Blog
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!