The photo shows why we currently hesitate to ask others to join in the group’s Landcare activities. Phil and Roger were seeking out Chinese Pistachio and a Prunus to cut and daub. They wore gaiters and are experienced at making their way through the rank, introduced grasses knowing that grass tussocks, rocks and fallen timber make the going unpredictable. Ted and I returned to a Euphorbia patch to pull out new plants that have grown since our previous weeding in August. We returned to one of Mt Rogers 65+ original eucalypts where a huge patch of honeysuckle was removed in 2019 - 2020. Some honeysuckle had re-sprouted and I pulled ’Sticky weed’.
The repeated heavy rain events have made the main gravel track around Mt Rogers more eroded and very boggy in places. Mick Lee from the TCCS depot at Charnwood has been to inspect the track several times and, with Phil, is developing a repair plan for the most significantly impassable sections. We reported the track’s state and installed temporary notices saying so, hoping that TCCS would receive fewer calls at a time when they are extremely busy throughout the ACT.
Wildflowers have had a wonderful season again with paper daisies, orchids, lilies, flowering shrubs, wattles and a succession of eucalypts enticing pollinators to their flowers. As Mt Rogers was scraped bare when the reservoirs and powerlines were installed we no longer have many of the native species that can be seen at Hall Woodland, on Percival Hill at Nicholls and Gungahlin Hill south of Crace.
Around some of the boulders and near rocky areas wildflowers persist. These places are habitats for the species of skinks, lizards and snakes. With all the grasses growth, bare ground for basking reptiles to warm up their bodies is scarce. Perhaps this is why more snake sightings have been reported….they are more obviously on the move from their ‘home bases’ or seeking other animals to eat.
The next Mt Rogers working bees are scheduled for mornings on Sunday 27th November and Monday 5th December.
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