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winter 2023 Magpie Geese visit YWNR Interesting bird sightings Wildflower Walks coming soonFrom the Mayor Welcome to the winter edition of Banksia Bulletin. This is a very interesting edition showcasing the many wonderful species of flora and fauna we have in Bayside, many of which are rare sightings for our area. Michael Norris has written a great piece (see page 5) highlighting the finalisation of the historic handover of Highett Grassy Woodland Reserve to Council ownership. This is a wonderful milestone for Bayside and will ensure the protection of endangered grassy woodland plains for generations to come. Handover of the three-hectare area in the south of the former CSIRO site on Graham Road, Highett, is theculmination of an advocacy campaign over many years by Council and a team of dedicated community members, including the Friends of Highett Grassy Woodland group. On behalf of Council, I would like to extend my gratitude to the community members who worked incredibly hard to see this day. In particular, Iwouldlike to acknowledge the work of Michael Norris and Pauline Reynolds, Friends of Highett Grassy Woodland, volunteersand passionate Council staff and locals. This is another fantastic example of Council and community coming together to protect open spaces that benefit Bayside residents, visitors and of course, the environment. As we develop the Highett Grassy Woodland masterplan and Conservation Management Plan, welook forward to it being protected and enjoyed for many generations and will be speaking with the community about plans for the future. If you turn to page 4 you will see a schedule of Wildflower Walks, which start in August and run throughout spring. Save the dates in your calendar and I hope to see you on one of thesewalks. Councillor Hanna El Mouallem Mayor Left to right: Bayside CEO Mick Cummins, Pauline Reynolds – Friends of Highett Grassy Woodland, Mayor Cr Hanna El Mouallem and Michael Norris – Friends of Highett Grassy Woodland Cover photo: Magpie Goose By Danny FogIn this issue Special features 5 A NEW RESERVE FOR BAYSIDE 8 INSECT SURVEY 13 LOCAL WILDLIFE MURAL AT BANKSIA RESERVE 19 2023 CONTROLLED ECOLOGICAL BURN AT BALCOMBE PARK Other articles WEEDS OF BAYSIDE 4 WILDFLOWER WALKS 4 REAPPEARANCE OF CRANBERRY HEATH 6 INTERESTING LOCAL BIRD SIGHTINGS 10 A VISIT FROM MAGGIE GOOSE 14 TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING? 16 HABITAT CORRIDOR WORKS COMPLETE 17 GEORGE STREET RESERVE SIGHTINGS 18 CULTURE CORNER 20 ‘NATURE PRESCRIPTIONS’ CAN IMPROVE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH: STUDY 22 VICTORIANS VALUE NATURE 24 VOLUNTEER GROUPS 26 Banksia Bulletin summer 2022/23 Please click here and subscribe to have Banksia Bulletin delivered directly to your email inbox.Blue Morning Glory Weeds of Bayside By Aaron Hurrell, Citywide Bushland Crew Blue Morning Glory (Ipomea indica) A long-lived perennial vine belonging to the Convolvulaceae family, Blue Morning Glory is also known as Oceanblue Morning Glory, Blue Dawn Flower and Koali awa. Blue Morning Glory is native to areas around the world that range from warm temperate to sub-tropical to tropical climates. This highly prized ornamental plant is grown for its beautiful, funnel shaped, coloured flowers ranging from blue to purple. With flowers ranging from 6-8cm in diameter, its leaves are often found in heart-shapes or with three lobes. The Blue Morning Glory is commonly found in various areas like suburban gullies, disturbed forests, woodlands and along waterway banks and roadsides. It is well adapted to climbing over trees and shrubs, often smothering and out-competing native plants. Known to run along the ground and produce roots from the nodes and create new runners, the best way to deal with Blue Morning Glory in an infested area is manually removing its roots from the ground; though it’s easy to break apart and have small roots remain and possibly reshoot. If the site is small or in the early stages of being infested herbicides can be effective. Source: Wikipedia Ipommea indica Wildflower Walks Photos by Pauline Reynolds SAVE THE DATES Plan your Sunday spring days around these fantastic wildflower walks – a collaboration between Council and our Friends groups. Bay Rd Heathland Sanctuary Sundays, 2pm-4pm 27 August, 10 & 24 September, 8 & 22 October Gramatan Ave Heathland Sanctuary Sundays, 2pm-4pm 10, 17 & 24 September Cheltenham Park Sunday 3 September, 10am-12pm Donald MacDonald Reserve Wednesday 6 September, 9.30am-11.30am George Street Reserve Sunday September 17, 10am-12pm Balcombe Park Reserve Sunday September 24, 10am-12pm Long Hollow Heathland Sanctuary Sunday 24 September, 1pm-3pm Love Creeper (Comesperma volubile) at Long Hollow Sanctuary Heathland Native Fuchsia (Correa reflexa) Showy bossiaea (Bossiaea cinerea) and Purple coral-pea (Hardenbergia violacea) Banksia Bulletin | Winter 20234A new reserve for Bayside Michael Norris Friends of Highett Grassy Woodland Photos by Amy Weir and Pauline Reynolds A major milestone in the efforts to conserve the Highett Grassy Woodland was achieved on 20 April 2023 when the title to three hectares was transferred to Bayside City Council. The site holds magnificent old gum trees along with indigenous ground plants and understorey. This endangered vegetation – otherwise almost gone from the Sandbelt and far beyond – had miraculously survived when TS Hart discovered it in the 1930s (seethe Spring 2020 Banksia Bulletin). The public campaign to save the vegetation has been running for over 20 years by the Friends of Highett Grassy Woodland. It has involved thousands of members of the community, ecologists, environmental organisations, historians, and people in national, state and local government. Key supporters were our Goldstein MPs and Victorian Government Ministers from both major parties, together with, of course, Councillorsand officers from BaysideCouncil. The next steps include finalising an Environmental Management Plan to deal with some limited pollution, a Planning Scheme Amendment to zone the land for conservation, and the creation of a masterplan and Conservation Management Plan to guide work on the site and publicaccess for the next 10 yearsorso. There are wonderful grassland restoration projects underway in Victoria using modern techniques, particularly direct seeding. Visit Grassy Plains Network website and Facebook pages for examples that we might, with expert advice, draw upon. This includes creating ‘wildflower meadows’ at Royal Park and native grassland restoration in the Victorian Volcanic Plains. We are looking forward to working with the community and Council to rejuvenate the Grassy Woodland– along with a fuller celebration of thismilestone. From left to right: Friends of Highett Grassy Woodland Michael Norris and Pauline Reynolds with Mayor Cr Hanna El Mouallem and Bayside CEO Mick Cummins 5Reappearance of Cranberry Heath Words and photos by Pauline Reynolds Banksia Bulletin | Winter 20236The Cranberry Heath, Styphelia humifusa, previously known as Astroloma humifusum, is a small pretty shrub which grows in south-eastern Australia and is not considered rare or endangered. However, apart from a small number at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, only four plants have been observed in Bayside growing at Long Hollow Heathland in recent times. J.H. Willis observed the shrub at Bay Road Heathland Sanctuary, Long Hollow Heathland Sanctuary, Royal Melbourne Golf Club and Sandringham Golf Links in the 1980s. It appears to now be extinct at Bay Road, but with a few small ecological controlled burns at Sandringham Golf Links, we can always hope that it may regenerate there. This sprawling plant or ground cover hides its small bright red flowers under the prickly foliage for many months of the year. The berries then appear and ripen also to red and are sweetly edible. Like the other species in its family, it is difficult to propagate, but Julie Valentine and Jim Massin at Bayside Community Nursery have managed to successfully grow and flower the shrub. The team hopes to produce more to be reintroduced in other bushland reserves. Will McGowan from Citywide Bushland Crew discovered a new plant at Long Hollow Heathland in late 2022. This site underwent an ecological burn in 2015 and, even allowing for its slow growth, is about 25 per cent of the size of perhaps a seven-year-old specimen. The reason for its germination? Perhaps it was the wet winter, a blue tongue lizard eating and dropping seeds, a change in the surrounding vegetation, removal of weeds and a bit of soildisturbance. Rob Saunders pointed out, while we were photographing the Cranberry Heath flowers for this article, that continuing to protect these sensitive areas is important for little plants like this one to have the chance to appear. Banksia Bulletin | Winter 20237Insect survey Citywide held its first insect survey at George Street Reserve in conjunction with the Entomology Society of Victoria on 23 March 2023. Words by Belinda Raymond Citywide Bushland Crew Holding nights such as this is a great way to understand the level of biodiversity in Bayside. As land managers we have a great understanding of the diversity in the Plantae kingdom, yet insects can drive their production. As they feed on flower nectar, insects also pollinate plants helping to seed production and the growing of fruit andvegetables. Insects are great at decomposing organic matter and breaking down nutrients in the soil, which feeds theplants. Lepidoptera is one of the largest insect orders comprising all moth and butterfly species. A survey of this insect group in a relatively short amount of time can give a good indication of biodiversity within any ecosystem. Photo by Belinda Raymond Photos above by Belinda Raymond Banksia Bulletin | Winter 20238It is for this reason that we use these species as an ‘indicator taxon’, as its decline could significantly impact the overall biodiversity of any site. How do we survey such a group of insects? We set up a light trap, preferably on a warm night, with a white sheet and light source. Using this method we don’t need to collect the insects as they areattracted to the light; we simply observe and document them with acamera. On this particular night we set up two sheets, one with a 250w globe and the other with a small, manufactured globe that emits UV radiation, corresponding with the sensitivity peaks of most nocturnal insects. The insect survey was a great success, documenting a mix of 65 species, comprising mostly of moths but also flies, ants, wasps, lacewings and mosquitos. You can take a look at what we found documented in iNaturalist. Photo by Pauline Reynolds Photos by Belinda Raymond Photo by Belinda RaymondPhoto by Belinda Raymond Photo by Pauline Reynolds Banksia Bulletin | Winter 20239Next >