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
Bushland Activities page (blog)
Bushland Management Strategies
Newsletter archive:
Newsletter #33 May 2001
Richard calls it a day
Photo courtesy of Post Newspapers, Perth, WA
The Friends of Shenton Bushland were pleased to note that Richard Court listed saving the bushland as one of his three local achievements when interviewed by The Post last week. Thanks Richard! We hope to see you enjoying the bushland you helped us save.
Coming events
The great Australian marsupial night stalk
It will be a dark night with just the New Moon on Wednesday 23 May, so bring out your brightest torch fitted with new batteries.
Why? Because the Friends are taking part in the Great Australian Marsupial Night-stalk, a National Research Project for Science Week 2001. It is a nation-wide fauna survey being held in May and while it is looking for marsupials, records of feral animals and birds will also be welcomed. We assume there are bats in Shenton Bushland but we're not sure about possums - perhaps we will see their bright, pinkish eyeshine in their little faces; we could see a tawny frogmouth, a boobook owl, a barn owl - a fox or a cat - and who knows what else! So here's hoping it will be a fine night as we gather at the Lemnos Street entrance at 8 pm, warmly dressed and with torches.
Lights stronger than 30W need to be covered with red cellophane as eyes of nocturnal animals are very sensitive. We will proceed in groups to habitat trees located throughout the reserve where we will settle down to observe quietly whatever we can pick up in our torch beams. For further details consult: www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au and see the national results in July at www.scienceweek.info.au.
Bush regeneration days
Our mid-week session on Thursday 19 April, led by Steve McCabe, received help from a University and a TAFE student. Also pulling on her gloves was Bridget Hyder-Griffiths who is coordinator for Ecoplan, the Department of Environmental Protection's community involvement programme. A regular visitor from South Perth made up the team for the day which continued to cut out isolated clumps of veldgrass from an area of good condition bushland in the southern section. Kate Brown will lead the team on Thursday 17 May and 21 June, meeting at the Lemnos Street entrance at 9 am. This is an opportunity for you to learn about the plants in the bushland, indigenous and exotic, and the many things that have to be considered in bush regeneration work. Thursdays are also the days when Steve will be bringing in a Green Reserves team for the next six months, whenever there are suitable tasks. Green Reserves provides an opportunity for 40 - 65 year olds to work as volunteers in natural environments for two days a week while on unemployment benefit. They started in Shenton Bushland on Thursday 3 May. If you wish to join in, phone Steve on 9442 3575 for time and location. The Sunday morning 8 - 10 am sessions continue and you are always welcome to join the small band who enjoy the beauty of the bush at that time. Meet at the shed down the Dogs' Home track to see how you can help.
Tree planting
Watch the POST for details of planting time expected in early June or phone Janice on 9381 1479 around then when a date will have been decided, depending on rains. Seen in the bushland
The third kingdom
While most of the bushland appears severely drought stressed and quite golden in colour, there are some living organisms that perform as normal despite the lack of rain. One is the weedy grass from South Africa, veldgrass, which seems to need only the dews of the cold nights to set its summer-dormant buds growing. Something also stimulates members of the third kingdom - the fungi - to produce their fruiting bodies.
The earliest to poke its not very attractive head above the soil is a variety of large puff-ball. It can break through the hardest surface, including bitumen, and this year it has pushed up through the path. We had to protect it with a large stake as it features in this month's self-guided walk trail!
At least two Friends will be attending the 2001 Inaugural National Fungimap Conference to be held in Denmark from 22 - 26 June. It is aimed at Fungimap volunteers, many of whom are relatively new to the study of fungi. (Fungimap is a project based in Victoria which aims to map the occurrence of one hundred species of fungi across Australia). There is an impressive list of twelve highly qualified speakers and three days of field excursions and identification sessions. For details see www.denmarkwa.net.au/~environ
News
No meeting place
We heard at the end of March that our submission to the International Year of Volunteers for a grant to construct a 'meeting place' was unsuccessful. Due to concerns raised by Felicity and also due to lack of time to consult with Nyoongah Elders, we did not apply for the second round of funding which closed in early April.
Consultation with Nyoongah Elders
We have been approached by the Nyoongah Circle of Elders who wish to be consulted on our activities within the bushland. We welcome this consultation process and are planning to meet soon to talk through mechanisms to keep them informed about our plans in the future. If any members are interested in being a liaison person with the Nyoongah Circle of Elders, we welcome your involvement. One issue to be discussed is the plan to construct a frog breeding habitat adjacent to Shenton College.
Shenton (farm) College?
Did you see the Main Roads WA notice in the POST (3 Feb) informing us that there was now a 40km/h zone established on the three roads around Shenton College? The correct streets were named but the location of the school slipped somewhat, up to 'in the grounds of the WA University Institute of Agriculture'! On college matters, we apologise to biology teacher Murray Thomas for naming him as Murray Turner in the last newsletter. There was a 'tree connection' somewhere that got in the way! We welcome Murray's interest in the bushland and his use of the self- guided walk trails. He recognised the caring and valuable work done by the Friends and was concerned about the impact students could have when they did field work. We have agreed that the area immediately to the east of The Barrens (old rubbish tip) can be accessed by them for identification and survey work.
New path
The stabilised limestone path down the eastern boundary along the sewer/power line has been completed. The northern section weaves its way through the bush around the embankment above the Selby Lodge lawns as originally planned in the Management Plan. Unfortunately it does not exit into the car park but just to the west directly on to Lemnos Street. Once a ramp has been built at the kerbside this will give access to visitors in wheelchairs so that they do not have to labour up the Lemnos Street hill. If you wish to explore this new section, PLEASE NOTE that you are NOT permitted to park in the Selby Lodge car park as this is reserved for visitors to the Lodge.
GST issues
The Friends are registered for the GST so claims can be made for refunds of any GST paid out. If we had a membership fee, this would have to include a GST component. We have never had a membership fee and rely on donations to cover costs. While Council has agreed to help cover administrative costs, ours are particularly high as we are a very active, well-known group and many calls are made on our resources by others. Consequently to keep within our budget we spend almost nothing on bush regeneration tools, supplies, promotion or books. We are therefore asking our small core of supporters to make a donation and thereby indicate that they wish to continue to receive this newsletter, which goes to all Councillors and other agencies. A form is included for your convenience and any amount from, say $5 - 10, will help keep us afloat.
Underwood Avenue Bushland Update
The campaign by Friends of Underwood Avenue Bushland to save the bushland from destruction by UWA is looking positive. The City of Nedlands Council recently voted to reject the secret agreement made by the WA Planning Commission to agree to the subdivision. Also, the Environmental Protection Authority is seriously considering the environmental impacts of the proposal. Finally, the Ministry for Planning is organising a Structure Planning Process for the area that will look at the importance of the corridor linking Bold Park, Underwood Avenue Bushland, Shenton Bushland and Kings Park. As a result of all of these processes going on, the Friends of Underwood Avenue Bushland may soon be calling on all people concerned about the future of Perth's remnant bushland to write submissions to the Nedlands Council, Environmental Protection Authority and Ministry for Planning. Contact Dani (9381 3470) if you want more information or are able to help with the campaign.
The Committee remains unchanged
The AGM saw last year's committee agreeing to continue in the absence of other offers. So the Convenor is Janice Marshall; Vice-Convenor John Adeney; Secretary Dani Boase-Jelinek; and Treasurer Dorothy Perret.
Coming Events
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be on Thursday 17 May at 7.30 pm at 2/233 Hensman Road, Shenton Park. All welcome.
Great Australian Marsupial Night-Stalk
Wednesday 23 May at 8 pm Meet at Lemnos Street entrance with a torch
Regular Bushland Work Days
SUNDAYS, 8 am at the shed down the Dogs' Home track
THURSDAYS, 9 am at Lemnos Street entrance (but confirm with Bushcare Officer Steve McCabe on 9442 3575)
This newsletter is produced by the Friends of Shenton Bushland. Contributions by Janice Marshall and Daniel Boase-Jelinek.