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Newsletter #52 September 2004

Playing tricks

Orchids often play tricks so that they can be pollinated without having to produce scent or food to attract insects. The centre of this Donkey Orchid (Diuris sp.) resembles pea flowers such as Nemcea.

Presumably, the orchid may be pollinated by an insect that mistakes the orchid for the flower of a pea.

Bush to Beach trail walk on September 12th

This year's walk along the bush-to-beach trail will be different from past years because we are not able to exit through UWA's Agriculture Field Station. Therefore, we will return back to Shenton Bushland for a picnic (weather permitting).

The bushland is looking as pretty as ever with lots of orchids and other wildflowers coming up. This is a great opportunity to see both Shenton Bushland and Underwood Bushland looking at their best!

We will depart from the Grace Vaughan House car park at 10am, walk through Shenton Bushland to Bedbrook Place, and loop through Underwood Avenue Bushland, before returning back to Shenton Bushland.

Contact Dani (9381 3470) for details.

Stengthening links with local schools

We see our links with local schools as very important to the future development of the Friends of Shenton Bushland, and have put a great deal of effort into fostering relationships with Shenton College, Moerlina and Quintilian.

In recent months, we have collaborated with Shenton College teachers and students to facilitate a project in which students use GPS mapping equipment to conduct a research activity in the bushland.

We have also just been informed that we were successful in obtaining a Mitre 10 Junior Landcare Grant of $500 in collaboration with a Quintilian teacher (Howard Flinders) and bat box expert Joe Tonga to research and install bat-boxes in Shenton Bushland.

The bat boxes will be equipped with a camera to spy on the bats using them.

Underwood Update

The University of Western Australia appears to be pressing ahead with plans to destroy the Underwood Avenue Bushland. In the latest developments, UWA is removing the animal enclosures and presumably plans to 'reconstruct' the bushland in that area. We believe that, UWA hopes to demonstrate through this activity that they are able to overcome the lack of protection of biodiversity of the previous proposal rejected by Environment Minister Dr Judy Edwards.

Lupin mulch

In October (depending on how the lupins grow) we are planning a 'lupin mulch' - cutting , mulching, and bagging lupins from the degraded area of the bushland for people to take home and use on their gardens. This is an ideal opportunity to mulch your garden and save water!

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 16th September. All welcome (7.30 pm, 117 Derby Road, Shenton Park). We will be discussing our weed management strategies and planning the Lupin Mulch.