The Friends of
Shenton Bushland
Inc.
How will we find our wild hearts inside this city;
How will we find the deep peace?
A. Stevens
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Bushland Management Strategies
Newsletter archive:
Newsletter #30 December 2000
Active animals
Snakes and lizards
The WA Museum pit traps are again revealing a varied population of lizards in the bushland. In September, 27 individuals were recorded and released; in October 55; and in November 75. Even higher numbers can be expected in February and March when the young are active. Re-captures of marked individuals help to build up knowledge of life histories. A species of ctenotus skink was first marked in 1995 and its recent recapture suggests that they remain near their place of origin for several years. Several sightings of dugite snakes have been made. One snake living near the Lemnos Street wall may have been the one found dead with a flattened 'neck' next to the Dogs' Refuge Home track. Another snake gave Dani a surprise when it decided the quadrat in which he was counting seedlings was an ideal spot to sun bake in.
Birds show their colours
The bushland is a hive of nesting activity, at least if the calls of the males can be believed. The painted button quails are still booming and the penetrating and explosive sound of the rufous whistlers' 'ee-chong' fills the air. Both these birds are strikingly patterned. The dumpy, ground-running quail appears red and black as it scampers away while the male whistler has a chestnut breast topped by a black band and a white throat. The tiny striated pardalote is making use of the smaller holes in the mature jarrahs (eg the one at the Grace Vaughan House entrance with the bee hive) and its continually repeated 'wit-wit' call may lead you to its nest site.
Making space for frogs
At our seminar earlier this hear, Ken Aplin (curator of reptiles at the WA Museum) suggested we create a place for frogs to breed within the bushland. At present the only species of frog to breed in the bushland is the turtle frog (which doesn't require a body of water to breed in). All of the other frogs we encounter are older frogs which have made their way to the bushland from Perry Lakes. John and Felicity are exploring the possibility of creating a frog-friendly pond adjacent to the Shenton College site. Maybe we could collaborate on this with teachers and students from Shenton College.
Active people
Evaluation of activities
D B-J 2000
Activities this year included:
- Coping with the GST, which Dorothy has accomplished very effectively (none of the committee is in jail yet!). Thanks Dorothy.
- Producing a seminar on Fauna in Urban Bushland Remnants. We even managed to cope with the threat of power cuts during the day. Janice was the driving force behind the seminar. Dani provided auxilliary power and fairy lights in case power stopped. Thankfully it didn't. The proceedings of the seminar are still being produced.One outcome from this seminar is the plan to provide frog breeding habitat in the bushland (described elsewhere in this newsletter).
- Midweek workdays with Kate Brown from EWAN provided an opportunity for people who are unable to come on our regular Sunday events to learn about bush regeneration.
- Moving mountains - an epic event that arose from an innocent observation by Kate Brown that it would be "nice" if a mound of rubble could be removed because it was a constant source of freesia invasion of good bushland. Many wheel barrow loads later the mound has gone. Congratulations to Janice, Steve McCabe (Nedlands Council Bush Worker) and the many volunteers (and community service people) who lent a hand in removing the mound.
- Monitoring regeneration activities. We strongly encourage all members actively conducting regeneration projects in the bushland to monitor the effects of their work. Thus, Janice has discovered that pulling the heads off gladiolii appeared to make little difference to seedling numbers. Similarly, Dani is not convinced that in-situ smoking has stimulated the seed bank along one of the tracks. John has observed a reduction in the average size of pelargonium patches since he embarked on his "search and destroy" mission. Kate has found that bulbs can be controlled effectively with herbicide and has recommended that we continue applying for grants to control bulbous weeds, especially lachenalia, freesia, watsonia and black flag. Kate also recommends continuing the process of mapping weeds since it helps us monitor spread of weeds and prioritise our activities.
- Fungi-map collaboration. We hosted a fungi foray during the year led by Neale Bougher who opened our eyes to the importance of this element of life in the bushland. On the evening after the foray a ghost fungus that Janice had broght home enchanted us by glowing in the dark! Ros Hart is now our Fungi Map co-ordinator, so if you find any unusual specimens please contact her so that she can report your "find".
- The mystery of the POW camp. We know that there was a prisoner of war camp in the bushland during the 1940's, and there is lots of material evidence of it in the bushland. It also shows up in an 1948 aerial photo of the bushland. However there is very little sign of it in the 1942 aerial photo even though records indicate it did exist then. Camoflage? John and Dani are exploring this mystery.
Bush regeneration
After a modest turn out to our October breakfast, fourteen people came along in November. Both occasions were used for weed removal, cutting out a perennial grass (Natal red top) and removing seed heads of narrow-leafed clover which is creeping into good bush along path sides. Breakfasts are now held next to the shed and catering is extending into 'cooked on the spot' items. So why not come along on Thursday 14 December to see what we have in store for you? We will be seed collecting with Kate Brown, Project Officer with the Environmental Weeds Action Network Inc.. In January and February we will continue to meet on Sunday mornings at 8 am for a couple of hours and Kate's third Thursday sessions will resume on March 14 at 7 am, followed by a bush breakfast.
Bulb control grant
We have requested Nedlands Council to budget for herbicide application to continue and extend our three year programme of controlling freesia and lachenalia (soldiers). We also undertook to seek additional funding available to community groups so we have taken advantage again of the Minister for the Environment's Community Conservation Grant 2000/2001. Last year, in a joint project with the Health Department and Shenton College, we gained funding from this source for veldgrass control along the eastern boundary which we will be planting up next winter. Seeds - approximately 19 000 - have been sent to the Men of the Trees for propagation.
Next meeting
This is planned for 7.30 pm on Tuesday, 12th December at 2/233 Hensman Rd Shenton Park. All friends welcome. We expect to be in festive mood!
This newsletter is produced by the Friends of Shenton Bushland. Contributions by Janice Marshall and Daniel Boase-Jelinek.