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
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 Schwarz Place
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.
*Wahlenbergia bluebells were named to honour a Swedish botanist and medical professor who died in 1851.
**Hibbertias were named for George Hibbert a London
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!!
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