Mt Rogers Landcare ACT

Some of the team at work on Monday 5 June

Claire, Phil and Roger

Roger and Phil in action, below.

Mt Rogers working bee on Monday 5th June

Greetings Mt Rogers Carers,

On Monday 5th we will meet by 09.30
at the ‘eastern' arm of Schwarz Place, Flynn.

We’ll be continuing our seek-and-pull-out mission against Privet, Ivy and Cotoneaster seedlings which have grown from berries in gardens beyond Mt Rogers.

I will bring gloves and some ‘minimal disturbance’ digging tools.

The weather won’t be as warm as the last few days and the grass may well be damp.

Thank you,

Rosemary

Next working bee: Sunday 28 May

The next working bee on and for Mt Rogers will be on Sunday 28th May.

We’ll be meeting in Rechner Place (North) from 09.30.

We will be seeking out and pulling seedlings of privet, ivy and other ‘woody’ weeds.

Identification skills quickly learnt-on-the-job and small tools and gloves provided.

Thank you,

Rosemary

Sunday 26 March working bee

Mt Rogers’ landcare next working bee is on Sunday 26th,
meeting at Wickens Place, Fraser by 09.00am.

Continuing our efforts against Fleabane, Thistles and Verbascum.

The grasses aren’t so tall now as they die down.

Thistles and Fleabane seeds blow away on the wind so the next few days seem like last chances.

No previous experience necessary…BYO secateurs useful!!

Thank you to the TCCS mowing teams who have neatened up the reserve’s edges.

Perhaps next month we’ll have a PRIVVVVY PARTY?

A whole army of Mt Rogers community volunteers seeking and digging out Privet, Ivy and Cotoneaster seedlings like these.

These privets have germinated from a blob of bird poo after birds ate berries and brought them in from suburban gardens and public land easements.

If we have some rain they’ll dig out with small tools as we wouldn’t want to disturb the leaf litter and soil too much.

Thank you,

Rosemary

Landcare session dates for 2023, for your diary!

Greetings to Mt Rogers Carers.

If you’re able to be part of Landcare sessions during 2023 please would you note these dates in your calendar and diary now as information about tasks and activity locations is not always ready a week before each session!

These are scheduled Landcare Working-Bee sessions. Individual volunteers spend many hours in the reserves working on specific projects, observations, recording species or targetting the priority invasive species.

Mt Rogers
Morning sessions for about 2 hours

First Monday of each month………..…..6th February 08.30
Fourth Sunday of each month…………26th February 08.30

Treating the priority target weed(s) or priority tasks ‘of the day’.
Main carpark area: Wickens Place, Fraser but
Due to the size of the reserve the meeting places and parking locations may vary each time.

My email: rosemary@blemings.org Those who have expressed an interest in volunteering for the reserve will receive notification prior to each working-bee.

Future months…………………Monday 6th March 09.00
…………………Sunday 26th March 09.00
…………………Monday 3rd April 09.00
…………………Sunday 23rd April 09.00
…….……………Monday 1st May 09.00
………………….Sunday 28th May 09.00
………………….Monday 5th June 09.00
………………….Sunday 25th June 09.00
………………… Monday 3rd July 09.00
………………… Sunday 23rd July 09.00
…………………. Monday 7th August 09.00
……………………Sunday 27th August 09.00
……………………Monday 4th September 09.00 or 08.30
……………………Sunday 24th September 09.00 or 08.30
……………………Monday 2nd October 08.30
……………………Sunday 22nd October 08.30
……………………Monday 6th November 08.30
………………….Sunday 26th November 08.30
…………………….Monday 4th December 08.30

Thank you for your interest and involvement.

Rosemary
Mt Rogers Landcare Group convenor

The photo shows why we currently hesitate to ask others to join in the group’s Landcare activities. Phil and Roger were seeking out Chinese Pistachio and a Prunus to cut and daub. They wore gaiters and are experienced at making their way through the rank, introduced grasses knowing that grass tussocks, rocks and fallen timber make the going unpredictable. Ted and I returned to a Euphorbia patch to pull out new plants that have grown since our previous weeding in August. We returned to one of Mt Rogers 65+ original eucalypts where a huge patch of honeysuckle was removed in 2019 - 2020. Some honeysuckle had re-sprouted and I pulled ’Sticky weed’.

The repeated heavy rain events have made the main gravel track around Mt Rogers more eroded and very boggy in places. Mick Lee from the TCCS depot at Charnwood has been to inspect the track several times and, with Phil, is developing a repair plan for the most significantly impassable sections. We reported the track’s state and installed temporary notices saying so, hoping that TCCS would receive fewer calls at a time when they are extremely busy throughout the ACT.

Wildflowers have had a wonderful season again with paper daisies, orchids, lilies, flowering shrubs, wattles and a succession of eucalypts enticing pollinators to their flowers. As Mt Rogers was scraped bare when the reservoirs and powerlines were installed we no longer have many of the native species that can be seen at Hall Woodland, on Percival Hill at Nicholls and Gungahlin Hill south of Crace.

Around some of the boulders and near rocky areas wildflowers persist. These places are habitats for the species of skinks, lizards and snakes. With all the grasses growth, bare ground for basking reptiles to warm up their bodies is scarce. Perhaps this is why more snake sightings have been reported….they are more obviously on the move from their ‘home bases’ or seeking other animals to eat.

The next Mt Rogers working bees are scheduled for mornings on Sunday 27th November and Monday 5th December.

Working bees, late October, early November 2022

The next working bee dates for the Mt Rogers Landcare Group are:

Sunday 23rd October from 09.00am. Working uphill from the easement between Hammett place, Spence and Carey place, Melba.
Monday 7th November. Details TBA.

Rosemary,

Landcare Group Convenor