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Reefcare Day Report: A cool rainy morning won’t stop the fun!
At some point a competition started as to who can pull up the longest Kikuyu runner…..
It was a grey, overcast morning as we arrived on site, to be greeted by a rain shower. We all donned our coats, which never came off as the rain showers kept coming in all morning, one after the other. So much for the forecast of 32C and sun/cloud. We had low/mid 20’s and rain on and off the whole time. Still, it was great to be out in nature with our cozy little group.
However, some were less impressed with the weather than others …
Working on the eastern dunes. Photo by Kathy Shields.
In the photo above, Arthur is facing away from the camera. He was working on getting rid of the kikuyu from an area of Lomandra and tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum). Along the line of white weed bags you can see the start of the new demarcation line going east to west to stop the kikuyu heading up the slope into a beautiful area of native Themeda. On the right, Alex and Des talk logistics – this is the area where Alex was removing the non native pigs face.
As there was no wind we worked in the south eastern area of the site for a change. Brad and his brother Peter who was out from Colorado, USA eliminated a large Bitou bush and then cleaned up this area of the non-native pigs face, before heading to the northern part of this site to get rid of another couple of bitou – and then helped rid central area of this site of the non-native pig’s face.
Des and Arthur worked on the north/south demarcation line which is there to stop the non-native pigs face going over the bump into the kikuyu and the stopping the kikuyu of getting any further into our beautiful eastern dune area. They cleared kikuyu westward and Arthur did an amazing job getting this rotten grass out of a lovely clump of native plants of Lomandras and a tea tree. Merrilyn worked on one of her two most hated weeds, Gladiolus caryophyllaceous hybrid – (the other is asparagus fern) – she even brought along a sieve to capture the small bulbs at the bottom of the plant from a trowel full of sand. Now that is serious dedication and determination!
Using a sieve is an effective way to capture the small bulbs. Details like this make a huge impact in preventing the return of these weeds.
Merrilyn on the eastern dunes.
Alex and Leila worked on the Turkey Rhubarb which is well into the Westringia and hard to get to, but with a saw (this one is dying so no problem sawing it up!), they were able to get in and were really surprised how many bulbs they were able to find in that area. They also checked the nest, then joined the rest of the team over the other side of the track where Alex removed the non-native pigs face on the southern side, whilst Leila, Lisa (after working on the new demarcation line), Brad and Peter removed non-native pigs face from the central area of the eastern dunes.
Kathy, Ivana and Lisa created a new demarcation line going east to west along the southern slope of the eastern dune area. This line is to stop the kikuyu from the flat area of the eastern dunes moving into our beautiful Themeda grassland, which it is just starting to do. Aim is to continue to work above the line to make sure we get all the kikuyu out of there… and one day hopefully, we can attack the kikuyu in the flat.
At some point a competition started as to who can pull up the longest Kikuyu runner. You be the judge, but it looks like there is no end to the “lengths” we will go to in order to have fun and win :)
We didn’t stop for morning tea as no point just sitting in the rain, so we worked through until 11:15 and then left the site sopping wet. Kathy, Des, Lisa, Alex and Leila met up for a coffee where we chatted about Reefcare and life generally. Alex and Leila also leant about the old days when one could steam an envelope open – their jaws just dropped, so funny.
Text by Lisa, photos by Kathy and Lisa
Reefcare Day Report: New members join us on a cool morning
This morning’s focus was mature Asparagus Fern which is deeply entangled with natives and thick grass. No fruit but lots of flowering evident.
One of the magpies checking out Leila, or seeing if she has any food of interest – photo by Mary Clarkson
Whilst the day was overcast, it was good to work in cooler weather.
As we walked up to the top of the headland, we checked the hang glider site, which has remedial works done on it after last winter’s rain. There are now Bitou Bush clumps growing in the hessian matting. The plants are showing Bitou tip moth which eats out the shoots and stunts growth for a while.
This morning’s focus was mature Asparagus Fern which is deeply entangled with natives and thick grass. No fruit but lots of flowering evident. The effort to dig out 4 crowns and expose a large crown. Given the drizzly weather, I’ll treat the large crown with glyphosate next time. (I’ll send this as Photo 2)
The Asparagus is growing inside the large Dianella clump and is impossible to dig out- so will paint glyphosate on its stems next time.
Aspargus in clump of Dianella - challenging to remove.
We have the same problem with Asparagus in the Correa alba clump – see photo below. This will probably require glyphosate as well, otherwise there is no way to remove the weed without damaging the native plant.
Aspargus in a correa alba
Julie checked the Asparagus clump which was treated a month ago. Most of the crown is dead but a section has regrown slightly stunted leaves.
Aspargus reshooting after poison last month.
Julies haul of aspargus rhyzomes
We hope this is not a rabbit hole!
We had morning tea with a beautiful view over the ocean. It was nice to chat to our new members.
Morning tea on the western slope.
As per usual the magpies came to visit and check to see if we had any snacks for them.
Inquisitive magpie
After morning tea we continue working in the quiet drizzle, with Lisa working on the Oat grass and Merrilyn working on the ever-growing Bitou.
It was a nice morning overall and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We had a good turn up, and everyone stayed despite the on and off drizzle all morning. Below are some more photos of the morning’s activity.
Reefcare Day Report: Helping nature by the sea on a long weekend
We were stoked with how much we got done with just the two of us.
Des admiring the first flower on one of the Melaleuca armillaris seedlings, planted in the last couple of years ~ the Bracelet Honey Myrtle.
This weekend was a long weekend in Sydney with Labour Day on Monday 7 October, so most of our crew took the advantage of the extra day to go away – that left our Supervisor Kathy with the retirees who would never think to venture out of Sydney on a long weekend!
Julie spent her time in her usual area just west of the gully concentrating on the removal of asparagus fern.
The two photos above show some of Julie’s work included cutting back asparagus stems to 20cm and then painting with glyphosate. The photo on the left is just after painting. The photo on the right shows the effect, one month later.
Des spent the first part of the morning working on an area of Burr medic he found on the western slope, as well as the oat grass which is now coming up all over our site (source was the public track) and starting to seed, as well as his nemesis – the asparagus fern. Des also did some work on the bitou working east to west throwing cuttings in any exposed areas to try and get some mulch happening on any exposed sand area, and then he went back to target more asparagus fern along the western slope; which literally has 100’s of these little ones popping up all the time, probably due to the amount of huge advanced asparagus fern plants which surround our site. It was not that long ago Des and I spent 3 hours each just on those small asparagus ferns on the western slope and barely made a dint – Merrilyn complains about how many there are every month!
Des removing burr-medic with an ocean view
Lisa and Kathy worked in the western gully with our main focus being on removing the non-native pig’s face which was starting to smother our earlier plantings which are doing so well in this area – in doing so, we also removed quite a lot of oat grass and ehrharta erecta which fortunately a lot were not yet in seed so did not need to be bagged; and of course – a few small asparagus ferns.
Kathy working on Pigs face removal in the gully. It was hot work, but there was a welcome cooling breeze further down the gully.
The photos taken in the gully in this month’s report show the progress that Kathy and Lisa made down the gully of the non-native pigs face. We were stoked with how much we got done with just the two of us.
This is the start of the clearing of the pigs face in the gully today – we started up the end; so all that bare ground was the non-native pigs face and you can see the pile up for this small area.
Clearing non-native pigs face in the eastern section of the gully.
Julie was not able to meet up for coffee afterward, but Des, Kath and Lisa gathered at a local coffee shop to discuss todays work and then talk went into dancing venues and bands around the Northern Beaches.
The photo above shows a friendly magpie that forages for worms where we have disturbed the ground.
Bracelet Honey Myrtle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melaleuca_armillaris
Reefcare Day Report: New volunteers meet magpies on a bright sunny day
It was a very warm day with just a slight breeze – a change from the seriously windy weather we have been experiencing when we met up before 9:00am with two new volunteers; Mary and Layla, so we had a 8 volunteers plus our great supervisor Kathy from Dragonfly Environmental – a great turn out.
The magpie family forage for worms after we remove the non-native pigs face - Des Mullen
It was a very warm day with just a slight breeze – a change from the seriously windy weather we have been experiencing when we met up before 9:00am with two new volunteers; Mary and Leila, so we had a 8 volunteers plus our great supervisor Kathy from Dragonfly Environmental – a great turn out.
Julie and Merrilyn worked in two areas around the fence line of Reefcare’s area and the Council area continuing to remove Asparagus fern, just below the top paddock – which is just below the whale sculpture. Gen worked on the top southern slope which had a lot of numerous types of thistles, bromus and erharta, whilst Lisa worked just below on bromus – it was a great time to get this weed, as it is just coming up and most had not yet formed seed heads – some had a few about to come out and only one (a huge one!), had lots which were about 2/3rds the way in maturity. Des scouted the high southern slope for asparagus and bitou bush and felt overwhelmed; as if anything on this site that needs to be done, isn’t overwhelming – we need an army!
Spiders like this huntsman are commonly found in the vegetation that supports a rich variety of food items for them. - Kathy Shields
Mary worked on the Turkey Rhubarb in the Acacia bushes – a continuing effort which Alex spent on one Saturday then Brad, Gen the next month and the following month, Lisa. It is a bad infestation and will take several more months of work, such as we had to do on The Flat (which took 2 years to clear) and in what we call The Nest area. After morning tea Mary had had enough of doing the Turkey Rhubarb and then worked on removal of the pigs face as the group continue to move slowly westward with it’s removal – with Lisa joining her after finishing with the Bromus.
The two photos above are before-and-after shots of the removal of the non-native pigs-face from around native Themeda, Westringia, Correas, Acacias and beautiful Leucopogon parviflorus (or coastal bearded heath), which is in flower right now - Kathy Shields
Josh, Alex and Leila worked non-stop on the non-native pig’s face, continuing to clear westward - they rolled a big section of pigs face and then our resident magpies came in looking for worms – smart birds for sure. They hung around us for some time singing, I am sure they know our group now and feel safe – and they love Alex who finds worms for them. The birds come within a metre of you and sing – oh to learn magpie language. After afternoon tea, Josh, Alex and Leila moved to a patch of non native pigs face near the fence line and did an amazing job of clearing.
It was so hot several of us stopped about 10am for a rest and water, and after this Kathy undertook the Council required introduction to our 2 new volunteers. Alex and Leila had been down to The Nest and got a few Turkey Rhubarb bulbs – which proves it will need follow up for a few months yet before we can plant out this area. The group had a later morning tea about 11 with all of us. Alex had Anzac biscuits and mandarins for the group. While we sat chatting we were watching for the whale spout near a white and red boat, which was a bit of fun. “Ohh, there it is”, a cry would call out. Always exciting to see.
Happy morning tea group - Kathy Shields
After 11am Kathy and I organised the 15 plants I had brought along as to where they were to be planted - each has a bamboo pole so we can ensure they are watered next week by Des and I, and then when Reefcare meet again next month.
Hope to see you here next time!
Reefcare Day Report: Tackling the Turkey Rhubarb
After a past week of rain, wind and cold weather we had a beautiful sunny Saturday upon which our aim was to target more of the non-native pigs face
After a past week of rain, wind and cold weather we had a beautiful sunny Saturday upon which our aim was to target more of the non-native pigs face in which we made a huge difference last month. Unfortunately, we were thwarted constantly on this goal, with finding more sites of Turkey Rhubarb which was all seeding; thus this became our number one priority.
Lisa and Denise planted 10 Westringa on the flat where many of these plants have died having reached their life span – it took 2 hours, as we kept finding more Turkey Rhubarb and there was a lot of Kikuyu which needed to be removed. We met the others on the top of the slope for morning tea and then Lisa removed the rest of the non-native pigs face in the area she didn’t quite finish last month and then the rest of the time working on the Turkey Rhubarb in the Acacia bushes – a continuing effort which Alex, Brad and Gen have already spent a lot of time; it’s a bad infestation.
Alex worked on Turkey Rhubarb on the flat before moving up the slope and removing more where he worked last month and then went on to help removing non-native pigs face and then asparagus fern with Julie and Merrilyn.
Julie, Merrilyn and Kathy spent their whole time on removing Asparagus fern, together with Brad and Gen, much of it we think is out of our area of responsibility, but as the Council/Contractrors are not doing anything about the Asparagus fern in their area, and it is causing issues in our area, we have to spend time doing this for future benefit to reduce occurrences of Asparagus fern on our site, as the Asparagus fern in their area are huge and full of berries.
Maria arrived at morning tea and then she and Denise worked on removing more of the non-native pigs face on the western slope.
Reefcare Day Report: Bushcare wildlife encounters
When the five of us arrived on site at the western slope with 20 plants and a goal to remove more of the non-native pigs face we were serenaded by a delightful singing juvenile magpie who seemed to enjoy having us all around her …
When our team of five arrived at the western slope armed with 20 plants and a mission to clear out more non-native pigs face, we were greeted by the melodious song of a juvenile magpie. Several other juveniles joined in, a heartening sight given the declining numbers of magpies along the east coast.
Magpies, known for their intelligence and complex social behaviors, often delight with their vocal prowess, echoing through the bushland as we began our conservation efforts.
Des and Alex immediately began tackling a patch of Bidens Pilosa, followed by the discovery of Turkey Rhubarb further east—recent invaders from the dunes behind Long Reef.
Meanwhile, Denise captured a colorful hairy caterpillar on camera, noting its vibrant hues and recognising it as a species known for its camouflage ability against local flora.
Lisa uncovered a puffball fungus previously unseen by others. She squeezed it gently, causing dust-like spores to spurt out—a fascinating sight captured on film by Denise, adding to our documentation of local biodiversity.
Julie focused on removing Asparagus Fern atop the slope, hoping to coordinate efforts with NBC's contractor to combat this persistent weed.
As we worked westward, pulling up non-native pigs face, Alex made a significant find: a large amount of Turkey Rhubarb entwined with Acacia roots, a species known for its rapid spread and ecological impact in coastal areas.
Lisa and Alex collaborated to collect seeds and bulbs before rain interrupted briefly at 10 am. Undeterred, we pressed on, uncovering unexpected grass beneath the pigs face, potentially native couch. Further back, Kikuyu grass posed a future challenge, noted for follow-up with Jock from NBC.
Morning tea on the slope provided a scenic break, although whale sightings were absent.
However, we were visited by a charming native rat with light grey fur, a species likely native to the area and indicative of the healthy biodiversity our conservation efforts support.
Kathy's subsequent discovery of signs suggesting native marsupials in the vicinity added to the excitement, highlighting the potential habitat richness of Long Reef.
Later, Lisa's find of live snails sparked intrigue, prompting detailed photos for identification, a step towards better understanding the diverse ecosystem thriving amidst our restoration efforts.
At day's end, Alex delighted a juvenile magpie with a worm, revealing their clever and curious nature.
Despite Kathy's encounter with a tick, treated promptly with Lyclear, the day concluded on a high note with remarkable wildlife encounters. Reflecting on our efforts, the transformation of this site—once dominated by invasive Bitou Bush—now supports thriving wildlife, a testament to Reefcare's impact.
Denise's ongoing work to update Reefcare's website promises to showcase our discoveries at Long Reef, underscoring the importance of our conservation efforts.
Reefcare Day Report: Weeding in the rain
Five of us met at the carpark in very inclement weather together with our Dragonfly Supervisor for the day …
Five of us met at the carpark in very inclement weather together with our Dragonfly Supervisor for the day, Paul; plus 25 plants to get in the ground before the rain really came in – which we expected around 11:00am.
Julie continued up the top removing more Asparagus Fern whilst Des and Brad headed to the high western slope where previous non-native pigs face has been removed to plant 18 of the plants to add to previous plantings over the last few months. They then moved to the western area of the site cutting bitou and throwing onto previous cleared ground so that it can break down and be used for future mulch on site and cover exposed sand to keep moisture in and prevent any possible erosion.
Bitou bush that was poisoned in last month's bushcare session is dying, but the native plants (Myoporum) are thriving! Great outcome!
Alex with mattock and weed bag in hand, headed back to the nest area as unfortunately more turkey rhubarb has appeared within a number of black berry nightshade (Solanum nigrum) with green berries which have appeared on mass in this area as well as Hydrocotyl (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides) - which is also growing all around the site like it’s been fed steroids. Paul worked on the turkey rhubarb on the flat and other general site weeding, whilst Lisa headed to the eastern dunes to plant Lomandra along the tracks where the surfers are cutting through the Reefcare site of good Themeda, and general weeding – Burr Medic coming up but not yet burrs appearing – early for this weed, as it is usually around August.
Return to the nest: some minor turkey rhubarb plants were observed in the nest, some of which were seeding. These were promptly removed and bagged.
Turkey Rhubarb bagged and disposed of.
The rain started lightly sometime after 10:00am, but we put on rain jackets and kept working until 10:30 when it started to get heavier and looked like it was set in – so after meeting Maria in the carpark – great timing Maria! Des, Julie, Lisa and Maria when to a coffee shop and sat around a heater they had to dry out – whilst Paul our Dragonfly Supervisor decided to complete the Green Link walk around Long Reef, as he had not been in this area before – good on you Paul, hope you got back in time before it poured down about 11:15am!
Drowned rats Lisa & Alex working in the rain just before the session was canned.
We leave the site in peace as the rain comes in.
Reefcare Day Report: A rainy weekend - too wet for Reefcare
Some days it is just too rainy and wet to work safely on the Reefcare site, but we can aways admire the view …
Reefcare was cancelled for this month because of the heavy rain over the past few days, which was forecast to continue through the Saturday morning. We had planned on removing more non-native pigs-face, flea-bane and asparagus fern. We also had 8 Acacia Longifolia plants, ready to go into the ground, but these will have to wait until next month.
Text and photos (unless otherwise attributed) by John Isles
Reefcare Day Report: Planting Natives
On a warm, windless morning, the Long Reef Bushcare group gathered in the carpark. Despite the quiet seaside, our dedicated team was ready to reap the rewards of months of weeding by planting native species.
It was a warm muggy morning, without a breath of wind as the Long Reef Bushcare group assembled in the carpark. Unlike last month where the huge surf attracted lots of people, the hot, humid air and flat sea seems to have kept everyone at home. Except of course our dedicated bushcare team. But today was an exciting and important morning, for we were going to reap the rewards of all the weeding we have been doing over the past few months and plant some natives!
Gathering tools, plants and people in the Long Reef car park
We gathered our tools and seedlings, allocated bottles of water and discussed our plan – start at the top and work down the slope, building terraces in which to place the seedlings, to help catch and retain water. In the exposed environment of salt and wind, the little seedlings will need all the help they can get.
Splitting the plants into groups, based on where they will be planted.
All hands on deck as we plant the top slope
It was all hands on deck as the enthusiastic group started planting the top slope. We first cut terraces in the sandy soil to help retain water, reinforcing the downslope side with sticks and bamboo stakes, before planting the seedling and providing plenty of water. Planting here is such a beautiful experience, with the ocean views and the sea breeze, with a murder of ravens on the wing overhead. Ivana did one of the first plantings, exhorting: “Live long and grow well!” to the little seedling before moving onto the next one, all the while being careful not to step on anything delicate.
With our first batch of plants firmly in the ground, we proceeded down the slope towards the gully, where Des and Clare prepared the ground for our new green residents.
Des and Clare remove any remnant weeds and prepare the ground for our seedlings.
The top of the gully area is looking really healthy, flush with the pink flowers and the lush green of the beach beans (Canavalia rosea). These were producing some huge beans now, some of the biggest we have ever seen.
The Canavalia rosea (beach beans) look magnificent.
We had a variety of plants for this area, to suit the varied terrain of steep slopes and flat sandy sections. Our trusty lomandras were first to go in, along with dianellas, which look quite similar to the uninitiated, and Kathy and Lisa showed us the subtle differences.
Lomandra on the left, with flat or v-shaped tips, and Dianella on the right, with pointed tips and a flat base.
At morning tea, we enjoyed the view and the fruit that Kathy had brought for us, along with Calippo ice-blocks to keep us cool.
After a nice rest and chat, we continued with our ongoing control of the non-native pigs face on the slope next to the gully, while Des worked on the weeds around the Correa alba shrubs higher on the slope. Alex got stuck into removing the pigs face, using a serrated saw to good effect to cut trenches across the slope. We used two techniques to deal with the cut pigs face, some of it being rolled into big tubes across the slope to control erosion, while some of it was thrown onto the uncut pigs face higher up the slope to reduce sun exposure and further challenge its growth.
Spider amongst the pigs face
Many species live in the vegetation on Long Reef, including animals that would not be expected in this often dry environment. This spider was thriving in the moisture laden vegetation that lies deep down near the soil.
As we continued to weed, the wind picked up and a short rainstorm passed overhead, the cool rain refreshing our little group and also providing some much needed water to our newly planted seedlings.
Alex cuts out non-native pigs face in sections, most pleased with his new serrated saw.
John gathers large sections of pigs face into long rolls.
Des and Ivana remove pigs face along the fence. It is such a strong grower, it needs regular monitoring.
Meanwhile, Julie worked high on the slope above our heads, continuing with the process of keeping the asparagus ferns at bay, she collected a big bag full of tubers and berries by the end of the morning.
Asparagus fern berries are bagged and removed from the site.
Asparagus fern berries are bagged and removed from the site.
As the clock struck 12, everyone was so engrossed in work and invigorated by the cooler weather that we continued a little bit longer, before packing tools and heading back up the slope.
It was satisfying to see the empty seedling pots and we were well pleased about the amount of work we had achieved that morning.
Empty seedling pots at the end of the morning.
Thanks to Julie, Lisa, Des, Kathy, Clare, Alex, John, Ivana for another lovely Reefcare morning..
Text and photos (unless otherwise attributed) by John Isles
Reefcare Day Report: Removing Invasives
It was a joy to watch the big waves roll in as we did our mornings Reefcare
It was a warm overcast morning as the Reefcare group eagerly met for the first session of 2024. Today was forecast to be hot and humid, so we were well pleased to be greeted by a sea breeze and clouds to keep us cool. Also present was a huge ocean swell, which brought in surfers and onlookers, adding a vibe of energy and excitement to the morning.
Huge waves brought in the surfers and many onlookers.
Many bird spotters were also arriving, drawn by the presence of siberian sandpipers, ruddy turnstones and red-necked stints on the exposed foreshore. It seemed like Long Reef was the place to be this Saturday morning.
We were keen to start work before it got hotter, and keen to see how the site looked after the Christmas break.
As we walked down the track past the resident fairy-wrens, we spotted a blue-tongue lizard, basking in the open, seemingly unperturbed by all the birders, surfers, visitors, and bushcarers! We gently removed some asparagus fern nearby, without disturbing her morning sunbath.
A sleepy bluetongue basked in the sun as we removed weeds nearby.
Many small birds benefit from the bush regeneration work carried out at Long Reef.
The Canavalia rosea (beach beans) are doing very well and flowering beautifully.
Des, Brad, Merrilyn and Gen stayed on the high slopes as usual, tackling the asparagus fern and any new growth of Bitou, while Julie stayed on the fence line, removing the asparagus fern that was encroaching from higher ground. She also noticed that the asparagus ferns were dropping very small red berries, unlike the larger mature ones that are normally seen, and she did her best to collect these as well. Meanwhile, further down the slope, Lisa got to work on the fleabane, asthma-weed, and bidens before moving onto asparagus fern on the slope.
Julie tackles the asparagus fern, under the watchful eye of a paraglider pilot!
John and Alex were charged with inspecting the “nest” (an area surrounded by a ring of coastal rosemary). Armed with mattocks, they went to check on the turkey rhubarb infestation, which we had worked so hard to eradicate. The good news was that there were only two small rhubarb plants, which were easy to remove. Hoorah! The bad news was that the area had been taken over by blackberry nightshade, which was full of berries! Boo! So Lisa, John and Alex carefully removed these with an easy pull to the base of the plant and bagged the whole lot, trying to avoid dropping any berries. The rest of the area was looking good with Kennedia covering most of the nest.
Further down towards the sea are some very exposed and visible native Lomandras, that are infested with the noxious weed: turkey rhubarb. Previous attempts to remove it without damaging the Lomandras had failed. After wide consultation by Lisa, it was decided that glyphosate would be the best option, so our expert Kathy performed the scrape-and-paint operation, and also kindly showed other group members the technique.
Fill a bag full of weeds and you have a nice backrest for morning tea! Photo by Lisa Calder.
The cooling breeze continued and by morning tea we took a well-earned break to catch up with what everyone had been doing over Christmas and New Year. We chatted about native bees, while enjoying Calippo ice-blocks which John kindly brought along and had kept in a bag of crushed ice under the Westringia. Paragliders sailed overhead, making the most of the onshore breeze, as did the usual ospreys, and even a pelican decided to do a bit of slope-soaring, gliding gracefully over us as we relaxed. Meanwhile, Brad examined a snail shell that Lisa had found near the track. It is a good chance that it is another specimen of the rare Maroubra woodland snail.
Morning tea of Calippo ice-blocks helped keep us cool.
After morning tea, we continued working, as welcome swallows flitted around, picking up insects on the wing, and more paragliders arced overhead as the onshore breeze picked up. Kathy and Lisa removed non-native pigs face from the eastern dune and the top of the Southern hill, while Alex and Josh worked on the Western side of the site.
Thank you, Lisa, Des, Julie, Kathy, Brad, Merrilyn, Gen, Josh, Alex, and John – It was a productive and lovely morning.
Text and photos (unless otherwise attributed) by John Isles
Reefcare Day Report: Bushcare Work and Bushcare Party
A nice morning of Reefcare following by the Bushcare Christmas party, made for fun day!
Meetup in the car park
Merrilyn, Brad and Des all went back to last month’s task of removing some huge clumps of Asparagus fern along the fence line of the upper northern western slope, whilst John and Lawson (our Supervisor for this month) worked in The Nest removing remnant Turkey Rhubarb and moving onto removing Kikuyu so that we can plant in this area next autumn. Lisa, Denise, Claire and Ivana worked on removing Kikuyu between The Nest and where the contractors have cleared the site on the main slope and undertaken some considerable planting. Reefcare believe it would be great to clear the area in between of these two patches of Kikuyu and get a good weed free area from which we can then expand up and down the slope. Underneath the Kikuyu is some really good Themeda and amazingly a huge amount of Glycine, plus sometimes some Canavalia Rosea – this is an area seriously worth working on to save the existing native vegetation; the Glycine is doing to well.
Clearing the Kikuyu infestation on the lower slopes.
At morning tea we enjoyed the mince tarts which Claire had kindly brought along – a lovely early Christmas celebration. We also discussed the recent meeting, Lisa, Julie, John and Kim had with Northern Beaches Council people, Michael Kneipp, Victoria Adair and Pamela Bateman about what is strategy with the remaining Bitou now that Reefcare are getting close to a very steep area, prone to erosion which has a lot of Bitou and would be just too dangerous to remove (on several fronts).
Possibly a rare Maroubra woodland snail.
The current situation is that Reefcare will have to stop moving westward sometime next year with Bitou removal. With what to do next is under discussion between Reefcare and NBC, with the current thought to make sure that the tip moth is always prevalent to prevent the existing Bitou from seeding. After morning tea, Merrilyn, Des and Lawson worked on Asparagus fern, Lisa and Ivana worked on the eastern dunes making sure the demarcation line between the front dune and back was being maintained – which is to stop the kikuyu getting to the fore dunes and the non-native pigs face getting to the back dune. The area which was removed last month on the eastern dune of the non-native pigs face is well covered with the remanent dead non-native pigs face and a native creeper. And it was here that Ivana found the Mattock which was lost last month!
Black-faced cuckoo shrikes greeetd us in the carpark as we gathered our tools.
Claire, Denise and Maria continued to work on the Kikuyu between The Nest and the planting undertaken by Council’s contractor – Toolajooa
Denise, Lisa and John enjoyed the Bushcare Christmas party. Thank you Northern Beaches Council!
Text by Lisa Calder.
Reefcare Day Report: The Queen of Asparagus Fern
Happy faces and we make huge castles of aspargus fern …
We had a fabulous turn up of 14 people on a lovely warm sunny day. Merrilyn, Gen and Julie targeted Asparagus Fern along the top fence line (below the whale sculpture) – to an area we call the top paddock – they did this all day with Alex and Josh joining them after morning tea. Prior to morning tea, Alex and Josh worked on the Turkey Rhubarb in the nest area – this clearing is going really well, as well as removal of Buffalo and Kikuyu grass in that area. Plan is the plant this area out, as well as the flat in Autumn next year when it is cooler and we are likely to have rain.
Lisa and the team discuss replanting on the site.
There was no Turkey Rhubarb on the flat, so Lisa, Stella, Annie and Claire weeded Bromus and BurrMedic along the track before moving across to the eastern dunes and removed the non-native pigs face until morning tea. Des and Ivana roamed the site for weeds, getting lots of small Asparagus Fern whilst
Josh and Alex work on the turkey Rhubarb in the “nest”.
John concentrated on Burr Medic and other weeds on the flat. Morning tea was a special one being Ivana’s birthday who kindly brought along a lovely collection of little cakes in which we indulged after a wonderful rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’, Kathy brought beautiful bread with two different tips, Stella brought blue berries and someone else chocolate coated pretzels and popcorn. It was a veritable picnic, sitting in beautiful sunshine. Kathy then read out the Site Work Plan for the next year to which we all agreed, a number of us signing, and she will submit this to Northern Beaches Council.
Morning tea, discussing bushcare strategy for the site
After morning tea, those not on Asparagus Fern weeded the western side of the slope, removed some of the non-native pigs face in a couple of different locations, John on general weeding and Des cutting back Bitou along the northern dunes which was encroaching on the Themeda grassland.
The area is important for ospreys.
Resident male fairy wren.
Resident male fairy wren
Reefcare Day Report: We Found a Maroubra Woodland Snail
We find evidence of the very rare Maroubra Woodland Snail on site …
Morning tea in a beautiful location. Photo by Lisa Calder.
It was a small but committed team of 6 Reefcare members and our Supervisor Kathy who headed down to our site at Long Reef Point with great weather and a cool but rather strong breeze on the headland. As usual, we got distracted by many weeds beside the path down to our site, (not our responsibility, but a concern as these weeds end up on our site as our problem).
Brad continued removing Bitou heading westward whilst Merrilyn and Des scouted the site for never-ending emergence of weeds. This season burr medic and bromus are prevalent, but they were also finding a lot of Asparagus fern which they believe is coming from further up the slope out of our area of responsibility. These have been there many years and just getting larger and larger and left to seed. To this problem, Julie as this month, like last, focused on coring Asparagus on the top areas along the fence (the line between Council responsibility and Reefcare responsibility) – and focused on Asparagus Fern again digging into clumps of Lomandra and dense grass. Coring out the Asparagus crowns in the open areas is straightforward unless they are a wide spreading crown. The photo shows the hassle when the Asparagus is growing through or close to the chain mesh fence. Cutting under the crown gets caught in the wire- so it is thought that a sharp mattock for better leverage would be better.
Removing asparagus fern rhizomes when it is enmeshed in a wire fence is challenging! Photo by Julie Whitfield.
Kathy and Lisa worked on the flat area on Turkey Rhubarb whilst Kristie worked in the area we call ‘The Nest’.
At morning tea the group discussed the Work Plan for the next 12 months which needs to be submitted to NB Council. After morning tea, Lisa walked around the site with Kathie our Supervisor to complete information for the Work Plan, then Kathie worked in the NW area with Brad, whist Lisa and Kristie focused on Burr Medic in the eastern dune area.
This is a Maroubra woodland snail. The first living specimen seen on the North side of Sydney Harbour. It was found at Long Reef and is currently living the good life at Brad’s place.
Reefcare Day Report: A Windy, Weedy Saturday
A windy, weedy Saturday, with great views over the ocean…
Julie in her natural environment: surrounded by wattle, the sea and bitou!
t was a beautiful sunny day with a charm of magpies singing their morning songs, as the bushcare group assembled at the top of Long Reef car park. After signing in, allocating tools, and discussing a work plan, we made our way down the track, passing a pair of tiny red-wattlebird chicks called out plaintively for breakfast from a Tea Tree.
As we descended the track, Brad and Merrilyn peeled off to stay on the high slopes, watering new plantings and tackling the small Bitou seedlings that kept popping up on the exposed areas. Julie also worked a patch high on the western side of the Gully, checking the young banskia plants
and giving them some much-needed water. She also found quite a few Bitou seedlings growing amongst the Tea Trees. These seem to be seeding from the mature plants further downhill towards the ocean, helped by the regular sea breezes.
Merrilyn at work with the loppers on the upper slopes
There was plenty of asparagus fern around, so Brad, Merrilyn and Julie worked to remove these,
especially as they were producing berries. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the slope on the flat area, Claire and Denise worked on the Burr Medic,
eventually collecting a huge bag full. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, taking great satisfaction in removing large plants, roots and all!
Alex and Josh worked on the Turkey Rhubarb in the nest, yielding yet *more* large bulbs. They report that the areas yielding the bulbs are quite localised now, and we hope to be able to replant the nest soon.
We had a nice relaxing morning tea, sitting on the lush flat grass, enjoying the view, snacking on Anzac Biscuits and Digestives, as Ospreys wheeled overhead. Kathy had some good suggestions on how we can promote better and faster revegetation of the areas that we have been weeding, which was really useful. Long Reef was particularly quiet of people this morning, as a surf-ski event meant that the carpark was full early, and that limited the number of visitors to the headland.
After morning tea, John tackled the Turkey Rhubarb plant on the south-eastern side of the fence, near the flat area where people pile rubbish that they have collected from the beach. This rhubarb plant was spotted by Kathy last month and will require further follow-up work. There was quite a lot of burr medic around, so Claire, Denise and Kathy continued on removing these, including the seeding plants along the track. This should help prevent further spread from the regular foot traffic.
Denise, Kathy and Claire try to shelter from the wind as they clear the track of burr medic.
Late into the morning, the wind had suddenly picked up from the south, keeping it quite cool in the exposed conditions that are so typical of this environment. At midday we headed back up the slope and back to the car park, now feeling quite warm, but satisfied and happy with a morning of good bushcare and good company.
Text and photos by John Isles
Reefcare Day Report: Spiders at Long Reef
Turkey Rhubarb was the main focus of today’s bushcare …
Morning tea with the group and some shared delicious treats. Photo by Lisa.
Lisa removes Turkey Rhubarb tubers from the flat area.
In the morning Julie returned to her usual place on the north slope over the fence and found Des there clearing the non-native pigs face from around the plantings. He was also working on removal of asparagus fern.
Julie had 5 litres of water (mixed with soil conditioner) so she watered all the newish and older plants on the slope advising that most were surviving and stable.
Julie cut/scrapped/painted herbicide on another 3 bitou clumps.
Spider with egg sack. Photo by Denise.
Up on the western slope was Brad, Merrilyn, Gen and Stella weeding -mainly Burr Medic and asparagus fern, later in the afternoon they did some Bitou removal. Lisa, Claire, John, Denise, and Kathy worked on the Turkey Rhubarb on the flat – it really is diminishing in this area, so hopefully we can plant it out in a few months – we live in hope!
John and Lisa did some work in the area that we call ‘the nest’ of Turkey Rhubarb removal, but there is still quite a bit still to be done on the eastern part of this patch. At morning tea John told us about some of his volunteer work with Sydney Wildlife Rescue whilst we ate the delicious Anzac biscuits he brought along, as well as some divine bread and hummus which Kathy also brought along for the group – both were a great hit with the
group.
Tackling weeds on the flat area.
After morning tea Lisa, Claire, John, Denise, and Kathy worked the middle western area of the site targeting Burr Medic and then removing two small patches of non-native pigs face which was growing over some lovely Themeda.
Reefcare Day Report: Whale Watching While We Work.
It was a beautiful sunny morning with a very calm sea as we met in the carpark for another morning of bushcare
Removing the burr medic weeds.
It was a beautiful sunny morning with a very calm sea as we met in the carpark for another morning of bushcare. Des and Maria got straight to work on the asparagus fern babies growing on the hill, while Alex and Ivana stayed on the flat and obliterated the burr medic (Medicago polymorpha) in a huge patch. There is a neat before and after photo of this area in the gallery below! The burr medic is seeding again, but most of the lower track is still clear of the weed. Our work in that area from last winter has paid off.
John and Kathy worked on the Turkey Rhubarb growing in the “nest” which is a bare piece of ground surrounded by Westringia shrubs. Most of the Turkey Rhubarb from that patch is gone now, and can soon be planted with natives.
After a nice morning tea, we continued working, keeping an eye out for humpback whales. The good weather brought out many visitors walking down the steps, and Ivana and Alex received lots of questions about bushcare, which may result in a few new recruits! Kathy and John took a break from the Turkey Rhubarb and helped Ivana and Alex finish the burr medic, after collecting a few brown beach bean pods (Canavalia rosea). These will be propagated at the nursery and replanted back on the site.
Beach beans!
Area of burr medic, before weeding.
The same area of burr medic, after weeding.
Burr medic removal crew hard at work
Maria working on the asparagus fern babies on the hill.
Reefcare Day Report: Weeding and Planting
What a beautiful sunny and warm day is was to work at Long Reef – and watch whales at morning tea time – and this is just into winter by 2 days …
Morning tea by the beach
What a beautiful sunny and warm day is was to work at Long Reef – and watch whales at morning tea time – and this is just into winter by 2 days – who would know! Lawson from Dragonfly Environmental was our supervisor for the day, this was his second time on our site, so it was great as he already knew a number of the Reefcare people and what our current priorities are on site.
Julie worked high up on the western slope removing more bitou, but she also planted 7 tube stock where removal of Bitou has previously taken place – there has not been much rain, so Julie will go back to site next weekend, and the one after – to water the new plantings as she reports the soil is very dry – which means she will also be watering the previous months plantings, which is great, as we have not had much rain the past month.
Merrilyn, Brad and Gen had about 17 tube stock plants which they managed to get in before morning tea – which is great work as terraces need to be made due to the steep slope, so it’s quite a slow job to get plants in the ground. They also took about 12 litres of water so these and previous plantings all got a good drink. This was done before morning tea and after morning tea, they worked westward with the removal of bitou. The cut bitou was put into the sand gully which will reduce erosion and eventually break down giving some substance to the exposed sandy soil in this gully area.
Before morning tea, Lisa, Ivana and Claire worked on the Turkey Rhubarb on the flat behind the sign – the number of bulbs that we are still finding after 3 years working in this area is ridiculous. John and Alex worked in what we are now calling ‘The Nest’ as it is an area surrounding by Westringa, also on Turkey Rhubarb bulbs – and they got even more than the girls. Alex found a one cent coin dated 1966 – we are wondering if it has doubled in value. Meanwhile Lawson roamed the site for Bitou.
Maria turned up at morning tea time – just in time to be spoilt, as Claire had brought lamingtons and John brought Anzac biscuits to share with the group – good timing Maria!
After morning tea, John and Claire worked on removing Buffalo grass and Kikuyu off some of the Lomandra along the northern edge of the site, Maria and Ivana continued on Turkey Rhubarb on the flat, whilst Lisa and Alex removed more of the non-native pigs face on lower western side of the site – just below where Brad, Merrilyn and Gen were working. Most of this was removed two months ago, but we didn’t quite finish, getting rained out at 11:30am. There is still a little left which Alex said he will finish off next month.
Removing invasive grasses
John removes buffalo grass and bunny tails.
Reefcare Day Report: Digging for Turkey Rhubarb bulbs
Alex likes to tackle Turkey Rhubarb and there was a lovely amount of that waiting for him in the middle of the Westringa circle – his excitement which was so absolutely palpable, we all could do but nothing but follow him!
We were a bit slim on the ground today with just Des, Merrilyn, Gen, Naomi (our Dragonfly supervisor for the day) and myself (Lisa) – and then just when we were leaving the car park, Alex and Josh turned up. YEAH!, – that made 7 of us. Maria and Julie turned up later so it quite a decent crew at the end of the day.
Because Alex likes to tackle Turkey Rhubarb there was a lovely amount of that waiting for him in the middle of the Westringa circle – his excitement which was so absolutely palpable, we all could do but nothing but follow him! So that is where Naomi, myself, Josh and Alex spent the whole working bee – and we only got about 50% done in this site despite all this time on the damn weed – so Alex will be really excited that he once again has a job and a half on his favourite work for next month. Is Alex mad or insane – the jury is out, but thank goodness for Alex. Of course, there was the competition of the largest Turkey Rhubarb found and we think it was a draw with Naomi’s big carrot and Josh’s twin bulbs.
Merrilyn and Gen had 6 plants for Julie’s area (she was not able to arrive until after morning tea), and they report that the previous plantings are all do well, and there is a high success rate. Merrilyn and Gen also planted before and after morning tea the plants that Brad ha requested. Planting takes a long time due to the step slopes, terraces need to be made and tracks for the plant to obtain water from above, and then need to be mulched – we find so often when these parameters are taken into consideration, that the survival rate of our plants are really high.
Reefcare Day Report: Danish Pastries for tea while birds soar overhead
The working day was often interrupted by watching the amazing display of the birds of prey circling around the southern of the ridge …
Great teamwork clearing the non-native pigs face.
We had a great start to our cooler sunny day with all our participants arriving well before 9:00am so we could sign on, organise the equipment required, who was going where and the respective tasks for the working areas in which work was to be undertaken. The great team of 11 took all the tools which were all used! 8 tool belts, 3 loppers, 3 mattocks and a small Peter lever, several weed bags (less used this month!) along with the 8 x 2 litre bottles of water and the 8 plants for the North-West area and 25 plants on the far western area where we are working to remove bitou and the non-native pigs face. It was a lot of equipment for the team, but it was all required. The group accomplished a huge amount as the photos from the day will show.
Alex and Tayla worked on Turkey Rhubarb in a defined area on the top southern slope (the clump that Brad Law found about 4 months ago) and they found some really good-sized bulbs – Lisa had no idea that this area was such a problem for this weed – so will ensure we follow up next month in this area. Alex and Tayla worked in this area after morning tea as well – determined to get all that they could. Brad, Merrilyn and Gen planted eight tube stock plants of six different species in the top western area where Julie usually works removing Bitou (Julie was away in Orange this month). Once completed they then moved down the slope to where most of us were working, to work on bitou removal, just above the group removing the non-native pigs face. Gen did some planting and whilst doing so, came across a beautiful small light pink and green spider, it was so pretty – we tried to photograph it, but it wouldn’t keep still for 1 millionth of a second.
Kristie treads lightly on the step slopes as she plants native pigs-face seedlings
Maria arrived about 10 and with Gen after helping with the planting (being a slope terraces needed to be made which means planting takes some time), they worked with Brad and Merrilyn with Bitou removal.
The working day was often interrupted by watching the amazing display of the birds of prey circling around the southern of the ridge from where we were working, they were so prevalent that morning – it was just wonderful watching them circle so close to us – sea eagle, osprey, 4 nankeen kestrels, ravens – a flock of cormorants and we are sure there was another species which we couldn’t identify – it was a fabulous day for bird spotting – that’s for sure!
We had a fabulous morning tea on the slopes overlooking the ocean, enjoying the Danish pastries that Kathy and brought for us – thank you Kathy!
Kathy brought Danish pastries to enjoy by the sea – Thank you Kathy!
Danish pastries, good company and a beautiful ocean view
John, Kathy (our new Supervisor from Dragonfly), Ivana, Kristy and Lisa worked on various tasks from removing the non-native Pig’s face and planting on the slope just east of a sand gully – which unfortunately we cannot remove the last of the bitou due to bad potential of erosion with the sand gully. This is an area that unfortunately is often used by the public for running up and down these sand gaps causing erosion. What was really exciting was that as we moved down the slope we had a good cover of native couch underneath the pigs face – and what we think is bladey grass – Kathy will look into this identification to confirm.
Reefcare Day Report: A Warm Sunny Day of Weeding
Lisa gave another update on the meeting with Council who are looking to form a volunteer group ‘Friends of Long Reef’ …
Josh and Alex in "The Nest", tackling the Turkey Rhubarb.
t was a warm summer’s day as we headed down to our work area at Long Reef point, with John, Stella, Gen and Claire stopping at two locations just north off the track into our work area where there was a patch of non-native pigs face, one spot where it was growing over our natives and the track fence. Julie continued to work up the top on Bitou and she had two plants to get in the ground in her area which is steep and thus there is some time needed to create terraces when planting. Merrilyn weeded on the top slope whilst Brad weeded and planted the remaining five plants on the western side near the gully. Des scouted the site for asparagus fern.
The rest of us, Lawson, Maddie, Elaine and Lisa started work on the turkey rhubarb (Acetosa sagittate) on the flat ground. It wasn’t long until John, Stella, Gen and Claire joined us in the hunt for turkey rhubarb bulbs. Then Alex and Josh turned up and they elected to go to the second area of our turkey rhubarb infestation in the middle of a patch of the Westringia fruticosa – which is not an easy area to work in with the branches and roots. With so many on the first site working on the Acetosa sagittate I went up the slope (pulling out Bitou seedlings on the way) to assist Merrilyn with weeding and a little bit of the non-native pigs face where it was growing over our plantings. The long heavy stems of this creeper are not good for these small plants.
Maria arrived just before morning tea so there was quite a group of us there chatting as can be seen in the morning tea photo of the group. Lisa gave another update on the meeting with Council who are looking to form a volunteer group ‘Friends of Long Reef’, as a couple of our members are very interested. Lisa then gave a list of different areas and jobs that could be undertaken on site, thinking that people could be bored with the hunt for Acetosa sagittate bulbs – but no… most wanted to go on the hunt for more bulbs!
Our traditional morning tea.
Elaine went up the slope to continue weeding where Merrilyn and I had been before morning tea, whilst I went across the gully to weed, as I knew it needed help. Brad and Merrilyn worked on cutting back Bitou and as time went by, John and Maddie joined us, and worked on bitou west of the gully – Lawson above and west of the gully, and then Gen and Stella joined Brad and Merrilyn. Des appeared cutting back bitou from the northern dunes that were growing over our Themeda.
On the way back, Lisa walked with Merrilyn, Brad and Lawson – and found a huge asparagus fern. Being tired and out of water, Brad and Lawson just cut off any branches with berries – a job for Des to tackle next time! Lisa sat under a Leptospermum laevigatum, watching the boys, as Lisa was not feeling the best, as Lisa had already depleted her supply Merrilyn kindly gave Lisa the rest of her water – thanks Merrilyn! Low and behold, not long after that Merrilyn found a snail shell on one of the grass tracks just below the whale sculpture – Brad now has this to determine if this is a trump snail or a Maroubra snail – we are waiting with baited breathe for the verdict.
The group arrived back in the car park very much in drips and drabs (head count was done!) with most wanting to head off as fast as possible for a very well-deserved swim instead of joining Lisa, Des and Maria for coffee.