Our next bushwalk - 6th December

The Ellenbrook Bushland Group, in association with the City of Swan, is going for a bushwalk, and you're invited to come with us.

We will meet at The Grapevine - 1 Brookmount Drive, Charlotte's Vineyard at 8am on Sunday 6/12/09.   The aim is to introduce Ellenbrook residents to the wonders of our beautiful bushland - the trees, birds, wildflowers, lizards and insects.  The walk will be guided by experts on our indigenous fauna and flora, and is designed for people who are new to bushwalking.

If you would like to join us, please RSVP by clicking on "comments" below, and leaving your first name in the comment box.

You will need to wear sturdy shoes or boots, long-sleeved shirt and long pants, and a broad-brimmed hat.  The UV index will probably be 12 (Extreme), so you might like to wear sunscreen as well.  Please bring your water bottle - there are no drinking fountains in the bush!  And bring a camera if you're into photography.  (Please don't bring pets.)

Yes, we have echidnas...

Someone asked me yesterday about echidnas.  Do we have echidnas in Ellenbrook?  Yes, we certainly do, but you won't see them wandering around in broad daylight in your street, because they tend to be nocturnal.  And they prefer to stay in bushland, where there are tasty insects to eat, and shady places to sleep.  So, unless you have local plants and logs and termite mounds in your backyard, you probably won't ever find an echidna there.

Echidnas are heavy-set animals with thick spiky fur and long sharp quills.  They have sharp claws for digging into dirt and old timber, and a long "beak" and tongue for eating termites and ants.  They are monotremes - a special kind of mammal that lays eggs but suckles its young with milk.  Their eyes are small, and it seems that they rely a lot on their sense of smell.  Have a look at this link for more information and photos.

My bushwalking friends and I often see evidence of echidnas in bushland.  We see termite mounds with large holes scratched in them, and cylindrical "scats" (poo) that look like clay mixed with dead insects.  Sometimes we find rotting logs that have been ripped open, and distinctive tracks across patches of sand.  Look at this photo - an echidna had moved a small log to dig into the termite nest under it.  There are echidna footprints in the remains of the termite nest.

We know the echidnas are around, but they are difficult to find.

When you drive on roads near bushland at night, please slow down and keep an eye out for animals.  Echidnas, bandicoots, wallabies and other native animals have no idea about road safety.

world's biggest dugite and the Japanese hen

Ellenbrook is having a spell of cooler weather (11 to 24 degrees Celsius) and it’s a perfect time to go bushwalking.  So yesterday I headed off for a long stroll amongst the banksias and paperbarks.

At about 4pm I was carefully picking my way through an ephemeral wetland.  These kinds of wetlands have huge paperbark trees (typically Melaleuca preissiana) and a thick patchy understorey of shrubs and sedges.  Ephemeral wetlands in this part of Australia have water lying on the surface after rain in winter, and are dry most of the remainder of the year.  But the shrubs and trees are great places to see animals.  It’s slow going through this kind of country. 

 

I noticed a big shiny long dark animal lying on top of some low shrubs, sunning itself.  I was about to put my foot down about 1m in front of its head.  Then I found myself retracing a few slow steps.  I’d taken it all in, processed, reacted, and finally my brain said, “Stop, look at the snake!”  It was beautiful; glossy and in good health.  The head was slightly larger than my thumb, raised off the ground and turned slightly to look at this large beast blundering through its home territory (me).  The body was about 2cm thick in the middle.  The colouring was a uniform dark brown to black on the top and graduated to a lighter reddish orange-brown on the sides, with no markings.  The head was a lighter reddish brown with a distinct “venomous snake” shape.  I couldn’t see the whole length because the rear end was hooked in through the understorey, but what I could see was about 1.5m of Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis).  I walked quietly past without the snake even flicking its tongue.  When I was safely past, I had an urgent need to have another look at it, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming!  This was the FIRST time I’ve seen a snake during my bushwalks around Ellenbrook (in hundreds of hours over three years of exploring).  So I crept back, and the snake just lay there placidly, unperturbed.  What a beauty!  I continued on my walk.

After a few hours of wandering, the sun was setting and it was time to go home.  As I walked back through banksia woodland on ancient dunes, I saw a tiny cartoon-ish face peering at me out of the sand.  I stooped to look closer.  Children’s plastic toy?  Piece of rubbish?  I took hold of it, and it was firmly embedded, so I dug it out.  It was a little pottery chicken, intact except for a couple of chips; white with black scallops and orange wattles.  A faded label said “Handcrafted Otagiri JAPAN”.  Possibly a salt shaker, judging by the two small holes.  How did this thing come to be in bushland?  It’s probably the weirdest “lost” item I’ve found yet.