It’s
possible to dismiss the bush in summer as being all brown, beige and dead-looking:
un-appealing to those accustomed to the strong colours modern technology has
produced and promoted. Perceptive folk walking on Mt Rogers, however, see beyond the obvious.
Beige and brown: As the days get hotter, plants (particularly local
and native species) overcome the lack of water and the desiccating winds of summer
by drying-up. Many species have developed ways of conserving moisture; often, maintaining the chlorophyll-lushness of green leaves is an extravagance in
Australia’s summers.
There’s
sufficient moisture in seeds to maintain their viability until it’s time to
germinate. Many species can conserve moisture because their roots are deep in
the soil. For some birds and other animals there’s enough moisture in the seeds
they eat, but others, such as the Double-barred Finches I’ve seen recently,
rarely live far from water. Gardens adjacent to Mt Rogers which have
water-features and shallow birdbaths help the survival of such bird species.
Introduced
(non-native) grasses dry-off and seed quickly in early summer. Wild Oats grow
tall above these. The beige seed heads have long since lost their seed; it lies
on the ground, ready to germinate in the winter.
Bark peels off eucalypts in response to temperature
changes. Quite often a new range of bark-colours is revealed after the
shedding. There are wonderful textures in the patterns of many Mt Rogers trees,
and often this includes the subtlety of browns, beiges and rust-colours that
defy reproduction in a paintbox. When do children realise these subtleties, and
see that tree trunks aren’t brown?
I wonder what the profuse flowering of eucalypts
around Flynn and on Mt Rogers indicates. Do trees ‘sense’ that dry times are
ahead again? Under each tree there is debris produced by thousands of small to
tiny caps rejected as the flowers open. Nectar-seeking birds and insects feed on
the eucalypt flowers and thereby transport pollen: timing matters to these pollinators. Each eucalypt species’ flower
caps and eventual gum-nuts are particular shapes, and together with
distinct flowers and leaves they help in identifying the species.
Eddying early morning wind took off the branch of a
eucalypt not far from the Wickens Place carpark. It was the third tree to block
Mt Rogers’ tracks. The branch has now been moved off the main access
track. Chris rescued and re-installed the nestbox that is part of an Indian
Myna PhD study, which aims to determine Mynas’ effects on native birds.
Rust: I
came across a pile of very rusty-orange granules on the Centennial Trail beyond
Hall. I assume the cone of tiny stones had been accumulated by the labour of myriads of ants bringing up pieces from below. The faded-rust colour of the path round
Mt Rogers is quite often interrupted by changes caused by ants’ work. Some of
the visible ant-hills are in the bush off the track and often linked by trails
created by millions of insect footsteps. Black Mountain (about 13 km away as
the Raven flies) has over 40 ant species and I expect Mt Rogers’ list would be
similar in spite of the different habitats. Each species has its own niche for
which the bush supplies food. On a particularly windy day there was the
pathetic sight of an ant carrying such a large piece of leafy food that the
burden acted as a sail and blew the ant away from its route to the nest.
There have been several fox-reports and I have photos
of what may be a den under an old ivy-draped tree-trunk. For a day or so there
was the macabre sight of a possum’s remains being eaten away, bite-by-bite, by meat ants.
Flowers and seed-heads of Kangaroo Grass are rusty at this time of the year. I discovered new clusters of native Sorghum amongst
rank dry grass two weeks ago. In their prime the flower-heads have pendulous
orange stamens but I was too late to find those.
Greyish-brown
– a feeble attempt to describe the colour of the reserve’s leaf litter. In
fact, the range of colours is as enormous as the litter’s textures and
diversity. Although the weather is very dry, the essential break-down of plant
material in the leaf litter continues via the nutrient-recycling work of
invertebrates, bacteria and fungi, on or just below the soil’s surface. The
greyish-brown offers Dragon Lizards camouflage as we pass, whereas skinks use
speed to escape from the threats we pose.
For numerous birds the browns of their feathers aid
camouflage, especially for incubators sitting on exposed nests for weeks. We’ve
all appreciated the excitement of watching the Frogmouths over recent years.
We’ve probably been converted to seeing browns differently as a result of enjoying
the plumage patterns of ‘our’ special family. This spring–summer, Roy and Deb’s
and Tracy’s families were honoured to have the fledged Frogmouths roosting in
their gardens’ trees.
Even the black-headed Noisy Friarbirds’ plumage-patterns are attractive close-up…similarly Red Wattlebirds. Neither species needs camouflage!
There have been sightings of a young kangaroo in both
Crawford Cres. and Wilkinson St., Flynn. Was it one of our usually-cryptic Mt
Rogers ‘roos? How often are our Eastern Grey Kangaroos not seen until they
twitch their ears? They seem to prefer eating native Microlaena which is one of the grasses that doesn’t lose its
greenness until late summer. Presumably there’s sufficient moisture in the Microlaena for their needs.
Green: It
can almost be said that any lush green leaves on trees at this season reveal an
exotic intruder on Mt Rogers. There are bushes of Chinese Pistachio, Privet and
Cotoneaster awaiting our volunteers’ attention. Under most trees’ branches
there are green seedlings of Privet, no longer small enough to pull out as
we’re passing. It’s a survival strategy for a shrub to prioritise the putting
down of strong roots. Quite a few wattle species have leaves of a much brighter
green than the eucalypts’ leaves. We’re hoping they will continue to thrive and
spread, to eventually take over from the Cootamundra Wattles in providing
nitrogen-fixing and fertility to the soil.
In the shade of the trees there’s a welcome coolness
due to the evaporative effect of moisture from the leaves. The leaves’ stomata
cells regulate the entry and exit of gases and water vapour into the body of
the leaf according to weather conditions. Eucalypt leaves have built-in dryness
to reduce evaporation and the trees are able to angle their leaves to avoid
receiving the full blasts of the sun’s rays.
Yellow: The
incredible survival power of plants is shown by the Mustard and Wild Cabbage
weeds which have grown in a mere week or two to be knee-high now and in full
flower above the beige of the mown grass on Mt Rogers and around town. Bees visit
the yellow flowers. Flatweed has dandelion-like flowers and seeds that can blow
away as readily as Thistles’ ‘fairies’. There can be over 100 individual
florets on each stem. The St John’s Wort’s orangey-yellow has been browned off
by Steve’s spraying efforts. It’s hard to calculate how many seeds’ dispersal
he’s prevented by this timely follow-up from last year’s Ginninderra Catchment
Group-funded spraying. I came across a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo’s crest feather
the other day. It was surrounded by numerous white feathers around their
roosting area off Rechner place, near the Flynn playground.
Pink and red:
Once the sun’s been up for a while the native Bindweed’s flowers will follow
the light. The plants are climbers so the flowers can sometimes be seen
knee-high on the stronger stems of other plants such as grasses and ‘Skeleton
Weed’. The strong pink is different from the colour of Galahs’ feathers,
spotted if one has time to watch parents feeding their screech-begging chicks –
though the movements of regurgitating don’t make for a pretty sight. The Galah female’s
iris is red if you’re close enough to see the eyes.
Of course there’s a bit of pink in each Paterson's
Curse flower, but I hope those of us with gloves will have pulled these weeds up
and bagged them as we’ve walked.
Both Rosella species have red feathers, with the
Crimson Rosellas’ red being mixed with green until the young birds are no
longer ‘teenagers’. Did a pair nest in a hollow near the Flynn playground? The
Eastern Rosellas’ red can sometimes be seen in fallen feathers, but their
plumage has green, yellow and blue feathers too.
Real rainbow colours have been
common in mid-Flynn until recently as Rainbow Lorikeets fed on gardens’
unharvested apricots and loquats. On one evening there were more than 20
Lorikeets on the western edge of Mt Rogers. The species has bred-up from a few
birds released from a Hawker aviary some 15 years ago, or so the story goes.
Blue:
Bluebells seem to have been inconspicuous this summer on Mt Rogers, but perhaps
I’ve been home from my walk before they really opened out for the sun. There
are plenty of days with blue skies to represent the colour, however. Quite
often the forecast “possible showers” have led to attractive cloudscapes and
spectacular sunsets but all without significant rain...food for thought and a
reason for ensuring the garden’s watering system is efficient.
Rosemary, Mt Rogers Landcare
Group. 6258 4724
12.01.14
