PRE HOLIDAY-SEASON OBSERVATIONS AROUND MT ROGERS

A one-hour circuit walk after a rainy two days

Shiny carapaces in poo beside the path suggested a fox might have feasted on Xmas beetles. Why do some beetles have those iridescent colours?

Have a look for 2016’s Insects of South-Eastern Australia by Roger Farrow. Many insect questions answered & wonderful, accessible natural history!

After two dull, drizzly & showery days the sun’s presence cheered the spirits.

Round the bases of some Cootamundra Wattles there’s a litter of leafy branches. The Cockatoos have been through for the seed-pods. Does being eaten kill the seeds?

I remembered my fly-veil & was grateful. Camping-gear shops usually sell them.

Neatly mown is the impression around Mt Rogers’ edge-space. Thanks TAMS!

Good work by the mowing teams but we still need to be alert for snakes.

There were ten walkers between 09.45 and 10.45 on a sunny morning.

Is it their rubbed wings or a special organ that cicadas use to make their sounds?

Motor cycle of some sort went up the Gully at 10.45. Arrogance.

Eucalyptus blakeleyi, Red Gums, are showing some new leaf growth after two worrying lerp attacks to their leaves. May their resilience prevail!

Why does it become windy after rain? The vital moisture is quickly evaporated. 

I didn’t hear Koels’ calls whilst up there but they’ve been busy in mid-Flynn for 10 days now. I suspect it’s they who are eating unharvested Loquats.

Tigers of the air: Dragonflies were around today & long before the dinosaurs!

Hands need sturdy gloves if pulling St Johns Wort. Thank you to those who have identified, walked and weeded SJW. Cutting the flower-heads off is a good option.

Oats, Tall Fescue, Phalaris & other non-native grasses are taller than many of us.

The pile of soil & the prickly pear have gone from the renovated house in Schwarz Place. There’s a new Colorbond fence. Do metal fences deter Blue-tongued lizards?

Has anyone seen or heard regular Superb Parrot visitors?

Every time they land Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes shuffle their wings. I had a glimpse of one of these elegant grey birds, using the shuffle as identification.

Rosellas weren’t noticeable. Perhaps they were feeding earlier.

Suzi Bond has published her photographic Field Guide to the 87 butterfly species seen locally. Try the Botanic Bookshop at the Gardens for copies.

White flowers just past-their-prime are bottle-brush-like Melaleucas. Shrubs were planted on Mt R in the seventies. The taller trees around town have really thrived on the winter rains. Plenty of nectar for insects and birds!

Hill-topping is a butterfly activity when they’re attracting mates. Mt R. is a good place to watch for this. Some butterfly species actively defend their territories.

On their wings, Meadow Argus butterflies have round eye-spots. They’re common & cooperative, settling with wings open to absorb heat from the sun.

Near & above low grasses there were small blue butterflies. They settled with their wings closed making identification tricky. The Lycaenidae family they belong to shows some names & identification possibilities.

Easy to distinguish from their bald black heads, Noisy Friarbirds’ calls haven’t been noticeable around Flynn this sprummer. Perhaps they’ve nested on Mt Rogers and stayed quiet to avoid Koels looking to lay eggs in their nests.

Eyes surrounded by an ‘owl face’, Double-barred Finches make meowing calls. They feed on open grassy ground so perhaps they’ve kept away from the rain-induced rank grasses in the reserve. They’re not as common as they were.

Deasland place’s Frogmouths may have been those Angharad spotted on our Monday working-bee. They were near the twin tanks & a very old nest-box. See the photo at the end of this post.

Yellow-rumped Thornbills usually feed on the ground. Perhaps it was too windy for them today.

Orchard Swallowtail are those big black butterflies that are also attracted to our gardens’ citrus blooms. They are di-morphic with differing shapes and colour patterns between females & males. 

Under cover of darkness a whole new world would be visible around Mt R.

I wonder if spot-lighting walks are feasible?

Strong colours on butterflies may mean they have recently emerged from their pupae & the sun hasn’t faded their colours.

There were a few Brown butterflies about also. They, with their varied patterns & wing markings belong to the Satyrinae family.

Have a look through the Butterfly book if only to see the diversity of the names. Globally there are Albatross, Beak, Bird-wing, Crow, Darter, Owl, Peacock, Swallowtail butterflies to show ornithological connections.

Endangered Golden Sun Moth seen on Wednesday near Ginninderra Creek’s Axe Grooves at Latham. The GSM is endangered as its native grasslands have gone.

Green grass, particularly under trees in summer, signifies Microlaena stipoides or Weeping Grass. There’s plenty of Microlaena to be seen around Mt Rogers.

Red Wattlebirds called occasionally. Have they managed to breed this season without being cuckolded by the Koels?

Every now and then there were calls from the bush. Presumably they were from small birds’ calls I should know but couldn’t remember for identification!

Arriving silently, a Kookaburra landed near Schwarz Place looking for an insect snack. Birds need reliable water but don’t need food offerings from us.

Tiny blue butterflies reminded me of the numerous species of beige moths that inhabit our grasslands & grassy areas. Should I carry one of the coat-hanger-based butterfly nets we made for the children years ago & try identifying them?

Eyes are pale blue for Magpie Larks or Peewees. I wonder what evolutionary & survival advantage those pale blue eyes give them?

Striated Pardalote calls came through “cappuccino, cappuccino” from the canopy. 

There are only a few yellow Paper Daisy plants on Mt R. Painted Lady butterflies are photogenic when eating from the daisies as a reward for pollinating them.

Going back down to Flynn the unnatural noises of vehicles & crassness of dumped rubbish disturbed my reverie. Thank you to our wonderful team of removalists who take others’ rubbish home to keep Mt R clean.

I did wonder at a green bag, dropped in error, presumably containing dog poo. Un-bagged poo will break down in the bush decades sooner than plastic bags. 

Flatweed flowers are obvious on many nature strips. Impress by knowing they are not dandelions. Each flower head can have 75+ individual flowers then seeds.

The ringing calls of magpies provided serenades from various vantage points. We’ve had great pleasure in the magpies’ company, antics, territorial spats for another year. We’ve tried to identify & name them from their markings.

HNY!

I hope you're able to zoom in on this to see the Frogmouths' expressions. 

MT ROGERS: Brilliant spotting from Angharad.

The green nest box has been to the SE of the twin tanks for decades.....long before Kate Grarock began her Indian Myna nestbox studies. 

The roost tree is perhaps 30m from the long-fallen tree that's been painted. There's no guarantee that they will roost there in future.

Angharad, Ted and I were walking back to the Wickens car-park after a hot 1.5hours working-bee against St Johns Wort. Angharad looked towards the nestbox and saw the Frogmouths straight away. Ted had said he'd not seen them since they fledged in spite of looking. We assume these are the ones from the large eucalypt above the white house and near the steps up from Deasland Place.

Rosemary  17.12.16.

Convenor: Mt Rogers Landcare Group.

MT ROGERS in late NOVEMBER 2016

Our next Monday working-bee and last for 2016 will be on Monday 5 December. We’ll meet at the Wickens Place, Fraser carpark at 09.00am. Gaiters, tools and gloves will be provided but please bring water to rehydrate!

27.11.16 Working-bee

Thank you all for making today's such a special working-bee. Anne, Ivan, Kirsty and Ted all worked very hard at demanding tasks needing our bodies to bend and pull when not thrilled about doing so … as the temperature climbed towards the forecast 26 degrees.

We were reducing the St John’s Wort (SJW) plants’ chances of being pollinated, setting seed and returning thousands of seeds to Mt Rogers’ soil.

We know we made a difference, even though the lack of SJW in those areas may be almost un-noticeable to the passer-by. I would imagine we moved 100 plants onto the track, or onto rocks or onto barer patches to desiccate. Many more were de-bloomed and/or pulled up and left to dry out where they'd grown. That's 10xthousands of seeds that won't make it to the seed bank.

These are complex places to work. Steve can't really reach the plants' rosettes to spray Starane on them, even with a suitable nozzle. The many species of introduced grasses are already tall, allowing their pollen to catch breezes and winds. And, as we saw towards the end of the morning, these areas are habitat for many native species ... and are therefore ‘DO NOT DISTURB THE SOIL’ places, if we can manage that. We came across mosses, lichens, hundreds of Cheilanthes (native Rock Ferns) and some young eucalypts.

Team-work, musing and socialising

I like the way our land-carers so readily work in flexible teams regardless of the combination of people who are able to be present on any one occasion. The social benefits of landcaring and its volunteering are very important, together with sharing tales of our journeys towards being in the same place and with the same objectives for this particular working-bee.

At various stages Anne, Kirsty and I explored the value of gardening concluding that it's much the same as a walk on Mt Rogers in that our brains are able to unclutter, re-process and also respond to what the bush offers us in new sightings and new stimuli for our thoughts whilst we work at a physical task or exercise. 

Other species

We were rewarded today by the presence of several birds (even a brief Superb Parrot call) and by finding new research opportunities through the St John’s Wort biocontrol beetle Chrysolina hyperici. The photo below shows the beetle this year at Shepherds Lookout in Woodstock Reserve North. We hope to see these on Mt Rogers' SJW.

Ted's other multi-coloured beetle and the spider Kirsty found added to our shared ‘biology’ lesson. 

We met at Mildenhall Place, soon finding that 3 or 4 of the native grass species looked really healthy, if hugely out-numbered, as we walked through them to the weeding sites.

We often heard Noisy Friarbirds, which was interesting because their calls and Koels’ calls have been unusually inconsistent in mid-Flynn this ‘sprummer’ (spring and summer). On Saturday 26 November there were Oriole calls on Mt Rogers but I didn’t sight them. Thank you to those who have sent wonderful photos of the Frogmouths this spring and/or emailed through updates on the three nesting pairs’ progress. Do you have Rainbow Lorikeets near you? There must be blooming eucalypts near here as the Lorikeets are nearly as ubiquitous as ‘our’ magpie families at present.

Pulling weeds

I think it was Ivan who first spotted Paterson’s Curse (PC) plants scattered through the grassy-bush. Pulling these up and leaving them to dry became our first team-job for the morning. Anne mentioned that she’d pulled a few up on her dog-walks each day. We have a few more days when SJW and PC plants can be pulled up and left to desiccate in the sun. Soon some of the pollinated flowers will have seeds which could continue to ripen and disperse even after uprooting. If anyone else is prepared to take a pair of gloves with them on their walks and pull SJW and PC this would enhance our efforts and augment Steve’s spraying hopes. Gloves are essential as there can be reactions when handling these ‘pretty’ weeds. We each wore gaiters this morning in case the snakes were slow to move away from where we walked. Gaiters are great guards against seeds manipulating their way into socks and laces.

This photo shows the team at our 27 November Working-bee: Kirsty (hat and backpack visible!) gathering SJW plants to put on the track to dry out. Anne and Ted with Ivan (who is kneeling). Ivan is a specialist at retrieving and working on weeds from under other plants. In this case the fallen but live branch of the eucalypt had allowed the weeds to grow with maximum protection and moisture. The hills seen distantly beyond Hall form a background to this, Mt Rogers' Cryptandra patch. 

Daisies

The incredible rains have really shown us what plants can achieve if they’re well watered. Many nature strips are now hosting Flatweed blooms so large and sun-happy they rival Dandelions in size. They belong to the Daisy family; its name used to be Compositae and has changed to Asteraceae. Other members are Asters, Gazanias, the daisies, Marigolds, thistles and paper daisies. Sunflowers show the flower-heads contain hundreds of individual but small flowers surrounded by showy ‘petals’ that advertise the presence of rewards to pollinating insects. Sunflowers have seeds that appeal to birds but, of course, many daisies disperse their seeds on parachute-like structures that allow seed dispersal by the slip-streams of passing vehicles. Alternatively, I’ve noticed Crimson Rosellas feasting on the furry and unappetising-looking brown seed-clusters of Capeweed.

Other pollinators

Have you noticed the huge numbers of Hoverflies around, once flowering began in 2016? They are much slighter than Honey-Bees but seem to have taken over pollinating duties this ‘sprummer’. There are also many species of native bees around and they’re often about the same size as Hoverflies. There’s been plenty of publicity about bees in recent months including Bee Houses at the Botanic Gardens and at Floriade’s Bush Friendly Garden.

Other insects act as pollinators as they crawl over composite flowers moving pollen from plant to plant as they feed. This sprummer we’ve been able to watch the successive arrivals and/or hatching of butterfly species. In the last few days several of the ‘Brown’ butterflies have come on the scene. Many birds and some possums are pollinators, being rewarded with nectar from the flowers they visit. There is protein in pollen, but around nesting time birds are also seeking insect larvae in order to give their chicks the best chance to grow quickly once hatched. Some birds, such as cuckoos, specialise by eating caterpillars that are hairy or spiky.

Other Working-bees

On Sunday 23 October we tried an experiment to see whether cutting and daubing Wild Sage, Salvia verbenaca, would kill those plants closest to a cluster of boulders where Vanilla lilies had been found a week earlier. We were working on the principle of weeding out from the cleanest, most weed-free areas, an adaptation of The Bradley Method. A check this week showed very few Wild Sage left where we had worked. Those more distant from the lilies are now seeding with seeds that readily stick to socks and other fabrics probably by small hooks. (Was it high school or college where we learnt about the origins of Velcro? Burrs on Burdock plants’ seeds allow them to hook onto animals’ fur. George de Mestral patented his fastener idea in 1955.)

Anne Mc teamed up with Ted, and Ivan and Anne C worked together, whilst I tried to persuade the Vanilla lilies to open up for more photos in the sometimes-reluctant sunshine.

Ann M joined us later by which time we’d turned our attention to a patch of Mustard plants just beginning to flower yellow amongst a wattle thicket and near an inspiring Kurrajong sapling. 

On Monday 7 November, Phil, Angharad, John and Diana walked through the reserve from ‘behind’ the notice box. Our main target species was Serrated Tussock. We found a few plants to dig up but were amazed and delighted at the thoroughness of Steve’s spraying sorties in recent weeks.

Snakes Alive, January. Spread the word!

In January, the annual Snakes Alive display is on at the Botanic Gardens. Even if you’re unlikely to go yourself please would you help with publicity? Any money raised by the volunteers through the event is used to protect frogs, reptiles and snakes in their natural environments. There’s no need to book tickets:

As Snakes Alive 2017 gets closer, the ACT Herpetological Association are looking for ways to get word out to the general public to promote the display. To achieve this we have created a Facebook event for Snakes Alive! 2017 that can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/713339572164158. 

Rosemary. 62584724 

Lack of control at Mt Rogers!

Several of Mt Rogers' caring people are considering how best to word a possible sign or signs in relation to the blog post here. For input, please contact the Ginninderra Catchment Group office, on phone 6278 3309.
*****

As we (Rosemary, Ivan, Anne, Anne, Ted and Ann) were leaving after the working bee on Sunday 23rd October a woman with three Jack Russell-type terriers walked through the entrance to Mt Rogers reserve from the Wickens Place, Fraser carpark. This was at about 11.45.

A group of several adults (whom I did not recognise) was walking past and east along the main gravel track at the same point. Their terrier attacked one of the woman's dogs. She fended off the attacker with one of those ball-throwing 'sticks' and was bitten on the left hand.

The attack was unprovoked and the walking family made no attempt to show concern or ask if the dog or its owner were o.k. 

I suggested later (by a note under her windscreen wiper) that the woman make a complaint or at least a comment. I don't know if she did so.

The woman had come from Holt specifically because her dogs would have the freedom to walk around naturally.

Over two years ago the Mt Rogers community submitted scores of submissions in support of Mt Rogers remaining and off-leash dog exercise area. 

We also reiterated many times that

• there is a need for several signs explaining the reserve's OFF LEASH status 
• the sign should include a message about dogs being UNDER CONTROL AT ALL TIMES 
• the sign should explain that dogs should remain on-leash if they are not socialised or well behaved around other dogs or people
• the sign should explain that dog walkers have a legal obligation to collect and take away their dog's faeces.
• there is a need for faeces-collection bins in the same way that other jurisdictions provide these.

We were told that, since it's an ACT-wide problem, neither the signs nor the bins could be provided instantly.

I would like to think we will not have to wait much longer for the Mt Rogers sign. New visitors to Mt Rogers need to understand dog and dog-ownership etiquette before they venture into our very popular reserve.

Thank you for any expediting of the signage dog control and DAS is able to give.

Rosemary Blemings, Convenor

Mt Rogers Landcare Group

Weed swap, news, Frogmouth chick and working bees, October-November

Busy spring for everyone ... quite a few of our Mt Rogers landcarers have been volunteer explainers at the Bush Friendly Garden at Floriade. We've shared tales and anecdotes about landcaring in all its forms and weed problems all over the world. We and our visitors have been full of good humour and stoic in the face of the erratic weather this spring has produced.

On 29 & 30 October weekend there is Weed Swap at Parkwood green waste tip. 
Bring in woody weeds over that weekend to earn a free native plant or two!

Steve D has been working deeper into the reserve spraying African Lovegrass, Serrated Tussock and Chilean Needle Grass. This is a mammoth multi-week effort to thwart the introduced grasses' rain-induced growth before they flower and seed. Thank you very much for persisting against these invasive species Steve.

Here is a magnificent Frogmouth photo from Lyndon. He says: ' I'm pretty sure that the downy blob on the right of the adult is a new chick. The image was taken on 15 October at about 3 pm.'

Although I've not had time to be on Mt Rogers in recent days I presume the two other Frogmouth pairs' nests are still o.k. Perhaps the incubator on the others is also having to sit high on the nest as squirming chicks wriggle about underneath their feathers.

A Channel-billed Cuckoo has been heard in area of Deasland Place and Avery Place in Fraser. It would seem a bird has returned to the area that's familiar to it, but whether it's still there or has move on ... who knows. Try searching on the name + calls and you should be able to hear the extraordinary noise these huge cuckoos make. They parasitise Currawongs, apparently. Can 'we' persuade more to come, sooner, into the ACT's spring seasons to reduce the numbers of successful Currawong breeding efforts?


Sunday 23 October is the next working bee. We'll meet at Wickens Place, Fraser, at 9 am. 
On Monday 7 November we'll meet at the Flynn playground area, also at 9 am. I'll park the car in Rechner Place.
Speaking of Rechner place.....if you know anyone who would like to live within a few metres of Mt Rogers and be surrounded by the home's native garden, Pamela and Noel are moving north fairly soon.

Rosemary
Mt Rogers Landcare Coordinator

Working bee 25 September but not 3 October - Frogmouths, dragons and wildflowers already!

On Sunday 25th September we'll have our regular working-bee meeting at the Wickens Place, Fraser carpark at 09.30. The ground is very wet and there's no let-up in the sequence of rain events it seems. The wild oats and weed species are growing rapidly, encouraged by the spells of warmer weather. We'll mostly be aiming to remove weeds without too much soil disturbance, but there are a few stubborn species we'll try using the weeding wands on.

On Monday 3rd the monthly weekday working-bee would be scheduled but it's a public holiday.

On Monday 5th September I let Ted down by not taking down the 'meet here' notice after posting a different meeting place at Rechner Place. Phil & I moved through the bush mostly being able to pull out 50 privets, cotoneasters and Viburnum, and cutting & daubing larger or pricklier weeds. Chris and Margaret have been digging out Patersons Curse plants under the powerlines. We'll likely keep up the pressure on that species on Sunday.

Thanks to Elan and Don's observations relayed by Jane, one of this season's Frogmouth nests has been found in the huge eucalypt near the ‘new-looking white house’ between Fraser's Deasland and Avery Places.

The other day I was lucky enough to be able to share the sighting with a couple visiting from Washington DC. It was most unusual to see two people walking along with binoculars and, at about 14.00 hrs, also unusual to find ourselves surrounded by a mixed feeding flock of small birds. It was as if the local Field Guide to Birds had come alive! Our visitors had seen Frogmouths in the Atherton Tablelands but they were delighted to have them close to where they were staying with their daughter in Spence.

Thanks to Lyndon and Barbara who have sent over magnificent photos of the daytime-incubator on the Frogmouth's nest.

Above: Lyndon's photo of a nesting Tawny Frogmouth on Mt Rogers, first spotted a week ago

Above: Barbara's photo of the first Frogmouth nest & incubator found so far this year

Mt Rogers has featured on Canberra Nature Map (CNM), as a keen photographer has sent in a photograph of Early Nancy blooms inland from 'Mildenhall Place, Fraser'. There are more in the bush behind Woodger Place, and the Bulbine Lilies are just beginning to show their yellow flowerheads. It's hard to walk through this area with so many blooms to avoid. Honeyeaters were visiting the flowering Grevilleas planted by unknown hands many decades ago. Sending in photos of plants and animals to CNM is a great way to be a citizen scientist and improve identification skills.

It was near the Grevilleas that I also came across this Bearded Dragon below, defending itself from this thoughtless and unobservant intruder. I've heard that the Water Dragons have emerged from winter at the Botanic Gardens.

Bearded dragon, Pogona barbata, at Bridget's

There are Common Bronzewing Pigeons in the bush here ... though nowhere near as common as the Crested Pigeons which’ve only been  in the region since the 1980s.

Frogs are busy calling as a result of the ample rainfall. Spotted Burrowing Frogs have been heard and seen at one of the Strathnairn Homestead Gallery's dams. They're not often seen because they stay burrowed away until there's significant rain.

If you'd like to become a Frog-watcher, now's the time! Anke-Maria is calling for individuals and families to adopt a local pond or dam and learn how to recognise & record the frogs through their calls. Frogwatch is another way to become a citizen scientist as the data is then available to researchers. Google 'Frogwatch census', or visit http://www.ginninderralandcare.org.au/frogwatch/frogwatch-census/.

There are introductory sessions starting at 6 pm tomorrow 21 September at the Botanic Gardens, and on 22 September and 1 October at Jerrabomberra Wetlands followed by a field walk.

Anytime now, nature strips and areas of Mt Rogers will be seas of pale yellow as the Capeweed plants bloom. Watch out for bees, but otherwise the stems are thick enough to help young people learn the gentle art of daisy-chain making. Cockatoos and Galahs are still busy digging for Onion Grass bulbs around Flynn.

At Floriade's Bush Friendly Garden (near the tasting tent) there's a demonstration Bee Hotel to show how to offer shelter to native bees. Look for actforbees.org for more information about native and Honeybees and plants we can grow to for them to feed in our gardens. 

Enjoy spring when it decides to settle-in. 

Rosemary

A SUNDAY AFTERNOON POTTER ON MT ROGERS: Spring 2016 sometimes

I walked up to Mt Rogers this afternoon taking some flyers to the Notice Box for those interested in the CSIRO development. In spite of the mostly overcast conditions there were quite a few walkers around and often the voices of playing children wafted through into the bush.

I checked out the Almond blossom behind the Schwarz Place house but there not was even a wattlebird at 14.15 hours. Even better though a, calling trio of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flew into the eucalypts. I took a distant, almost silhouette, photo of one of the small party. I think they were foraging in that area for about ¾ hour but they were silent.

I went into the bush from the rough track up from the Notice Box, taking a kangaroo track to the right after about 50 m. I passed the pine tree Ted & I had tried frilling, and realised it didn’t look very healthy. There are oozes down the trunk so perhaps our cutting into the wood did have an effect. The needles didn’t look entirely green but perhaps that’s what Monterey Pines are like in August. 

The pine tree is a reminder that we occasionally come across quite large woody weeds that we’ve overlooked on past weeding journeys. A few smaller invasives have been marked with pink ribbons, but I didn’t have any ribbon with me this time. (The photo shows Clematis scrambling over woody debris.) I did find several pull-uppable cotoneasters, privets and Viburnum so made a token effort to continue the pulling-up that Phil, Angharad and Kirsty have done in this area. On the way up from mid-Flynn I pass a garden that had a privet tree full of berries so it’s no wonder the birds take the berries and therefore donate new seedlings to Mt Rogers and others’ gardens.

Along the kangaroo track I found a Hovea in glorious purple flower (photo below). There were other, smaller specimens around it amongst native grasses, Guinea flower shrubs that will have yellow blooms later, and a woody-grassland array of trees and Lomandras. There’s a 5 m tunnel from what may have been a fox den near here. The dug earth is reasonably fresh but it didn’t look as if it had been recently entered. 

There were 12 nearby clusters of lush lily leaves suggesting that the Blue Grass Lilies have multiple bulbs under the ground. Caesia calliantha will have blue flowers later on and they are a ‘species to protect’ according to ACT ecologists. I still couldn’t relocate the native violet I hoped to show Kirsty and Angharad on our working-bee walk on 1^st August.

Across the Lily track (up from the No Motorbikes sign) and into more bush I came across two more lilies’ clusters. I then stumbled on a scatter of Barbed Wire Grass plants. If you search on Barbed Wire Grass + images you’ll see that the grasses’ flower-heads look like the bent wire spikes of barbed wire. The flowers and seed heads are a bit like Kangaroo Grass at first glance but the species is far less common.

At about this point I realised I was being followed by mosquitoes so I was glad that the wind still suggested having gloves on. Butcherbird calls rang through the trees, and I also noticed foraging marks on trees’ lower trunks and even fallen timber. I guessed that the big cockatoos were silent because they were feeding on or close to the ground and therefore didn’t advertise their presence.

I crossed over the Fescue Gully – where water would rush down towards the Flynn ‘playground’ Frogmouths’ tree, were it not for Phil’s erosion-mitigation work – and went east into more bush on another kangaroo track. There are certainly scats as evidence of their presence in all the grassland sections of the reserve. There are even small droppings, suggesting that there’s at least one joey at-foot in the resident mob that several people have reported seeing.

In parts of the reserve, new green grass is sprouting. Most of this herbage is introduced grass species, including wild oats. The latter will be as tall as we are by summer, but for now there’s the illusion that the ground-layer is native vegetation. Clumps of native grasses and litter consisting of bark and leafy debris are preferred by the ground-feeding Speckled Warblers. Scarlet Robins perch on low branches watching for insects’ movement in the litter-layer. Angharad reported seeing the Scarlet Robins during last week. They are likely to migrate away to breed soon. Peter A reported the Robins and Double-barred Finches at the beginning of August as well as Bronzewing pigeons’ calls. The little finches have an almost mewing call and they’ll likely be with other small birds.

Small insectivorous birds will be enjoying the Cootamundra Wattles’ blooms as much as we do. This is especially true now, when winter is reducing the numbers of insects available at a time when pre-breeding birds need to access protein in their food.

I think the big birds begin breeding first: Ravens, Currawongs, Magpies and perhaps Wattlebirds. There are displays amongst the Crested Pigeons around Flynn, and numerous Magpie territorial flights, fights and calls around here where several territories intersect.

I went over to the eastern edge of the open space below the ‘Second Summit’ to see where Steve had been spraying Serrated Tussock and Chilean Needle Grass, and on the way back through the trees came across two Kookaburras. They were perched close together and photogenic. One, and then both, turned their backs – which I thought mildly annoying. (The top photo below shows them facing me at first.) Then I realised this was part of a sequence in which they took it in turns to fly into a niche between Eucalyptus branches. The second photo below shows the blur of feathers (top right) as the bird hits the tree.

They were doing excavations for a nest site amongst the loose bark and a cleft about 4 m above the ground. Kirsty once sent some photos of a similar activity and we’ve seen them trying to enlarge a nest-box’s entry. Literally ‘hard work’, unless you own a parrot-like beak, but the methods are different.

Eastern Rosellas were very interested in a small hollow in one of the Flynn ‘playground’ trees. It may have been used by Crimson Rosellas in previous springs. The muddiness around this same area will suit the Magpie-larks as they build or renovate their mud nests. Throughout my walk I kept a lookout for Frogmouths, but haven’t seen the makings of a nest for them yet. I heard a Noisy Friarbird from home last weekend.

From her place, 100 m from the Avery-Deasland Fraser edge of the reserve, Angharad reported 5 Satin Bowerbirds today. She reckons there could have been 8 late last week. This is an increase in numbers from the singles and pairs she’s seen previously. Steve reported a Bowerbird near the Bainton Crescent edge some months ago. It will be wonderful if numbers build up, but those of us with fruit & vegie gardens may not agree.

Butterflies are emerging in response to the fickle warmth of the ephemeral spring. They were enjoying the white bell-shaped flowers on the Cryptandra bushes just off the track behind the twin tanks. These two photos show Vanessa kershawi Australian Painted Lady on the Cryptandra recently.

The Cryptandra patch now numbers over 40 plants (photo below); there were once nine. If you walk that way it’s well worth a look, and check out the big tree for any Frogmouth activity as you pass by. 

We’ll be heading in that direction for the Sunday 28 August working-bee, meeting at 09.30 in Mildenhall Place, Fraser. On Monday 5 September our walk and weed session will begin from Rechner Place, Flynn … near the playground and also starting at 09.30. I’ll see some of you then, though there are a few apologies already.

Rosemary  

Convenor, Mt Rogers Landcare Group, 6258 4724

TWO GREAT WINTER STROLLS AROUND MT ROGERS, JUNE 2016.

On Thursday 16^th and Sunday 19^th June, I took time to stroll around the reserve cross-country. I was ‘on site’ in each case by about 10.15; after a severe frost on Thursday and with another strong, wet front forecast for ‘late morning’ on Sunday. As I type, the front’s rain has begun and the Currawongs are calling loudly around mid Flynn. Some say this calling heralds rain but others equally attribute these choruses to other species. After a long dry spell it’s wonderful to see each bird species’ reactions to the rain. They delight in showers to cleanse their feathers and possibly upset the populations of mites that live amongst their feathers.

ICON Water have contracted clearing of trees and shrubs inside the reservoirs’ fences and for 3 m outside from the fences. Some of the prickly Hakea plants inside the twin tanks’ fence will be reprieved as having low fire risk. This is very good news as their prickliness makes them good predator-proof habitat for small birds. The aim of Thursday’s walk past the reservoirs was to see what, if any, tree removal had been carried out. All was intact.

I became aware of a mixed feeding flock (MFF) of small birds in the trees beyond the Summit track and to the single tank’s south-west. Even better, I realised there was extra activity along the branches and trunks of the trees and ‘Sittellas’ came into my mind. I’d seen a small flock of them nearby but years ago in a sleety snow-storm. The binoculars confirmed Varied Sittella, Daphoeopsitta chrysopter, and that this species-which is under-threat in the ACT was utilising the area scheduled for some tree removal. The photo below shows the ordinary trees where the Sittellas were foraging on Thursday 16th June. Th single tank's fence is on the right. Camera is facing NNW.

Search on-line for Varied Sittella and you’ll see that they are attractive, almost-wren-sized birds. Their conformation is quite different; part of their appeal is that they search bark for insects and larvae by moving rapidly down the trees’ trunks. The White-throated Treecreepers we occasionally see and hear in the reserve forage just as busily but move up the trunks. How different their blood supply mechanisms must be. I think there were 7–10 Sittellas moving through. I came across them again doing pest-control duties around the Flynn playground’s lerp-attacked eucalypts.

Sunday’s birding luck came as I was almost leaving. I glanced up at the trees near the drain barricade and there were two Tawny Frogmouths snuggly roosting against a eucalypt trunk 10 m above the ground. Finding the Sittellas was pure chance but if you look up into the playground’s trees, seeing the camouflaged blob of the Frogmouths might bring you frogmouth-luck. The photo below shows their roost tree. I took the photo with my back to the Schwarz Place entry gate.

If you come across a MFF see whether Thornbills, White-eared Honeyeaters, Grey Fantails, Golden Whistlers, Wrens, Scarlet Robins and Pardalotes are part of the insect-seeking action at different levels of the woodland’s vegetation. Speckled Warblers may be on the ground, seeking insects amongst the grasses alongside Yellow-rumped Thornbills. Like the Sittellas, the Scarlet Robins and Mt Rogers’ other small foragers, the Speckled Warblers aren’t fazed by watchers’ presence but it does take patience to see which species are present!

The same is true in our gardens. We had a male Golden Whistler in the backyard recently, in Flynn, gleaning for insects along with Silvereyes and the dizzyingly quick Eastern Spinebills. Birds’ pest-control services beat insecticides every time!

Some years ago my Mt Rogers list of bird-sightings exceeded 80 species. It did include occasional sightings of Wedgetailed-eagles and Cormorants, Ducks and even Pelicans flying over from one water-body to another. In the 20 years or so patterns of sightings have changed at Mt Rogers, as they have around home. If you’d like to go through your own Mt Rogers list and see what’s changed that would be very useful. Numbers of species such as Grey Butcherbirds, Pee-Wees, Quail, the Frogmouths, Satin Bowerbirds, Superb Parrots, Indian Mynas and Noisy Miners have fluctuated over time in the reserve and in the nearby gardens that partly sustain some of them. Sunday brought two Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos with their inimitable flight and unmistakable calls. And we’ve even more occasionally seen Gang Gang Cockatoos. Both species have very specific diets.

Similarly the vegetation patterns have changed. Winter is a time when the huge efforts that our landcarers have made really show up, because the germination of wild oats is only just beginning. On any bare ground there’s mass germination of introduced annual weeds such as Capeweed, Proliferous Pink, Flatweed, clovers, and Hairy Mustard. Once the sap’s running again we’ll renew our Wander and Weed journeys taking out woody weeds. ICON Water will engage a contractor in spring-summer to cut & daub the spreading infestation of Tree of Heaven that has been bugging us for decades. This is as a trade-off for the necessary removal of vegetation around the reservoirs. (The photo below shows Ivan and David working to remove a Viburnum tinus bush, during landcare work.) 

I noticed a 3 sq.m patch of native Common Woodruff again today. It seems dense enough to deter the grass species that are rampant beyond the patch. Does the Woodruff have inhibiting chemistry that prevents other species from taking the space, water and nutrients the little ground-covering plants need? There’s a field of research for someone: the inhibiting or allelopathic factors shown by common plants and the possible application of this chemistry beyond what we know about eucalypts. I suppose it’s a concept related to the companion-planting that wise vegetable growers practise.

Also noticed was an increase in the native violet population around boulders in the bush not far from the Frogmouth tree. Viola betonicifolia is an attractive addition to Mt Rogers’ floral list. It’s not rare generally but is on Mt Rogers. Let’s hope this species continues to spread and has a robust root system that would not be affected when scheduled Hazard Reduction Burns reach its habitat. With Ginninderra Catchment Group’s help we’re marking maps with electronic data of special native species, plantings, quality woodland and grassy habitat and invasive weed incursions. Nola and Graham have made an extensive photographic study of the seventy ancient eucalypts to which I need to add GPS co-ordinates.

We’re so lucky to have Mt Rogers as an escape and restorative venue. All-year-round there’s plenty to notice, observe and marvel at…and I haven’t even touched on the lichen and fungi forests that keep invertebrates sheltered, busy and fed. Take a mirror with you (or an extendable tradies’ mirror) and look underneath the toadstools for gill-patterns and colours. We all know, from experience, that damp timber and bark is slippery but that very slippery-ness aids the breakdown of the timber cells. Nutrients are provided and chemical balances restored through the actions of teeming numbers of beneficial bacteria, fungi, microbes and algae. If you have young people around, Rachel Tonkin’s Leaf Litter contains a wonderful series of paintings that show and explain what’s happening in woodlands and underground.

There’s also 365 Outdoor activities you have to try!  From Dorling Kindersley. It’s full of suggestions for observing, exploring, creating and discovering in yards, gardens and reserves. It’s of British origin but easily ‘translated’ for the Australian bush. Both titles are available at the Botanic Gardens Bookshop for about $18. The gardens are hosting dinosaurs again at present…and The Spiders exhibition at Questacon is on until October. It’s a brilliant display about habitats and the spiders which have mastered every environment. …Other ideas and venues for engaging young and curious minds!

From our suburbs, add to the adventure by catching 300 series buses to Barry drive ANU and the Albert Hall stops respectively and then observing whilst walking to the venues.

Rosemary   6258 4724

Mt Rogers Landcare coordinator

MT ROGERS MAY 2016 NEWSLETTER

Today (04.05.16) I had an almost 2-hour wander through Mt Rogers starting from behind Schwarz Place, Flynn at 09.15. I meandered up to the Second Summit and probably followed a big inverted-u-shaped loop before ending up near the Frogmouths’ tree near the playground.

Near the start of my walk using the remains of a large mountain bike construction from 5-6 years ago, I could see the Bursaria shrubs we planted, looking really healthy and with seed pods rusty orange in the sunshine. They are common, insect-attracting shrubs in the local bush but, being mildly thorny, may have been removed as public enemies in Mt Rogers’ grazing days. Red-stemmed Wattles are also doing well and the Barbed-wire Grass seedlings I put in near the boulders have multiplied. My photo here shows Barbed-wire Grass in a pot.

I only saw scat evidence of kangaroos today, but they’ve been eating the Weeping Grass, Microlaena stipoides, as other grasses run to seed or turn beige for winter. Separately, Eryka, Steve D. and others have reported seeing ‘our’ mob of kangaroos recently. At this time of the year Mt Rogers looks especially healthy in terms of native plant numbers. Several local grass species have seeded well and look in better shape than the rank, rather derelict, introduced grasses. Wild oats have vanished but their seeds will await rain and, alas, germinate rapidly when the soil’s damper. Oats’ flower-spikes will be taller than we are by summer 2017.

North-north-west of the Second Summit I found a few Serrated Tussock plants we shall need to take out, but the ‘roos have enjoyed a sunny spot nearby, turning the soil areas into a dust-bath. The ‘roos are canny enough to choose places like this for their rest-times. They can see and hear when humans are around but not be seen themselves thanks to the camouflage of their beigey fur.

I came across a mixed feeding flock of small birds. It included Thornbills, Pardalotes in the trees’ canopies, Golden Whistlers and occasional sightings of White-eared Honeyeaters’ glorious olive-green plumage. There was one visible White-naped Honeyeater with its breast and underparts feathers so white it looked more like a Restless Flycatcher. The honeyeaters’ calls were strong, resonating through the trees.

Above but parallel to the gully, I found that the native Sorghum there had flowered. It’s now quite close to a kangaroo track down from the Benchmark tree. I have found about 15 Sorghum leiocladum plants on Mt Rogers. The trick is to come across them when they’re in flower. If the evolving processes hadn’t been interrupted, would Indigenous groups have utilised Australian sorghum species for uses similar to flour?
(My photo here of native Sorghum was taken on The Pinnacle.)

A bit further across the slope a Clustered Everlasting Daisy, Chrysocephalum semipapposum, had shed its seeds into the remains of earlier bike-track-construction diggings. There are about 20 younger plants that have taken advantage of the extra moisture in the cut-out ditch the youngsters had made. This yellow button-daisy species is common in ACT grassy woodlands, but the remaining plants on Mt Rogers are scattered and easily overlooked. In fact, my photo of Clustered Everlasting here is again from The Pinnacle.

There were pathetic skeletal remains near an ivy-covered stump that‘s previously hosted a fox den. The ivy’s a reminder that, all along my route, there are occasional Chinese Pistachio, Cotoneaster, Privet and Firethorn to be dealt with once the sap’s running again to take up herbicide.

Our previous two working-bees sought out these same woody weed species and dealt with them as we walked and weeded on 24 April and 2 May. Brendan and Vimanh morphed into a capable team with loppers and weed-wand ready for each new target. With Ted, all four of us worked on a Hawthorn down from the summit. It’s a shadow of its former self but will still need frequent revisits to check how resilient it is and whether it’s produced crimson berries. Scores of Rose Hips were also bagged … what a shame no one has time to make Rose Hip Jelly these days. It’s high in vitamin C, but making the jelly is a time-consuming preserving process. We also bagged the seed-heads of African Lovegrass (ALG) tussocks and dug out the clumps.

On Monday 2 May we worked towards and at ‘Bridgets’ behind Woodger Place, Fraser. Angharad, Ted and I again searched out ALG because this is the very best part of Mt Rogers in terms of native biodiversity, uninvaded by weeds. In spring there are species of wildflowers (Bulbine Lilies, Early Nancy (top photo below), Purple Hovea (lower photo below), Indigofera, Glycine) which thrive on being in an out-of-the-way place. 

Whilst we were weeding Aidan came to chat about the drainage swales he’s dug attempting to stop water running under their fence. When we realised there were destructive truck tracks through the wildflower areas Aidan said this happened when ‘next-door’ was having their pergola installed. There was a pile of rubbish against the next fence section and several other tracks where shrubs’ branches had been destroyed and drying grasses and Lomandra crushed. Have the wildflowers’ bulbs and roots been crushed by the weight of the trucks? The builders would have driven up the rough steep track from near the Bingley Crescent bus stop. The sheer arrogance and ignorance makes my blood boil. “It’s only the bush” is their mentality. For many Mt Rogers folk such behaviour is equivalent to someone deliberately driving through our gardens.

Our reward for checking this area for ALG was that three Superb Parrots flew east over our heads and the treetops. Once or twice we disturbed Common Bronzewing Pigeons. They’re the sometimes-shy birds that make that “oom - oom” call. They’re nowhere near as common as their name suggests even though their numbers have increased on Mt Rogers in the past 5–8 years. The one in the photo here is on the track up from the car-park.

Steve and Judy happily reported a first for the Bainton Crescent area; two green-plumaged Satin Bower Birds in the garden of the Tudor house. Perhaps it’s dispersal time for the younger Bower-birds. A fascinating species if your garden hosts a bower.

On Sunday 22 May, Strathnairn Arts Association is holding its 2016 OPEN DAY from 10 am. This event offers chances to watch artists at work in the studios of the precinct beyond Belconnen Golf Course. By then the main galleries will be exhibiting the U3A Photography Group’s diverse and stunning photographs. In the WOOLSHED, over 100 artistic expressions from everyday creators, on square canvasses, will be on show during the SQUARES Exhibition and competition. This is the reason why the next Mt Rogers Sunday working-bee will be on 29 May and not 22 May. And June’s Monday working bee will be on 6 June. 

If you need to report fallen trees, litter or anti-social activities around Mt Rogers please phone 13 22 81, Canberra Connect – Access Canberra, which will alert the relevant authorities. I’ve found ‘Fix My Street’ online useful also.

See you on Mt Rogers, and at Strathnairn on 22 May.

Rosemary    Mt Rogers Landcare Group  6258 4724                10.05.16.