First, here is our 'Notice rock', in December 2017
Weather
It was blissfully cool after the previous days’ inescapable heat.
Grey clouds brought hope of some rain. The easterly breeze refreshed walkers but
probably extracted even more moisture from the summer-desiccated vegetation.
Agapanthus
blooms
Landcarers’ compliments to those who have cut off the spent flower
heads and taken them to the green waste site for mulching &
composting. The birds might discover the
seeds are edible & begin taking them into the nature reserves in their
droppings.
Grey
Butcherbird
One was perched on the wires across Schwarz Place. It pecked an
insect off the wire and was later heard carolling away; the equal of its magpie
cousins.
Chinese
Pistachio
In weed awareness hindsight, those of us who bought Chinese
Pistachio trees for our gardens could have been labelled ‘gamblers’. The trees
brighten our autumns with glorious northern-hemisphere colours. They are
dioecious: “plants where the male and
female reproductive systems occur on separate plants.” The female plants produce berries, birds eat the berries
and spread them into others’ gardens or the bush. We all see the Cockatoos at
work in the trees. Their strong beaks and gizzards may not crush every berry.
The seedlings grow up from under the larger trees that the cockatoos perched in, as privets and cotoneasters do. Chinese Pistachio is now a declared pest
species.
Cockatoos
A few weeks ago Barbara J responded to a request for evidence
of where Sulphur Crested Cockatoos roost. They’re familiar with & gave
evidence of the roost site around the Flynn playground’s trees. Today the
ground was littered with white feathers from the birds’ moulting & preening - if corroboration of Barbara’s long-term observations was needed.
Winds
and branches
Winds have been tortuous at times this summer. Wind direction
is influenced by topography and the presence of other trees. Thanks to those
who have moved branches that have fallen across the main path. We’ve had
success with the ACT’s Fix My Street in such situations provided we can show
the nearest street or mark the location on a map. Mattresses and other dumped
material were removed quickly as the result of Lyndon’s and Phil’s respective
reporting.
Whipper
Snipping
In recent weeks a major effort has seen rank grasses in the
zone between the path and the houses whipper-snipped into neatness. Thank you TCCS for organising this.
Wouldn’t it be great if the original wildflowers and shrubs were still dense
around the zone’s clusters of boulders and able to crowd out the last 100
years’ windblown or animal dispersed seeds?
TCCS
Transport Canberra & City Services’ Rachel Tokley will be
having a look round Mt Rogers on Wednesday 7 March. We’ll be able to raise
any issues with her for liaising with the TCCS and broader networks. When
Angharad mentioned the ‘tags’ on the engraved MT ROGERS rock Phil Nizette
carved two months ago Rachel has arranged for the ACT Government’s Graffiti
Unit to address the vandalism.
Blackberry
It’s a pity
ivy and honeysuckle don’t attract sufficient attention for removal by
contractors. Blackberry attracts governments’ attention because it is a Weed of
National Significance. The Ginninderra Catchment Group has a new funding stream
for the treatment of blackberry clusters in
the catchment of Ginninderra Creek. Are there any blackberry infestations
that need spraying in the land parallel to Kuringa Drive, in the land between
Fraser oval and Dunlop or around Lake Ginninderra? Please report sightings,
with locations to: landcare@ginninderralandcare.org.au
.
Green grass
When most of
the vegetation is very beige it’s easy to see where hidden water sources are
keeping grasses green. How does water drain down subterraneously from the
higher levels of Mt Rogers? Perhaps as the lower slopes were moulded into the
landscapers’ and engineers’ visions the directions of springs ‘ flows were
changed? In the suburbs there are greened places that can be attributed to
leaking swimming pools and sewer lines from houses. Fix My Street’s the place
to report these too. Actual water flows can be reported to 13 11 93. We did
this for a ‘no-man’s-land’ part of Redfern Street, Macquarie last week.
Notices
Thanks to Chris
C for redoing the Snow Gum’s corner notice after the eddying wind blew the two
A4 sheets apart. Chris has an A3 laminator and offered to redo that information
sheet.
Bark’s brilliance
Before I’d
even moved into the reserve I was awed by the glorious golden yellow hues of
those Eucalypts that are shedding their bark. Some of them have the common name
Yellow Box for the new bark that’s revealed when the bark’s age + rain +
heat + wind peel strips off trunks and
branches.
Negative:
The MT ROGERS
sign being tagged left a decidedly nasty taste in our mouths even though a
remedy will be forthcoming. Perhaps more official graffiti spaces would be
acceptable to the artists but tagging is a different cult it would seem.
Positive:
Hayward and
Ruth initiated a sad but valuable Koel story. Hayward found an injured Koel
fledgling and took it to the Canberra Veterinary Emergency Service at Gungahlin.
The vet said it had ‘neurological damage’ and would have to be euthanised.
Rosemary, Mt
Rogers Landcare. 6258 4724.
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