Banksia Bulletinsummer 2020-21 Bayside beetles Visiting birds Volunteers returnManufactured with 100% FSC® post consumer waste. Manufactured using process chlorine free (PCF) pulps. From the Mayor Welcome to the Summer 2020/21 edition of Banksia Bulletin. Well done to everyone living in the City of Bayside who played a part in getting Victoria out of the COVID-19 crisis we found ourselves in this year. While it was certainly an interesting Council election campaign this year without the opportunity for a lot of face-to-face interaction with our community, I am very humbled to be returning to the City of Bayside as a Councillor for the next four years, and another term to serve as your Mayor. As many of you would know, I am very passionate about our local environment, and I’m really pleased to see the work of our volunteers published in this magazine. They are greatly appreciated by all of our community. I heard recently from Council’s Biodiversity and Conservation Planning Officer Amy Weir that she had received a thank you email from a reader located in the United Kingdom. One of the biggest benefits of Banksia Bulletin going to a digital version is the reach it now has. The reader highlighted the learning opportunities Banksia Bulletin provided, and it even sparked a discussion at the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland’s Events & Communications Committee. Well done to everyone involved in making this happen. It is fantastic to see our Friends groups coming together and ramping up their working bee schedules for next year, and well done to BRASCA for squeezing in two before the year ends. Our Friends groups are very important to the combined efforts we all make in protecting our local flora and fauna, but they are also important for social connectivity. I hope you enjoy being back together and I look forward to seeing you in the new year. On behalf of all my fellow Councillors, Merry Christmas Bayside.. Cr Laurence Evans Mayor Bayside City Council Cover image: Musk Lorikeet Photo: John EichlerIn this issue Special features 7 THE STORY OF A PAIR OF TAWNY FROGMOUTHS 10 WHY BIRDS VISIT BAY ROAD HEATHLAND SANCTUARY 14 BEETLE OBSERVATIONS Other articles PLANTS OF BAYSIDE 4 SHOREBIRD/WETLAND BIRD ID RESOURSES 4 THE RISE AND FALL OF CHOTA CROTON 5 VOLUNTEERS ARE BACK! 6 INSECTS AS POLLINATORS – HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE 8 IT’S A WONDER 9 BANKSIA PRUNING AT RICKETTS POINT 16 WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY REGULATIONS FOR HOUSEHOLD FRUIT NETTING 17 HOW NON-NATIVE PLANTS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO A GLOBAL INSECT DECLINE 18 ASSESSING THE CONSERVATION BENEFITS OF REVEGETATION 20 BUSHFIRE RESPONSE 2020 – IMPACTS ON REPTILES AND FROGS 21 VOLUNTEER GROUPS 22Plants of Bayside Words and photo by Jarryd Linehan, Citywide Bushland Crew Small Poranthera Poranthera microphylla , also referred to as the Small Poranthera, is a small annual herb found in all states of Australia and New Zealand. It is a fleshy plant growing to roughly 15cm in diameter and about half that in height. It has greyish spoon or even egg-shaped leaves with a small point on the tip. It prefers well-drained soils and quite often appears after a fire. Despite the large range of this little herb it’s not a plant that we often come across in our days working in the heathlands. Citywide first noticed it back in autumn and we were scratching our heads attempting to identify this unusual plant, searching our Flora of Melbourne hoping to come across some clues. It wasn’t until spring when the white flowers were very pronounced and we were able to officially welcome the small poranthera back to Balcombe Reserve. It had been previously recorded back in 2016 after a controlled burn and has popped up in similar circumstances after the 2019 burn. We are hoping to collect some seed from the Balcombe Reserve specimens and propagate the small poranthera at our Bayside Community Nursery. Bushland team member Matthew Powell recently discovered some more small poranthera at Cheltenham Park. The rediscovery of this plant has the bushland team searching for other small poranthera plants around Bayside. This has challenged us to further improve our plant identification skills. Poranthera Photo by Pauline Reynolds Birdlife ID resources Birdlife Australia has produced two booklets for citizen scientists involved in shorebird and waterbird monitoring. The Wetland Birds of south eastern Australia Identification booklet can help you identify waterbirds found on the wetlands of south- eastern Australia. The booklet says, ‘Sadly many of these species and their habitats are subject to increasing threats. By monitoring their trends, we can identify conservation priorities and seek to halt declines.’ The Shorebirds Identification booklet, ‘covers all 54 shorebird species that occur regularly in Australia. For easier identification we have included ID tips for each species and maps of where you are most likely to encounter them.’ For more information on how to get involved visit the Birdlife Australia website AUSTRA LIA birds are in our nature Shorebirds Identification booklet AUST RALIA birds are in our nature Wetland Birds of south eastern Australia Identification booklet 4The rise and fall of Chota Croton An environmental success story Words and photos by Sue Raverty Convenor Friends of Rickets Point Landside Chota Croton at 411 Beach Road in Beaumaris was built in the 1930s. The house was named after a mansion in Caulfield called Crotonhurst, which was demolished in 1937. The marble fire place surround and plinth, stained glass windows, the Cornish entrance porch, chimney pots and possibly the gates were salvaged from Crotonhurst and installed at the new Chota Croton at Ricketts Point. There was access to Beach Road through beautiful gates at the rear of the property. The land was tiered due to the steep slope of the block and the main access to the house was from Lang Street, not Beach Road. In 1999, when the Friends of Ricketts Point Landside began working at the site, the access path was grassed and was wider than a normal driveway. In the 2000s we reclaimed a large area to the right of the track which was used as a turnaround and storage for a trailer. Around 2014, we started to plant along the edges of the access road to narrow it. We continued to maintain and revegetate more of the sides of what had then become more like a track. In March 2016, the house was put on the market. In July 2016, when the house was vacant, we prepared the site and planted out the rest of the grassy area. After the house was demolished in 2019, the house block was cleared and has been left untouched since then. The plants in front of the gates have continued to grow and at the present time it is hard to find the access entrance and the gates can no longer be seen from Beach Road. We are waiting to see what is built on the empty block and how it will impact the reserve. Fingers crossed it will be a good outcome. 5Volunteers are back! Words and photos by Pauline Reynolds The first volunteer session since March took place at the Bayside Community Nursery on the morning of Tuesday 8 December 2020. Council and Citywide have put in place their COVIDSafe Plans, and a maximum of 10 volunteers at each session are allowed. Citywide Bushland and Nursery Supervisor Jo Hurse and Bayside Nursery Coordinator Julie Valentine have worked out the safe set up and everyone was very happy to be working and helping again. Since then, we have tubed many trays of Goodenia ovata, and we welcomed three new volunteers. While a little out of practice, it didn’t take long to get the fingers going again. I hope we can continue to contribute to the propagation of the number of plants required for next year. There was a concern that in this disruptive year the plants that were ready for sale would not be sold. Amazingly, they were sold to wholesale customers including golf courses and schools that took advantage of the quiet time to do extra planting. All other environmental volunteers will be back doing work and contributing in the way they enjoy next year. BRASCA will squeeze in two working bees before 2020 is over. I’m sure there were times this year when everyone, like me, thought we’d never be allowed out but here we are. Hopefully a vaccination early next year might see the end of this virus and fingers crossed the next one doesn’t come along too soon! Black Rock and Sandringham Conservation Association Inc volunteers, December 2020 working bee. Our volunteers’ propagating work at the Bayside Community Nursery has resumed. Banksia Bulletin | Summer 2020-216The story of a pair of Tawny Frogmouths Story by Diana Pearce and Moira Longden In the 2007 Summer/Autumn edition of Banksia Bulletin, Moira Longden wrote a wonderful article following the progress of a pair of Tawny Frogmouths, which had nested and roosted in our neighbouring trees for a couple of years. Since then, neighbours have taken an interest in where they may build a nest and shared news when we discovered a nest. Sometimes, it was a surprise when the nest was on the top of a light pole near the Beaumaris school. Eventually they would return to our tree and show off the family (often right outside our back door). In hot weather, they would enjoy a family bath with a soft hose down. Each year the pair has produced chicks and reared them until they were sent on their way, and then they would settle back to roost in our tree (Agonis flexuosa). We have had almost daily pleasure of knowing that they are present. Earlier this year, we were hoping that the pair would mate again as all the signs seemed right. Then, one day there was a dead Tawny hanging in the foliage of the tree. The other bird kept vigil for many days until finally I asked a neighbour to help me release the dead Tawny from the tree. To our surprise and pleasure, another Tawny Frogmouth turned up and we were hopeful that they might mate and continue the dynasty. Just when we thought it wasn’t going to happen, the force of life showed its colours and they did! It took a while to find where they had nested but finally Moira spotted the nest in her Casuarina tree. Friends around our area were reassured that they were still our Tawnies! Fast forward a few weeks and as I write, two chicks are looking like they are ready to fledge. It has been interesting to watch the fly-in-fly-out action as the parents take turns to look after the nest and feed the chicks – who look like wide- eyed fluffy toys making purring noises when the parents are busy hunting and feeding them. Tawny Frogmouth Photo by Diana Pearce Photo credit: Jarryd Linehan Banksia Bulletin | Summer 2020-217Insects as pollinators – here, there and everywhere Story by Elizabeth Walsh Convenor FoNW Inc. Friends of Native Wildlife Inc. hosted a zoom session, Wild in Bayside, featuring Luis Mata presenting an online talk Pollinator Observatories – a fun and engaging way of reconnecting people with nature in cities. The addition of some of his personal macro photographs from various local heathland settings provided relevance and entertainment. Luis recently moved back to Bayside after conducting a successful large-scale pollinator program at Westgate Park using citizen science and supported by RMIT, Melbourne University, Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Landcare and the City of Melbourne. During his talk, Luis talked about themes of pollination, invasion ecology, indigenous culture, plant-insect interactions and colour patterns. One such flower example is the daisy-like flowers. Whether introduced or indigenous, daisies, with their bright yellow flowers, attract native bees and honey bees. Some wasps delight in finding their way down narrow flower trumpets, collecting pollen as they forage for sweet nectar. The many beetles, flies, bugs and butterflies also have their colour preferences. The results from Westgate Park showed the greatest interactions were from bees down to flies, butterflies, then bugs, wasps, beetles and lastly, ants. It was interesting to note that 65 per cent of interactions were from native insect species and 35 per cent from non-native species. Whether planting for ground cover, low or medium shrubs, understorey or canopy, insects of every shape and species can be found as part of the biodiversity of the natural environment. Native butterfly Photo by Michael Jefferies 8These ecological networks across all types of plants support and link the health of our environment. Pollination is carried out whilst insects feed on pollen or nectar or are fooled into attempting to mate because of the pheromones exuded from specialised plants, thus moving pollen from one plant to another. The leaves and buds provide food to foliage-eating insects, and those insects in turn become food for larger insects, birds and reptiles. Luis explained how management actions could restructure the landscape of urban meta-networks, and the important of decision-makers fully understanding the impacts of biodiversity. Find out more about Luis Mata at https://luismataresearch. wordpress.com/about-me/ It’s a wonder Words and photo by Rob Saunders Rare Plants Group Bayside Community Nursery has recently propagated a plant that has been locally extinct for many years. Now known as the Anglesea Grevillea (Grevillea infecunda), it was collected by Baron von Mueller from “bushland near Brighton” in the 1850s. As its Latin name implies, this species is infertile. It only spreads by suckering. This is a truly rare and fascinating plant. So few remain in the wild, it is listed under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999). Because it is infertile, each plant is a clone, so it could be argued that this is Bayside’s only indigenous Grevillea. It is fascinating that the same plant was able to spread from wherever it first evolved to Anglesea and Brighton. Assuming a growth rate of around 10cm per year, it would take at least 500,000 years to spread from a central point between those two locations. So how did it cross Port Phillip Bay, you ask? Well, Port Phillip Bay only formed at the end of the last Ice Age. And how did it cross the Yarra River? The answer is that the Yarra River itself would have changed course many times over that period. Plants such as this can be used in teaching a variety of subjects, from geography to history and even mathematics. But perhaps most importantly, they can teach a sense of wonder. Grevillea infecuda Blue-banded bee Photo by John Coke 9Next >