Mt Rogers - Summer observations February 2009

After several useful ‘rain-events’ which left Mt Rogers looking refreshed and spring-like, summer has taken over with periods of extreme heat, strong winds and desiccation. Vegetation has dried-off and birds are busily feeding on grass and other seeds on or near the ground. Groups of Sulphur-crested cockatoos have shown this behaviour and become unpopular with their early-morning screeching as they leave roosts and set off to search for fruit in suburban gardens. I once thought one of their calls sounded like “Happy New Year” and wondered if the bird was repeating what it had learnt as a ‘pet’ but it certainly is difficult to think of their screeches as ‘speech’ or conversation.

            What are we to make of the “ooming” call of the Common Bronze-wing Pigeon? Calls from among tree-branches can now be heard from any part of the hill prompting the observation that the species has dispersed and numbers have increased in the last 3-5 years. Previously they frequented the shrubs near the carpark and ‘behind’ Woodger Place and would fly away rapidly if disturbed. They seem to be less shy now, even when they are feeding on the tracks where they’re easily seen. Have you seen sunlight focus on the colours of their wings? Bronze-wing is such a modest description and could raise comments on how often we’ve allocated common names which totally fail to reflect on the wonder or beauty of the organism.

            The Koel’s penetrating call has vanished as the birds have moved out of our region. They’re not averse to calling during the night. I last heard one from Flynn just after dawn on 5^th February. Olga may have seen one in a large nature strip tree with young Currawongs…there’s another species with a distinctive ‘ringing’ call which used to be a sign of Canberra’s autumn approaching. Now they are resident year-round.

            I recently noticed several Crimson rosellas feeding on Salsify. This served as a reminder that, since their original food plants have been displaced, “good birds” play a part in the spreading of “bad plants”. Similarly our dogs are just as likely to have native grasses’ seeds in their ears as they are to have problems with weed-grasses’ seeds. Salsify is the weed that has those wonderful globular seed heads before the seeds float away like dandelions’ “parachutes”. Salsify can be used as a parsnip-like vegetable as it has a robust tap-root. In 1597 the English herbalist Gerard declared “ a most pleasant and wholesome meate, in delicate taste far surpassing either Parsenep or Carrot” *. Obviously Salsify wasn’t developed to the same extent as either modern vegetable.

            There are species of St John’s Wort (SJW) that are medicinally useful. Presumably that use doesn’t apply to Hypericum perforatum which Mary has been pulling-out on her regular cross-country walks. The plants produce thousands of minute seeds but, by timely, pulling the capsules haven’t had a chance to ripen. There are also rhizomes which grow under the soil in all directions from the rosette of leaves. Most weeds have many ‘strategies’ for spreading into new areas especially when there are no natural controls to check their growth. I’m looking forward to a (12.30pm) talk at the Australian National Botanic Gardens on 12^th March which will be examining Biological control. It will be interesting to hear whether the use of invertebrate predators has been resumed in the fight against SJW and Paterson’s Curse. (The latter has had a ‘quiet’ summer in that the rain & heat pattern we’ve experienced obviously hasn’t triggered mass germination on Mt Rogers).

            Paterson’s Curse is also known as Salvation Jane as it has rescued the livelihoods of apiarists because the flowers are a significant source of nectar for honeybees’ honey production . Honeybees were introduced to Australia in the 1820’s and are vital to many sections of agriculture as crop pollinators both here and overseas. Mt Rogers has several colonies of ‘feral’ honeybees and they have taken-over at least 4 of the Nest-boxes. Sometimes the pollination processes of some species of native wildflowers are adversely affected by honeybees’ visits and nectar may be removed before native bees and other pollinators reach it. Native bees are often tiny or easily over-looked by those of us who have only recently come to know more about them. Most of them are too small to deliver an effective sting and they’re not aggressive. There’s a large area of research awaiting someone, whereas honeybees have been studied in detail as scientists try to find out more about their incredible eyesight and navigational techniques.

            European wasps are causing great concern this season as there seem to be even more around than in previous seasons. They were first recorded in the ACT in Pialligo in 1984. The worker wasps usually seen are about the size of a honeybee (12-15mm), They have shiny black and yellow stripes on their bodies with each stripe also having black spots. Their legs are mainly yellow whereas the honeybees’ are black. If wasps are seen going in & out of their nests’ entrance holes (usually in the ground, under shrubbery) they should be reported to the European Wasp Hotline on 6162 1914. Their stings are painful. They seek sugars from inside cans of soft-drink and if swallowed the swelling from a bite in the mouth can cause breathing difficulties. They are unbalancing the natural world by eating insect larvae which would otherwise be food for small ‘pest-controller’ birds or eventually act as pollinators for native flowers.

            Mt Rogers’ insectivorous birds often work through areas of bus as a mixed-feeding-flock. Several species forage together using different storeys of the bush as sources of food. Thornbills, Grey Fan-tails, Pardalotes and Superb Fairy-wrens were joined recently by a Leaden fly-catcher. It’s the first I’ve seen here this season, though I’ve heard them alongside the creek at Latham. Grey Fan-tails seem to know that if humans walk nearby a meal of insects will be stirred-up. Their ‘cousins’, Willie wag-tails…rarely seen on Mt R but not rare, wag their tails from side to side to stir up insects. (European Wagtails move their tails up and down and aren’t related!).

            A Double-barred finch was seen in the mixed-feeding-flock the little finch was a cheering sighting as they are a species needing to be near water and they depend on residences having water-features. Have you ever parked in the Wickens Place car-park and seen the Wrens pecking away at their own images reflected from your windscreen or wing-mirror?

            The car-park became a bit busier in January when several of Canberra’s keenest bird-watchers came to seek the Painted Button Quail found just under the powerlines to the east. There’s rough grass there and leaf-litter amongst the trees. Apparently these Quail create circular ‘platelets’ by moving vegetation and debris and scrape down to bare soil as part of their foraging routine. I’ve only found the platelets but the PBQ were seen several times. Quail have been seen perhaps once a year but usually they fly off and land again so quickly it’s difficult to establish which species was seen. I don’t know if we could class them as a resident species or whether foxes or cats kill those that are seen and a new group moves into the area.

            The ‘car-park’ trees also hosted two Superb Parrots briefly on 17^th February at about 9am. They didn’t stay long, flying off towards Kuringa Drive. Magpies were a bit aggressive and I wondered if they were two young parrots checking out the area on their way back towards Boorowa. Or perhaps they were part of the flock that may stay to become residents of the northern suburbs and woodlands. In January we did see a Mistletoe bird in the large clump of mistletoe near the car-park. There are still flowers to attract both the bird and the Wood white butterfly into the world of this parasitic plant but I need to find out more about mistletoes in Eucalypts.

            The magnificent old Eucalypt which has been the Frogmouths’ nest tree for two years lost a large branch. ‘The authorities’ seem to have listened and have tidied up the fallen branch and only removed one other limb that extended out towards the footpath. We were fearful that ‘they’ would take out the whole tree as being dangerous. This tree would have been one of the originals; most of the trees with smaller girth are less than forty years old.

            Several path-side dead trees on the Spence side of the hill have been marked with blue paint. We assume chainsaws will be busy soon but hope new growth where the trunks meet the ground will be spared to be allowed to keep us green. Even in summer, even in death, the barks show wonderful rustic colours and where insect tracks are visible there are detailed patterns, textures and markings. Jill has offered several photographs and sketches that show an artist’s appreciation of nature beyond and including landscape and habitat.

            Thank you for the useful suggestions about how to gather together and display our impressions of Mt Rogers. Let’s hope once the extreme weather passes we can apply ourselves to this project of recording our hill and our community. Apart from photographs, observations, records and anecdotes have come in including a fairly recent encounter with an echidna. Does anyone know anything about the geological history of Mt Rogers? Does anyone have any photos of the early days of establishing houses in Flynn, Fraser, Spence and Melba or the early plantings?

Rosemary

            *Low, Tim Wild herbs of Australia & New Zealand. Angus & Robertson, 1985. 

Contacts:

Canberra Connect 132281 For reporting dumped rubbish, litter, inappropriate behaviour.
European Wasp Hotline  6162 1914 (XCS Consulting) For reporting wasps’ nests & planning their removal.
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.