MT ROGERS IN OCTOBER 2017: gathering news together

Money for nature

You all know that preserving natural areas costs more from your taxes than governments are prepared to prioritise.

You all know how much time our volunteers have given to weed management, species monitoring, rubbish collection and community-building on and around Mt Rogers.

You all know we’ve asked for the path near the Flynn playground to be repaired…

Here’s a chance to ram your messages home AGAIN:

The ACT Government has established a consultation survey on the ACT Budget that is now open till the 24^th October. https://www.yoursay.act.gov.au/2018-19-budget-consultation. This is a very brief survey on what priorities the Canberra Community want in the next budget. At the end of the survey there’s a box for your specific comments. Tell Government why our reserves are special!

PLEASE take time to fill out this survey and put ENVIRONMENT at or near the top.
If our open spaces are healthy and cared for, everyone benefits and for the long-term. 

Others will prioritise the obvious health, education, policing but YOU HAVE THE WISDOM & COMMITMENT TO KNOW WHAT CARING, STEWARDSHIP & CUSTODIANSHIP MEANS. Let’s show the government we’re serious about our habitat.

..........
 

Tree of Heaven

This Sunday, 22.10.17., we’ll meet at Wickens Place at 09.00 hrs and move to the Tree of Heaven patch.  We’ll be continuing the treatment we began in autumn.

Please avoid walking through the rarely-walked area because there will be many stumps waiting to trip up the unwary. Jenny Conolly the Urban Pests and Weeds Officer has lamented several times “We don’t have the resources to treat this infestation…” Yet she’s been instrumental in setting up management programs for African Love Grass, Serrated Tussock and Chilean Needle Grass for Mt Rogers over many years. There is a great deal of work being done by the rangers in all reserves but those who hold the ‘purse-strings’ have no idea of what’s needed if the bush capital is to remain unique.

Our volunteers have:

• Repaired the Notice Box again. Colin’s going to add a hook soon so ribbon can ‘flag’ that some new message is inside.
• Reported on the Frogmouths’ progress and on other species they’ve seen.
• I heard of a troop of forty kangaroos making their way up to Mt Rogers from the Fraser-Spence easement last week….extraordinary. Are they still there?
• Reported sightings of Superb Parrots feeding on the seeds of weeds amongst the grasses.
• Reported someone having taken felled shrubs and tree branches from their property to be dumped into the reserve. *
• Gathered even more reports  “This is such a special place; we come here as often as we can.” “We’ve been walking here for years.” “We came here as children.”

* Dumping is not O.K.

Dumping of household items in Wickens Place is disgraceful, lazy and unnecessary. Worse, for Mt Rogers wildlife, is the dumping of garden waste in the reserve or ‘over the back fence’. Usually weed species are included on the naïve basis “They’ll all rot down eventually” or “it’s only the bush.”
Weed & garden waste can go to Canberra Sand & Gravel at Parkwood & it’s a FREE drop-off.
One nearly-all-native part of the reserve is being invaded by gardens’ grassy weeds dumped by those who live nearby. 

Monday 6 November’s working bee will be in that area. Meet at Wickens Pl. at 09.00 hrs.

We know that ACTEW have recently been through the reserve clearing vegetation that dares to grow under the power-lines.  Whilst some of this eucalypt debris has been taken away most has been left in the reserve to rot down. Hopefully this returning of nutrients to the soil will happen before attention-seekers set fire to the leafy branches.

You’ll have heard that tree trunks and thick branches are returned to some reserves to restore habitat when invertebrates and fungi break down the woody cells.  Birds and other animals then feed on these recyclers as well as returning to do their pest-control foraging in the living trees’ and shrubs’ branches. These reserves have much more ranger-attention and professional management than Mt Rogers is afforded.

It’s already so DRY.

We’ve all noticed in our gardens that the soil moisture is very low.  If you’re near neighbours who are new to gardening and watering encourage them to water close to or below the soil level so evaporation is minimal and their money’s not wasted.

Mulching with coarse material is great as it allows the air & good amounts of rain moisture to reach down to the plants’ root zone. 

For the birds we’d encourage the placing of a shallow dish of water near shrubs that allow perching & their checks for danger.  We had a Grey Fan-tail bathing in our birdbath twice yesterday. The bath is just a terracotta saucer that should be under a pot. In it there’s a flat pebble or two for smaller birds to reach into the water safely.

Ginninderra Falls.

You’ve probably seen TV adverts for the Ginninderry development in west Belconnen that begins with the suburb of Strathnairn to the north & NE of the Strathnairn Arts Centre off Stockdill Drive, Holt.  Eventually the development will stretch over quintessential views to the border beyond Parkwood road.. You may have visited Ginninderra Falls before they were closed in 2004. If you’d like a brochure about how the development could affect the Falls I’ll send you a copy.

Remember, this blog is sequential, and you can scroll down or cherrrypick from the menu at the righthand side to catch up on older newsletters!

Rosemary, Convenor Mt Rogers Landcare Group.  6258 4724.

Notice Box repaired for printed Mt Rogers news & brochures

Here is the newly repaired Mt Rogers Landcare notice box, thanks to Colin J.
You can see part of a Mt Rogers brochure through the circular window.

Behind it you can see the grass growth, with the mounds of native Microlaena stipoides Weeping Grass contrasting with the bright green of introduced grasses and Wild Oats (Avena sp.).

The oats will be tall and dried out by summer whereas the Microlaena will become greener as summer approaches and contain more moisture than dried-out species.

Rosemary
Mt Rogers Landcare Convenor

MT ROGERS: MID-SEPTEMBER UPDATE 2017

 The next working-bee will be on Sunday 24^th September from 09.00hrs. We’ll meet in McNolty Place, Spence.  On Sunday October 22^nd we’ll meet at Wickens Place and return to the Tree of Heaven task. (No working bee on Monday 2 October.)

Sunday 17 September was another brilliant day emerging after a week of feral winds and minimal rain. The wind was still cold at times but there were sheltered places in the backyard where the garden needed attention. Do check the moisture levels at your place as the windiness, frosts and lack of useful rain have dried out soils.

Throughout the day we could hear the “chip chip” of Yellow-Faced Honeyeaters. They have Flynn mapped out in terms of finding and feasting on the nectar of Ironbark trees. These eucalypts’ flowers are pink. Rainbow Lorikeets were also busy in the nearest tree and were strangely silent compared to their usual noisy, fast-flying aggressiveness. The story goes that the ACT’s population has expanded from aviary birds released from Hawker 20 years ago. It’s likely that climate change is also playing a part in their increasing numbers these days.

Last Sunday Mt Rogers hosted a bird-watching walk for the Canberra Ornithologists’ Group (COG). Angharad researched and reconnoitred the routes that would offer the best sightings from an 08.30 start. The tally was 26 species augmented by a display from a squadron of Straw-Necked Ibis giving a thermalling display high above the reserve as we returned to Wickens Place. Our 12 visitors seemed well pleased. Tee was lucky enough to spot a pair of roosting Frogmouths. Those with the right lenses moved round for some closer shots of the appealing couple. Perhaps someone has spotted a nest? We found three last year.

The previous weekend, 8–10 September Ann was among a number of local landcarers/ParkCarers contributing several hours as explainers at the Parkcare Display at Jamison Shopping Centre. The general public had a chance to see what landcaring is all about and where volunteers are actively caring for their special places around Belconnen.

Phil and Richard (Rangers) were at the Display for several hours on Sunday 10^th before heading to Flynn to talk to a person who has been sporadically taking timber out of Mt Rogers for some time. The Rangers confiscated the culprit’s woodpile and included the following in their report: ‘The current maximum penalties that apply are as follows (in summary only):
*Take native plant growing on unleased land - $7,500
*Damage native tree, unleased land - $60,000
*Damage fallen native timber with diameter more than 10 cm, unleased land - $7,500
*Take fallen native timber from unleased land - $7,500. ’  
Our thanks go to Ted for his investigations of recent drag-marks through the reserve to the west and for taking valuable photographs. Contact the Parks and Conservation Service’s Compliance Unit if you see someone taking timber 6207 6487.

             

If only there was a compliance unit to attend to the problem of irresponsible dog owners.  A few of us have been discussing making our own signs with messages about dogs being under their owners’/walkers’ control. We are still waiting for the official signs about dog behaviour & owners’ responsibilities that were ‘promised’ in 2014. Our regular community members, their dogs and Mt Rogers’ wildlife need protection from those who don’t care about others and fail to respect and share the reserve that we’re stewards of.

Steve has responded to our mapping that confirmed St Johns Wort infestations by spraying these weeds with Starane. This herbicide does not affect grasses near the SJW rosettes.

             

Rosemary 6258 4724

Mt Rogers Landcare Group’s working bee on Monday 4th September

Photos taken by Rosemary on Monday 4 September

Angharad and Ted cutting & daubing a Sweet Pittosporum that sheltered a Privet.

  

Diana wondered whether cutting down a native plant was justified. 

The Cootamundra Wattles’ blooms are past their prime. 

We were watched by a Kookaburra. Maybe its nest is nearby?

We’ve been watched by Kookaburras in this area before.

Nearby is a huge, ancient eucalypt that doesn’t look very healthy. It has several hollows. I used to call it The Possum Tree as it may have had scratch marks from possum paws on its trunk.

Not long after this the next cold front came through with rain.

Rosemary

Mt Rogers Landcare Group Convenor

Another 10.5 hours for Mt Rogers

Sunday 27th August was another day when the Bureau of Meteorology succeeded in predicting the weather. We put in another ten and a half hours of weeding before the rain began.

Thanks to Ann, Colin, Ivan and Ted some tricky invasives were taken out from hiding places under other shrubs and trees. Privets and cotoneasters were cut & daubed. A large Briar Rose with shrivelled but no doubt still viable rosehips was cut back and the hips were bagged. We were working in the area accessed by the track to the twin reservoirs. 

Also in this area are healthy St John’s Wort rosettes at the bases of last years’ browned-off flower shoots. 

Steve D. and I are conferring on the weeds scenario at the moment and he will be able to treat the St John’s Wort in the reserve with that appropriate herbicide: Starane in this case. It affects the SJW but not nearby grasses.

Steve has continued his walking through the reserve spot-spraying Serrated Tussock and any African Lovegrass he comes across. Until spring stimulates more germination of grass seeds the main occurrences of these introduced grasses and Chilean Needle Grass are in the mown areas between residents’ fences and the gravel path around the ‘hill’.

I’m also ensuring the Catchment Group has infestations of Blackberry, Honeysuckle and Ivy recorded as there’s another round of funding available to tackle Blackberry as a Weed of National Significance (WONS) in Ginninderra Creek’s catchment. 

You’ve probably noticed germinating Capeweed plants on the edges of the gravel track. They’ll flower pale yellow … pretty and useful for daisy chains but easily spread by brown, hairy seeds sticking to laces and fabrics. 

In our gardens people are complaining about Flickweed Cardamine hirsuta. Seeds dry out in long, thin capsules and then explode away to begin next season’s crop. Chickweed is at least edible though it does taste a bit like grass. 

The Weed Foragers Handbook  is a handy guide to plants that are edible, their lookalikes and how these useful weeds have been used in previous centuries. Cleavers, or Sticky Weed, Galium aparine, is another edible weed - though unless it’s used well blended or in Smoothies it’s a bit like eating Velcro due to stems, leaves and fruits being covered with the hairs that hook onto things …including fur & feathers. Hence it's being spread. 

Whilst we were working we were rewarded by Wrens and Double-Barred Finches passing through. They reminded us that birds are nesting and needing the dense shrubbery around Mt Rogers as safe sites for breeding. The "Double-bars” are an especially welcome sighting as are the Speckled Warblers Steve’s seen reasonably recently.

If you come across troublesome Magpies ring Access Canberra 13 22 81 for action by the City Rangers.

After our weeding and lunch I went out to Strathnairn, driving through hail. Later it snowed out there too, bringing a very light dusting of snowflakes momentarily. Later again I drove along Stockdill Drive delighted to see and photograph snow on the ranges’ foothills. In the distance to the SE there was a big dump of whiteness on a hill beyond Queanbeyan as seen through the Molonglo Valley and binoculars. 

It’s now the turn of other wattle species to flower after the Cootamundra Wattle trees are a bit past it. Keep your eyes peeled for Early Nancy’s white flowers. I found one or two behind Woodger Place the other day.

Thank you Working-bee volunteers and to the many others who make Mt Rogers special.

There’s some wonderful Art of Nature  at the Belconnen Art Centre for a few weeks. Animals and plants from all continents. It’s free. Parking at the Mall is the best option as there are few spaces in the official carpark on the lakeside. Steve D has a couple of paintings entered. Josie, a neighbour in Flynn, has a Highly Commended portrait of a Galah chick near its nest hollow. 

Rosemary

Mt Rogers Landcare convenor

Mt Rogers Landcare is part of Ginninderra Catchment Group

KANGAROO TRACKS: EXPLORING AMONGST THE 2017 WATTLE BLOSSOMS

After parking in Schwarz Place, Flynn, I aimed to walk through the reserve checking known areas of weed infestation to assess the species’ status as spring approaches. It wasn’t surprising to see the main track was busy with people escaping, with and without dogs, from the confinement yesterday’s wild winds and cold had induced.

At first it was sunny and the winds were light but by 10.15 the winds were stronger and from the south. Their coldness came straight off the snow in the Brindabellas, though visible whiteness decreased as the warm sun melted a couple of days’ worth of precipitation; at most sleet for us in the suburbs but snow to excite the winter sports enthusiasts in the high country. And to think that if overseas folk know where Australia is at all most of them wouldn’t know that our modest mountains attract snow.

African Lovegrass (ALG) shows up to the east of Schwarz Place usually along the tracks and paths. There are a few woody weeds to attend to. I was more than delighted to hear 3 hours later that the new people at the end of the street had taken out many trailer loads of overgrown plants including Cotoneaster, Jasmine and Periwinkle since they moved in. Their weeds went to Canberra Sand & Gravel at Parkwood to be mulched and composted. We’ll be able to reward them with free native plants from the next Weed Swap on 4^th & 5^th November.  

Although some plants here have been sprayed before I think there’s still Chilean Needle Grass growing in this part of the reserve. The St John’s Wort patch I knew of seemed to either be clean or a bit behind in the rosettes developing.

North of Snow Gum Corner’s views above Jacob Place, masses of Wild Oats have already germinated. By summer the plants will be over a metre tall. The oats were part of pasture improvement practice when land around the embryonic Canberra, including Mt Rogers, was grazed. There’s a curious 4 m square space in the oats where a white-flowered, tiny native Asperula conferta grows. Common Woodruff is its common name. I wonder whether its chemistry has some inhibitory effect on the oats or perhaps where it grows is too wet for introduced plants. There’s another area of Woodruff on the way to the creek in Flynn and this is clayey and wet after rain events.

Much of Mt Rogers shows remnants of Grassy Woodland where there are species of shrubs, Acacias (wattles) and Eucalypts interspersed with native grasses and wildflower species. Decades of grazing after settlement in the 1840s displaced the groundstorey native plants. Often places that had rocks or boulders protruding from deep under ground protected native grasses and wild flowers. Mt Rogers has several examples of these refuges. Some have had Urn Heath flowering with pale yellow bells all winter and they’re now welcoming the Hardenbergias’ purple flowers. Aidan has written an interesting article on Mt Rogers’ geology. It’s available on the Blog that Ann curates for us: www.mtrogerslandcare.blogspot.com

I wondered whether Mt Rogers had been cleared of younger trees during the grazing period? Some 70 magnificent triple-century Eucalypts remain. Nola and Graham volunteered to photograph them several years ago. Griffin and Angharad have volunteered to GPS the gum trees more recently … fine examples of the diverse contributions members of the Mt Rogers community make to the reserve that gives hundreds of us so much pleasure.

I met Bob and his canine Beau at one point. Bob recalled discovering Mt Rogers in the 1980s after moving into Spence. He recalled how he collected and filled the equivalent of several wheelbarrow loads of rubbish in those days. With great attention to detail Bob also picked up broken glass. These days the rubbish situation is better. Chris is one of those who now picks up litter when walking with Margaret and canines Cayenne and Pepper. He remarked that he’d found a perfectly serviceable toothbrush the other day: possibly his most inexplicable find so far.

As Bob and I chatted a flock of small birds came through. The mixed flock of insectivorous birds were exploring the copious Cootamundra Wattle blossoms for insects and larvae. Wrens, Grey Fantails, Silvereyes, Thornbills foraged at different levels of the trees and on the ground. They need fine bills to secure their prey species. They’re a contrast to the several photos (below) I took that showed the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos had moved through the reserve in recent weeks. Several people have been delighted to see these birds that make regular cockatoos look small. Mt Rogers doesn’t have many cone-bearing trees but they use their massive beaks to break open the galls on some wattles. Other trees had had their bark peeled back so the cockatoos could reach the invertebrates underneath. Especially fascinating were instances when superficially healthy wattles had borers in their trunks. The birds had ‘bitten’ the trunks open and exposed the insects and their tunnels

   

As we’ve found and recorded before, there were several old trees covered with Ivy. They thrive in shady and damper places making the woodland look almost English in places. There were also known Blackberry patches to check. Deeper in from the ‘Tudor’ house in Spence there was a large Honeysuckle infestation. I stopped to watch after noticing small brown birds flying into the Honeysuckle mass and then back into nearby trees. Were they building in the shelter of the Honeysuckle or taking something from there into a nest being made in the trees? They were too quick for the binoculars but may have been White-browed Scrub Wrens.

The damp ground made pulling out isolated Serrated Tussock plants possible; I didn’t have tools with me. Steve has diligently sprayed ST and ALG whilst walking systematically through the reserve with his backpack kit. His voluntary work complements what we achieve on our twice-monthly working bees and helps to ensure that infestations ‘uphill’ of the main gravel path are recorded and dealt with.

The ACT only has two Weeds Officers but Mt Rogers is very fortunate that Jenny Conolly is able to organise funding for a contractor to spray the grasses I’ve mentioned; principally where they occur between the gravel path and residences and along the main access tracks. Persistence is the best solution for achievements against weeds, as we also know from our gardens.

The wattles are magnificent at the moment and I hope you’re able to walk round Mt Rogers soon to see them. The most numerous species is Cootamundra Wattle (two photos below) which originated in the Cootamundra area. It was widely planted decades ago and forms dense thickets after a fire event as can be seen on Mt Rogers. Silver Wattle is also in flower with Red-stemmed Wattle about to come into flower. All provide food, shelter & habitat for a range of insects, birds & other animals. 

  

Ginninderra Catchment Group, with Southern and Molonglo catchment group colleagues, is working to achieve adequate and reliable long-term funding for landcaring and the support of the volunteers who are stewards for reserves and Urban Parks around the ACT. Funding for Landcare has principally come from the Federal Government whereas Canberra Nature Park reserves Parkcarers and rangers are funded through the ACT Government.

I tried to locate the Frogmouths. We may come across their daytime roosts in a range of places, possibly depending on the prevailing winds or likelihood of sunshine. All the previous years’ nest trees I passed were bird-less. I did hear a Bronzewing Pigeon’s “Boom” once or twice. The Magpies that I came across all seemed preoccupied with foraging. Here in mid-Flynn the normal routines are changing as pairs begin nest building.

Let Access Canberra 13 22 81 know if you need signage warning of swooping birds.

Let’s hope the weather settles down for Phil Nizette of Wellspring Environmental Art & Design when he begins engraving MT ROGERS on the rock-sign on the edge of the Wickens Place carpark.

We are working on wording for dog-behaviour signs at entry points around Mt Rogers. These are to inform newcomer dog-carers about managing their canines’ behaviour whilst in the multi-use reserve. Following the review of dog exercising areas in 2014 we expected that the Government would provide educative signs for all areas where dogs are allowed. You may have noticed no smoking signs near playgrounds. Signs that might help protect us from poorly managed dogs are more difficult it seems.

 

The next Working-bees are on Sunday 27^th August and Monday 4^th September from 09.30. We’ll meet in Mildenhall Place and at Wickens Place respectively.   Contact 6258 4724 for details.

Rosemary, Convenor, Mt Rogers Landcare Group     21.08.17.

Working bee on 25 June 2017 at Mt Rogers

 

Phil discovered this patch of multiple woody weed species: just 25 m north of the telecom tower.

Thank you for an invaluable 2.5 hours work, David, Phil and Ted. As a result, a hundred woody weed species won't be taking water from the soil and native species after the next rain. Ann, Anne C and Anne Mc couldn't make it today.

Griffin and Angharad are continuing to work on mapping the GPS location and girth of the significant eucalypts ... these are the originals that have been watching events on Mt Rogers for several hundred years.

Phil Nizette from Wellspring Arts and Design will be supervising the installation of rocks for the engraved Mt Rogers sign on the carpark edge in the coming week. The cost of replacing the long-gone sign will be borne by the ACT Government ($2,000), TCCS (TAMS) the land's managers will contribute in kind by transporting & installing the selected rocks. Ginninderra Catchment Group will pay the remaining $1,300 for Phil to engrave  MT ROGERS on the largest rock. 

Ted is proposing to report an incident of arrogant father and son motor cyclists to the Minister hoping to thereby highlight this on-going problem and unsafe activity in the ACT's reserves. 

For reporting Anti social behaviour on Mt Rogers (and in other reserves and public places) Access Canberra is 13 22 81 is the first contact point. 

Our work today morphed into another social occasion with many topics being discussed as we worked. Another real plus was agreeing that we are so lucky to have such a friendly pack of walked dogs on Mt Rogers. Ted specialises in meeting and greeting dogs that his canines come across when walking. Phil continues to monitor drainage channels during his regular walks ... when's the next rain due?  It was great to welcome David back into the team after a few months of his being busy elsewhere. He particularly enjoys Landcaring  as it's a practical example of the stewardship he strongly believes in. 

Steve D's watercolour painting (above) of the team working against Tree of Heaven was in the Artists' Society of Canberra - Icon Water Exhibition at the Kingston Arts Hub until 30th June. (Sorry, this blog post is delayed, so you may have missed seeing it there.)

We're a multi talented community of busy and involved people!

Congratulations!

Photos below: 

• Three that Steve D used as reference for his watercolour.
• And two views of Mt Rogers from Percival Hill, across CSIRO land that is currently still farmland but perhaps destined to be housing one day. Mt Rogers is identifiable by the telecommunications tower standing out on its top, near a plume of smoke. 

Rosemary

Mt Rogers Landcare coordinator

25 June 2017