Made with FlowPaper - Flipbook Maker
summer 2023-24 YWNR's beautiful birds Wildflower Wanders’ HIGHLIGHTS MEET Donald MacDonald Reserve’s new ConvenorFrom the Mayor Welcome to the summer edition of the Banksia Bulletin. As with all editions, the last one for 2023 shows the magicof being curious about flora and fauna. The Citywide Volunteer End of Year Celebration, held on Thursday 14 December, was attended by many of our Friends group volunteers. Icontinue to be in admiration of theirenthusiasm, care and knowledge. Council could not maintain and enhance our reserves, heathlands and foreshore without the dedicated work of our Friends. The partnership between Council officers and volunteers is critical to the health and preservation of our environment. Many thanks to our Council officers for their support. The Wildflower Walks were one of the highlights of 2023. ThroughAugust,September and into October 20 volunteers led 200 participants on 13 wildflower walks, observing the colour and diversity within our nature reserves and heathlands. The Bayside Community Nursery also enjoyed another successful season with almost all stock sold. Many volunteers were involved, learning how to propagate and look after indigenous plants under the guidance of Citywide experts, for sale and to plant within our own gardens, reserves, foreshore and golf courses. The Nursery reopens in April 2024 and I look forward to the Gala Open Day. Please visit our website for opening dates and other details. Our weather continues to change: intense rains and storm cells, strong winds and an anticipated very hot summer. One way Council is working hard to keep the community protected is through the delivery of our Urban Forest Strategy. Council recently published its first annual report since the strategy was adopted. Impressively, throughout 2022-23 we planted 2,847 trees across public parks and within road reserves. Of the trees planted there were 1,588 indigenous, 841 native and 418 exoticspecies. Findings from the Urban Forest Strategy Annual Report also show that tree canopy coverage around Bayside is on the up with municipal-wide tree canopy cover now estimated at 20.86%, which has increased from 16.51% in 2018. We need to continue to work together, planting in our gardens – both understory and canopy plants – toreach a minimum of 30% cover. This magazine could not come to life without a core group of contributors, submission writers and photographers. Thank you for your invaluable time, care, knowledge and vibrant images that create each edition of the Banksia Bulletin. Another fruitful collaboration! On behalf of Bayside City Council, may you enjoy a wonderful happy and gentle holiday season and I look forward to seeing you throughout 2024. Councillor Fiona Stitfold Mayor Mayor Cr Fiona Stitfold attended the Friends’ Christmas barbecue at Ricketts Point foreshore on Thursday 14 December. Cover photo: Common Flat-pea (Platylobium obtusangulum) pictured at Gramatan Avenue Heathland during the 2023 Wildflower Wanders. Photograph by Sue ForsterIn this issue Special features 5 ON RAKALI WATCH 6 BATS THRIVING THANKS TO NEST BOXES 12 WEDDING BUSH A HIGHLIGHT AT WILDFLOWER WANDERS 15 YWNR BEAUTIES Other articles WEEDS OF BAYSIDE 4 BAYSIDE COMMUNITY NURSERY COMMUNITY MEMBER POSITION VACANT 4 VALE, RON MORRIS 7 NATURE’S MOST UNLOVED PLANTS 8 PLANNING FOR PARKLANDS 9 HIGHETT GRASSY WOODLAND UPDATE 10 NOW PROPAGATING 11 IT BEGINS… WITH BEETLES AND A BLUE ANT 16 CITYWIDE BUSHLAND CREW UPDATE 18 ’TIS THE SEASON FOR SNAKES 19 CONTROLLING COMMON MYNA BIRDS 20 DISABLED SNORKELLING 20 INVERTEBRATES: CONSERVATION’S FORGOTTEN CRITTERS 21 BACK FROM THE DEAD: NEW HOPE FOR RESURRECTING EXTINCT PLANTS, PART 2 22 EARLY HEAT AND INSECT STRIKE ARE STRESSING URBAN TREES – EVEN AS CANOPY COVER DROPS 24 VOLUNTEER GROUPS 26Weeds of Bayside By Aaron Hurrell, Citywide Bushland Crew Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) The Nasturtium is a soft, succulent annual herb, which originates from Central and South America. It grows quickly, sprawling over large areas in no time at all, preferring areas of full sun. The flowers of the Nasturtium are funnel-like, made by five large petals. The colouration is found in various shades of yellow, orange and red and appears from spring to autumn. The leaves are soft, fleshy, are broad, circular and arranged in a spiral from the centre of the leaf where the stem joins the leaf. The fruit of the Nasturtium are 10mm long and are green in colour. The Nasturtium is spread by cuttings and by seed, either carried away by water, contaminated soil, people’s shoes, birds or illegal dumping of rubbish. All these modes of transportation allow the Nasturtium to colonise new areas easily, particularly areas of recently disturbed soil. The best way in dealing with Nasturtium is with manual hand weeding, taking particular care of bagging and removing all of the plant to ensure no further resprouts. Applying herbicide is another option, requiring follow up spraying to ensure newer leaves are affected by the herbicide. These plants are common in nurseries and readily available for purchase. Source: Website, Sydney Weed Network, Nasturtium Website, Wikipedia, Tropaeolum Website, Wikipedia, Tropaeolum majus Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) Bayside Community Nursery Nursery Steering Committee Community member position vacant Expression of Interest The Nursery Steering Committee provides a mechanism for stakeholders to come together at regular intervals to discuss operations and to plan future strategies for Bayside Community Nursery. The committee consists of members from the Bayside community, Bayside City Council and Citywide (nursery contractor.) Members contribute by: Providing input on nursery retail and propagation operations and current issues, Representing ideas from the Friends of Bayside Providing input into target planting and retail species, volunteer training and advocating for the Nursery within the community. Community members are appointed to the committee for a three-year term. At the end of their term the position becomes vacant, and a standing member may re-nominate for appointment. Expressions of Interest close Friday 1 March 2024. Applications can be submitted to Environmental Volunteer Support Officer Anna Malone via amalone@bayside.vic.gov.au or call 9599 4815 for more information. Lightwood wattle (Acacia implexa) Banksia Bulletin | Summer 2023-244On Rakali watch Words by Helen Graham Photo by Andrew McCutcheon It was a blustery evening when a group of curious locals joined the intrepid members of the Friends of Native Wildlife (FoNW) in the Jetty Road car park. We all were equipped with torches or head lamps, most of them with an infrared facility. The welcome suggestion to clamber down the large rocks on the lee side of the groyne, to escape the wind and waves, initially revealed our lack of nimbleness. Like SAS soldiers we took up sentinel positions. Unlike the aforementioned professional military men, our nocturnal navigation down the large boulders, each one abutted by chasms of varying sizes and depths, a hidden misstep threat to any foot orankle on their owner’s perilous descent, was not executed with finesse. Eventually we each found a comfortable rock and sat quietly waiting forthe Rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster), theAustralian Native Water Rat, toappear. A faint fanning of the calm water heralded the arrival of the first of the Rakalis. Amazement at its size and its long, distinctive white tail quietly rippled through our group. This one was about the size of a ringtail possum. It is claimed that some will grow to almost as big as a platypus. Over to the shore it swam and clambered up on the rocks, seemingly blissfully unaware of our presence, or perhaps, choosing to ignore us interlopers. It must have been a tasty smorgasbord because soon others appeared, their diving interspersed with periods of swimming over to the rocks and preening. Obviously, there was a narcissist amongst them, as it preened for quite a long time just below us. Its golden hued underbelly contrasted beautifully with its chocolate-coloured fur coat. A gorgeous specimen. Another pair seemed to wish to dine in more intimate surroundings, so they swam over to the boat jetty and disappeared from view. Gradually other Rakali joined in the performance of diving and preening, to the delight of their human audience. There was much celebration from our FoNW excursion leaders. Fears that the Rakali had abandoned this place when the recent refurbishing of the groyne took place appeared to be unfounded. On this night, there were quite a number of healthy native rodents doing what Rakali do. How clever of this shy amphibious mammal to have the ability to reconcile with the invasion of their habitat and make it their own. Banksia Bulletin | Summer 2023-245Bats thriving thanks to nest boxes Photos by William Terry Council’s wonderful nest boxes are creating a safe and welcoming environment for Bayside’s native microbats. Nest boxes and natural hollows play an essential role in allowing our native birds and mammals to nest and breed. As part of their spring monitoring of nest boxes, ecological consultants from Arcadis Australia found a large colony of Gould’s Wattle Bat inside a nest box at Long Hollow Heathland in Beaumaris. Representatives from both Friends of Native Wildlife Inc. and Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve have been accompanying the Arcadis ecologists and using this opportunity to share respective knowledge regarding nest box designs while learning from each other. Gould’s Wattle Bats are one of the most common microbat species found in Bayside and are often the first species of microbat to emerge at dusk. Bats are one of nature’s natural pest controllers, consuming at least half their body weight in insects per night when feeding. These little bats are around 100mm long and weigh around 15 grams. While the males may roost alone, colonies of females may number up to 30 or more. Monitoring of the nest boxes and natural hollows will continue over the coming months, with the hope of finding many more of our flying friends enjoying their new homes. A nest box at Long Hollow Heathland, Beaumaris. A large colony of Gould's Wattle Bats inside a nest box at Long Hollow Heathland, Beaumaris. Banksia Bulletin | Summer 2023-246In the absence of nest boxes or suitable natural hollows, nature still finds a way to ‘make do’. This Ringtail Possum has been coming and going from Council’s Corporate Centre in Sandringham over the past couple of months. She now has two babies and her drey is more leafy for her babies. Photograph by Emily Petrie, BCC Vale, Ron Morris Bayside City Council, along with our Friends groups and volunteers, extends its condolences to the family and friends of former President of Beaumaris Conservation Society (BCS) Ron Morris, who sadly passed away in November. Ron was an avid conservationist. He was President of BCS from 2011-2014 and a member for over 50 years. In 2009 he became a Life Member. We thank Ron for all his hard work in protecting the natural environment he cared for and passing his knowledge on to others. Left: (L-R) Joan McCrae, Patricia Sinclair and Ron Morris. Above: 60th Anniversary Celebration of Beaumaris Conservation Society in 2013. Ron pictured far right. 7Nature’s most unloved plants: Book discussion A large part of my job working for the Citywide Bushland Management crew in Bayside involves employing a range of methods to control, and hopefully eliminate, as many weeds we can within the heathland reserves. By Matthew Grover Citywide Bushland Crew team member So, when I recently encountered a book titled Weeds: In Defence of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants I was instantly intrigued to hear another side to the story, a defence of the weed’s persecution. Arguing the case for the weeds, English nature writer Richard Mabey contends that our contemporary philosophy on understanding weeds is too dogmatic, that a too-rigid division between local and invasive is leading us to ignore the value of many weedy plants. The crux of his grievance is perfectly summarised in the statement “their [weeds’] appearance now sparks reflexes not reasoning.” Working in outer London in his mid-20s, Mabey noticed and enjoyed the glimpse of nature that the weeds outside his office window provided. He described this as a “pulsation of raw, cosmopolitan life”. Drawing on the development of his personal appreciation for weeds, the book launches into a unique assortment of topics regarding the history of weeds and their relationship to us as a species and culture. This includes both a scientific understanding of weeds (first from an agricultural, and later, an ecological perspective) as well as a recount of their broader cultural presence in works of theology, literature and early medicine. It is the societal value in combination with the weeds’ archetypal resilience and vigour that has culminated in such a blooming of Mabey’s admiration for them. Mabey presents numerous compelling examples of the ways weeds have helped to contribute value to society, and one such example that I found particularly endearing was the story of Britain’s Wild Pansy (Viola tricolor). Initially confined to sandy and acidic soils, the Wild Pansy began to thrive as a cornfield weed across northern Europe. Its strikingly beautiful yellow and violet flowers have been enjoyed for their enchanting appearance and romantic connotations since as far back as the Middle Ages. Such was the captivating nature of the weed that the plot of Shakespeare’s famous comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream hinged on the magical love- making powers of the juice of the wild pansy; referred to in the play by its common name from where Shakespeare grew up in Warwickshire, the melancholy ‘Love-in-idleness’. In a more sombre account of the weeds’ importance, Mabey takes us to the battlefields of France during the First World War. ‘Trench gardening’ offered soldiers a fleeting escape from the horrors of war. People recognised the colourful wildflowers of the weeds as the same as those from their home fields and they took to transplanting them into plots and baskets throughout the trenches. Of course, no other flower from those fields became as powerfully symbolic as the Flanders Poppy (Papaver rhoeas), a weed of arable land all across Europe and the Mediterranean; the vivid resurgence of its blazing red flowers ‘most deeply touched those who saw them’ and its legacy endures to this day. It was “like an enchanted land” wrote war artist William Orpen following his visit to the Somme battlefields, just three months after some 415,000 men had been killed there. Through the sharing of these anecdotes, Mabey encourages readers to explore beneath the surface of the one-size-fits-all classification of weeds, and to see the full context of the weed’s existence both past and present. This context, he suggests, is not just grounded in the physical reality of Banksia Bulletin | Summer 2023-248these plants but is also a reflection of our own thoughts and feelings with the implication being that without humans present to dictate where a given plant doesn’t belong, the concept of a weed would not exist. There are many questions we can ask which muddy the waters of utilising the label of weed. For example, can an indigenous plant be a weed or are certain weeds beneficial? Whilst we endeavour to be as scientific as possible, on some level a judgment call must still be made. Mabey implores us to be measured in this judgement, to consider our biases, and not to condemn all weeds for “thebehaviour of their most aggressive members”. Unfortunately, to fully indulge in this romantic interpretation, I think you have to look past some of the more damning ecological truths about weeds. The history of Britain is such that the ecological and cultural influence of its weeds now spans vast periods of time; this I suspect has led to a relative stability which supports Mabey’s sympathetic perspective. From an Australian point of view, it’s hard to paint as pretty a picture. European colonisation has introduced countless weeds which have caused widespread and likely irreparable damage to once-vibrant ecosystems, and it is currently asimportant as it hasever been to managethese weeds with the aim of preserving and hopefully restoring our indigenous diversity. That is, of course, not to take away from what I found to be a fascinating andquirky book about plants, which Iwould absolutely recommend. Britain's Wild Pansy (Viola tricolour) Planning for parklands How do you imagine enjoying the new six-hectares of open space at 20 Wangara Road? Previously used as landfill quarry and a golf driving range, we’re cleaning up the six-hectare site so it can be transformed into an interactive passive open space with an environmental focus for the whole community to enjoy in the years to come. Council is drafting the site’s Masterplan and gathering ideas to understand community aspirations for the renewal of the site. There are some limits on what can be achieved because of the site’s history, so visit the project’s Have Your Say page for more information. Join the conversation and share your ideas on the digital ideas board. Community consultation is open until 28 February 2024. Find out more. 9 Click here to view the videoNext >