As December arrives... Mt Rogers Update - December 2008

Mt Rogers has a reputation as a hot-spot for Superb Parrots among the ACT’s birdwatchers.

            For the last two springs, small groups of the fast-flying parrots have been seen in Belconnen generally and in other areas of northern ACT from mid September. Groups of perhaps 3-7 birds have been seen or heard not far from the Wickens Place carpark and around gardens south of Bingley Street. Birdwatchers living in Harrison, which is close to Goorooyaroo, have counted a flock of about 12 there. Our first question centres on the species’ traditional breeding areas close to Boorowa. How many families will migrate towards Canberra for the Christmas/holiday weeks this summer, once the young are strong enough to fly?

            The enormous interest in “our” Tawny frogmouths’ breeding sowed the seeds of an idea to compile an album of Mt Rogers as we’ve seen it. The Frogmouth family members have featured in many photographs and they’re probably the latest in a long line of ‘shots’ of our place, people, views, dogs, plants and their flowers, trees and a full range of animals. Would you like to contribute any photos you’ve taken as a commemorative compilation of the community that centres on the hill? Obviously, in this day and age, we could go beyond the limited application of a conventional hard-copy album and explore the possibilities of CDs, DVDs or even a host-website. I’ve run the idea past a few fellow-walkers but please contact me if you’d like to take part.

            One book I consulted suggested that the Frogmouths incubate their eggs for 30 days and the young are then in the nest for 4 weeks. It also specified that the male is on the nest during the day and the female by night. I did see the second adult on a branch some 4m away from the nest at dusk once but never found its camouflaged pose during its daytime roost. The daily guardian showed remarkable calmness as we marvelled at their efforts. This is the second year they’ve nested in that tree but I didn’t notice that the Currawongs had a nest above them last year. Two other Frogmouth nests reported in the region (Carwoola & Ainslie) also had accompanying Currawong nests. The birds had left the nest by 15^th- 16^th November. A foursome has been reported in the roost trees in Schwarz Place so the fledglings’ entry into the wider world seems to have been achieved.

            Koels are usually thought of as a species from the warmer areas to our north. Reporting their calls on the Canberrabirds email line showed that their spring-summer presence in Canberra suburbs was, until now, relatively unusual. Their penetrating “Ko-ell” calls have been heard regularly both day and night this season. They’re a bit longer than magpies but very difficult to locate. They show parasitic behaviour, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds such as Friarbirds and Peewees. One theory suggests that since Red Wattle Bird numbers have expanded in recent years the Koels are exploiting this increase. Is Margaret’s sighting of a Red Wattle Bird feeding a very dark, large chick a sign that Mt Rogers has hosted the cuckoos’ breeding in 2008?

            Has anyone sighted an Echidna recently? Flynn residents of “the peninsula” between Oster and Bird Places came across a Wombat in their gardens in early October. What’s the story behind its visit, one wonders!

            Sincere thanks to Liz who has compiled a laminated fact sheet and vets-list for dog walkers. This is in response to the tragic news of two Mt Rogers dogs dying from snakebite and a number of snake-sightings. One of the snakes used a long-dumped pile of pine-branches as habitat and a striped skink was also seen there. Several calls were made requesting the pile be removed. I was contacted by a TAMs officer seeking location details but whether the pile was removed by them as ‘illegal dumping’ or as a result of Heather’s request to the tree surgeon working at their place we don’t know.

            The nestboxes strapped to about 15 Mt Rogers trees continue to interest observant walkers. They have been placed by a PhD research student at ANU to assist in her studies of the impact of Indian Mynas on species of native birds. Volunteers from the Canberra Ornithologists’ Group are surveying bird populations near the nestboxes and in suburbs adjacent to the reserves and open space-areas hosting the nestboxes. The nestboxes are checked regularly by Kate but Rosellas have been seen entering some of the boxes; at least two have been taken-over by honeybees (Kevin’s removed one swarm already) and Indian Mynas are bringing food to two others. Some 500 members of the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group have removed over 20,000 Indian Mynas from ACT suburbs by trapping them in simple aviary-mesh traps in their backyards. Indian Mynas are aggressive birds and will harass both native bird species and small arboreal mammals. Unchecked, Indian Mynas will significantly alter native bird populations in bushland areas by denying them the use of tree-hollows.

            There are parties of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos moving around in search of the unripe pods of the wattle trees. I counted 15 together at one stage. The differently-raucous calls of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos have also attracted attention even though the groups of 3-5 birds are smaller They tackle the tough, woody pods of Hakeas, pine cones and forage under the barks of trees for grubs. You’ll probably hear reports of them from around the region as they search for food once supplied by the pine plantations.

            It feels as though there has been decent rain but those with mulched gardens realise that the rain doesn’t always penetrate as well as we hope. The sub-soil is still dry & hard to dig. Greening Australia offered some Common everlasting daisies Chrysocephalum apiculatum and these have been planted near the Wickens Place carpark. There are populations of them around the hill and also individual clumps of Clustered everlasting Chrysocephalum semipapposum remaining where there’s woody-grassland. Having bright yellow flowers they readily catch the attention but, more sinister, there are also yellow patches of the serious weed, St John’s Wort. The native St John’s Wort is flowering well amongst the trees but it has very different-looking orange flowers.

            The rain has also benefited the numerous species of grasses on Mt Rogers. Two attractive types with feathery flower-heads are worth noting. Spear grasses’ seeds have a habit of corkscrewing themselves into fur, socks and laces…one of the fascinating, if annoying methods plants use for seed dispersal. African love-grass has dainty flower-heads and ‘eucalyptus-green foliage where some of the older leaves seem to be curly. It’s an extremely invasive introduced grass and is, for example, spreading from the carpark as mowers carry loose, ripe seeds. Kangaroo grass is producing new flowers thanks to the rain and, with the Spear grass is an attractive native species. Sometimes I wish we could have a few more kangaroos ‘up there’ to prevent the grass being so long in summer but that’s simplistic as not all grasses are as palatable to ‘roos or stock as (or when) we’d like them to be.

            Several trees, trackside, have pink crosses on them. Presumably they’re hazardous and marked for felling.

Rosemary

Contacts:

• Rosemary Blemings, Convenor,  Mt Rogers Landcare Group.   
• Canberra Connect    132281    For reporting dumped rubbish, litter, inappropriate behaviour.
• Canberra Indian Myna Action Group www.indianmynaaction.org.au  6231 7461  for information on the Indian Myna threat to native species.
• Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000   for reporting motorcyclists illegally riding through Mt Rogers.