PHBG Announcements

Working Bee Words: Frog Pond Rescue!

2012-04-30T01:40:00.000-07:00

Tim’s winter creek - yet to start flowing - was the site of Sunday’s working bee (Lyndall, Craig and Tim) in perfect weather for working in the bush. We noticed that the dry frog pond in the creekline was choked with the weed Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) so it was decided to hand pull them out to prevent plants polluting the water when they became submerged and rotted down. It was good timing because the nightshade plants were developing green berries, so we made sure that all the plants were disposed of well away from the pond and the creekline. When the pond fills up it will be good to hear the frogs calling again in appreciation of their newly renovated pond! ~ Tim

So a foggy and soggy Sunday turned into a beautifully crisp and clean autumnal afternoon. The gorgeous little winter creek on the high side of the track gets a fair amount of water during the wet months and with the H2O comes our web-footed friends. Unfortunately, in the interim also comes the dreaded weed but the recent rains combined with the gusto of a hardy few turned this...

into this...

in around three hours doing this...

The enemy - Black Nightshade

And for those who weren't able to be there you missed this!

All pics courtesy of Lyndall & Tim - thanks guys!

Lyndall also snapped pics of some pretty little flowers and this little bug dude - anyone know what he is??

Not to mention the other dudes...

A beautiful day of death and destruction by the few on behalf of the many. Lest we foliate.

Working Bee Words: Paul and Sugina's place

2012-04-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Good to see the great progress that is being achieved on Paul and Sugina’s lovely bushland block than runs off the spine of the Bull Creek Range. It’s amazing how much the weed burden has been reduced over the past few years which will have the added benefit of significantly reducing the fire risk. It was a classic autumn day, great to be in the bush, with lots of small bush birds such as wrens and thornbills close at hand. Four of us worked on broom hand-pulling plants in the western part of the property. The leaves on many broom plants, though not killed, had been stripped off possibly by the larva (caterpillar) of the Glatigny’s Tiger moth (see image of adult) as seen last year on other properties nearby. The caterpillars have disappeared, and although there were lots of butterflies around, they looked like the Common Brown butterfly (top two images), not Glatigny’s Tiger moth (bottom image). See also images of caterpillars taken on a nearby property last year in previous post...

See you all at my place on the 29th of April!

Tim

Photo: Greg Miles http://www.climatewatch.org.au/species/insects/common-brown-butterfly

black and white tiger moth Spilosoma glatignyi (Le Guillou)

The clean sweep for broom

"Fern Gully' as named by Tim (good one Tim!)

Bushland Condition Monitoring (BCM) training pics

2011-09-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

An amazing day was had by all at the Bushland Condition Monitoring training day hosted by TIm Milne courtesy of the The Nature Conservation Society (NCS) and Native Vegetation Council grant all organised by the indomitable Anthony Abley, Bush Management Advisor extraordinaire from the DNER. So much information to take in on everything from assessing site's for BCM, equipment, flora identification etc etc. Fabulous turnout and a great response from all who attended. One day we might pen some more detailed notes to go with all the pics but for now, hers a few - write your own captions!

Control Method for Arum Lily

2011-09-02T17:48:00.001-07:00

As promised last Sunday, here is a good control method for Arum Lily (per Anthony). This is based on the active ingredient glyphosate (eg Roundup) and doesn't require any metsulfuron-methyl (eg Brushoff) which is expensive and poses a high risk of off-target damage to native vegetation.

Firstly...

Effective control requires:
1. Preventing seed set by removing the short-lived soil seed bank.
2. Killing the significant below ground rhizome which can be resistant to above ground control measures.

The thick waxy resistant leaves mean foliar applications of herbicides have very little effect on the underground rhizome. However, cutting the plants off at ground level and swabbing the soft stumps with herbicides containing glyphosate is an effective way of killing the rhizome with very little off target damage to the surrounding vegetation. This can be achieved with relatively little effort.

The Method...

Tools
• Sharp knife to cut stems
• Spray bottle with adjustable nozzle (to spray), or sponge-topped plastic bottle (to swab).

Herbicide mix
• Glyphosate (1 part) and water (5 parts). Buy the 360g/L product.
• penetrant (see label for dilution rates)
• dye (e.g. EnviroDye)

Important to mix well.

Method
• Cut the stem(s) close to or at ground level.
• Apply the herbicide mix (spray or swab) to the cut stems within a few seconds of cutting.
• Take care near water to avoid contamination

When to control
• Control can occur any time between June and September before plants begin to set seed.
• Ideally control should commence as the first flowers appear.

OTHER INFORMATION:

Where to get ingredients for the herbicide mix:

Coopers - Mylor
258 Strathalbyn Road, Mylor, SA, phone (08) 8388 5304
http://www.coopersrural.com.au/

Macspred - Wingfield
7 Rosberg Road, Wingfield SA 5013.
Tel. (08) 8262 6944

Factsheet: "Using Glyphosate"
http://www.amlrnrm.sa.gov.au/Portals/2/pest_animals_plants/RCU_-_Using_Glyphosate.pdf

All the best!
Tim

Weeding War Report: Arum Lily devastation at Justin & Sam's...

2011-08-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

In what was one of the best turnouts for a while the PHBG was fortunate enough to have gorgeous Springish weather and a jolly turnout at Lot 18 yesterday. Attending their first weed war day were Alison & Steve along with their gorgeous kelpie Ellie who kept herself bust checking on everyone as they spread out along the creek in the hunt for Arum Lillies and the odd bit of Broom and gnarly Gorse (way to go with those 'Man Gloves' Justin!). James also backed-up for his second war drive and put in a man sized effort. Thanks to go to Lyndall, Tim, Justin and Sam (for the brownies).

The enemy & WMDs

The Winter rains had put some decent water in the creek and the frogs were lovin' it...

An ally in the war

A great day, thanks all!

Two rare bird species observed in one morning!

2011-08-29T03:31:00.001-07:00

A sighting from Tim:

Last Sunday morning (21 August), while walking through a PHBG member's property at the northern end of the Bull Creek Range, a bird similar in size to a blackbird caught our attention, only 5 metres from the edge of the track where we were standing. We recognised it as a Scaly Thrush (also known as a Bassian or White's Thrush). This species is rarely seen nowadays in the Mt Lofty Ranges due to declining habitat. It is also a very secretive bird, preferring dense cover. The plumage has striking black scaling or mottling on a pale background – see linked video and image:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG5j94YTDjI

And at the same location and time, we were lucky enough to hear and see a pair of Peregrine Falcons – which didn't seem to concern the Scaly Thrush - in the tops of some tall pines.

Tim

Bush Management Workshop a winner!

2011-08-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

The Bush Management Workshop ably run by Anthony Abley went off with a bang (or is that a cut 'n swab?!?) on a chilly Thursday night in the Prospect hill Memorial Soldiers Hall. Anthony put on a jam-packed presentation condensing a two-dat workshop into 3 hours. A great turn-out included Tony Randall from the Goolwa to Wellington Local Action Planning Association as well as groupies Paul, Jenni, Lyndall, Justin, Matt, Tim and new kid on the block James! Ant also gave out Weed Warrior show bags (well, buckets actually). A pic of said show bucket and its contents will be posted soon(ish). Thanks Ant, we learnt a heap and traded all sorts of info. A nice precusor to September's two day Bushland Condition Monitoring workshop by The Nature Conservation Society...

We're Baaaack!

2011-08-14T02:51:00.000-07:00

Well, after a bit of a hiatus news posting-wise, the PHBG is back! Kind of. The current Blogger set-up is proving somewhat inadequate for an embedded page like this, so towards year's I'll be looking at alternative so that EVERYONE in the group can post here. There will of course be lots to report as we gear up planning and expending the first round of the NVC grant. What we'll attempt to do is diarise the structure of the group as it changes and the way on which we develop the project over the next three years so that other bushland groups can have a crack at doing this themselves.

But 'til then, please enjoy some sporadic posting on all things bushland and groupie...

Craig

Spring Keeps Springing

2010-10-09T03:57:00.000-07:00

Two more lovelies...

A clutch of Donkey Orchids

and a Blue Grass Lily

both spotted today amongst the Watsonia being poisoned. Goes to show it pays to use the 'Tongs of Death' over blanket spraying.

Spring is Sprunging

2010-09-18T02:55:00.000-07:00

And here's some pictures...(click for bigger)

Lavender Grevillea

Brown Thornbill (?)

Gorse Bitter Pea

Running Postman

Myrtle Wattle

Pink-Eyed Susans

Nodding Greenhoods

Dumping today, gone tomorrow

2010-09-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

From this...

To this...

Thanks to John from Team Dingo for removing the wreck and scrap metal fencing material dumped by some delightful people down the old quarry road (and in the bush itself!) on Mt Mag. This area can now be sealed off and allowed to regenerate. A general cleanup followed and the remaining rubbish, tyres etc will be gone shortly. The access road was then blocked by recycling some pine posts (also dumped) and setting them across the entrance ways and down the track itself. All this added to the last working bee where some Watsonia, Gorse (the only infestation on the property) and Soursobs were poisoned will see this area transformed over the next few seasons.

Bush Regenerators 1 Illegal Dumpers/Trailbikers 0

Grant Application Successful!

2010-09-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

Today we received news from the Native Vegetation Council that the SEB grant application for funding over the next three years has been successful and that $191,500 has been offered to the Prospect Hill Bushland Group. The Agreement will be reviewed by the group over the next two weeks and a response forwarded to the NVC. This is great news and a resounding slap on the back for all the hard work by private landowners committed to improving and preserving the biodiversity of their local natural environment.

In particular the Prospect Hill Bushland Group would like to thank Anthony our tireless Bush Management Advisor from the Department of Environment & Heritage, Tony from the Goolwa to Wellington Local Action Planning Association and Danielle C for their resolute support and work on behalf of the group.

The Prospect Hill Bushland Group is in business!

Biggest Grass Tree you eva' did see...

2010-08-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

Well perhaps not but it's up there and they're just starting to flower...

So sayeth the Grass Tree Girls

See you at Jemima & Craig's on the 22nd for this year's Watsonia wasting...

Greenhoods Galore!

2010-08-01T04:25:00.000-07:00

Wet wet wet and the darlin' little winter orchids are pooping up all over the place. From the two loners spotted near Mt Mag Rd a few weeks ago we now have multiple sightings all over the place. And they're coming out...

From this...

To they're coming out...

Common they may be, beautiful they definitely are.

One for the Fungi Man

2010-07-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

It's wet! (although never too wet). But wet & winter = fungi. Here's an odd one for Mr Fungus to have a squizz at and see what he thinks [well I've never seen this one before]

Arum Lillies RIP & more!

2010-07-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to the death and destruction team who fronted at Jenni's for what was literally a glorious day of follow-thru Arum Lily slicin' and a'swabbin'. We covered a fair patch of land and combined with the previous blackberry spraying and clearing the area is really starting to take shape. Pics to follow [hint hint to those that took some. I just saw the green mist and failed to take any]

Caterpillar in great numbers attacking Cape broom near Ti Tree Road in late June!

2010-06-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to all who came for the weed-up at Andrew & Justin's yesterday. We attacked the hillside in a flanking manoeuvre with vast numbers of Broom falling before our pulling might - and we were attacking up hill. Imagine the dent we'll be able to make should fortune favour us with the NVC SEB grant. Herewith some pictures taken by Tim of interesting fungi found in the liberated territory and a 5th column caterpillar found merrily munching its way through Broom leaves. Tim is trying to identify it lest we be able to enlist it as a biological weapon in future campaigns...

Coral-like fungus

Classic fairytale fungus

Stout minaret fungus

Attack!

The Victorious

The Surprised & Pointing Aimlessly

Grant Meeting a Great Meeting

2010-06-16T21:05:00.001-07:00

A short note to say a big thanks to Anthony, Danielle and Tony for making time to come and talk to us about grants and share some hot food and room temperature wine (thanks Ant!) at the Claredon Inn last Thursday. A robust discussion was had and the group is looking forward to the possibility of some focussed long-term funding under the new Native Vegetation Council SEB Grant scheme. Lots of work ahead to make the deadline and we're all looking forward to a celebratory second dinner in due course!

Rescheduled Weeding Day

2010-06-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Due to the cancellation of Andrew & Justin's weeding day on Sunday May 30th due to inclement weather (hey at least it was raining!) this coming Sunday's event will be rescheduled. Google calendar will be updated shortly and hopefully not send multiple emails like the last time. Paul & Sugina's weeding day will be slotted in later in the festivities.

May Weed day at Lyndall's!

2010-05-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 2nd saw the weed warriors at Lyndall's where a sweep was done on the Broom (if you know what I mean). In attendance also was Anthoy from the DEH who pitched in and shared the knowledge love on all manner of invasive species including non-green ones. Here are a few pics from Lyndall;