By the 9.30 meeting time on August 5th, three of us had arrived at Wickens Place on a partly cloudy,
beginning-to-be-windy morning and Kirsty had already caught up with Lyndon
about his excellent bird photographs. (Lyndon’s Crescent Honeyeater, ‘captured’
on Mt Rogers, features in the Canberra Ornithologists’ August (and august) newsletter).
Ann texted and arrived just after we’d worked on a patch of Patersons Curse
(PC) rosettes near the path and were walking east into the bush under the
power-lines.
Two kangaroos watched us
approach, from among the tall grasses. We apologised for disturbing them and they moved away
unconcernedly…just in case. Kangaroo scats of various ages showed that they use
the place regularly. It’s a good, sunny spot. The rank grasses and native
shrubs hide their presence but they can readily hear people walking along the
path or up towards the summit. If dogs do detect them the kangaroos have a wide
choice of tracks to use as they bound away to safety.
This area’s PC had been tackled
before, on 03.09.12, when Claire, Chris, Kirsty and Margaret made an effort to
reduce the numbers of this weed with its toxic alkaloids. Today’s PC rosettes
were small and easily dug out from the damp soil with gardeners’ prong-ended
diggers.
As we became more familiar with the species we were able to find smaller, newly germinated plants. It was a kneeling job, over a main area 6m x 10m, with folded sacks serving as kneelers.
As we became more familiar with the species we were able to find smaller, newly germinated plants. It was a kneeling job, over a main area 6m x 10m, with folded sacks serving as kneelers.
I worked a few metres away,
cutting off and bagging the remaining flower-heads of a patch of African
Lovegrass (ALG) that has been “unattended” for several years. The plants were
mattocked-out and bagged. Actually we use double-ended hoes as they’re much
lighter than mattocks. The pointed blade allows digging and levering that only
gradually prises the plants out of the soil. Less soil is left bare and
disturbed for future infestation by any seeds that are dormant and awaiting the
opportunity to germinate. By then scattering seed heads and seed from native
grasses on the weeded area we are, I hope, increasing the density of these grasses so they will out-compete
other grass seedlings and weeds. I also moved dead branches from near their
one-time trunks and placed them over the grass-thatch to prevent its being blown away. After I’d been working for a while I looked up to see a portly Kookaburra on a branch, watching us all at work.
Last September our tendency to
intersperse our landcaring with bird-watching yielded poor photos but magical
memories of Kirsty’s find — a Boobook Owl perched for its daytime sleep under
the yellow roof of a wattle’s canopy. Moments like that are such special
rewards for the volunteering we already enjoy. There’s also the range of
subjects for discussion and nature experiences shared or proffered for
explanation.
Having finished the main patch we
radiated out to check for outlying PC plants, finding two young privets for Ann
to pull out. Flemming found a neat hole in the ground and called us over:
“What’s made this?”. It was about 8cm across and more than 15cm deep. Plants
draped over the edges showed it wasn’t new but, inexplicably, I dubbed it a
Mutton-bird burrow.
In the meantime the Kookaburras
had moved away slightly but we were sure they’d return to enlarging their hole
after we left. We moved the full sacks of ALG back to the car, walking past
Cootamundra wattle in full, glorious, yellow bloom. The blossoming branches are
habitat for tiny caterpillars, which in turn, attract Weebills, Thornbills and
other insectivorous birds. Wattlebirds’ varied calls surrounded us. We presumed
the birds were moving from one tree with nectar-producing flowers to the next.
In the process they’ll chase any other birds from their territory whether the
others compete for food or not.
One ancient eucalypt which I once
called the ‘possum tree’, fancying it had possum scratch marks on the trunk,
caught our attention with its textural markings on the bark at its swollen
base. We drew together to look at the artistic effect and the colours, and had no idea how
such pock-marked damage had occurred. Can anyone tell us? The scribbles on some gum trees have been
caused by the larvae of tiny moths but the marks here were mostly circular
holes and indentations with some of them healed over by the ever-growing bark.
The carpark looks mown and neat at present though there are still ALG plants with seeds where mowers can’t reach and behead them. I believe an Orienteering event is scheduled for 14th August. The runners and walkers will be joining us in taking ALG from the carpark into the reserve as they navigate the challenges of the day’s laid-out trails. Such events bring home what “shared amenity” means and that we can’t really claim Mt Rogers as “ours” alone. We also want other people to be converted to the wonders of Mt Rogers, though let’s hope they learn to slow down, observe and learn from animals’ behaviour and plants’ seasonal changes. Even boulders don’t remain static as lichens’ acids dissolve the rock. If we’re being realistic, ants, kangaroos, other paws, birds and breezes are moving seeds and spores around constantly.
We walked over to the “behind Woodger
Place section” which was Hazard Reduction Burnt (HRB) in February 2013. I call
it Bridget’s because Bridget used to live in one of the three adjacent houses.
We’d removed PC rosettes there previously along with Fleabane plants and
seedlings that had grown up following TAMS mowing and ALG spraying. We were
able to compare the introduced Plantain or Ribwort we’d been finding earlier
with the similar but native Variable plantain, Plantago varia, which grows in dense swathes in this area. The
native’s leaves are a bit hairy, greyer-green, not smoothly surfaced and often
have visible notches on the sides. Perhaps the geology suits them, or they like
the partial shade, or the trees prevented the ground from being scoured by
bulldozers 45 years ago.
The HRB has killed off younger
wattles and some shrubs but most are being true to their Australianness and are
re-sprouting. Indigofera adesmiifolia planted
some 8 years ago are vigorous in their recovery from having been mown by an
over-zealous TAMS contractor. Others, originals at this site are recovering
from being HRBurnt. We upset 2 Common Bronzewing pigeons by coming into their
patch and they flew away. They’ve always liked this place as a refuge amongst
the shrubs and native grasses. There have been reports of them nesting in the
reserve and their ‘ooming’ calls have become familiar as they’ve dispersed from
the car-park area over the last 5 years.
The green leaves of Bulbine bulbosa are growing up through
the leaf litter or through the winter-beige grasses. The lilies’ bright yellow
flowers will bloom later than the currently-invisible Early Nancy, Wurmbea dioica. Under the trees, which
host passing Superb Parrots in summer, there
should soon be purple Hovea linearis if
the approach of spring is to be believed.
Walking from the carpark we came
across Rock fern pushing through the recently bare ground. These Cheilanthes austrotenuifolia are great
survivors, behaving like mosses and lichens in that a small amount of rain or
drizzle is enough to turn “dead” fronds into lush greenness seemingly within
hours. (The phone included in these photos is to indicate the plants' size.)
The grassed area is remarkably
species-rich. Rosettes of Cymbonotus lawsonianus are designed to confuse us.
The leaves look like weedy daisy leaves or like PC. The flowers might look like
Capeweed blooms.
Another confusing native is more like Flatweed with its smooth leaves. The Solenogyne dominii leaves’ edges have a small rounded toothed effect. I’ve only noticed these and their insignificant daisy flowers in recent years. Perhaps they’re less noticeable in drier years.
Tough strappy but thin leaves
belonged to Lomandra or Mat Rush species. Coming back after the HRB or pushing
through grasses or the soil they’re often left by grazing animals as just too
coarse to eat. Looking grass-like but actually another lily species is Tricoryne elatior, Yellow Rush Lily.
They’re one of the first species to grow back from sturdy root-stock after
fire. Even when flowering they can be cryptic because the flowers tend to
remain closed until the sun’s been shining on them for a while.
We found one example of another post-fire
survivor: Convolvulus erubescens, Australian Bindweed. Its
pink flowers also close overnight but turn expectantly towards the “moving” sun
by mid-morning. We could see strong regrowth from Everlasting daisies Chrysocephalum apiculatum even when the
clumps had obviously been burnt or scorched. Chrysocephalum semipapposum is represented by taller tussocks. Both
have pom-pom heads of tiny, yellow daisy flowers by late spring.
Some of the grass tussocks showed
charcoalled leaves where the patch burn had scorched them. New leaves are
growing healthily, stimulated by ash and smoke from the HRB. Occasionally Vittadinia cuneata, New Holland Daisy, were
growing in the mown but unburnt areas. They, and the more familiar, native
Bluebells, seem to thrive in the toughest of locations.
There was some gruesome
excitement as we noticed a Raven tearing at a hapless corpse between
‘Bridget’s’ and the bus stop on Bingley Cres. We were torn between going
towards the Raven and possibly frightening it into taking off with its victim
and not knowing what its food was. Moving a few steps at a time we tricked the
bird into flying off and leaving what turned out to be a headless wattlebird.
Nature at work, but we could only mull over why the wattlebird had met this
fate. Ravens are scavengers. For decades they were mostly called crows and had
bad reputations amongst graziers until it could be proved that they fed on dead
lambs not ones they’d killed. They mate for life apparently and also feed on
grasshoppers and other insect pests. Nesting can begin in July with the young
forming groups as they mature towards breeding in their third season.
I suspect “our” magpies in mid-Flynn
are also nesting, because only the male turns up for scattered dry porridge
oats. So we may need to be prepared for swooping near the Flynn playground if
that magpie’s hormones turn him into a two-month-rogue. A much pleasanter
warning is that Frogmouths elsewhere have begun building nests. Keeping an eye
on “our” Frogmouths’ usual tree-fork may show that they’re in step with those
in other reserves or suburbs.
I’ve used scientific names for
some of the plants so that finding their images from websites will be easier. Scientific
names have a reputation for being complicated but several of us have reported
that if young children are given the scientific name from the outset they don’t
run into the same problems as we sometimes do. One granddaughter was as happy
with Vanessa kershawi as with Painted
Lady for the name of one of Australia’s commonest butterflies.
Where do the Latin or
Greek-sounding names come from? Hardenbergia violacea is a favourite
scrambler, now in flower or nearly so on Mt Rogers. It was named in 1837 for
Baroness Franziska von Hardenberg, curator of the collections of her brother
Baron von Huegel. The violacea part of
the name means ‘violet-like’, referring to their striking purple colour. If you
Google Alyogyne huegelii you’ll find
a beautiful Australian version of Hibiscus and it was named after Baron von
Huegel. Species names that end in …ensis
reflect plants’ geographic origins (ensis
means ‘originating in’). For
example, there’s a rare orchid found in the
ACT, the Canberra Spider orchid, Arachnorchis
actensis. Other species’ names refer to the shapes of leaves, the plants’
habit, the flowers’ colour or other significant features.
The next Mt Rogers working-bees
are scheduled for Sunday August 25th and Monday 2nd
September. The latter will take the form of a walk and exploration to see what
spring is stimulating, starting from Wickens Place from 09.30. So bring friends
and new neighbours to show them what natural history Mt Rogers has to offer.
Floriade begins on 14th
September and another Weeds Display Garden is planned. Call in to see the
display to the north of Stage 88 and we’re always looking for volunteer
explainers to meet and greet visitors and share stories about weeds and wise
garden-planting! (3-hour shifts in morning or afternoon, with information all
ready to hand out).
The above text I hope shows that working-bees
aren’t all hard grind and physical labour. We observe, share and learn as we
work, marvelling in the little patch of bush we affectionately call ours whilst
knowing it’s home to thousands of other species.
Rosemary, Mt Rogers
Landcare. 6258 4724
