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Banksia Bulletinwinter 2022 Spring Open Days 2022 Heathlands & reserves August-October Bayside Community Nursery Gala days 6 August & 1 OctoberFrom the Mayor Welcome to the Winter edition of Banksia Bulletin. With the cold setting in and the days getting shorter, this edition is jam- packed with stories that will fill you with winter wonder. I’m very pleased to announce our annual Spring Open Days will return in 2022. This is a fantastic opportunity to take a guided tour of Bayside’s heathlands and reserves and learn about the native flora and fauna that thrive in our local natural habitats. We’re looking for volunteers to help with these guided tours. If you’re available most Sundays throughout August-October, please get along to an information session with Citywide’s Jo Hurse on Saturday 13 August. Find out more on page 4. Turn to page 7 to read about exciting sightings over the past few months including a rare swim with a turtle at Ricketts Point and some exquisite reptiles and insects making their home in local letterboxes (page 18). On page 6, local gardening enthusiast Megan shares the spoils of her vegetable garden that gave her joy during COVID-19 lockdowns, a gift that keeps giving as she shares home grown produce with friends and family. Council is always working hard to protect our environment. Recently, we made the switch to our bin collection service in a strong effort to continue reducing waste. From Monday 4 July 2022: •food and green waste bins will be emptied weekly; and •general waste bins will be emptied fortnightly. Recycling will continue to be collected fortnightly and there is no change to the hard waste collection service. Details have been sent to residents and businesses and we will keep updating our website as the one- stop-shop for everything you need to know about the changes to your bin collection. Every environmental initiative we take helps keep us and our flora and fauna healthy. We all have a significant role to play. If you have any questions about the new bin collection or anything in this edition, please contact us for more information. Rug up and enjoy our natural environment over winter. Cr Alex del Porto Mayor Cover photo: Pink or Common Heath (Epacris impressa) by Pauline ReynoldsIn this issue Special features 7 RARE SNORKELLING FIND 14 WILD SOUNDS 16 DISCOVERING THE SECRETS OF VICTORIA’S SMALL BATS Other articles PLANTS OF BAYSIDE 4 SPRING OPEN DAYS 4 RECOGNISING KEN RENDELL 5 COVID-19 GARDENS BLOOM 6 SAVING OUR PRECIOUS WILDLIFE FROM RAT POISON 6 ECOLOGICAL BURNS 8 ECOLOGICAL BURN REGENERATION 10 ELSTERNWICK PARK NATURE RESERVE UPDATE 12 LETTERBOX SANCTUARY 18 HELP OUR BRONZEWINGS! 18 RESTORING THE BALANCE WITH MARINE CARE RICKETTS POINT 19 VOLUNTEER GROUPS 20Plants of Bayside Words and photo by Aaron Hurrell, Citywide Bushland Crew Ozothamnus ferrugineus The Tree Everlasting (Ozothamnus ferrugineus) is a rounded, open, shrub growing between two and four metres tall and the same in the width. Its leaves are dark green and mostly narrow in shape, although some have a rounded apex and tapering base, and they appear to glisten from above. The underside leaves, ranging from grey to yellow green in colour and up to 100 tiny flower heads, can pack into broad clusters terminating on the ends of branches. These flowers are usually white in colour and appear between November and February. Ozothamnus ferrugineus requires moist, well-drained soils with full sun to semi-shade. They do not handle prolonged drought well. It can be easy to mistake the Ozothamnus ferrugineus for some species of Cassinia when they are not in flower. Source: Bull, Marilyn (1991) Flora of Melbourne: A guide to the indigenous plants of the greater Melbourne area Carlton Vic: Hyland House Publishing Ozothamnus ferrugineus Spring Open Days 21 August – 9 October Volunteers needed Spring Open Days return in 2022 for lovers of nature to learn more about flora and fauna living in Bayside’s heathlands and reserves. A collaboration between Bayside City Council, Citywide and Friends’ groups, this annual event is back on the calendar after two years of being postponed due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Volunteers are needed to guide visitors around various reserves and sanctuaries, which will be open between Sunday 21 August and Sunday 9 October. • Bay Road Heathland Sanctuary – every Sunday, 2-4pm • Gramatan Ave Heathland Sanctuary – every Sunday in September 2-4pm • Cheltenham Park Flora and Fauna Reserve – Sunday 4 September, 10am-12pm • Donald MacDonald Reserve – Wednesday 7 September, 9-11am • George Street Reserve – Sunday 18 September, 10am-12pm • Balcombe Park Reserve – Sunday 25 September, 10am-12pm • Long Hollow Heathland Sanctuary – Sunday 25 September, 1-3pm A training session for volunteers will be held on Saturday 13 August at Bay Road Heathland Sanctuary from midday-1pm. To register your interest in becoming a volunteer or to find out more contact Jo Hurse via Jo.Hurse@citywide.com.au by Monday 8 August. For more information about the Spring Open Days visit the Bayside City Council website and social media channels. Banksia Bulletin | Winter 20224Recognising Ken Rendell By Rob Saunders, Convenor Friends of Long Hollow Heathland My earliest memory of Ken Rendell is a vivid one. Wiry and energetic in his old denim boiler suit, he was loading carefully measured components into a portable concrete mixer at the Bayside Community Nursery. No, he wasn’t mixing concrete. Much more complicated than that, he was making up the latest batch of experimental potting mix for the indigenous plants that had recently been propagated there. It might have been 1980 or 1981, but Ken was already a leader among the fledgling group of volunteers that in 1978 had initiated the world’s first community plant nursery for indigenous plants. More than 40 years on and the world has changed, with a range of commercial potting mixes now available for different purposes, but Ken can still be found working at the nursery inspiring otherswith his quiet efficiency andpurpose. Ken and his family moved to Beaumaris in the 1960s. An architect, Ken bought a bush block to design and build his own mid-century modern home. It nestled into the remnant bushland, a delightfully natural garden that still thrives today. With his growing family, Ken settled into the local community and took on a range of roles where his easy-going but energetic input helped achieve many significant goals. His enthusiasm and staying power are illustrated by his 21 years on the Nursery Steering Committee. Through the Community Nursery, Ken developed a deep knowledge and appreciation of the local flora. When his children were old enough to attend the original Beaumaris High School, he stepped enthusiastically into leadership roles on the School Council. Combining those interests later led to the formation of a small but capable ‘Friends’ group that directly managed what was then known as the Beaumaris Campus Heathland (now Long Hollow Heathland Reserve) for more than 10years. Ken is still an active and, at 90, amazingly energetic member of the Long Hollow team but few now remember the struggles and incidents that helped to preserve this precious patch, which is still the richest remnant of the original flora in the municipality. In the late 1980s there was a proposal by the Victorian Government to sell off Long Hollow for residential development. Ken was among the leaders of several community groups that foughttosaveit. EventuallyLongHollow was gazettedasa Heathland Reserve under the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1993. Somehow, around the same time, a new fence had to be constructed around the Special Education Unit at what is now known as 109 Reserve Road. A bulldozer turned up unannounced and started charging into the heathland, the driver having no clue about how to read the sketch map he had been given. Ken stood in front of the bulldozer and stopped it a few metres short of thesole remaining Spider Orchid in all ofBayside. The fence was eventually built 20 metres back towardsReserveRoad. As well as his continuing involvements with Long Hollow, Gramatan Avenue, Table Rock and other areas, Ken can still be seen riding his bike to the nursery to help propagate plants almost every Saturday morning. Having recently reached a milestone birthday – 90 years – all the volunteers who have had the pleasure of working with him would like to thank Ken and wish him all the best for the future. “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” John Muir 5COVID-19 gardens bloom Words and photos by Megan, Bayside resident I’m sure many of us have learnt to love our backyards even more because of our required COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing over the past two years. I know I have, and thoroughly embraced the opportunity to be busy in my backyard. The only downside was the lack of opportunity to show others my progress! In 2021, pandemic radius restrictions limited where we could visit. I found local coffee shops and small supermarkets and fruit and vegetable stores selling flowering pots and seedlings. We had an unused section of our back garden that I used to position three large pots in the sunniest spot. In these pots, I planted leek, yellow capsicum and eggplant and placed them alongside chilli pots my daughter-in-law had potted for me. I purchased two butternut pumpkin seedling pots and two Japanese/Kent pumpkin seedling pots, which I planted in the soil near the other vegetables. My husband and I erected climbing frames as I had read the butternuts like to climb. Over the warmer months the seedlings grew and to my surprise the butternuts started to appear first then golden flowers grew into Japanese/Kent pumpkins. I found this time in the garden an extremely pleasant and productive way to live through lockdowns and restrictions, and now we enjoy sharing our produce with friends and family. What used to be a very unproductive area of the garden is now a patch of colour and growth. Saving our precious wildlife from rat poison Ceasing use of Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides or SGARs Bayside is joining with other local governments around Australia in phasing out the use of Second-Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticide (SGAR). Bayside Mayor, Cr Alex del Porto said Council has traditionally used SGARs to control rats and other pests. Sodo many in our community in their homes and businesses. “What we know about these poisons is that they remain active when ingested by rats and other rodents,” hesaid. “This means that when the poisoned creature is eaten byabird of prey such as a Powerful Owl or another animal, ithas devastating consequences.” “That’s why Bayside is phasing out our use of SGARs and adopting different practices to control pests. We are encouraging our community to do the same as most of these poisons are used by residents and commercial providers,” Cr del Porto said. “Please consider the impact of these poisons on our magnificent and endangered wildlife. We want to protect these amazing birds and other precious native species fromthese poisons in Bayside and across Australia.” Bayside is also supporting BirdLife Australia’s campaigntoban the use of Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticide and is advocating to other local governments including at the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) National General Assembly to urge the Australian Government toprohibit the use of SGARs. Please consider alternatives to these poisons that kill our previous wildlife. You can find out more about BirdLife Australia’s campaign to ban SGARs and also the alternatives available to manage pets and rodents on your property. Powerful Owls by Andrew Silcocks Banksia Bulletin | Winter 20226 Click here to view the videoRare snorkelling find By Michael Anderson I was snorkelling at the boundary of Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary in about six metres of water, south of the Teahouse, when I first saw a ‘rock’ at the bottom of the Bay that looked odd compared to the rest of its surroundings as it was sitting up. Then it clicked – it was a turtle resting on the bottom of the seabed! I couldn’t believe it, as I thought they were tropical or subtropical, and in Port Phillip Bay at start of winter, it was kind of nuts. Thinking that no one would believe me unless I got some video and pictures,Idived down and slowly approached. When I got to about three metres away, I hit record and filmed about eightseconds of this magnificent turtlebefore it slowly started to swim away and eventually was out of sight. Going back to the surface, I was still thinking about the turtle and turned around and headed in the direction it swam off to, quickly catching up to itoutside the marine sanctuaryboundary. I went down again, got a couple more photos from about three metres away and it swum off again. This time I followed it. Well outside the marine sanctuary boundary now, I caught up with the turtle again when I heard a boat above. I had seen enough, and the turtle was heading to deeper water and further away from the marine sanctuary, so it was time to head back. See more photos and a video of the turtle swimming on the Marine Care Ricketts Point Facebook. 7 Click here to view the videoEcological burns Citywide Service Solutions, in collaboration with Bayside City Council, conducted ecological burns at two reserves in April. Here’s what happened. Long Hollow Heathland Reserve By William McGowan Citywide Bushland Team The purpose of this burn, undertaken on 5 April, was to restore an area that had become dominated by the weedy Coastal Tea Tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) back to the heathland vegetation that once covered Bayside and much of southeast Melbourne. Ecological burns are known to be highly beneficial to many Australian ecosystems, and for heathlands this is especially true. This is because many plant species benefit from or require the smoke that is generated from fire for their seeds to germinate. Without a natural fire regime to stimulate plant cycles these vegetation communities can senesce and die, causing a drop in plant diversity. This is the latest in several ecological burns that have taken place at Long Hollow. Ecological burns in other areas of the reserve were done in 2001, 2015 and2019. Together, these fires have resulted in an overall increase in the reserves biodiversity. Citywide’s bushland team will now conduct regular quadrat surveys of plant species to provide data for comparison with the area pre-burn. Along with surveying, regular hand weeding will be conducted to remove exotic seedlings. This is an exciting time for the bushland team and the Friends of Long Hollow as we get to see how this area responds to the fire and returns to a diverse heathland over the coming months and years. 8Bay Road Heathland Sanctuary By Jarryd Linehan Citywide Bushland Crew This ecological burn was carried out safely and effectively on 12 April. With prescribed burns, it’s always about the timing. Not only does the season have to be right and the fuel load dry, but it must be a cool day with some humidity, and as little wind as possible. Luckily for us, this day ticked all these boxes and we were able to proceed as planned after a lot of preparation went into a 2,000 square metre area of heathland. The preparation started with the Citywide Bushland team using brush cutters to slash the bracken and smaller shrubs and ground covers. We then used chainsaws to remove any larger trees and shrubs, leaving the stumps standing to be used by birds as a perch point. It’s important to leave bare ground around the bases of the stumps to avoid the root systems catching fire and potentially burning for days. The decision was made to leave and burn around the larger Coastal Manna Gums (Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. Pryoriana). This required us to remove all low lying branches and clear any fuel around the drip line and base of the tree. The tree was still likely to catch fire amongst the large flames but the mitigation of the fuel load means it’s likely the tree will survive. The trees are visibly scorched and shedding leaves but there are already green leaves and signs of regeneration only a month after the burn. The Xanthorrhoea minor shot up quickly after the burn and is looking very healthy and bright green. The same goes for the Lepidosperma concavum, Microlaena stipoides and the epicormic growth on many of the Bossiaea cinerea. We have also spotted Chocolate lily (Arthropodium strictum) and Milkmaid (Burchardia umbellata) emerging from the ashes. The team is excited to conduct post-burn weeding works and will keep a keen eye out for the new species as they surface. 9Next >