first day of summer

Welcome to Summer!  

Today also marks the first day of the indigenous season known as Birak, one of six seasons in the year.  Birak is a time of flowering for many plants, as a response to spring rains and warmer weather.  

Visit Federation Walkway in Kings Park to learn more about indigenous culture

It seems to make more sense to me that we should follow the indigenous seasons, as these describe our natural surroundings much better than the northern-hemisphere-focused four seasons.  But I digress...

The next few weeks will see an explosion of yellow and white flowers in our bushland.  My garden, too, boasts a riot of fluorescent orange flowers, namely Morrison Featherflower (Verticordia nitens).   

Morrison Featherflower (Verticordia nitens) in bushland

This gorgeous verticordia should be the emblem of the northern suburbs.  It has distinctive umbrella-shaped flower heads, and the stunning colour is echoed in the flowers of the WA Christmas Tree (Nuytsia floribunda).  A great place to see these wildflowers is Whiteman Park, and the drive along Lord Street or Beechboro Road is often a richly rewarding experience.

Once upon a year, such flowers existed by the acre and were collected for Perth's flower markets, as were many other native species across the South West. 

a time for butterflies

In my travels lately, I've seen a lot of butterflies about the place.  It's seems to be the perfect time of year for them - not so hot as to cause dehydration, warm enough to fly, and fairly good sources of leaves and nectar available. 

Butterflies in Western Australia are not as flashy as those of some other parts of Australia.  Look at the magnificently iridescent show-offs of the tropics, such as the Cairns Birdwing and Ulysses Swallowtail.  

Our local butterflies are smaller, often cryptic (i.e. camouflaged), and typically sparing with bright colours.  Here's an example; the Western Xenica (Geitoneura minyas). 

Western Xenica - adult female

The adults are light orange-brown with dark brown markings.  The little green larvae (caterpillars) feed on grasses, so the adults are often seen looking for mates or resting in shady patches of grass under Acacia or Eucalypts. 

Once, when I was birdwatching in the shade of some eucalypts, a cheeky butterfly landed on my notepad and I managed to take several photos.  I think he was attracted to the white surface of the paper, for some reason - he would fly away, then return to rest on my notepad.

Western Xenica - adult male

If you're interested in finding out more about butterflies, you might need a field guide such as Michael Braby's "The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia", and a digital camera with macro capabilities so you can take photos of the beautiful little creatures you see.  

The days of catching butterflies in a net and pinning them to boards has long gone, although this method is still used by entomologists to help in their biological studies.

Pepper and salt, mistletoes and insect interactions

We're heading into the time of year in which the bushland lights up with a thousand shades of yellow, orange, pink, gold and purple, and I simply can't go for a bushwalk without my camera.  There are so many different flowers to delight the photographer; orchids, hibbertias, leschenaultia, hakeas, native peas, acacias, cottonheads and kangaroo paws, to name a few*.  

One plant I particularly like (among these hundreds of species) is known colloquially as "Pepper and Salt".  The scientific name for it is Philotheca spicata.  It isn't the most spectacular flower in the bush, not by a long shot, but it makes up for being somewhat photogenically challenged by having a pleasant and elusive perfume, and always seems to have a posse of insects flittering around the delicate flowers.

Flowers of "Pepper and Salt" (Philotheca spicata)

The plant itself grows as an upright shrub, usually no taller than 50cm, with a slightly weeping habit especially when in flower.  (The gracile branches seem to be weighed down by the flowers.)  It is fairly widespread in our local bushland such as the Bush Forever sites, in banksia woodland, or amongst jarrah and marri trees.

"Pepper and Salt" (Philotheca spicata)

Pepper and Salt is found along much of the Swan Coastal Plain and further south (at least where it hasn't been cleared for roads and buildings.)  It would make a fine addition to a bush garden, but in nurseries you might have to search for it, or order it, under the old botanical name of Eriostemon spicatus.

Satin-green Forester moth (Pollanisus viridipulverulenta)

The little moth in attendance could be mistaken for a butterfly - it moves around in broad daylight, its iridescent green, blue and copper wings glittering in patches of sunlight.  Due to its romance with the Philotheca flowers, and its general reluctance to move from a good position, I find this species not too difficult to photograph.  

Satin-green Forester Moth

According to my field guides, this species is the Satin-green Forester Moth (Pollanisus viridipulverulenta).  Entomologists, please correct me if I'm wrong! The wikipedia entry doesn't mention that it is found in WA, but the CSIRO website shows that it is. 

Insects such as butterflies and moths are usually reliant on specific plants for food and drink.  Some of these little animals are entirely dependent on just one or two species.  Some have had deserved scientific attention.  For example, caterpillars of the Satin Azure butterfly (Ogyris amaryllis) dine on mistletoe (Amyema species).  Unfortunately, many people remove mistletoes, believing that their parasitic qualities will weaken and kill their trees.  See this ABC website for a great expose on the myths and facts of mistletoe.

Here is a fact sheet you can download about the Satin Azure, written for South Australia.  Interestingly, although the Satin Azure is found across Australia, in each area it feeds on the local Amyema species available.  In the factsheet, it mentions Wireleaf Mistletoe (Amyema preissii) as a favourite food plant, and Stalked Mistletoe (A. miquelii) as a back-up; these are two mistletoe species we have around Perth.  The butterfly also needs "attendant" ants to complete its life-cycle.

Wireleaf Mistletoe (Amyema preissii) grows on Acacia trees

Can you see the ecological links here?  In this case, the butterfly lays its eggs on a plant that is totally reliant on another plant (i.e. wattle trees).  The caterpillars of the butterfly are protected from predators by the attendant ants .  Do the mistletoes benefit from this arrangement?  And what do we know about the ants' requirements?  What do they feed on?  Does the wattle provide an ideal habitat in the way of leaf litter?  What are the requirements of the wasps that might parasitise the caterpillars?  We know a little, but not very much really.  (At least there are a few articles of interesting research listed on the internet about this!)

These fauna-flora interactions are not widely studied, and have not been fully considered in our planning for conservation reserves, rehabilitation of industrial areas, and revegetation of urban landscapes.  Part of the problem in the past has been that people have studied plants (i.e. botany) or insects (i.e. entomology) and not the link between the two sciences (i.e. ecology).  In fact, botanists have tended to look askance at insects as a threat - something with the potential to destroy the perfect plant specimen, or wreck a photo of an ideal flower (where some little critter has chewed one of the petals, for example.) 

Horticulturists have moved one step further from nature, with their arsenal of poisons to deal with their unwanted fauna in the form of bug sprays.  It saddens me to think how many caterpillars might be being sprayed today in my suburb, because they are not recognised as being butterfly larvae.  Ecological links are broken.  No caterpillars; no birds to feed on them = Silent Spring.  (Yes, it's a book; read about it here.)

Entomologists have in the past sometimes lacked the botanical skills to record the plants on which their study animals have depended.  At the present, following little animals around in bushland still requires patience, time and a lot of skill, so it does not fare well in the cut-throat budgets and high-pressure timelines of a typical land "development" or mining project.  Why on earth would a high-flying developer think they need an entomologist?  Add in the "emotional care factor" (i.e. cute fluffy animals versus scaly ones or buzzy flitty ones) and it's difficult to get people to realise their importance.  Maybe in another fifty years we'll have a better idea of ecological links.  So our Bush Forever sites and little urban parks may be more precious than we yet realise, especially at their current rate of disappearance.

There is a lot more to be learnt about our local bushland. . . 

* Note to the people who maintain our local Public Open Spaces - August is NOT the time to prune these plants!  You will be removing the recent winter's growth and flower buds, and depriving us of our coming show of spring flowers.  Please wait until late summer or autumn next year before getting out your pruning equipment.

cats in Western Australia - where do we stand?

Debates about cats, the effects of cats on wildlife and the environment, and the rights of cat owners, have been on-going for many years.  There has been a lot of discussion in the media lately, regarding cat laws in Western Australia. 

The most recent discussion started late last year, when the City of Swan selected three public parks in Ellenbrook for a trial Cat-free Zone. The parks were Woodlake Park (in Woodlake), Mornington Park (in Coolamon) and Moulton Wetland Park (in Charlotte's Vineyard).  A survey conducted by City of Swan in the three areas found that more than three-quarters of local residents gave their support for the zoning.  You can read about the survey responses in this November 2010 article in The Advocate newspaper.  A further article in December 2010 in The Advocate talked about the use of warning signs, and the impounding of cats found wandering around in these parks.  

In June 2011,  Western Australia brought in state-wide Cat Laws, encouraging responsible pet ownership, You can download the new Cat Bill from this link.  The City of Swan put out a statement in June 2011 in The Advocate, outlining how the new Cat Bill makes it unnecessary for local councils to have Cat-free Zones.  They are therefore abandoning the three proposed Cat-free Zones in Ellenbrook.  However, the Cat Bill allows authorised persons to impound cats found in a public place, which includes parks, so it effectively gives the City of Swan the same level of control over cats in parks. 

In July 2011, the ABC picked up the story and conducted some interviews with people from various backgrounds.  Although I don't agree with some of their viewpoints, the article makes an interesting read.


You might be thinking, why am I so interested in all this?  

Well, as a passionate bushwalker and wildlife photographer, I often see cats in places where they shouldn't be.  

someone's pet in a bushland park in Ellenbrook

The problem isn't just in Ellenbrook, of course.  I have seen cats wandering around in bushland and parks all over Perth, and even further afield. 

Question: What's wrong with this picture of Burns Beach Nature Reserve?

Answer:  It contains a cat.

Most of these are obviously household moggies - well-fed, often with collars, and not really caring if I take their picture, so long as I don't get too close.  It wouldn't be so bad if this was all cats do, just sit around under bushes or on logs enjoying the view.  But even a cat owner should admit that cats aren't in the park just for the fresh air.  


A common misconception is that cats only hunt when they are hungry, and that well-fed cats don't kill birds, therefore pet cats don't do any damage in bushland.  This is just not true.  Cats hunt because they are cats, and hunting is what they do, hungry or not.  Another misconception is that cats hunt only at night.  Not true; if it was, cats would not hunt birds during the day (which they do).  A third urban myth is that belling a cat warns birds and other animals of the cat's presence.  Not true; the only bird that would associate the sound of the bell with a warning of impending danger would be the bird in the cat's mouth.  Too late for that bird.  But I digress....


I often find tracks of cats, both feral and domestic, in bushland, sometimes many kilometres from the nearest houses.  Lately I've made a habit of recording these, because they seem to be on the increase.

domestic cat tracks in moist sand, very easy to see

cat tracks in a Bush Forever site, a LONG way from the houses  
(dry sand makes the track indistinct and difficult to see)

I also see first-hand how irresponsible pet ownership impacts on bushland and its wildlife.  Sometimes the victims are not in bushland, they're in my garden.  It's not pretty, finding a patch of feathers or a piece of a deceased skink, or worse.   

I was going to put a gruesome photo of the remains of a bird killed by a cat in here, but I decided against it. Instead, here's a photo of a very-much-alive skink on a burnt-out tree stump.

Cats are famous for being very efficient predators of rats and mice, which endears them to the human race for their ability to keep vermin at manageable levels around our buildings and farms.  Amazingly, cats can kill animals up to the size of a rabbit.  But this ability also makes them quite good at killing a range of other animals as well, such as frogs, lizards, small snakes, pygopods (legless lizards), and of course, birds.


Unfortunately, much of our native wildlife is at risk, because it is in the same "size and weight range" as a rat or mouse.  In Ellenbrook, we have many marsupials, and small birds that like to feed and nest on or near the ground.  We have a large number of little frogs and lizards that live in leaf litter or burrows at ground level.  These are all susceptible to cat attack.

Here is a list of some of the animals in our local parks, at risk from cats:

Mammals (these are in our Bush Forever sites)

Quenda (Southern Brown Bandicoot)

Honey Possum

Brush-tailed Possum
Ash-grey Mouse (a native, not a pest)

Southern Bush-rat (a native, not a pest)

Water Rat (a native, not a pest)
White-striped Freetail Bat


Birds (in bushland, and some of these are in suburban gardens)


Painted Button-quail 

Red-capped Parrot

Crested Pigeon 

Common Bronzewing

Splendid Fairy-wren
Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Grey Fantail

Brown Honeyeater

White-cheeked Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeater

Western Spinebill 
Silvereye



Reptiles (in bushland and suburban gardens)


Spiny-tailed Gecko

Burton's Legless Lizard
Fraser's Legless Lizard
Keeled Legless Lizard
Western Bluetongue

Fence Skink
Common Dwarf Skink
Western Pale-flecked Morethia (a skink)
Southern Pale-flecked Morethia (a skink)
West Coast Ctenotus (a skink)
West Coast Four-toed Lerista (another skink)
Western Bearded Dragon
Western Heath Dragon
Black-striped Snake (a small inoffensive creature)



Frogs (in bushland and, if you're lucky, in your garden)


Motorbike Frog
Banjo Frog (Pobblebonk)
Slender Tree Frog
Red-thighed Froglet
Moaning Frog
Squelching Froglet
Glauert's Froglet




Sadly, even if an animal survives the initial attack by a cat, it's very likely to succumb to post-attack shock or fatal infection from the wounds inflicted.  Cats carry a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which doesn't affect the cat itself, but can cause a disease called toxoplasmosis in other animals, as well as in people.  The effects of toxoplasmosis can be fatal.  The Australian Wildlife Health Network has an excellent factsheet which lists the effects that toxoplasmosis has on Australian wildlife. 

After all I've said, I still appreciate that cats are beautiful animals, and they make great pets.  Due to their intelligence and adaptability, they are undoubtedly one of the stars of the animal world.  But they don't belong in the Australian bushland, and they certainly don't have the "right" to go around killing our wildlife.  

If you have a cat, please follow the responsible pet ownership guidelines, and keep your pet on your property.  Don't let it loose to stray across roads, into other people's yards, and into parks, where it can get into trouble. 

birds watched at Woodlake

It was a cold breezy overcast day for our bird walk last week at Woodlake.  Despite that, a keen group gathered for a one-hour stroll around the lake perimeter.  The cold weather didn't deter the birds.

Here's a list of what we saw, with links for more information on each species.

Australian Magpies

Silvereyes
 

Western Wattlebirds (sometimes called Little Wattlebird)

"Twenty-eights" (Port Lincoln Parrots or Australian Ringnecks)

Galahs

White-cheeked Honeyeaters

Singing Honeyeaters

Brown Honeyeater

Eurasian Coots

Pacific Black Duck

Australasian Grebes

Spotted Turtledoves (an introduced species)

The bird highlight of the day, for me, though, occurred when returning to the carpark.  There in the shrubs was a Splendid Fairy-wren, shining out in his iridescent blue feathers.  We watched for a couple of minutes, then a female appeared and the pair descended to the ground to forage for insects. 

birdwatching at Woodlake

Our next event is a Bird Walk around Woodlake Park, on Sunday 10th July.

We will meet at the carpark next to the Woodlake Community Centre, in Highpoint Boulevard, at 9 am. 

The walk will be an easy stroll around the lake-side path, with frequent stops to look at waterfowl, honeyeaters, and perhaps many other kinds of birds.  We expect to be back at the carpark around 10 am.

Australian Wood Ducks, female on the left, male on the right

Bring binoculars and a camera.  Remember to wear a hat.  Children are welcome (with their parents or carers, of course), but pets are not.  If there is heavy rain, we may need to postpone to another day (or bring an umbrella!)

Here's a link to this event on Facebook, if you wish to share the details with friends.

The Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata) is just one kind of bird that can be seen at Woodlake Park.  The smart grey wings and chocolate head and neck are distinctive.  It is also known as the Maned Goose, because of long feathers on the back of the head and neck of the male.  This duck foregoes the usual duck habit of nesting amongst reeds on the ground; it nests in tree hollows near water.  It has a peculiar un-duck-like call, too; to me, it sounds like "meoooow"!  Although usually seen swimming around on the surface of the lake, they can also be spotted out on the lawns around the water's edge, nibbling the grass.

our planting day success

On Sunday the 12th June, some of us headed out to Aveley to help with some bush rehabilitation. Check it out if you're in the area - it's on the corner of Torres Parade and Argent Street.

Before we started, we were given a quick demonstration of how to plant the tubestock by David and Luke from Natural Area Management & Services. They supplied all the plants that we put into the ground. Luke also dug the holes for the plants, which made the planting really quick for us; it took only an hour or so for us to plant 300 plants. 

David shows how to remove a plant from its pot

The two little boys in our work crew did a great job running around and picking up rubbish from the site.  They helped Luke with watering the plants with water from a big tank on a truck.  I think it's good to see kids getting involved like this - it gives me hope for the future of the environment in the hands of the next generation.

gloves on, let's get to work!

We planted local trees, including Banksia attenuata, Corymbia calophylla and Melaleuca rhaphiophylla, and some local shrubs (such as Allocasuarina humilis, Beaufortia elegans and Regelia inops) as well as native sedges (such as Baumea articulata). The planted area is on the edge of a paperbark wetland, and these local species should blend in well with the existing trees and shrubs. When the trees and shrubs grow bigger, they should provide good habitat for birds such as Grey Fantails, Splendid Fairy-wrens, Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Brown Honeyeaters. These smaller birds depend on local plant species for shelter from predators and the elements, places to nest, and the insects and nectar the plants provide. 

We put some stakes and plastic around some of the smaller plants, to protect them from the wind and hungry rabbits. (Yes, unfortunately we have rabbits! They are one of Australia's infamous feral pests - read more about rabbits and the damage they do to bushland here.)

At the end of our planting, we posed for a photo, and had a sausage sizzle and some cool drinks to celebrate having put all the plants in the ground.

some of the less camera-shy work crew

The day was organised by Kellie from Brookfield Vale, who also did a great job supplying the food and drinks, and cooking up the sausages for us all. (Kellie took all these photos too!)  The sausages on rolls were delicious!

And since then, we've been having rain this week, so the timing couldn't be better for the plants to get their roots down into the sand and start growing. I want to thank everyone involved for making this planting day a pleasure and a success.  I hope we have another planting day soon.

Stay tuned, as I intend to go back periodically and take photos of “our” plants as they grow to maturity.

Community Planting Day in June

Brookfield Vale are organising a Community Planting Day on Sunday, 12th June, at  the
corner of Torres Parade and Argent Street in Aveley.  The day will start at 10:00am, and finish up around 12:30pm with a free sausage sizzle for all volunteers.


The aim is to revegetate a small patch of bare ground adjacent to bushland.  Revegetation helps to conserve existing biodiversity.  This is a good chance to learn more about local bushland and the plant species that grow there, as well as get some experience in hands-on bushland stewardship.  Feel free to ask lots of questions.  It's also a great opportunity to meet your neighbours!

we can make a difference

As we will be working outside in the sun, around scratchy bushland plants, please wear protective clothing and footwear - long pants, long-sleeved shirt and sturdy closed shoes or boots with long socks.  Gardening gloves, a hat and sunscreen might be useful too.  Please bring a bottle of drinking water for yourself. 

All planting equipment and plants will be provided.

To RSVP please call Kellie Bennett 9428 6079  
or email kellie.bennett at au dot brookfield dot com


 

April showers

At last, we are starting to have the kind of weather that we should (historically) be having at this time of the year.  Rain!  Some bushland plants, such as Hairy Yellow Pea (Gompholobium tomentosum), have new shoots, and will soon be producing flower buds for their flowering season in a few month's time.   

Old seed capsules on Gompholobium tomentosum

Waking up this morning to the soothing hum of a drenching rain shower, it was easy for me to imagine all the paperbark trees and banksias soaking up the refreshing water falling on the bushland, after enduring months and months of typical Perth hot dry summer weather.  

Wetland is dry land in summer

Winter rains usually start around this time, and then the ephemeral wetlands soak up the rain, until they can't soak up any more, and the water forms pools on the surface of the soil.  Some of these trees will be inundated; their roots will be under water.  Raindrops sparkle in the foliage, waterways form around the trunks, tadpoles appear. 

Dry land becomes Wetland after heavy rain

Don't you think it's amazing that some of our local trees not only tolerate, but thrive in, these very different conditions?

The Great Cocky Count 2011

On the evening of Thursday, 7 April, hundreds of volunteers will head to various sites across the South West from Geraldton to Esperance and inland to the Wheatbelt.  Their mission?  To record sightings of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo, in the Great Cocky Count 2011.

This magnificent bird, once numbering in the tens of thousands, has suffered from the effects of land clearing, shooting and nest robbing; in the last 50 years there has been a 50% decline in the population.  Their range has been reduced by up to one third.  Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo is now an Endangered species. 

Scientists are collecting data to try to work out more precisely how many birds are around, where they roost and where they feed.  This is a vital step to help protect the species from further decline.  This is where the volunteers come in!  Many volunteers, each collecting a little bit of data, make this project much easier to accomplish.  The volunteers in the Great Cocky Count will each go to a designated roost site 30 minutes before dusk and then tally the birds that come to the site until 30 minutes after dusk.  Simple! 

Would you like to help?  Check out the Birds Australia link to see how you can get involved.

If you're local to Ellenbrook or nearby, and you'd like to come out with me to count cockatoos, please contact me on my mobile: 0421 735 731.   Or email me - ldalgliesh at hotmail dot com.

 

au clair de lune

ON Saturday 19th March, Perth was graced with one of the largest full moons to arise for quite a few years.  This event is called a supermoon, and is a natural phenomenon caused by the elliptical orbit of the moon around the earth.

Just on sunset, I had an urge to go for a walk and see this phenomenon from a good vantage point in nearby bushland.  It was an opportunity to test a few hypotheses about walking around in the bush at night, in particular, orientation and vision.   On this occasion, I wasn't interested in trying to see owls, possums, echidnas, spiders or other nocturnal animals.  Full moon is not usually a good time to go looking for animals.  Most sensible nocturnal animals don't make an appearance - it's probably too easy for predators to locate prey.

I took a waterbottle, a first aid kit, a headtorch, and a spare torch, just in case.  No need for a hat or even a camera, and that felt strange at first because I usually take them with me everywhere.  As I left suburbia and walked along a wide sandy track towards my favourite banksia woodland, the huge disc of moon, hanging above the hills to the east, lit up the landscape like a floodlight.  

I had my headtorch turned off at this stage.  After a few minutes of listening and watching, I walked off the track and into the woodland, deliberately choosing an area that was familiar.  

By daylight, this is the sort of thing one would see in such an area.  (This photo is NOT from my walk, but an example from nearby bushland, with two friends in it for scale.)

an easy walk in daylight

At first, it was so difficult to focus on the shrubs and trees around me, I felt like I was walking through grey cotton-wool.  By moonlight, I lose my sense of colour.  All was shades of grey, except for the sky which was a beautiful rich grey-blue dotted with a few bright stars.  Light grey patches of sand glimmered and became my stepping stones.  

Once in a while, I turned the headtorch on, to check if I was about to trip over a log or walk into a spider web, which in retrospect is ridiculous because these things don't bother me during the day (being relatively rare...)  I found that turning the headtorch on was detrimental to my sight for the following few minutes, so I stopped using it.

Here's what it's like being out in the bush on a moonlit night - same photo as above, doctored with imaging software.

walking in the moonlight looks like this to me - click on the photo to enlarge it

The most surprising thing was how easy it was to navigate.  When I'm out in the bush (in daylight), I use the sun for orientation - morning is east, afternoon is west, and make allowances for the slight difference in angle at noon from one season to the next.  I discovered that I can do the same with the moon.  

As well as having the lunar guide, there are stars.  On the night I was out, the Southern Cross was approximately to the south, and the constellation of Orion was approximately to the north.   To top it off, I could still hear the noise of suburbia in the distance.  How could one get lost with all those signposts on a clear night?

Walking in bushland on a moonlit night would be a great experience to share with people.

15 March - Meet and greet

On Tuesday 15 March, we're having an informal meet and greet, to share our vision and information about local bushland.   This is an opportunity to get together and talk about what we'd like to do and how we're going to do it.

where: Ellenbrook Place Office, Main Street (above the Library)

when: 7pm 

This event is open to all residents of Ellenbrook, The Vines, Henley Brook and Aveley.

Families with children are welcome. 

Please RSVP for catering purposes to Erin Money (City of Swan) on 9297 9608.  

For more information, phone Linda on 0421 735 731 or email ldalgliesh at hotmail dot com.

Connect on Facebook - ellenbrookbushlandgroup@groups.facebook.com

hope to see you there!

 

Thankyou, wonderful Clean Up Australia Day volunteers!

I would like to thank everyone who took part in our local Clean Up Australia Day events.  It was good to meet and work with you.  

It's great that people are willing to give a couple of hours to clean up local bushland and parks for the benefit of their community.  

Here's what we collected at Moulton Wetland Park on Sunday morning, 6th March 2011.  This big pile of rubbish took eight people about an hour and a half to collect.  The bushland is now looking clean and green, so much better for having many kilograms of drink cans, bottles, food containers, broken toys and clothing taken out.  What a fantastic effort!

The fruits of our labours waiting to go to the dump

But I wonder - where does all this rubbish come from, and why does it end up in our beautiful park?  And how can we prevent this social illness, instead of just treating the symptoms?  

I would love to see a day when Clean Up Australia is no longer necessary.  

I'm addicted to picking up rubbish...

It's on again!  

The annual Clean Up Australia event will be held nationwide on Sunday, March 6th, 2011.  Rubbish makes our local bushland look untidy, ugly and unloved, and attracts feral animals.  Let's do our bit to make our neighbourhood sparkle, and be good role models for other people.

please pick me up for recycling!

Check the Clean Up Australia website for more information - link here.  

If you would like to join Fat Bobbie in cleaning up her local stamping ground, Moulton Wetland, please register on the website - link here.  If that's too far away for you, there are over four thousand other Clean Up Australia sites across Australia to choose from!

the mammal that everyone forgets

When most people think of wild mammals around Perth, I suspect that kangaroos are high on the list.  We have possums, surely, and quenda (bandicoots).  There are chuditch, if you're lucky, and even some native rodents.  But what about our flying mammals?  The ones we tend to forget about because we never see them?

I'm talking about bats.  

This year, 2011, is the International Year of the Bat. 

 There are basically two types of bat - large ones called flying foxes or fruit bats, and small ones called insect bats or microbats.  (If you like your Greek roots and scientific words, they are megachiroptera and microchiroptera, respectively)  That's a rough guide - some of the small fruit bats are smaller than the large microbats!  A better way to tell them apart is how they navigate in the dark.  Fruit bats are visual; they use their very large and sensitive eyes to see where they are flying.  Sometimes this doesn't work too efficiently, and they become a tragic mess in powerlines or fences.  (We don't have fruit bats in Ellenbrook; it's too cold for them in winter, and we don't have the kinds of trees that they need for pollen and nectar.)

Microbats use a complex system similar to our human invention "sonar" - they make noises and listen to how their surroundings bounce and distort the soundwaves, to form a 3D image in their heads.  Microbats therefore have large scoopy ears and weirdly shaped outgrowths on their faces, to catch the reflected soundwaves.  In contrast, flying foxes have heads like little dogs.

Around Ellenbrook, we have a few species of microbats, including White-striped Bats (Tadarida australis).  These bats sleep in hollows or under loose bark in trees during the day, and emerge at sunset or later to hunt their favourite food; insects.  You might sometimes see them skimming around sporting ovals, grabbing the insects attracted to the lights, or flying around above the road surfaces like swallows just on dusk.  For an excellent photo of one - here.

White-striped Bats have been chosen as an "indicator species" for scientific study - an indicator of ecosystem health and changing night-time temperatures.  The presence of bats in your neighbourhood means that there are probably healthy insects living on healthy trees and shrubs.  For the White-striped Bat, it also means that the nights are cool enough for the bats to come out.  Usually, the sounds that microbats make are too high-pitched for human ears to pick up, but the White-striped Bat is different.  It makes a metallic "chink...chink....chink" which is in our aural range, so it's easy for people to hear, and the call is quite distinctive so it's not likely to be mistaken for much else.  So this bat is readily noticed by people who know what they are listening for.  

Scientists working with Climate Watch have been collecting observations about the White-striped Bat.  Their website - link here - gives you more info about this interesting bat, plus a recording of the call (in case you want to improve your bat observation skills!)

You can read about other kinds of bats on Wikipedia - link here.

in praise of Marri

If you check out the local bush reserves around Ellenbrook at the moment, you'll see Marri trees (Corymbia calophylla), their branches heavily laden with creamy blossoms. These stout bloodwoods have attractive dark brown trunks and glossy green foliage. The scientific name calophylla means beautiful leaf.

one of Ellenbrook's largest indigenous tree species

Marri are usually around 40 metres in height, a perfect size for parks and acreage. In the wild around Ellenbrook and further afield, marri can be found in groves of about a dozen trees, with a thick understorey of grasstrees and local shrubs. Marri give many things to many creatures; shelter for birds and marsupials, nectar snacks for insects and birds, crunchy fruit for possums, as well as cool shade for the resting bushwalker.

see the nest?

Imagine a grove of mature marri on a hot day. There will be lots of birds resting in the shade of the canopy – tiny birds such as the Yellow-rumped Thornbill, the Grey Fantail, the Brown Honeyeater and the Silvereye, and larger ones such as the Twenty-eight and Red-capped Parrot. Occasionally there may be birds rarely seen such as a sleepy Boobook Owl. Perhaps there is a little possum dozing in a hollow twenty metres up. The flowers are alive with buzzing and flitting things including bees and tiny butterflies, all attracted by the honey-sweet nectar.

a bonanza for birds and insects

 There may be couple of small skinks darting around as they hunt for moths and leafhoppers on the rough bark. The shrubs around the base of the tree benefit by the microclimate (shade and humidity) created by the tree.

marri trunk has distinctive bark and "kino" (red sap)

Even the ground around the tree is alive – the thin layer of natural mulch is home for beetles and earthworms, enriching the soil by breaking down the leaves. And you, standing underneath, breathing the air; cooled, filtered and re-oxygenated by Corymbia calophylla. Imagine how many life-forms are sustained by a single mature marri tree! I've heard them described as “apartments for wildlife” but it's more like an oasis resort with free food.

a lone marri on a sandy plain

Marri and other trees have been felled all around Perth to make way for blankets of roofs and hot bitumen. Scientists have recently discovered that cities become a “heat island” with temperatures above the surrounding countryside. Suburbs, including Ellenbrook, have the potential to become insufferable heat traps during our hot dry summers. We can help reverse the “heat island” effect by replacing some of the trees that were cleared.

let's keep the big trees alive in our housing developments!

[The above is an edited extract from an article published in local newspaper "Windows on Ellenbrook" in March 2008.  Photos and text by L. Dalgliesh aka Fat Bobbie]