Wintry and windswept: Mt Rogers July 2011

TECHNOLOGY  I’m sure Telstra and NEXTGEN  shareholders would be delighted if the highlight of this ‘news’ update were the works associated with laying new cable to the Mobile Phone Tower. So we’ll mention these changes first and then go on to the activities and natural history that have made news for our Mt Rogers community recently. Trucks, dozers, trenchers, safety-vested workers set about digging a trench for Telstra cabling I was told, though the cement covers are marked Nextgen. Walking past their efforts it felt as though Mt Rogers had reverted to Terra nullius, land that was empty and valued by no one. But a magpie seized the moment and was searching the newly-disturbed soil for invertebrates within a few metres of the trencher. The workers can’t know that hundreds of people appreciate this land and value the habitats and other species that are resident here. The works only took a week and the gully they followed now has a level 3m-wide scar through it. They didn’t know or do much about erosion-control so I’ve spent some hours raking across the slope, re-spreading grass seed and covering it with a thin layer of soil. We’ll wait & see what, if anything, germinates and whether the familiar erosion-patterns are re-gouged by rain.

SILVEREYES & MICE   A hundred metres into the gully there’s a cotoneaster loaded with scarlet berries. They’re inaccessible and surrounded by the dead branches of an old wattle. As I passed the scene was alive with dozens of Silvereyes busily eating the berries. Endearing birds doing their bit by spreading environmental weeds…a job we like to blame on the Currawongs. Movement right on the ground under the tree turned out to be two busily-feeding mice. I was able to watch them for several minutes and found that their paws held each berry and they nibbled away the scarlet flesh and ate the seeds. Hopefully their teeth ground the seeds into infertility. There’s something ironic in vermin actually helping kill off invasive weeds’ seeds when the numbers of both mice & berries everywhere have been caused by the historic rainfall since last spring.

WEEDING    We’ve continued our focus on berries for two working-bees, hoping to prevent Mt Rogers’ seeds being eaten by birds and carried into gardens or other parts of the area. We’ve cut off as many as possible, leaving only leafy branches behind. We’ve cut back the privet, cotoneaster, hawthorn and pyracantha so that the stems, trunks and branches are easily accessible for the chain-saw and lopper crew in September. That’s when we’ll instantly apply Glyphosate to kill the weeds. The CVA crew will be on-site  working with our own Landcarers on September 24^th.  

AWARENESS   On September 25^th Ginninderra Catchment Group is hosting an awareness day for Mt Rogers with the aim of emphasising the benefits of being out in the fresh air, exercising, observing, recording and caring for nature. There’ll be a BBQ and display material about Mt Rogers and the surrounding area. Kelly and Damon will be able to explain about the popular Frogwatch and Water-watch activities regularly organised by GCG. It’s a good chance to introduce neighbours within your suburbs to the pleasure and well-being you derive from your regular visits and walks. We’re aiming to letter-box drop invitations to the nearest houses and would really welcome your help with this, please. Some advertising could go out through Flynn and Melba-Spence Neighbourhood Watch newsletters and from notices at the local shops.

ONLINE   Ann M. has been putting in the hours to create a blogspot for Mt Rogers. At present it contains the “newsletters” distributed over 5 years with a few photos interspersed. Once I do more organising of my photos some of them will go on the Blogspot. There are several people with more patience and photographic expertise than I and any contributions you’d like to make would be very welcome. Lyndon’s going to capture a few more birds on film but if you have anecdotes, poetry, paintings, sketches and historic photos that could be scanned-in the diversity of the site would increase greatly. Would anyone like to contribute photos of our canine walkers to a collage of friends for 25^th September? Our embryonic site’s at www.mtrogerslandcare.blogspot.com     I think it was Ivan who, as we worked above Bainton Crescent, mentioned that Spence once looked beige and treeless like the Lawson Grasslands we could see from our site. Did you realise that the parcel of land between William Slim and Baldwin Drives and the former Naval Transmission Station is a real native grassland jewel? It’s also home to the only known population of the Ginninderra Peppercress, Leridium ginninderrense. Development is planned for the land opposite the University of Canberra, leaving the fenced grassland intact. Try Googling seeing grasslands for evocative local photographs.

NESTBOX In early June I was “crashing” around where we’d helped the Guides plant in August last year giving each plant a few litres of water. For a while I was away watering the Dianella lilies Flemming and I planted amongst rocks 100m away. When I returned there was a bulge in a nest-box’s entry hole. “Bees” my brain assumed as swarms are common colonisers of the boxes. When I focused the binoculars on the hole they revealed the ‘face’ of an Owlet-nightjar. I managed one photo from 12m away and tried moving forwards for another. The hole ‘popped’ wide open as the 23cm bird retreated into the darkness of the box. Aegotheles cristatus have very appealing Sugar-glider-like faces and huge eyes to help with the in-flight capture of insects at night. Whether the one I saw had moved boxes from the gully we don’t know but it might be worth looking up at nest-boxes especially if the front is being warmed by the sun.

 
QUAIL   There are some areas of woodland where there is a shallow layer of gradually decaying leaf-litter, bark and twigs between the trees. The material is decomposing to return nutrients to the soil with the help of a teeming invertebrate population. In places there are clear, scraped areas the size of a ‘side-plate’. These platelets are evidence that Painter Button Quail have been seeking out seeds and insects as they forage, though this may have happened some months ago. The PBQs are between 17-23 cm. This may be slightly larger than the other native Quail people have reported in the last month or two. They all ‘explode’ away from danger so identification is often tricky!

TREE-CREEPERS  In recent years the piping-call of the White-Throated Treecreeper has been a regular feature. I’d always assumed there was only one bird so sighting two on 27^th June was very special. They searched trees separately moving quickly up and round trunks searching for insects using the bark as shelter. They came within 2.5m as I stood in dappled shade with their attractive, patterned plumage and the female’s orange spot on the edge of the white throat-feathers very clear.

 
WEEKDAY-WEEDING   As it turned out we didn’t need to water the Guides’ plants on 4^th July. Our weeding concentrated on removing herbaceous weeds such as Fleabane, Flatweed and Plantain. They’re in the ‘rosette’ stage at the moment but with more rain and warmer weather in spring they’ll grow quickly to spoil the clean image this part of the woodland has. We worked amongst recently-lush mosses and lichens and tried to replace any of the small plants we had to disturb so they’d continue to bind the soil together. Nearby there’s a colony of St Johns’ Wort which required even more attention-to-detail as they have numerous creeping roots under the ground which easily re-grow. Persistence will be required here but larger patches will be sprayed when the rosettes are more visible.

 
SMALL BIRDS   There have been regular sightings of MFF…mixed feeding flocks of small native birds. They feed in the same area, at different levels, on different diets, though most of them are insectivorous. Finches, Thornbills, Grey fantails and Wrens have trustingly allowed us to stand and watch them. There’s added colour when Scarlet Robins are in the group darting from a bare branch, down to the ground and up again. Speckled warblers are a real bonus as their numbers are in decline in the ACT’s woodlands. Did you see swirling columns of gnats before the cold winds arrived? They seemed to be airborne even after minus- 4-degree beginnings and, curiously, I didn’t see aerialist Grey fantails taking an interest in them. I watched wonderful fly-pasts of Swallow above the trees one warming-morning. They don’t all migrate out as we’ve tended to expect.
 
SILENT TROOPERS   In addition to our Mt Rogers weeders there’s several behind-the-scenes workers who regularly collect litter and other undesirable items left by the thoughtless. Thank you all for this very special support. Most recently I heard of a second climb to the trig-point by a walker-with-bucket, disgusted at the broken glass remaining there from those whose camp-fire ashes were still warm mid-morning on Tuesday 12^th. Each of us makes a contribution to keeping Mt Rogers special and to our community-spirit.

From balmy autumn to winter chill - Mt Rogers May 2011

WORKING BEES: Thanks to the enthusiastic response to my possibly-weird berry-harvesting in recent weeks there’s been a move to institute a monthly working-bee on Mt Rogers. These will be held on the FOURTH SUNDAY of each month. We’ll probably aim for 10 am in the cooler months and 8.30 am whenever summer happens and work for 2-3 hours.

Given the busyness and complexities of our lives there were at least two preferences so Sunday was chosen to avoid the clash younger people might have with ‘Saturday sport’. Having a ‘mid-week’ regular day has also been suggested though this might be a Tuesday as there are other opportunities to be close to nature through the Wednesday walks of the Canberra Ornithologists’ Group and the Australian Native Plants Society and the weekly, lunchtime presentation series at the ANB Gardens.

BERRIES: The berry-gathering has continued-on from the work of the Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) crew on April 10^th. Additionally a few stoic members of Mt Rogers Landcare Group have been cutting-off and bagging berries to reduce the number of berries birds can take elsewhere from Mt Rogers’ woody weeds. Parks, Conservation and Lands personnel worked on privet and cotoneaster along the south and eastern edge of Mt Rogers about five years ago but this spring-summer’s exceptional rainfall has encouraged lush new growth and increased berry-production both here and in numerous suburban gardens.

MANAGING WEEDS: Mt Rogers folk know that if we’re to retain the unique Australian flora and have enough water, space and nutrients for desirable plants we can’t afford to host these berry-producers in gardens just because they’re decorative and colourful. There are several fine examples of well-kept hedges of pyracantha and cotoneaster around. Their owners cut them back before the insignificant flowers have a chance to produce berries. The plants’ screening attributes are retained but the berries available for dispersal by hungry birds are significantly reduced. Most people know they have ivy and periwinkle problems as these super-durable plants sprawl over other plants and the ground in numerous gardens. Conversely there are also local residents who don’t know they’re hosting privets, brooms and honeysuckle which are other major invasive weeds. It’s been suggested that “offending gardeners” are letterboxed with explanatory brochures. This may be o.k. for those who are in a financial or physical position to solve the problem but eradication of established environmental weeds is a major undertaking. As a result of Floriade displays and ten years of WEED SWAP many more people are aware of what’s in or what shouldn’t be left in their gardens. In other words progress is being made!

VOLUNTEERS: Denis and Chris brought their trailers to the April, CVA working-bee allowing the branches to be removed. Two more offers of trailer-use have come forward so there may be other occasions when the gravel path is shared. This generosity shows that, with our users’ community, observations, comments, even catering-for volunteers and occasional guided walks there’s an intricacy of ways to be stewards of Mt Rogers.

GANG GANGS: Using the term reserve for Mt Rogers is convenient and reflects how we feel about the area but it is actually Urban Open Space. It is managed by TAMS, Territory and Municipal Services rather than those we traditionally call rangers. In the Hawke Review of the ACT Public Service there is a recommendation that all government agencies have the same TAMS logo for uniform badges, vehicles and signs. Wouldn’t this be a retrograde step if we lost the 30-year-old Gang Gang cockatoo logo? It has been synonymous with ACT land management, nature reserves, caring for wildlife and ranger activities for all that time and has only recently been adopted by more general ‘city-services’ agencies. Let’s hope we can speak out against this proposed change and restore the Gang Gang logo as a symbol for the capital’s bush workers. Barbara recorded a few Gang Gangs in their Melba garden recently and there’s a group of them resident in the denser forest habitats of Gossan Hill not far from Radford College and the retirement village.

DOGS & SHARING: As the tall grass bends and breaks-down, some of the more cross-country paths and tracks feel a bit more open. The mowing regime appears to have caught-up at last. These two factors mean that walkers’ dogs have more freedom to burn off their energy. Aren’t we fortunate that Mt Rogers is a dogs-off-leash area! There are as many friendships amongst dogs as amongst our people. It’s probably become part of our daily routines to learn more about what makes each dog ‘tick’, their social leanings and how each will behave. We’re also good at accepting sharing as part of our daily challenges with fit bodies, cyclists, joggers, frail bodies, stroller-drivers, birdwatchers and all manner of walkers being in the multi-use mix for the gravel path and ‘our patch’. It’s encouraging that our dog-owners show respect towards others by supervising their dogs and picking up doggie-doos that are on the path.

KANGAROOS: In the course of our berry-gathering we’ve seen plenty of evidence that there are a few kangaroos around. Dare we say they’re residents? Scats are a give-away but often the grasses have been flattened by the roos’ resting bodies. They even seem to have ‘wriggled’ under bushes’ branches though I’m not sure I can imagine how a kangaroo wriggles. I felt a bit guilty removing their cover by taking off privet and cotoneaster branches so that the next CVA crew can easily reach the main stems or trunk with chain-saw and glyphosate.

SPECIALS! We are proposing hiring another CVA crew on 24^th or 25^th September. The $600 funding will come from Ginninderra Catchment Group. GCG is also keen to host a WELCOME or an awareness day for Mt Rogers. Holding that on 24^th or 25^th seems to be a good opportunity. Let’s hope we can create something of a Mt Rogers Festival and introduce more locals to nature, our recreational area and the nature we’re trying to conserve. We know how invaluable taking time outside and exercising is maybe we can persuade a few more people that there are different ways to be healthy.

SURVEY: Sarah Sharp has been commissioned to undertake a survey of the incidence of invasive weeds around the ACT and on local leased properties. African Lovegrass, Chilean Needle Grass, Serrated Tussock and St John’s Wort are the survey’s target weeds and all are present on Mt Rogers. I have submitted reports to the survey. We’ve worked on them at working-bees over the years. An efficient contractors’ team has sprayed the whole area in recent winters for ST finding and killing isolated specimens. Whether there’s funding for a round of their specialist spraying this winter I’m not sure. We will try to organise for SJW to be sprayed in September-October. ALG was sprayed in the carpark area but it and CNG are still being spread by mowers in spite of theoretical cleaning between mowing sites.

SIGHTINGS: In the course of weeding we’ve not only come across kangaroos but also wonderful orb-weaving spiders and their huge webs. In some areas there’s an encouraging flush of growth from the native Weeping grass or Microlaena. It’s gradually taking over…we hope! Elsewhere the introduced grasses are rank and the seed-heads are above my head. However in many places there are individual native plants surviving or persisting after germinating wherever their seed landed. And then there are the glorious lichens, mosses and the rocks they colonise, the textures, colours and patterns of trees’ barks to further endorse the wonder and tenacity of the ‘bush’.

 

Yesterday, when a bouncy dog went into the track-side grass, it put up a quail. The quail would have exploded away from me if I’d been that close. It was either a Stubble or a Brown Quail. Both have that reaction of flying away from danger and thereby making identification tricky! I wonder if these native birds are resident and just rarely sighted or whether they succumb to foxes and then re-establish themselves.

Keep an eye out for the make-up of mixed feeding flocks of fantails and thornbills as I saw a male Golden whistler yesterday and there will be Scarlet robins here during winter. Some honeyeaters may also over-winter. Some were calling as they flew over on their migration away from the cold earlier in the week. If you see a number of wattlebirds together they too may be a migrating group rather than residents. Outdoor exercise saves heating bills!!!

Rosemary

Autumn-winter changes: has winter arrived? Mt Rogers update - April 2011

Congratulations to our cross-country walkers for keeping the narrow but valuable tracks open despite the grasses responding to the rains with rank growth that obliterated the route up to and across Mt Rogers’ ridge. Unfortunately most of the tussocks belong to Phalaris, Paspalum, Cocksfoot and Fescue – all introduced grasses that thrive on good rainfall and the soil that’s been “re-charged”.

In the pre-development days graziers would have paid good money for these grasses’ seeds and oats to improve pasture for their stock. Did they also spend money and countless hours on clearing the area of trees? They may have been told trees steal nutrients and water from the grasses their sheep & cattle needed. Rewards were available for cleared land in many states and jurisdictions. It’s quite sobering to visualize the hours of toil felling and ring-barking required and then reflect that these policies have begun the degradation and salination of countless hectares of Australian land.

Photos from the seventies show Mt Rogers as mostly open and treeless and supporting tall grass and thistles. Forty years on we resent these introduced grasses because, in good years, they grow tall enough to be a fire-hazard and might mask the presence of snakes which are a hazard to inquisitive dogs and unprotected legs. Although I saw three this week, there aren’t enough kangaroos to graze the grasses on Mt Rogers but, by autumn, the tallest, most healthy-looking grasses are native species…..Red grass, Weeping grass, Spear grass and smaller pockets of Kangaroo grass.

After overnight rain I donned wet-gear and gumboots and went cross-country too.

A certain, now deceased, ash tree offered a fine example of winged seeds having blown away from the parent plant. There are dozens of small ash seedlings amongst the grass. The seed that germinated to become the older tree may have blown in from a street where other, perhaps unwise; policies generated the planting of introduced trees without anticipating that their seeds would spread beyond nature strips. More encouragingly there were also seedling eucalypts doing well amongst the Weeping grass and several native Hop-bushes.

This partly illustrates the point some land-carers make that the bush will re-generate itself given favourable conditions. Of course it helps, and feels good, to give it a hand through weeding-out introduced species and planting, Years ago I discovered seven specimens of Indigofera adesmiifolia in seven different parts of Mt Rogers. I planted a few extras and they seem to be doing well, as do most of the plants the Guides put in in August 2010. Before the Guides planted we had to have both the proposed sites and the proposed locally-sourced native species checked for suitability.                             

The woody, environmental weeds we focused on for the working-bee on Sunday 10^th show the down-side of leaving the bush to its own devices. Parks, Conservation and Lands did some productive removals about five years ago in the south-east of Mt Rogers but since then Privet, Cotoneaster, Hawthorn, Ivy, Periwinkle, and Pyracantha have grown from berries brought in from suburban gardens.

Four Conservation Volunteers Australia volunteers, with Ken as their leader and six Mt Rogers carers (Sue, Anne, Christine, Pamela, Helen and Bob apologised) used loppers, saws and glyphosate to spoil the introduced plants’ seeding chances. Four trailer-loads of berried branches were removed for high-temperature composting at Canberra Sand & Gravel by Chris and Denis. Kirsty abandoned visitors to arrive later bringing new energy to our effort. Barbara and Berlinda also multi-skilled by providing delicious home-baked fare to enhance morning-tea.        

Anne had previously worked on Chinese pistachio and I made a start on a dense thicket of Broom whose seeds may have been brought by ants from a garden 50 m away. Because they have no natural predators here all these plants out-compete native vegetation for space, light, nutrients and water. They were given out as free-issue plants in the seventies until it was realised their berries were being taken into the bush (or others’ gardens) by birds. They proved useful as quick-growing screen plants and for hedges but those who’ve inherited them now face the task of removing them or making the annual effort to cut back the flowers or immature berries to reduce the weeds problem.

One of the signs of approaching cooler weather recognised by generations of Canberrans is the caroling calls of Pied Currawongs. Fifty years ago the birds used to return to the suburbs from breeding in the high country. Their behaviour has changed in response to the availability of the environmental weeds’ berries. The Currawongs were able to stay all-year with these supplies and when the berries were finished the birds also changed from supplementing their diet with Sparrows and Starlings to preying on the eggs and young of Fairy-wrens, Thornbills, Willie wag-tails and Honeyeaters. I read somewhere that one pellet regurgitated by a Currawong contained 60 Privet seeds. One pair of Currawongs may kill 40 broods (up to 2kg) of small birds to raise one brood of their own. You’ve probably noticed that Crimson rosellas and Silvereyes also enjoy Cotoneaster berries. This just adds to the complexity when appealing and attractive birds play a part in the negative cycle of weed dispersal. We prefer to ‘blame’ the big-guys.

There were several honeyeaters “up there” this morning making their specific contact calls. Honeyeaters are a very numerous group of birds and include Wattlebirds and the dizzyingly-fast Eastern Spinebills currently active in our gardens. In a bird book or on the COG* website’s gallery you’ll see that their beaks are ideal for probing into flowers. They have brush-like tongues for extracting the nectar offered by the plant in exchange for pollinating services. If you hear calling flocks of small birds passing through the Mt Rogers trees they may well be migrating groups of honeyeaters passing through towards warmer places for over-wintering. Yellow-faced honeyeaters were the most numerous this week.

It’s a good time to check out “mixed-feeding-flocks” of small birds. There may be several species feeding in the same area but using each other as look-outs in case of danger from raptors. Keep an eye out for Robins, Whistlers and several Thornbill species in these flocks. Grey fantails may seem to swoop very close but they have learned that we disturb insects as we walk and they seize the chance to capitalise on our exercise-routines. Perhaps fanning their tails also stirs up insects. Their aerial ballet is delightful to watch as they sally-forth from a branch after insects they’ve seen.

Tuesday morning was even better as there was an unperturbed mixed-flock on the edges and above the gully. There were Red-browed finches in the mix, sometimes eating fallen Paspalum seeds from the path. In the shrubs White-browed scrubwrens were concentrating on insects and probing under any lift-able bark. I have very few records of this species for Mt Rogers and I’ve not regularly found ‘Red-brows’. I moved on to the mountain-bike track south of the second summit. Work has resumed on refinements including moving soil and using a chain-saw to cut fallen timber. You may be pleased to know the ACT Government has employed consultants to examine tracks and trails within Canberra Nature Park areas. The Parkcare coordinators raised many relevant concerns at a recent meeting. I contributed 1) that it is essential that the needs of mountain-bike/BMX riders are met with allocations of track-building land that don’t impinge on conservation-value areas and within reach of their suburbs. 2) that any consideration of tracks trails and unofficial-building must also include other open-space/bushland areas not just reserves.

A consternation of Currawongs alerted me to the flight of a large brownish bird which alighted in a tall wattle just below the ‘second-summit’. It was, I think, a juvenile Brown Goshawk. It was very watchful but the resentful Currawongs only flew ‘so’ close. After some minutes I realised the raptor had a small bird in its talon as it would pluck out a few feathers from time to time. Eventually all moved off and the cacophony flew away. Luck places birdwatchers at the scene of the action, sometimes, but the little bird’s genes won’t be passed on.

I hope you’re out early enough these mornings to catch the effects of misty dewdrops on cobwebs. Such beautiful decorations show there are far more spiders around, playing their essential role in ecosystems, than we realise. If 1) you want to watch where your feet are going there should be several species of fungi emerging from the ground or leaf-litter whilst the soil is still slightly warm and still moist. Some lichens are fruiting now and mosses will green-up when the next rain falls. If 2) you like paintings of bush flowers visit the artists’ exhibition at the ANBG. Most of the excellent works are by everyday enthusiasts rather than professionals…all are inspiring. If 3) you enjoy reading about the bush and its wildlife seek out A Bush Capital Year by Ian Fraser with Peter Marsack’s evocative paintings illustrating each season’s subjects. If 4) you need a closer-look-picture-book to share with young children try Julia Cooke’s My Little World which focuses on plants and animals found on Black Mountain. Local wildlife in print at the Nation’s Garden where, I suspect, the water-dragons are hibernating by now!

* Canberra Ornithologists’ Group

Putting Birds in Backyards into Google is another way to research birds from our region.

Mt Rogers update - December 2010

The extraordinary spring has made way for a wet beginning to summer and an almost tropical humidity. Throughout the region we’ve seen wildflower species responding to the rain and recharged soil-moisture in numbers and a diversity not seen for a decade. 

Summer is attempting to impose its conditions on Mt Rogers now, with the soil damper than it’s been for decades. For days, if not weeks, after the ‘last’ rain, water has been moving downhill and emerging from ‘secret’ soaks and ‘springs’.

 

The path shows, in several places, the layers of previous paths and the underlying rock. Let’s hope the dampness and the need for rain-gear didn’t deter families from taking lessons in erosion, the power of water and the probable drainage patterns of the ridge that is Mt Rogers. Water moving north could end up reaching Ginninderra Creek via the Gooromon ponds tributary and south-flowing water reaches Ginninderra Creek by flowing ‘under’ the suburb of Flynn. Several properties that I know of seem to ‘leak’ water when it rains with shrubs and a huge Photinia between us and our neighbours always seeming to flourish regardless of drought. I’ve assumed that their success and the ‘leaks’ are evidence that natural drainage patterns can’t always be tamed by engineers’ planning and obliterated by bulldozers when suburbs are created. The creek has had historic levels of water passing along it as a result of inflows from as far away as Gungahlin as well as the many localised creeks and drains. (The levels of plastic, general rubbish weeds and natural debris were also high but that phenomenon and a levy on recyclable containers are other stories!)

Most plants have responded to the rain with exceptional growth in our gardens, locally and regionally. The small plants that the Guides planted in August not far from the main car-park are doing very well. Native plant species have emerged from drought-induced hesitation or dormancy appearing in places that have seemed weedy or degraded for decades as well as in biodiverse habitats.

We held a working-bee on 14^th November with Ann and Sue helping to develop a technique of Flatweed and Cat-sear removal from the grassy woodland north-east of Rechner Place’s playground. Whilst this might seem a trivial way to use volunteers’ labour this area is relatively free of invasive species, hosting natives such as Blue grass lilies, Love creeper and Barbed wire grass in addition to numerous Early Nancy and common but attractive spring flowers. As we pulled the weeds from the soft ground, cutting-off and bagging the flower-heads we were hard-pressed not to step on Onion orchids. They have appeared in thousands in the region in recent months, even in quite degraded-seeming grassland. Last year I thought it was pretty special to have found one or two because they were the only ground orchids I’d ever found up there. Being green they’re easily overlooked amongst the other greens of spring.

The trigger for suggesting this weeding was finding three plants of native violet, Viola betonicifolia if you wish to look it up, in the lee of large boulders. When I spotted the first one it was in full flower, its purple-blue blooms highlighted by a shaft of sunlight. It seems the species has appeared in many places in response to conditions but it’s especially cheering to find that Mt Rogers has a small population. That’s another ‘new’ species for our Mt Rogers list.



It’s fascinating to ponder how long corms, bulbs and tubers will ‘wait’ underground for the right conditions. Perhaps the seed banks of some species have been depleted by the mass germination. Will all 2010’s seeds be fertile and survive being eaten by insects, birds and other animals? How many will find the right soil conditions and fungal partners and germinate in the future? If we were able to harvest & destroy all the weeds’ seeds would we be able to rid our Landcare sites and gardens of these pest for ever!

Obviously, for new species we are finding now, it’s a long time for seeds to have remained viable in the soil after the scouring and re-shaping that saw the suburbs developed in the seventies so perhaps the seeds were carried in by visiting birds. Have the orchids “tubers” or “corms” been present in the soil over that same period or have their minute seeds blown in? The lone Sun orchid had 19 flower buds when I last saw it. How did it arrive on Mt Rogers? Orchid seeds are minute and they each need the presence of a specific fungus before they will germinate.         

Early in November the Friends of Grasslands (FOG) organised a photographic workshop in Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve. The aim was that participants would enhance their skills under the sympathetic and expert eyes of professional photographers. The native grasslands revealed a richness of buttercups, milkmaids, bluebells, daisies and lilies, as well as native grasses, for our digital lenses. Hand-lenses had plenty of use also seeking the often-exquisite detail of low-growing flowers. 

In the former sheep paddocks to the west of Mulligans Flat the land has been scoured, graded and reshaped into the suburb of Bonner. Will the new residents, mortgage-laden, ever have time to learn about the species in the neighbouring nature reserve? By late October and after rain, Mulligans Flat provides a wonderful display of natural temperate grassland flowers. The grassland ecosystem is endangered because they were so easily farmed and built on. Our existing grasslands show us what Mt Rogers’ grassy areas would have looked like and that re-planting in the treeless areas isn’t necessarily the “right thing”.

   

There are rich grasslands now surrounded by Dunlop’s streets, and Mt Rogers’ open space probably remains because, at the time, it was uneconomical to build or pump water to houses on the highest ground. Mansions creep up the hillsides of Tuggeranong’s valley and the ex-pine forest land and vistas beyond Weston Creek won’t last much longer or contribute the breathing-space of open space in the lower Molonglo Valley.

The incredible diversity of natural temperate grasslands has inspired and amazed many this spring. Grasslands and woody grasslands such as Mt Rogers are, to our region, what rainforests are to those living further north.

Although the patterns of birds’ breeding vary from year to year the effects of the increased rainfall have fascinated local birdwatchers. Some species which have come to the ACT region for our style-of-summers seem to have stayed away or nested elsewhere.

Larger numbers of Superb parrots than usual remained to over-winter here. There were quite a few extra sightings and then a quiet period before now. Presumably the birds were nesting in or near Mulligans Flat and Goorooyaroo and the young are now strong enough to join their parents foraging further afield. Numbers around the northern and western edges of Mt Rogers have increased in the last 2-3 weeks. This may show that other groups have flown here from breeding areas deeper in NSW.

In mid-Flynn there seems to be a roosting area. The parrots’ calls begin soon after the raucous, daily fly-past of Sulphur crested cockatoos. The Superbs have been enjoying loquats and obviously remember where the trees are from year to year. Un-harvested fruit supplements their diet of Acacia pods and grass seeds.

Finally, let's not forget the weeds! As we all know from our own gardens, the rain has benefited the weeds as well as our desirable plants. Perhaps the daunting task of restoring order has overwhelmed you but there is much fascination surrounding the behaviour of weeds, and trying to identify newcomers.

Rosemary

Mt Rogers Update - September 2010

During the night of 29^th August the call of a Boobook owl wafted through the open windows. They’re apparently sedentary so perhaps a Mt Rogers bird was getting ready for spring or calling en route to hunting insects, arthropods and small mammals. Last weekend I was shown a possum’s daytime shelter in a nature-strip tree. Nuisances at times and an introduced, environmental disaster in New Zealand, it’s still easy to take their cuteness and presence for granted. Just imagine how many people would long to have the gorgeous colours of our “everyday” rosellas and King parrots flying through their gardens? How lucky we are to be so close to “the bush” and its species.

Have you seen the ACT Government’s adverts calling for comments on the future look and operation of our city? Be part of a vocal minority in this instance and send in your vision for Canberra’s future so planners and politicians are in no doubt that we value the bush and open spaces of our capital more than wanting Canberra to be like other cities. Call the Time to Talk team on 6205 8618 or 6207 6457 or visit www.canberra2030.org.au. There are topics such as Environmental sustainability, Liveability and wellbeing, Land use and planning and City form that have direct implications for caring for and appreciating an area such as Mt Rogers.

On 15^th August fifty people signed up to plant shrubs and a few eucalypts in honour of a Guides Australia celebration. In liaison with Planet Ark’s Tree Day and with tube-stock from Greening Australia the girls and their families energetically dug into Mt Roger’s soil, added water crystals and teased out the young plants’ roots. Even though the soil’s damper than it’s been for years, the Guides have promised to water their plants until they’re established. Local species that should be more numerous have been added to our landscape. The weather wasn’t helpful. It was inspiring to see so many people helping to improve the biodiversity of Mt Rogers in this, the International Year of Biodiversity. Thanks to our Landcarers Ann, Kirsty, Olga and Flemming who were able to guide the Guides!

We’ve added a new plant species to the area’s list. Just wandering through the area west of a Cootamundra wattle monoculture I came across a Kurrajong tree. It’s only a bit taller than I and a bit more bent than it should be but this sturdy “cousin” of Bottle and Illawarra Flame trees should grow straighter now that fallen eucalypt branches have been moved away from it. Some of the older suburbs have Kurrajongs as street trees, there are some on Mt Majura and at CSIRO Discovery’s carpark. The “spectacularly large woody pods” from mature trees split open to show the seeds. Which birds ate and dispersed the seeds to give us this smooth-barked sapling with a tapered trunk?

Another mystery is the collection of Grevilleas to the right of the rough track up from the Bingley Crescent bus stop. There’s a wonderful range of colours between red & deep pink as well as the oranges, but who planted them and when? There are some locally occurring Grevilleas but I don’t think these specimens really “belong” to a purist’s idea of local!

Not far from the Grevilleas and the spring flowers near Woodger Place fences is a decaying pile of garden rubbish. It includes introduced grasses that been found on Mt Rogers as yet. The garden rubbish should have gone to Canberra Sand & Gravel at Parkwood but the dumpers are clearly of the opinion that “It’s only the bush” and “Who cares?”. Little do they know that there’s a community of people around Mt Rogers who do care!

Since beginning this series of observations there’s been more warmth in the sun and perhaps that has triggered the flowering of more species. Early nancy flowers are pushing through the grasses. They’re white and have rings of purple close to their centres. If you look at a series of the flowers you’ll see that there are differences. Unusually male & female flowers are borne on separate plants. Bulbine lilies are beginning to flower now from plump yellow buds. Dianellas are also lilies and we have planted several with the Guides funding. They’ve taken to Mt Rogers well over the years. As far as I know there were just two original clusters of these deep-blue flowering plants which have bluey-purple berries. I’ve had an unsuccessful search for ground orchids as both pink and blue species are in flower amongst the leaf-litter on Bruce Ridge near Calvary hospital.

We have lost several familiar trees as the result of erratic winds and storms. Presumably the roots have a less tenacious hold on soil when it’s saturated. I wonder if any trees whose roots are still in the soil will hang on to life by growing new branches from the horizontal from now on?

I wondered whether an earlier period of gales would dislodge the collection of twigs that passes for the Frogmouths’ nest. This happened in 2009 and the birds moved their nesting activities into a Schwarz Place tree. You can imagine my delight on 28^th August, to see the incubation process had begun on the nest, in the fork of the large eucalypt where many of us stopped to watch the family in 2008. Apparently the male incubates during the day & the female takes her turn at night. I did have a brief look for the roosting female in the tree but it’s possible she’s further away in another eucalypt. Let’s hope the magpies near the Rechner Place Playground won’t take exception to our nest-watching over the 30 days it’ll take and when the young are nestlings.

Haven’t the dogs enjoyed the deep puddle that’s filled up as the gully drains towards this playground? The puddle’s partly caused by the drain under the path being blocked but also from the volume of water that’s draining off the side of the ridge. The water seemed beautifully clear as it carved a way across the new path’s gravel and flowed into the channel. Decades ago when the family had tadpoles we were able to come to this channel and collect “green slime”… the algal filaments which fed our temporary pets. More recently Magpie larks would use the channel’s mud for making their cup-shaped nests but that’s also long before the long drought period that might have ended

Also in this same area last week I saw a Fan-tailed cuckoo dive down for a hapless Apina callisto caterpillar. These are the dark moth-caterpillars which tunnel holes into the hard gravel and bring the granules they’ve cut up to the surface one at time. All their feeding happens in winter but they have anti-freeze in their bodies to protect them from the frosts. I can’t get excited about eating a slightly bristly caterpillar with such a strong chemical in its cells!

Aisha, Clare and Catherine assisted by Rachael did some more work on stubborn Serrated tussock clumps on 29^th August. The three girls are working towards a Guides Centenary badge and Mt Rogers has benefited from their “community service” work. Prior to that they sowed New Holland Daisy seeds in the area where they removed first large group of ST tussocks. The seed came from Mt Rogers plants and the species is known to be a good “coloniser” of bare or disturbed soil.

We’ll hold another working-bee on Sunday September 26^th from 09.30 to finish off this ST patch and possibly resume work against woody weeds which need cutting & dabbing. If you’re going to Floriade over the next month call in to the three gardens which offer information and ideas!

There’s the weeds display garden which shows the woody weeds we’re working against on Mt Rogers. The Australian National Botanic Gardens have a Five senses garden and then there’s The Kitchen Garden with ideas as well as a series of interesting talks or demonstrations. If you’re going at a weekend and want to avoid parking hassles drive to the University of Canberra carpark and catch the regular buses that travel from College street, through Civic & past Floriade.

Rosemary

Winter 2010 Mt Rogers update

PLANTING  On 8^th May ten little plants were offered a new home to the north of Schwarz Place. I think there’s only one Bursaria left on the edge of a garden in Spence’s Jordan or McNolty places. These slightly prickly shrubs provide ideal shelter for small birds and the white/cream flowers attract insect pollinators in late summer … also good for birds! Judging by other locals ‘hills’ and nature reserves these plants would have been common on Mt Rogers. Perhaps sheep nibbled new shoots in the grazing days. Or perhaps the shepherds took them along with other shrubs which might have competed with the needed grasses.

            We’ve found that Acacia buxifolia, Box-leafed wattles, do well in re-planting situations. Several planted 4-5 years ago are now budding-up again for spring. Five planted not far from the Wickens Place car-park have also enjoyed the recent rainfall. We kept water up to them, weekly, during the summer.

WEEDING Our ten volunteers then went on to cut & dab woody weeds on either side of the gully that drains down to the 2008-9 “Frogmouths’ tree”. It’s been a while since these areas had their environmental, woody weeds removed so there was no shortage of targets for loppers. Chris and Margaret carried this technique over the ridgeline, working in the north to cut out more cotoneaster, privet, hawthorn and Chinese pistachio. Anne and Kirsty removed a large pine seedling with Anne going on to collect bags-full of privet berries. Peter and Sue came to work having already exercised their dogs. “The Wynn Trio” are adopting the idea of working on their own ‘patch’ closer to the Fraser side.

SERRATED TUSSOCK     Aisha, Claire and William have returned several times to the Serrated Tussock growing near what I call the Benchmark tree. Sally co-coordinated their efforts and the noxious weed’s tussocks have been taken off the ‘hill’ and taken away by Parks Conservation & Lands’ Jenny Conolly to be buried six-feet-deep. We’ll be scattering some New Holland Daisy seeds in the mattocked area before long.

ROSES Just before winter set-in I made an attempt to cut off berries from large Briar rose bushes. Remind me to put up signs next summer inviting folk to come and harvest the rose hips because they make excellent, vitamin C-rich jelly. Do you know of anyone who’d be interested in reviving the ancient art of jam-making! When I was working near one outcrop of boulders several striped skinks kept me company. Delightful little reptiles.

THE PATH As a result of Mt Rogers walkers alerting them to the problem TAMS* organised for the circling path to be re-surfaced so that it’s much more functional for us, especially those using wheels. Would it be interesting to have statistics to show how many pairs of feet had trodden the path? They’d helped the rain wear away looser material exposing rocks and stones. Footwear with chunky-grips is still advisable.

EROSION      The narrower tracks and literal footpaths that are uphill from the main path haven’t had the same attention so the challenges of variable and rough terrain remain for the cross-country walkers and those going to the summit. Where vegetation has been worn away these paths are also eroding. At various times an enterprising person has laid branches across the paths. At first this seemed to be to deter trail-bikers but they probably enjoyed the extra challenge of jumping their bikes over the impediments.

            More recently the twigs and debris crossing the paths from the trig-point were accompanied by a notice to “please avoid using the path” whilst erosion-control repairs were in place. Determined walkers have, instead, walked beside the path and widened the way to and from the summit.Will this, over time, increase the area that’s eroded? Would it be best to leave the narrow path bare and to accept that it’ll become a waterway during heavy rain? Should a request be made to TAMS to put retaining logs on the path as a form of stepped access? This was done on the way down to Jacob place, Flynn but that area needs maintenance now.

            The erosion process is also happening quite spectacularly in the gully that leads up from near the “newsletter seat”. It’s another track that’s been widened as agile walkers avoid the erosion-exposed rocks, stones, roots and debris. If you study the damaged areas you’ll see how water-borne debris and silt is trapped against tree roots and larger stones. The debris, in turn, traps seeds which may germinate and grow into plants which could stabilise the material. On a more gentle slope re-vegetation might happen naturally from these “leaky-weirs” and water would be deflected off to the side to benefit trees, shrubs and grasses rather than rushing off to the streets’ storm water drains.

AN INSPECTION On Friday last I was driven around the main path by John. I was asked to contact him about suitable places for planting. I think he’s the closest we’d be to having a Ranger as he said he often patrols the area and was a point of contact when Mt Roger queries go through from Canberra Connect. He’d recently handled several comments about the new path.

“BMX” John also deals with reports of “BMX” tracks built in areas he patrols. One of his solutions is to send in bobcats to destroy the youths’ work. Whilst this should cure erosion problems the builders cause I doubt whether this is the best answer when the BMX-ers have damaged quality vegetation and habitats. If only specific areas could be set-aside for the BMX-builders that would suit their needs but not damage the habitats we are trying to preserve, observe and enhance.

PLANTING  A Leader from the local Guides group has contacted us to ask if the Guides could have a planting session on Mt Rogers as part of Anniversary celebrations and National Tree Day. This will be feasible as long as the guides and their families are prepared to keep the water up to the young plants until they are well established. John suggested places where planting would be suitable and Kim came along to ensure we knew which species to plant. We will be obtaining the plants propagated from local seed by Greening Australia’s volunteers in Aranda.

            Sunday August 1^st is the planned PLANTING DAY. So come & join in and lend your expertise and friendship! Obviously winter isn’t really ideal but at least the soil is a damper than it’s been for some time and we can use weedy branches to partly shelter the new plants from frost or break them in gently.

BIRDS I did hear Double-barred finches the other day and I’ve seen a few honeyeaters but a rather quiet period for birds is probably due to less frequent visits and the fact that several species have moved away from the ACT for the cool months. Golden whistlers are about though so watch for the male’s glorious yellow breast feathers. There are Scarlet robins, Grey fantails and wrens to watch for also. No sign of the Frogmouths in their 2010 nesting tree. If you’re out and about elsewhere and remember their call, the COG email-line has had reports suggesting some Superb parrots are over-wintering. Three flew through Flynn about a month ago. Observers in Scullin and Cook have noticed between 21 – 30 recently. Where are they roosting and feeding?

FLOWERS    The warm end of autumn tricked quite a few spring flowers into blooming and the native Guinea flowers, native St Johns wort, everlasting daisies and Bluebells were no exception on Mt Rogers. Most of these have now capitulated to winter but there are many fungi bearing their spores in colourful toadstool-shaped or ‘bracket’ fruiting-bodies.

A SIGN?        At one stage during the drive-round with John he mentioned the large rocks that are used to make vehicle entrance more difficult. I wondered whether a large rock could be used in the carpark area as a Mt Rogers sign if the rock were sculpturable or engravable. Does anyone know a sculptor or stonemason we could ask? Obviously we’d have to clear the idea with the authorities but it might be a way of achieving a sign before the government has funds for a real replacement.

WORKING BEE      There will be another working-bee on Sunday 11^th July from 9.30am and from the Wickens Place car-park in Fraser. Please wear clothes suggested by the expected weather, sturdy footwear & hats. Some of the work will involve cutting off African Lovegrass heads & bagging them. Then we’ll grub out the tussocks. Winter’s not ideal for cutting & dabbing (using herbicides) as the plants’ sap needs to be flowing for the chemicals to work but there are always briar roses lurking amongst the better vegetation.

Rosemary Blemings Mt Rogers Landcare Group Co-ordinator

* TAMS Territory & Municipal Services

Is the 'kingfisher tree' dying? Mt Rogers update Autumn 2010

It’s difficult to remain indoors on these calm, sunny days. The “bush” almost demands investigation and welcomes observations tho’ I expect snakes aren’t hibernating yet. The Kingfisher tree is a magnificent old eucalypt on the edge of the gully that was bulldozed into conformity some thirty-five years ago to drain below McNolty Place, Fraser. It has that name because I saw my first Mt Rogers Sacred kingfisher perched in it 14-15 years ago.

Today (24.03.10) the tree has a brown, stressed appearance apart from a few green branches but it is a hive of activity. The ‘swarm’ consists of twenty Grey Fantails, delightful birds which are relatives of Willie wagtails. Watch their aerial ballet as they fly and dive after insects. As they alight each time they fan out their tail feathers probably hoping to swish more insects into the air. Sometimes enterprising individuals will swoop past walkers or land close by on a lookout branch. They have learned that we disturb a moveable feast as we walk.

The tree’s brownish leaves are marked by insect damage and some have lerps, the exquisite constructions which mark the presence of psyllids. You might even enhance your walks by using a hand-lens to look at these ‘houses’ but the danger is you’ll slow down your exercise routine and may even become hooked on the miniature world of novelty and detail that a lens can reveal. It’s not uncommon for Eucalypts to suffer phases of insect infestation which can give them a dead-look but usually infestations turn out to be part of the cycle of plant-insect relationships and the trees recover.

It’s quite common for Grey fantails to be part of a mixed feeding flock (MFF) of small birds that forage together but target different prey in the different storeys of the bush’s plant populations. The MFF species offer an element of safety from predators as there are several individuals on the alert for danger. I sometimes think Grey fantails are a real bonus when bird-watching because they may inform other MFF members that this weird person isn’t really a threat.

The reward for birdwatching today was seeing at least three Scarlet robins. Two were males and their brilliant scarlet shone like beacons when they were perched on a look-out branch in the sun, contrasting with the handsome black of back feathers and their white forehead spot. Earlier in the month I saw a White-throated Treecreeper not far from the Wickens carpark. There haven’t been many sightings on Mt Rogers as I suspect the area is too small for a pair to reside here and this bird may have been the one reported as being, briefly, in Spence and Fraser gardens.

Our local bluebells are spectacular again, thriving on the late summer rains and turning even roadsides into gardens. There are several species all related to the ACT’s emblem the Royal bluebell, Wahlenbergia* gloriosa, which grows at higher altitudes. Separating the flowers into species by flower size or leaf shape seems to be a job for the experts. Perhaps the variables we see are more related to soil chemistry or moisture than geography. On Mt Rogers the flowers peek out amongst the late-flowering grasses but close at night until sufficient sunlight shines on them next morning.

Bluebells flower throughout the spring and summer but for several weeks they’ve been joined by other native species which are having a second flowering or are confused by the signs the weather has brought. The lemon yellow petals of the Grey Guinea flower, Hibbertia obtusifolia**, create a flower that’s fifty-cent piece size. They grow in grassy woodlands on a slightly shrubby bush up to ‘knee-height’. Also in flower amongst the grasses now is native

St John’s wort: November is its normal emergence time. If you look closely the five soft-orange petals seem to create an almost ready-to-turn, swirling effect.

I seem to remember Bindweed being one of the banes of my English parents’ gardening days and the native species around here is quite tough, being one of the first plants to reappear after a grassland fire. The pink flowers also close overnight, reopening once stimulated by the sun. The branches trail over the ground and leaves seem to respond to rainfall in spite of summer heat. They sometimes show up in weedy situations so their tenacity makes them a favourite.

If you know the flowers of garden peas, beans and Sweet peas you’ll have realised that the familiar Hardenbergia also belongs to “the pea family”. It’s a spring-flowering plant whose purple flowers brighten many a harsh roadside or cutting-situation. Autumn brings dense ground-hugging patches of another purple pea-flower, Glycine. It has broad leaflets whereas its ‘cousin’ has more linear leaves on twining branches. Another pea-flowering species has creamy flowers with some pinkish-maroon on the tiny petals. They’re almost invisible but if you’ve ‘gone bush’ recently you’ll have ended up with the seeds stuck to socks, laces and fabric!

Residents of Rechner Place and Schwarz Place have been stuck with a deafening reality for some months. The Cockatoos have adopted the trees around the Flynn playground as a roost and grooming parlour. Visual evidence shows in the scattering of white feathers on the ground but the raucous cries of the birds dispersing from there each morning is enough to have residents in all adjacent suburbs rushing to shut their windows. Today (29.03.10) the birds were playing acrobatically in the rain obviously enjoying their showers and the chance to rid their feathers and skins of the itchy mites, lice or other invertebrates that are their constant companions.

When walking north-east along the ridge from the playground area I found evidence of the activities of another species with pestilential behaviour. Quite a few rocks had been lifted up during a search, I assume, for lizards and skinks. Often the lichen-covered rocks had been allowed to tumble down the slope. That there had been no attempt to replace the rocks and boulders shows that the hunters have no idea of the amount of micro-system-disturbance they are causing. Lichens no longer face the sun or receive rejuvenating rain, ant colonies are exposed as are any other small creatures such as scorpions and invertebrates which are a beneficial part of the leaf-litter fauna. What happens to any hapless lizards which are found? Do they earn the hunters a few dollars before the purchasers kill them by mis-feeding them? Are they released into gardens where cats hunt them to death? I suppose “t’was ever thus” but it seems so arrogant to assume we have a right to flout the law and take what we want from the bush.

It’s rainy now but let’s hope the balmy, calm summer days resume for a few more weeks and that the changing of the clocks won’t dent the resolve that’s needed for our exercise routines! Obviously stopping to observe the above species isn’t much good for exercise either but glimpses of the natural world have their own value for our health.

Rosemary Blemings, Convenor, Mt Rogers Landcare Group.

*Wahlenbergia bluebells were named to honour a Swedish botanist and medical professor who died in 1851.

**Hibbertias were named for George Hibbert a London merchant, private botanic garden owner and importer of Australian plants who died in 1837.

Check out Sacred kingfisher, Scarlet robin, Flame robin, Grey fantail, Weebill, Thornbill in the gallery of the Canberra Ornithologists’ website www.canberrabirds.org.au

Try Hibbertia obtusifolia, Glycine tabacina, Glycine clandestina, Desmodium varians, Hypericum gramineum, Hardenbergia violaceae, Convolvulus erubescens, Lichens, Fungi, Cryptogams on the Botanic Gardens’ website www.anbg.gov.au

WATCH FOR SIGNS ANNOUNCING A LATE-APRIL WALK, WONDER & WEED SESSION!!