What is an Autumn working-bee like?

Sunday 23 March saw six of us working against woody weeds in the SW sections of the reserve as accessed from Rechner Place, Flynn.

Anne went off up the Lily Track on a solo mission against weeds such as Chinese Pistachio and any Privet, Cotoneaster that were visible. It’s called the Lily track because, about half way up, there are a few clumps of Blue Grass Lily (Caesia calliantha) which is a reasonably rare species. It has put Mt Rogers on the map in a way, because the ACT has called for data on the plants’ presence in reserves.

As we assembled the gear and put on gaiters we heard of a major consequence of plastic bag rubbish. A cow, with calf-at-foot, on a property in Hall’s hinterland had recently sickened to skin and bones. The vet realised it had swallowed something which was blocking its gut. Should the animal just be left to die or could something be done? The bag was removed but it was almost a week before the valuable cow began to look as though it would recover.

Whilst we wouldn’t have exactly that problem on Mt Rogers the case is a reminder 1) that plastic rubbish is a major disaster also for marine animals which ingest bags and the disintegrated pieces, in some cases mistaking the bags for jellyfish, their normal food; and 2) that Mt Rogers remains clear of rubbish because the quiet-achievers pick up foreign material on their daily walks. 

Do you see neighbours who put plastic bags full of recyclables into their yellow-lidded recycling bin? It’s my understanding that no soft plastic should be in these bins. Any recyclables contained in plastic bags end up as rubbish because it’s too risky for the sorters to open bags up to see what’s inside.

Aisha, Flemming, Ivan and I set off up the ‘mountain bike’ track constructed some 3 years ago north of Schwarz Place. We spotted the Bursaria, Dianella and Box-leaf wattle (Acacia buxifolia) planted at the end of the drought and the Barbed-wire grass (Cymbopogon refractus; e.g. photos below - zoom in to get more detail) I planted before that. All seem to be doing well amongst the rocks and (sometimes) rough grass there. 

We checked out the Broom patch, finding 5–6 established young plants to pull or cut & daub. Their seeds have come from gardens on the edge of the reserve, possibly brought over by ants. From there we moved east through the bush and found occasional Serrated Tussock (ST) tussocks. Aisha is no stranger to these invasive grasses having been part of a family and then a Guides group which worked on tussocks near the Benchmark tree. Aisha and family returned at the end of 2013 from a three-year posting in London. She was very involved in a landcaring group there, where their leader would summon them to the next working-bee with wonderfully poetic reminder-notices.

ST is easily confused with the local, native grasses except that the latter usually have a few flower-heads remaining at this time of the year. ST flowers are beautiful, pendulous tresses but they aren’t easily seen so it’s easy for the light-weight seeds to blow away or be carried by passing animals even before we notice them. Much of the grazing-land on the Monaro is ST-infested and the grass is rarely palatable to stock.

Ivan has a particularly keen eye for the weed African Lovegrass (ALG) and he spotted several isolated tussocks of this invader around today’s parking spot at the southern end of the gully. If you’re not sure what it looks like, the Wickens Place carpark spaces are surrounded by this weed-grass. It’s been stimulated into new flowering by the useful rain we had some weeks ago (the photo below shows the delicate flower heads). Let’s hope TAMS mows there soon and the seed-heads dry-out before shedding the seeds for us to walk into the reserve. Steve D has made a concerted effort at spraying ALG around the track and deeper into the reserve this last week. Another quiet achiever, like Anne, who works away in the reserve when timing suits them. For others the official times suit most of the time.

Flemming has perfected the art of being ready with the brush-tipped wand when loppers or saws have cut off privet, cotoneaster, hawthorn and broom stems. Timing is critical as the glyphosate must be applied within 5 seconds of the cutting … not always easy when working under a decaying wattle or larger shrubs.

We moved east towards the view over Belconnen and the Bainton Crescent cactus garden, seeking out Verbascum (also called Mullein) plants. A tall spike of attractive yellow flowers grows from a rosette of very soft felty leaves. By now, though, we could see the resulting thousands of seeds and carefully cut the heads off into the bags we’d brought for seeding flower heads.

At one point Aisha chanced on a brownish Bearded Dragon lizard. It remained in freeze-mode for several minutes and we wondered whether there’s a conflict between being scared of us as huge threats and wanting to run away or doing what it’s learnt and staying immobile in the hope of being invisible. Apparently there are about sixty species of Dragon lizard in Australia, and they have adapted to many different habitats. Six species occur in the ACT, with the Botanic Gardens being an accessible hotspot for seeing the Gippsland Water Dragon.

By this time Chris had joined us after their walk and breakfast. He’d speeded up the journey by using his electric bike. He’s been busy during the week too by fixing up a nest-box again as the second branch of its host tree fell over. Both Chris and Aisha had tales to tell from England about using rose-hips like itchy-bombs by putting them down classmates’ backs during boring lessons or in the playground.

During the 2.5 hours’ work we probably came across 30 Briar roses. Their hips are bright red now to attract birds to eat and disperse them. On several occasions we came on quite a few plants together, usually under a tree’s branch where the bird had perched. The rose-hips are very rich in Vitamin C and make jelly, syrup and jams. Rose-hip tea can be made by simmering 7–10 hips in water for 5 minutes but for the preserves you need to take on the painstaking-task of removing the seeds and irritating hairs inside the hips. I seem to remember they are pectin-rich … ideal for jam-setting. We found one bush with a single pale pink flower. A simple reminder of how much breeding has gone into our garden roses.

Our finale turned out to be two large Cotoneasters, fortunately with minimal numbers of berries. Whilst the others toiled with these I cut off the branches of an ivy with unusual leaf-shape which had completely covered and grown through a rotting trunk.

The ivy was very popular with honey-bees and when I looked there were masses of buds and enough small yellow flowers to attract the pollinators. There was also a discernable sweet perfume pervading the scene, perhaps to attract flies as well as the bees. We don’t think of ivy as having berries but the flowers are obviously successful in bringing in pollinators and the birds take any resulting berries.

In the course of our wander and weed walk at least two flocks of small birds came through, foraging amongst and calling from the trees above us. Towards the end a group of magpies had realised that we’d disturbed the soil and were taking advantage of any exposed invertebrates and the minimal-digging situation.

We also noted several wildflower species persisting amongst the sometimes-rank introduced grasses. Bluebells (Wahlenbergia sp.) and New Holland daisies (Vittadina sp.) preferred the barer soil where kangaroos habitually bask or rest during the day. Yellow Rush Lily (Tricoryne elatior) also awaited stronger sunlight. We wondered if Anne, working separately still, came across native St John’s Wort (Hypercarium graminium) in flower, even though Mt Rogers isn’t its usual dry-eucalypt habitat. Some were flowering on The Pinnacle last Friday. We came across Slender Tick Trefoil (Desmodium varians), an inconspicuous plant with creamy-pink flowers. Its seeds readily stick to laces, socks, sneaker-fabrics and fur … a nifty way of dispersing. Its relative Vanilla Glycine (Glycine tabacina) didn’t have its purple flowers here but they turn up as real survivors around the region, sometimes right on the edge of kerbs. Australian Bindweed (Convolvulus erubescens Sims) trailed between the grasses and we did see one plant with its sun-seeking pink flowers open.

Amongst the boulders Urn Heath (Melichrus urceolatus) was showing the pale yellow or creamy yellow flowers that will persist through winter and feed nectar-seeking animals when food is scarce.

The eastern edge of our wander was where Chris photographed a brown snake and I’d seen one, perhaps the same animal last year as I approached the Urn Heath’s boulder-refuge.

When we were back at the car Anne emerged from her 2.5 hours to report concerns about the Tree of Heaven infestation. We’ll have to look into obtaining official help with this.

With these sightings, and the stories and experiences we exchange, working-bees aren’t all work! There’s variety of action, and problem-solving skills are always needed. We don’t just share anecdotes, we learn from each other whilst working together … one way the Mt Rogers community shows its concern for the bush we share with countless other species.

Rosemary,  23.03.14.

Convenor Mt Rogers Landcare Group.