Our Compliments of the Season!
We wish all our Friends and your families a safe and happy holiday period – and all the best for 2023!
Unfortunately, Lisa’s photo of a Victorian Christmas Bush in the park was photo-bombed by a very cheeky Christmas Elf…
A Christmas Story for the kids
Lisa then followed that cheeky elf around – to try to find where he was staying in the park – but he disappeared without a trace after:
- climbing trees,
- inspecting Cicada shells and a nymph (which looked a bit like a scary cooked Christmas prawn close-up – but it wasn’t scary at all),
- admiring flowers and grasses,
- speculating on whether Prickly Currant bush berries would be ok for currant sauce for the turkey,
- swinging on Clematis vines,
- decorating his suit with Bidgee Widgee (not a great idea his mum said!),
- playing on the new Garie Street playground equipment,
- buying a cupcake at the shop and then waving goodbye:
Click on photo to enlarge and then scroll. Click the X when finished.
What was that Nymph – is that like an elf? You will all be familiar with the loud, shrill sounds of the cicada as the males call to attract females. The females fly to the males, they mate, then the females lay eggs in the bark of trees. The juveniles hatch, walk down the tree trunks and burrow into the ground where they live for several years, feeding off the sap of tree roots. The recent spell of warm, humid weather is just what the cicadas have been waiting for to come out of the ground and shed their shells. Our elf found a nymph that has emerged from the ground ready to find a spot on a tree to turn into an adult cicada.
Wendy’s photos from a couple of years ago shows the shell of the Greengrocer Cicada (Cyclochila australasiae) as it has hatched from a nymph into the large beautiful green adult cicada on its right. The adults only live for about six weeks. They fly around, mate and breed over the summer to start the cycle again.
Our elf says our park is such an interesting and fun place – he might stay a bit longer before returning to the North Pole. Keep your eyes peeled and you might spot him too!
New Governance Regime for Park Volunteering
A new governance regime for volunteering in the municipality’s bushland parks was approved by Whitehorse Council on the 12th December. The idea is to provide a structure to better organize environmental parkland volunteering in Whitehorse. A review was undertaken in 2019 and significant governance/risk management issues were identified – fundamentally in relation Council managing its risk and in meeting insurance conditions.
Under Council’s new definitions, our committee (the Blackburn Creeklands Advisory Committee) is a Parkland Advisory Committee (PAC). Our volunteer members are, or will be, registered directly with Council. It is also possible for groups to be separate from Council and become formally incorporated or unincorporated groups in their own right.
The changes are significant and already under way. Here are some key points:
- In relation to insurance, there are to be two categories of volunteers – “Registered Volunteers” and “Participants”. “Participants” will receive the same sort of insurance protection as any park user (public liability insurance) whereas “Registered Volunteers” will enjoy personal accident insurance as well.
- Volunteers can choose which type of volunteer they want to be. The catch is that Registered Volunteers must undergo a set of “compliance” training courses – likely to include Bullying Prevention, Child Safety Standards, Equal Opportunity and so forth. This training is mandatory will be required to be completed by volunteers every three years.
- Compliance training and inductions are online – allowing flexibility for volunteer students.
- A web based software system will be used to log training, work hours and make notifications for qualifications needing renewal such as Working With Children Check and first-aid.
- By March 2023, all Registered Volunteers will have completed this training for the first time.
- Working bee supervisors will have to be nominated and have additional training eg in first-aid.
- There will be “position descriptions” that apply to roles such as Working Bee Supervisors and the various office bearers on Committee.
- Council’s Parks and Natural Environment (P&NE) Department will undertake the recruitment, induction, training, reviews and ongoing management of PACs over three year terms in accordance with the revised Terms of Reference.
- Each PAC will negotiate Annual Maintenance Plans for their respective parks with P&NE.
- Recruitment will be via social media, Whitehorse News, local letterbox drops, posters and QR codes in parks/reserves and noticeboards. Please keep a look out if you are interested!
So there are challenging times ahead for our park volunteers! While it may look like “bureaucracy gone mad” at first sight, it’s really all about improving our safety, ensuring the availability of adequate insurance coverage, improving our competence and management – and keeping Council’s insurance premiums low!
Our existing Parkland Advisory Committee appointments have been extended to 30 June 2023 to enable Parkland Advisory Committee volunteer recruitment to be undertaken under the new Terms of Reference.
What else happened in 2022 ?
The year 2022 proved to be another eventful year. Covid restrictions have come off but that doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. The third La Niña event in a row brought a very cool spring as well as much rain. Otherwise:
- the Main Street bridge reopened.
- Slime-moulds were seen escaping the park.
- Bunjil visited the Creeklands.
- We had a great year for fungi.
- We had our challenges with bull-ants working the field!
- Blacks Walk got new playground equipment and path upgrades.
- Our wattles were spectacular coming out of winter.
- Our community working bees went very well.
- The former Guide Hall site was planted up with canopy trees and native grass.
- Our fauna and flora continue to amaze – we are so lucky!
Click on photo to enlarge and then scroll. Click the X when finished.
Birdbaths and Ponds
With the onset of hotter weather, it’s time to get your bird bath up and going again !
The availability of clean water is essential for our local wildlife. You can help if you live in the park’s corridor – using a pond or a simple birdbath. For best results, the water needs to be kept clean and topped up in extreme heat. You can find detailed instructions on siting, cleaning etc here.
If you have no cats in your backyard, a simple pot saucer on the ground can also make a suitable bird bath for modest cost and effort:
Sightings
Holiday Movies
Here are some movies for you to enjoy over the break:
Turtle
Friend Geoffrey sent us this shot of a turtle first spotted by his wife Margaret. He apologises for the quality – but we told him there’s no need to apologise – the important thing is that the turtles are back!
They spotted the turtle in Kalang Park at the sharp bend in the creek, adjacent the Billabong area, fairly close to the path. They used to be often seen on a similar sharp bend in Furness Park close to the track leading to Gardenia Street where there are rocks for sunbaking.
We know they are breeding at Blackburn Lake – perhaps the subject of the photo was washed down from up there! Geoffrey and Margaret esimated the size of theirs acrooss the shell at 25-30cm – which would make it a juvenile. It would be nice to get a population going again – they haven’t been reported in the Creek for about eight years.
Paul also submitted a photo – from Furness Park – so possibly a different animal:
We did have a sighting in Furness Park in 2021 – but none prior to that for many years. The turtle seems to be the Eastern Long-necked Turtle. It is an opportunistic feeder – feeding on insects, worms, tadpoles, frogs, small fish, crustaceans, and molluscs.
When it feels threatened, this turtle emits a smelly fluid from its musk glands. This trait gives the turtle another common name: Stinker !
Other Sightings
This beetle was on our shed door at the Kalang Oval on Thursday after our weekly working bee – not trying very hard to blend in!
Rakali
Friend Kerryn reported seeing a Rakali in the creek a little further downstream from the Creeklands. It is nice to know they are still around despite their not being reported in the Creeklands for some time.
Not the Three Bears!
We weren’t able to get all our ducks lined up for our festive celebrations – but Greg went one better with this great family shot in the nearby corridor. Even mum in the centre (with the slightly browner plumage) seems to be wearing a Santa beard for Christmas!
All the best!
Blackburn Creeklands 