during many summer nights. There was never any doubt that we could “claim” them as Mt Rogers’ residents but this is the first time live ones have been seen by Mt R. community members. The birds’ list we have for the reserve reflects the species I have seen so it’s likely that others will have species to add or at least sightings such as the Painted Button Quail whose ‘platelets’, whilst foraging in leaf litter, are evidence of their visits. Cormorants, Eagles and Pelicans feature on the list because they’ve been seen flying over the reserve. Just imagine how light reflecting on dams & lakes guides the waterbirds to new habitat or food supplies.

We have held two guided walks showing 25 people where special species and favourite places were, away from the gravel path. The weekday walk led us into hot weather. This and our naturalists’ slow pace was a bit much for the children. Perhaps we can persuade them to come on a specific ‘treasures’ hunt or a spirited “race” to the summit some time. Would spotlighting appeal?

I have one or two photos of clusters of Soldier beetles clinging to vegetation in hundreds. They are so named because the colours of their bodies reminded some of soldiers’ uniforms and possibly the numbers resembled armies. The beetles have been hatching at a phenomenal rate with swarms of them around trees canopies at times. Google Plague Soldier Beetles for more information and images.

Orchard butterflies are quite often in gardens seeking citrus & Choisya plants for the caterpillars which will emerge from their eggs. Common Browns, The Australian Painted Lady, Meadow argus, Caper and Cabbage whites, Common Grass Blue and several Skippers are locally common amongst grasses and flowering plants at their specific times of the year. Ogyris and Delias species specialise in visiting mistletoe clusters in a range of Mt Rogers trees. Australia hosts some 400 species of butterflies but moth species are far more numerous. Don’t be put off by their possibly duller colouring…moths’ wings have the most exquisite patterns and variations on brown and beige themes, ideal for camouflage. There are over 20,000 moth species in Australia and 30,000 beetles may live here including weevils, scarabs, dung beetles, chafers and leaf beetles.

Will the rain periods and warmth prompt a new crop of toadstools and other fungi? They’re essential recyclers of decaying material. Lichens and mosses adorn the rocks, boulders and forest floor revealing they’re subtle but varied colours once a few millimetres of rain penetrate their outer cells. Thousands of tiny Rock ferns have begun life in the past few months. Berlinda has pointed out a strange, almost evil-looking, algal mass at a seepage point between boulders. We haven’t begun investigating what it might be in spite of our photographs.
 
Thank you to all who sent messages of support and or comments on the situation when it was revealed that the Rural Fire Service (contracted by TAMS) would hold a Hazard Reduction Burn (HRB) in the two hectares between the Wickens Place carpark and Woodger place in Fraser. With the intervention of ecologist Margaret Kitchin, the HRB  was called off and proposed for its correct scheduling for autumn 2011 to 2013. We will persist in our quest for parkcarers, landcarers, catchment groups and nearby residents to be adequately informed of such plans and for better communication between the agencies involved. It’s also essential, I think, that a brochure explaining the whole HRB issue, procedures and responsibilities be available to Canberrans and especially those whose lives and properties are connected with “the bush”.  To us Mt Rogers and other reserves aren’t just resources or land for infrastructure. Mt Rogers is a large part of our wellbeing.

Rosemary, Convenor
Mt Rogers Landcare Group
6258 4724