Streamwatch … in the Blue Mountains

There are currently five active Streamwatch groups in the Blue Mountains: Fitzgerald Creek, Gordon Falls Creek, Leura Falls Creek, Popes Glen and South Lawson Bushcare Group.

Streamwatch is coordinated by the Australian Museum. Members of Streamwatch register with the Museum and are provided with training, water testing kits and support. The Museum also does a visit to a newly proposed site. Streamwatch groups commit to doing water testing at a regular time once a month and uploading the data onto the Streamwatch website. Groups are also encouraged to take part in the Autumn Waterbugs Watch and Spring Waterbugs Watch run by the Museum.

BMCC Bushcare Officers have done the Streamwatch training.

If your Bushcare group is keen to get involved in setting up streamwatch at or near your site please let us know. You can contact your Bushcare officer or Jenny Hill email: jhill@bmcc.nsw.gov.au

Further information can be found at http://www.streamwatch.org.au/streamwatch/

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News from the Bushcare Team  

                                         

Dear Blue Mountains Bushcarers

This edition of Gecko is flavoured by snow, wind and rain – together with a mixture of emotions:

Sadness – we have had to say goodbye to two of our local Bushcare pioneers: Ruth Ley and Neil Stuart. We celebrate them and thank them both for their great achievements in Bushcare and community welfare. 

Pride – we all know that Bushcare volunteers make the best neighbours and the proof is in the Seniors Week Awards yet again this year – see p 3!

Excitement! The Leura Falls Creek Stormwater project won a prestigious NSW State Government Award in July.

And of course I’m pleased to bring you the typical array of informative articles highlighting the  importance of clean waterways to frogs and turtles, interesting invasive plants and P & J Smiths’ documentation of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area’s fauna.

And from the Bushcare Office: Erin has announced with great excitement that another baby is joining her family so she will be on leave for the next few months, and Jill has reluctantly decided to  retire. We wish them all the best!     –   Monica, for the Bushcare Team.

 

SENIORS WEEK RECOGNITION AWARDS 2016

As usual, Bushcare was well represented in this year’s BMCC Senior’s Week awards. Typical of Bushcare volunteers, these fabulous people were recognised not only for their commitment to looking after our stunning mountains landscape, but also for their many contributions to the broader community. 

Morag Ryder 

Morag Ryder

Morag has been a Bushcare volunteer for many years, working with the Water Nymphs Dell, Braeside, Gibbergunyah (Gloria Park), Coates Park and Horseshoe Falls Bushcare Groups. Over the years Morag has also been involved in many Bushcare events doing weed control and planting. She has also created some beautiful and artistic banners and bunting for Bushcare Groups and the Bushcare Picnic. Morag often provides surprise gifts to people.


Susan Jalaluddin

Susan Jalaluddin (2)

Susan is an active and dedicated member of the Vale Street, Cumberland Walkway and Woodford Glen Bushcare Groups, as well as Swampcare Events.  Susan also has a strong involvement in the Bushcare Network and the Leura Falls Creek Catchment Group. She also regularly volunteers at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney to assist with their plant identification work. In recent times, Susan has been advocating to improve access of a pathway through a park in Hazelbrook to assist the local community. Susan also provides knitted items for the shop at Katoomba Hospital, which provides funds back into the Hospital. Susan collects cards, calendars and pictures to provide to a school in Malaysia, which the students use to make artwork to sell to raise funds. Susan also helps to care for her elderly Father.

Robert Trenchard-Smith

Robert Trenchard-Smith - 2016 - Photo Credit Lachlan GarlandRobert is a very dedicated member of the Everglades and Minnehaha Falls Bushcare and Landcare Groups. His meticulous and thorough approach makes him a valued member of all three groups. Robert also works at Everglades as a volunteer in the gatehouse and shop, assists with events, traffic marshalling and guiding visitors around the gardens and house. His multi-lingual skills are a great asset in this regard. Robert’s friendly and helpful nature makes him an important part of the Everglades voluntary community.

Bozena (Bea) Pavlicek 

Bea Pavlicek - Photo credit Helen Boundy

Bea Pavlicek – Photo credit Helen Boundy

Bozena (Bea) has been an active, enthusiastic and regular member of two Bushcare Groups – Tree Fern Gully and Marmion Swamp (both in north Leura).  Her attendance has literally kept one Group going. Bea is also a great support to her local community – helping a neighbour and friend when they were very ill and walking the dog of another neighbour.

 

Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area: Documenting Outstanding Fauna Values

Greater Glider by Kate Smith

Greater Glider by Kate Smith

by Judy and Peter Smith

The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA) comprises eight reserves: Blue Mountains, Gardens of Stone, Kanangra-Boyd, Nattai, Thirlmere Lakes, Wollemi and Yengo National Parks and Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve. The area was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2000 because its natural values, including the diversity of its fauna, were considered to be outstanding at international level.

In 1998, when the nomination of the Greater Blue Mountains Area for inscription on the World Heritage List was prepared, it was well known that the area provided habitat for a wide variety of fauna. However, details of the vertebrate fauna were sketchy. Over the last year, in an attempt to gain a clearer understanding of the fauna, we have been preparing annotated checklists of the native frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals in the GBMWHA.

The checklists indicate the species we consider to have been reliably recorded in each of the eight constituent reserves together with their conservation status at national and state level, and details of their distribution, habitat and relative abundance in the WHA. The project has been supported through funding from the Australian Government’s Community Heritage and Icons Grants Programme.

Out of interest, over 60 of the vertebrate fauna species are considered threatened at national and/or state level and at least 422 native species: 66 mammal, 250 bird (including at least 29 honeyeater species), 71 reptile and 35 frog species have been recorded in the area since European settlement, truly an outstanding diversity.

If you would like a copy of the checklists please contact us. Additional records or comments on the checklists would be most welcome. As the fauna is by no means completely known, nor is it static, we are hoping that the checklists will be regularly updated. We can be contacted at: smitheco@ozemail.com.au

 

Blue Mountains Have Your Say

Have Your Say on the Council’s proposed service delivery plans and budgets for 2016-2017.

The Council has prepared its Draft Operational Plan 2016-2017 and invites the views of the community.

The draft Operational Plan 2016-2017 includes:

  • Annual service delivery actions;
  • Asset Works Program;
  • Budget;
  • Rating statement; and
  • Fees and charges.

The draft documents are now on public exhibition until Wednesday 25 May 2016. The following documents can be accessed from the Library at the right of this webpage or hardcopies can be viewed at the Katoomba and Springwood Office of the Council or in Council libraries:

Draft Delivery Program 2013-2017 incorporating Operational Plan 2016-2017

Draft Fees and Charges 2016-2017

Lodge your comments via the online submission form below by Wednesday 25 May.

Here is the the link to the councils page:

http://bluemountainshaveyoursay.com.au/dop2016-17

Bushcare Boosters Training

The first of the three Bushcare Boosters training sessions was at South Lawson Bushcare Site.  Twelve people attended and it was a mix of presentation inside and a site visit.

The idea of these workshops is to give a big picture of planning and assessing your sites. The next workshop will be held at on Sunday the 5th of June and we will be looking at Fauna considerations on your site. Stay tuned to the events page to find out more.

The key take home from this session is;

  •  Everyone who is at Bushcare every month has something to contribute to the planning sessions and work plans for your Bushcare Group.  Every group has a work plan ask your Bushcare Officer to talk you through yours.
  • Information from out of area on weeds is vital as it can indicate how much attention we should be paying to emerging weeds. This site was Turkey Rhubarb http://weedsbluemountains.org.au/weeds/turkey-rhubarb and Arum Lily http://weedsbluemountains.org.au/weeds/arum-lily-2/
  • having a look around to see issues past the boundaries of your site is vital when planning for your work plan.
  •  The South Lawson Bushcare group has done some tremendous work to safeguarding the swamp and bushland areas.
On site with Geoff and some of the group looking at some fauna evidence at South Lawson Bushcare site

On site with Geoff and some of the group looking at some fauna evidence at South Lawson Bushcare site

Workshop on Blue Mountains’ Arboreal Mammals

Mountain Brushtail at Mt Irvine photo by Peter Smith

Mountain Brushtail at Mt Irvine photo by Peter Smith

Renowned local ecologists Judy and Peter Smith are inviting you to attend an evening workshop on the arboreal mammals of the Blue Mountains Local Government Area.

Come along if you would like to learn more about the night life of the Blue Mountains – what gliders, possums, quolls and koalas are out and about at night, how to identify them, listen to their calls, find out where they live, and how to find them.

Judy and Peter will also present results of a recent study they have undertaken, thanks to a 25th Anniversary Landcare Grant, investigating how these arboreal mammals are faring in the Blue Mountains.

When: 7:00 – 9:00 pm  Thursday 16 June 2016.

Where: Santa Maria Centre Hall, Lawson (253 Great Western Highway, Lawson, between Somers St and Kitchener Road, next door to Our Lady of the Nativity Church).

Cost: Free! Tea and coffee provided.

If you would like to come please RSVP to Judy and Peter smitheco@ozemail.com.au

Native Hydrangea (Abrophyllum ornans):  Mistaken for a Weed?

by Ian Baird Friends of Katoomba Falls Creek Valley Bushcare Group & Remote Bushcare

Over a number of years, I have walked the Victory Track along Saffasfras Creek from Faulconbridge to Springwood, exploring various tributaries and their associated gallery rainforests. On one occasion I was surprised to find, growing next to the track in the rainforest, a sparsely branched, medium-sized shrub with very large leaves, and observed that it looked a bit like a hydrangea. However, I had a feeling it was the native hydrangea and that I had seen a photo of it in Fairley and Moore (2000). I looked it up later, and confirmed that it was the native hydrangea, Abrophyllum ornans, a member of the Roussaceae family (F.Muell.) Hook.f. ex Benth. More recently, on two occasions, I have found individual plants near the track in the rainforest in different locations.

Native Hydrangea cf Lyndal Sullivan

Native Hydrangea photo courtesy of Lyndal Sullivan

The most recent sighting was of a plant (photographed) regrowing from the base after having been sawn off near ground level by someone. It occurred to me that this may have been a case of a well-intentioned, but misguided attempt at weed control by a bush regenerator or bushcarer, as the plant does stand out as something unusual. This is thus a salutary warning that the native flora contains many plants that do not necessarily fit the mould, in terms of many people’s perceptions of what ‘typical’ native plants look like, and the need for bushcarers to exercise caution. If in doubt, when deciding whether a plant is a weed. It is best to ask someone with appropriate ID skills before taking action.

The native hydrangea is the only species in the genus (monotypic). The species has previously been included within the Saxifragaceae, and more recently, the Escalloniaceae (with possumwood, Quintinia sieberi). Shrubs or small trees to 8 m high. Flowering October–December. Its habitat is warm-temperate and subtropical rainforest, especially along smaller watercourses or in gullies on poorer soils. The natural range of distribution is from the Illawarra of NSW (north of the Shoalhaven River) to the McIlwraith Range in far north eastern Australia. NSW subdivisions: NC, CC, SC.  For the plant description see Plantnet:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Abrophyllum~ornans

There are a small number of records for the lower-to mid-Blue Mountains, including one previous record from Sassafras Creek, Springwood by L.A.S. Johnstone in 1977. For Australian Virtual Herbarium map of records, where individual records can be examined, see: http://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=Abrophyllum+ornans#tab_mapView