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 #32 March 2001
Coming Events
Annual General Meeting
Wednesday 14th March at 7.30 pm at 2/33 Hensman Rd Shenton park. The AGM will be followed our usual bimonthly committee meeting. All Friends welcome. Your committee needs your support!
Last Bush Breakfast this summer
Thursday 15th March at 7am. Meet Kate Brown and Friends at the Lemnos Street entrance and help with some aspect of bush regeneration. Breakfast at 8.30 am
First training session for the year
Thursday 19th April and continuing all year on the third Thursday of each month. You may meet Friends from other groups as these bush regeneration training sessions with Kate Brown, Project Officer with the Environmental Weeds Action Network are widely advertised
Around the tracks
Predators in the bush?
What we identified as one of the sand-swimming skinks, the western worm lerista (Lerista praepedita ) was found dead on the track just south of the shed late last year. According to the finds in the WA Museum's pitfall traps, this is one of the rarest reptiles in Shenton Bushland. It was on a known prowling route of a cat, so perhaps this was the agent of death. Another animal under suspicion of killing one of the residents is the fox. A wing of a boobook owl was found near the Grace Vaughan House notice board. Again this is a known route of a fox which has a lair in the southern area.
Which prickly moses?
Prickly moses (Acacia pulchella) is acknowledged to be a very variable species. There are four varieties described in the Flora of the Perth Metropolitan Area, and there may be more. This is satisfying to know because the large patch on the western side which has appeared since the fire has always looked different. Presently it is golden and may be suffering drought stress but Kate Brown observed earlier on that the plant form resembled what she'd seen growing in Talbot Road reserve, nearer the Darling Range. So here we have another plant more than likely introduced along with the laterite in the 1940s.
Frog college may open soon
John Adeney and Felicity Amazon are researching the possibility of providing a frog habitat adacent to a pond in hospital land near Shenton College. Scale drawings have been drawn, water sources calculated and the suitable plants identified. Ken Aplin, Curator of Reptiles at the WA Museum has commented on the plans and these are being incorporated. We hope that this frog habitat will provide a valuable learning resource for students at Shenton College.
More information about the POW camp
Last week The Post newspaper published our request for information from the community about the prisoner of war camp in Shenton Bushland in the 1940's. We were subsequently contacted by two people. One person who contacted us was Arthur Mawby of Floreat who served as a soldier in the 124AGT. Three platoons of the 124AGT camped within Shenton Bushland from late 1942 to mid 1943. The ablution block for their camp is still visible in the bushland in the form of a concrete sump near the south boundary fence. The spot used for their cooking facilities was fenced off later in 1943 to be used as the prisoner of war camp. The other person who contacted us is Rosie Johnston of Claremont, an academic at Curtin University who conducted research on Italian prisoners of war (including some who were based at the camp in Shenton Bushland). These two informants will materially add to our knowledge about the camp. The information they have provided will assist us to have the site listed on the Register of the National Estate.
Shenton College
At least one class of students from our neighbouring college has been introduced to the bushland. The biology teacher, Murray Turner, had made multiple copies of the February walk trail only to arrive with the class at 10am on the first of March to find the February trail was in the process of being removed and the March trail being laid out! Nevertheless it was good to make contact and to start the process of working together.
Meeting place
No news yet on the International Year of Volunteers project to construct a meeting place within Shenton Bushland. We were told in January that we'd be informed of the outcome of our application in March. We were delighted to be able to write to the IYV team to tell them that members had donated $300 already and that other promises had been given.
Insurance cover
Three Nedlands Friends groups active in bushcare, received a big shock recently. The premium for public liability and personal accident insurance had almost doubled, from $94 to $180! As this is way beyond the capacity of the groups to afford, a joint meeting of the Friends groups decided to request Council to take out one policy to cover all bushland volunteers. We would be working at Council's request in that we are all actioning the Management Plans and can provide a yearly plan of month by month activities.
New path being built
The limestone path just outside the eastern boundary is being constructed as we go to press. This path follows the route of the power lines that have now been put underground. The path will allow wheelchair access from the Selby Lodge car park (providing a ramp is provided). It will bring to fruition the idea in the concept plan of providing a shorter circular, and fairly level, route through Health Department land and Shenton Bushland.
This newsletter is produced by the Friends of Shenton Bushland. Contributions by Janice Marshall and Daniel Boase-Jelinek.