Good Spring Rains

• Ruth’s artistic photo of a fallen leaf in Blacks Walk evokes the sense that the good rains continued well into September – albeit accompanied by some chilly temperatures as well!
• All that moisture and the slowly warming weather has been great for the park’s vegetation (including the weeds unfortunately).  Nevertheless, we’ve been lucky with the weather for our Community and regular working bees with some good results as you read below.

Working Bee Report – Sunday, September 8th

• Alison’s photo above shows Scarlett – our youngest working bee participant for the year  – under the watchful eye of her dad James.  Notice both are fully decked out in boots and fluoros.   We wear the vests as part of our PPE (personal protection equipment) whenever we’re working near the paths so that pedestrians and cyclists see us easily- also our colleagues!
• As the photo shows, Scarlett is planting.   This is later in the year than usual due to the prolonged rains since May which followed our late start to planting due to the drought in the first half.  So, we went shopping at one of the indigenous nurseries for more plants for the working bee to make the most of the damp soil.
• We weeded then mulched and planted in a tightly coordinated manner – well managed by Nicky – our Site Manager for the day.  Nicky also contributed by bringing along her son Patrick who contributed 3/4 of the heavy labour loading and barrowing the mulch around and her hubbie Geoff who managed the water supply for the planting – all in all, a great family contribution.
• Our thanks to the “newbies” who came along (Scarlett, James and Tanya) as well as our regulars who put in their usual sterling efforts for great results on the day.
• This year’s program of Community Working Bees ended with this working bee.  Next year’s will commence in March or April, 2020.  Our thanks to all who participated in 2019 – hopefully we’ll work with you again next year!
• For those keen to keep going and available on Mondays, our Maintenance Team works year-round – please send a message to our e-mail account blackburncreeklands@gmail.com and we’ll put you on the Monday e-mail list.

Maintenance Team Report

• Our Maintenance Team has been busy during the month – firstly working ahead of and then following up in Community Working Bee areas – extending the weeding and planting to the school side of the track.

• Graeme’s picture shows one of those strange bush pixies (or Smurfs?) attempting to build a new Mt Laburnum from the weed pile being left for collection by Council.
• More recently, they’ve been getting rid of the onion weed coming up in this year’s project area to the west of the Laurel Grove bridge on the southern side of the creek.  The young plants seem to be doing quite well there – no doubt, in large part, due to the rains.

Next Year’s Project Area

Billabong Sketch Map

• Our Treasurer Andrea has been busy applying for a grant to fund plants and supplies for next year’s proposed project area – highlighted in red in the sketch map above.
• Our proposal is to expand the existing Billabong pond areas which were successfully densely planted up after the reinstatement of the Billabong in 2015.
• Our proposal is to maintain the existing central area as well as to undertake more planting as follows:
  • Area 1:  on the bank going up the hill behind the first billabong pond (ie to the south)
  • Area 2:  to the west of the billabong ponds on both sides of the track.
• We have planted in the former area before – but we need to increase the density of the planting there to improve its habitat value and to suppress weeds.  The latter has never been planted up – excepting along the tracks.
• Our objectives include:
  • Improvement of the habitat value of wetlands and waterways within the bushland park by improving fringing vegetation and also through linking the remnant canopy
    around the Billabong with remnant vegetation along the creek bank – including planting a few new canopy trees to replace those that have died or are dying.
  • Improving water quality of the outflow going to the creek.
• The work would be comprised of site preparation, hand-weeding and planting about 1,400 plants – in a mixture of Monday and Community Working Bees.
• Hopefully, we’ll have good news towards the end of the year when the verdict on our application should be announced.

Renovation Planned for the Scout Hall

• Council has let us know that it plans to renovate the Scout Hall in Blacks Walk.  Originally constructed more than 50 years ago in 1968, it is an important community resource – not only for the Scouts, but also, for example, for educational programs and as a base for our Bird Surveys until this year.
• The renovation includes an extension which will bring the building out by about 7.5 metres towards Pakenham Street.  This approach was chosen due to there being fewer impacts on mature trees compared to an extension at the rear.  The extension will house a storage area.  Other renovations include a new kitchen, an office and bringing toilets up to current standards.
• Construction is planned to commence late April, 2020 (after Easter) with completion expected in September.  The car park driveway and path along the creek will be kept open during the construction.

Spring Bird Survey Coming Up (Saturday, 19th October)

Have you heard ?

• A “must” for your diaries – our next bird survey coming up soon in a few weeks on Saturday (19th October).
• You don’t need any training or experience at all – our expert leaders Pat and Ian are able to locate many species usually invisible to the rest of us through their knowledge of bird calls and habits.  There is also the opportunity to ask questions of our experts about the birds in their natural habitat.

• Because the “early bird catches the worm” and we want to catch sight of the bird, the survey walks start at 07:30 sharp (at the Kalang Oval Pavilion – finishing at about 09:30).  If you need to skip breakfast for the early start, please be aware that we do have morning tea afterwards while we correlate the survey results.
• Please see our Bird Counts page for further information.

Sightings

• Plenty of interesting sightings during the month – here’s a sample:

Juvenile Crimson Rosella in flight – we know it’s young because of the green feathers

It must be Spring: ducklings on feeding training with mum

Kookaburra with skink and a toothpick?

Hardenbergia – a very close second for “plant of the month”

Plant of the Month

• Our Plant of the Month is the Snowy Daisy Bush (Olearia lirata).   As our photo shows, this plant flowers prolifically – bringing a definite touch of Spring to the park.  Its small daily-like flowers contrast beautifully with its soft green foliage.
• It likes partial shade and moist conditions.

Weed of the Month

• Our Weed of the Month is Panic Veldt which comes to us from Africa and is an invasive, perennial grass with both profuse and rapid seed production.  The inset in the picture shows the tell-tale ‘inflorescences’ – the botanical term used for the flowering and seed-producing part of any flowering plant.  As they dry out, they become white – a good way to identify the weed from good grasses.
• It is opportunistic – quickly invading newly disturbed areas, seeds all year round and quite possibly rates as the Number One weed in the park.  It usually grows 30-50 cm high and older plants can spread a metre or more.  Unfortunately, it tends to out-compete indigenous ground covers in most soil conditions.
• The good news is that its roots are weak – so the pest is quite easily pulled out.