A late November 2019 working bee


We had a working bee at “Bridget’s” (the section of Mt Rogers that was 'Hazard Reduction Burnt' in April 2019)  and the bush to the north of the carpark area at Wickens Place, Fraser.

Our 08.30 start was a precaution against the day heating up, but cloud cover didn’t clear until we were home again. Our rewards for another eight hours of volunteering were that working conditions were ideal; the cool start being enjoyed by a score or more of other Mt Rogers people walking along the track.

Before we even began we had fly-pasts from at least five Superb parrots. Angharad began seeing a pair of Superbs on 14th November.

Angharad, Phil and Ted were apologies as they had other calls on their time for Sunday 24th.
It was great to welcome Jemima and Ivan back to the workforce from unavailability through UniCan studies and a sore shoulder respectively. 
Chris came over to return pairs of gaiters he and Margaret had borrowed for more active landcaring. They’re part of the team that collects rubbish on their daily walks. Morgan and her family have replaced the information sheets around Mt Rogers’ seats with more robust editions.

The essence of Landcare volunteering is that we offer and share skills as and when we can, appreciating the valued contribution of those who visit Mt Rogers and share their appreciation for this special place.

Angharad has been watching the Frogmouth family she found once they’d established their 2019 nest. The photos are gorgeous. Here is one of them. 
Ivan noted seeing Frogmouths in their Spence garden. This is possibly another pair as the 65 hectare size of the reserve could support 4–6 families because of the flowers, shrubs and therefore insects we have in nearby gardens.
Chris reported that Margaret had found evidence of Satin Bowerbirds using the reserve’s shrubby cover for a bower site. Bowerbirds are another species that enjoys visiting and sometimes raiding gardens for fruit and vegetable delicacies. 

We walked over to “Bridget’s” (named after Bridget who used to live in Woodger Place and walked Mt Rogers regularly in those days) to check on the African Lovegrass (ALG) growth that threatens the biodiversity of the bush there.
We did a circuit of the area, digging or pulling out Paterson’s Curse, daubing isolated ALG tussocks, Mustard, Skeleton Weed and Flatweed.

As we worked we learned and shared stories, experiences and information.
The Paterson’s Curse we found in this area is its Boraginaceae family relative, Viper’s Bugloss. There are real Paterson’s Curse plants elsewhere in the reserve but not as many as there once were.
The ALG infestation is recovering well from the Hazard Reduction Burn although the isolated tussocks are more affected by the dryness than those nearest the footpath.

There were scattered Flatweed plants; worth digging up so they didn’t take more moisture from the recovering native vegetation.
The Flatweed flowers are dandelion-yellow. They’re held aloft on long, thin stalks to attract pollinators whereas Dandelions’ stalks are hollow and exude white sap when cut.
Each Flatweed flowerhead is a composite of 50–70 individual florets which, when pollinated, produce 50–70 seeds to be blown away on the wind … as infested, unkempt nature strips show all around the ACT and beyond.

Farther away from the path and carpark we were treated to an almost-swathe of yellow native daisies: Chrysocephalum apiculatum & Chrysocephalum semipapposum. Both have clusters of pom-pom flowers, the first being a ground cover species.

There were a few native St John’s Wort plants just beginning to flower.

Greenish-beige patches of native Plantain were affected by the dryness. We dug out a few of the introduced plantain plants and tried to tell the difference from their leaves and flowers. 
Bluebells, Convolvulus and native grasses were more cryptic. A Tricoryne lily would wait until the sun was really shining before opening its yellow petals. These natives each have a robust root system to withstand the cool burns from April.
Many of the Grevillea bushes had white scale infestations on them.
Closer to Woodger Place were several regenerating Indigofera adesmiifolia bushes and the offspring they’d produced over the years.

The huge ALG patch was daunting but we dug out a score of the tussocks. We cut off flowers on some of the isolated African Lovegrass plants and bagged them.
Too much digging would make the soil prone to erosion.

On the way back to the cars we couldn’t resist doing some cosmetic landcaring by digging out the large and smaller Mustard plants growing amongst the carpark’s mown ALG. This was a salute to Phil who’s dug out hundreds of Mustard plants in the bush behind Schwarz Place. We filled 4–5 bags with Mustard and Prickly Lettuce plants earlier in the year and TCCS were quite prompt in taking the bags away to be mulched into compost.

We shared stories of poorly managed “dogs off leash”, the few irresponsible owners who brought their dogs to Mt Rogers regardless of others’ and wildlife’s safety and others whose dogs caused attacks within the suburbs. We agreed on, and Marion later confirmed, appreciation for the Dog Compliance Rangers who have visited Mt Rogers and got to know several of the law-abiding Mt Rogers community in conversation … and dealt with deviants.

Today I met the man who brings mince to the Mt Rogers magpies. Let’s hope he uses preservative-free mince.
Most Mt Rogers people would have shallow bird baths for the birds that visit their gardens. We have a broken piece of terracotta pot in the saucer-shaped dish so bees and small birds can reach the water without risk of falling in. 

Mt Rogers and so many gardens already have a February–March look. 
Let’s hope the next edition of Our Canberra has advice on how and when to water for those new to our region and to gardening.

Rosemary
24 November 2019

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