Next Meeting

Getting the Most Out of Your Digital Camera by David Mc Phee

I have no doubt some of you will know David from his many years in the retail industry in Traralgon – specifically cameras and all that is camera related. David, an avid camera buff, has an enormous wealth of knowledge in regard to cameras and photography. Although recently retired David still has a strong interest in photography and nature and will speak on “Getting the Most out of Your Digital Camera”. He will also address the requirements for taking close-up photographs of flowers.

Bring your gear along for a night of “Bring and Brag”. Try your skills - photograph some of the table plants.

Date: Thurday 12th June 2008
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Horticultural Building at Morwell TAFE adjacent to Kernot Hall.

Leaders Report

Around the Garden

The big dry continues; we have had only minimal rain again this month however we are fortunate in comparison to other areas. A quick drive up Licola way on a recent weekend illustrated how dry it has been around the Toongabbie/Heyfield area. The paddocks are brown and some are very bare, while at home we have at least a tinge of green.

There are quite a few plants flowering at present – some seem to go on for ever. Many of the Grevilleas, particularly of the Robyn Gordon type, are still flowering profusely adding lots of colour to the garden. The lovely waxy flowers of the Croweas are also a picture. We have found that they are extremely handy as floating floral arrangements and last quite some time. Susan uses them to effect in a large glass ornamental bowl on the dining table.

The Correas also continue to add their presence to the garden and have really proven to be quite drought resistant over the last few months. They really are a worthwhile garden plant and there are so many varieties and colours available today. We have a number of the relatively new “Little Cate” variety growing very successfully. This one grows to 50cm high by 2m wide, so is a nice compact form for small gardens. Our local example is in flower at present and is a most impressive member of the species. There seem to be new ones springing up all the time and a quick survey of the internet revealed at least fifty varieties, from red through pinks and salmons to orange, lemon and green flowers. I am sure it would be possible just to have plantings of Correas in your garden and still have a beautiful variety of flowers and foliage.

This time of year is also excellent for the Banksias which are really looking good at present. This is another species which has shown that it does not mind our drier conditions. A number of our members tripped to Warragul recently to hear Hartley Tobin discuss these wonderful plants. Hartley, as many of you will know as he has spoken to our group in the past, has chased them all across the continent and over the years has accumulated many fine photographs and “samples”. He displayed a number of interesting flowers from his collection and must have a fantastic garden. Hartley has his own “groupings” of plants according to cone shape or the method required for propagation and shared some interesting insights and facts about these significant plants. It was well worth the trip.

I am now going to raise a controversial issue, the presence of cats in our environment. Firstly I will state that I am not a “cat hater”.

We have chosen to have a native garden because we love the variety and colour of the species we have in Australia, however our garden also exists largely for the native birds that are attracted. They are so beautiful to watch as they feed and their antics are fascinating. We also provide bird baths and other watering points, plus some limited feeding. Unfortunately in creating a pleasant and inviting environment for the birds and other wildlife we are also attracting some neighbouring cats to our garden. I believe these cats are housed at night however are constantly in our garden and stalking birds during daylight hours. Several are fitted with bells however this does little to prevent them from being successful hunters. I constantly chase them off our property however the appeal of our garden is just too strong and they continue to return to hunt. Last week I was horrified to see what appeared to be one of the honeyeaters in the jaws of one of these cats. Maybe I should have spoken to the owners however I believe they, like many other owners, would most likely show little concern for the damage their pets can do. I am sure that there are many small mammals and reptiles that are hunted and consumed by these predators. I think it is time for our local council (or for that matter state and federal governments) to act to reduce the damage that is done to our native fauna by introducing or in our case extending the existing curfew. Some Victorian Councils have introduced a twenty-four hour curfew on cats in an effort to curb the problem. The Mornington peninsula and areas of the lower Dandenong’s have introduced this and I believe Hall’s Gap has been “cat free” since 1993. It is essential for cat owners to restrict movement to their own properties, particularly near bushland and other significant habitat areas. For the sake of our wildlife I sincerely hope the Latrobe Council can be persuaded to follow suit. If you are interested in further information and statistics check out this web site – www.petnet.com.au/reark/reark.html.

Last Meeting—The Galapagos Islands—Ken Harris

I will probably never get to see these fascinating Islands first hand, however, thanks to Ken I won’t have to! Ken visited in 2004 and collected many fascinating photos which he used to illustrate his talk. Ken was fortunate to have secured a place on a small “cruise ship” which meant he visited almost the entire collection of islands in the group and was able to compare the various features and wildlife of each. It was amazing to hear how tolerant the fauna was in the company of humans and how they often almost modelled for the camera. Thanks again Ken for a very interesting night.

Reminders

• If anyone has photos of past outings Marg would like copies as she has talked of putting together a photographic “history” of the group.
• Keep looking after those seeds and watch the newsletter for info from the “Master Grafter” – aka Harold.

Plants in My Garden

By Mike Beamish

Brachyscome
spathulata

Species: Brachyscome_spathulata
Family:Asteraceae
Derivation:

Brachyscome: From the Greek, brachys, meaning short and kome, meaning a head of hair, referring to the short pappus (bristles or hairs) on the seeds.

spathulata: From the Latin, spathula, meaning a spoon, in the botanical context, spoon-shaped, referring to the leaves.

Common Name: Blue Daisy (in Tasmania)
Distribution: Found in alpine heath, open woodlands and sheltered forests, from the high country to the coast in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. In Victoria it is mainly found in the east of the state, with an outlying population in the Grampians.
Description:A tufted perennial with basal leaves up to 11cm long and 3cm wide, with lobed or toothed margins, glandular-hairy above, sometimes purple underneath. Flower stems are up to 60cm long, with terminal, solitary, mauve, white or rarely pink flowers up to 5cm across and stem leaves which reduce in size and become entire up the stem.
Opinion: My plant lives in a large pot with a Vanilla Lily and a Grass Trigger Plant, which used to sit on the front veranda until the thrips began to thrive in the sheltered conditions and have a negative effect on the health of the plants. So the tub was turfed out into the weather a couple of metres away, the thrips have backed right off and all the plants have regained their good looks, put on some new growth and threatened to flower. The daisy has succeeded and now has about half a dozen flowers open at any one time, although it seems a bit late in the season for the display it is putting on. The literature reckons it should flower in spring at this altitude and in summer up in the alps, but obviously my plant can’t read!
My specimen was ‘rescued’ from the high country above Licola, perhaps 4 years ago, where I found it dislodged from its position at the entrance to a Wombat burrow, by the enterprising resident no doubt. I know the prevailing philosophy is that death is part of the natural order of things and I should have left it where it lay, but I reckon waste is not beyond our control, no harm has been done to the environment, I have merely removed some small amount of organic matter and no doubt more than replaced it with other types of organic matter. I’m sure if plants were capable of gratitude, my little daisy would fit the bill and I now have the pleasure of its beautiful displays.

Sources: Corrick & Fuhrer- Wildflowers of Victoria.
Australian Daisy Study Group- Australian Brachycomes

Galapagos Islands Talk by Ken Harris Last Meeting

“The Galapagos Islands are a very special place”. Charles Darwin's ideas on evolution were crystallised here. Ken visited the islands in 2004 on an organised trip.

Part of Ecuador, the Galapagos straddle the equator, a long way off the west coast of South America, (about an hours flight into Santa Cruz)

It consists of an archipelago, with a number of main islands down to some quite small, all very dispersed. The fact that the islands are so far apart is part of the reason the plants and animals have evolved the way they have. “There is just no interchange between the islands”. Take the mocking bird, there is the Hood mocking bird and Galapagos Mocking bird on Santa Cruz, completely separate species.

By cruse ship, the more outer islands can be reached, travelling between islands mostly at night. Starting at Santa Cruz, Ken studied the wildlife, like the Lava lizards, on Baltra Island the Galapagos Sea Lion (a sub sp. of the Californian S. Lion).and then on to North Seymour Island, a selection of slides including the Brown Noddy, Land Iguana and the Marine Iguana. (The latter are more common, the land less so, they breed up in side the slopes of the volcanoes). Two sp. of Frigatebird, a juv. Greater Frigate bird and the Magnificent Frigatebird. Amongst rocky beaches, covered with whitewash (bird droppings, as it rains very little) a native Cactus, a Prickly Pear Opuntia echios var zaccana grows and Parkinsonia Caesalpiniaceeae also adapted to the harsh condition.

After sailing on to Espanola (Hood) Island there were slides of the Hood Mocking bird more Galapagos sea lions, Darwins Finches, the Large Cactus Finch (the woodpecker finch uses a twig to probe holes to catch grubs), “a different island and a different Lava Lizard”. Also a different marine iguana and a 'Sally Lightfoot' Crab.

A Galapagos Dove, the Nazca Booby, (feeding it's young with green feet) and a Galapagos Hawk. Then while Ken was photographing a Shore Petunia he had a very close encounter with the Hawk (some very close up photos followed). Waved Albatross, sitting on nests (the waved pattern evident). Then a slide of the cruse ship, Isabella II

Next was Floreana Island one of the four sp. of Mangrove (Black Mangrove) Verbenaceae. A Greater Flamingo and a Ghost crab and sally lightfoot again. The Striated heron, looking very similar to the one found in Australia. Candelabra Cactus (one of the largest sp.), Cactaceae, Jasminocereus thouarsii. The Galapagos even has an endemic species of acacia, Acacia rorudiana. (Quite spiny).

The “Floreana Post Office” raised a laugh (an assortment of signs with addresses painted on them and letters enclosed in a box. A system developed in the days of sailing ships, when one would past by the letters would be collected and sent on, this still perpetuates today. (Ken attempted to deliver two letters for the Melbourne area).

Elliot's Storm petrel and how they got their name, (after St. Peter who attempted to walk on water).Then the Blue Footed Booby and the Red Mangrove Rhizophoraceae standing on stilts.

Across to Santa Cruz, where up into the mountains and a total change was encountered in the landscape, the vegetation is lush and very different. A Buttonhole Orchid Epidendrum spicatum and a Vermillion Flycatcher, (not endemic to the Galapagos, also found on mainland Ecuador). A plant from the cucumber family with tubular flowers, Elaterium carthagenense. In a large paddock twenty Galapagos Giant Tortoise grazed. A Yellow Warbler and a Small Ground Finch. Tomatoes, but not our ordinary tomato, the Galapagos Tomato, a distinct species Lycopersicon cheesmanii, grows only in the Galapagos, this one growing wild. Another sp. of Prickly Pear, and a different Lava Lizard. Back amongst the Mangroves, the White Mangrove and the Red again (with its spear shaped seeds that fall and bury themselves into the mud) and the Button Mangrove. At the hotel, the White Cheeked Pintail and a Great Blue Heron thought the swimming pool was the place to be.

Slides followed of the Cactus Ground Finch feeding on the flowers of the cactus, the Galapagos Mocking bird and a Medium Ground Finch tucking into some bread on the lunch table and the Cordia Lutia (it has an edible berry).

Darwin Research Centre, with Marine iguanas and one of the least surviving varieties of the Giant Turtle. (It has a very differently shaped shell, that apparently enables them to rear up and browse on shrubs).

Next Genovesa (Tower) Island, one of two endemic Gull species, the Swallow Tailed Gull, the other the Lava Gull. The Red Footed Booby (has a brown phase and a red phase), a Yellow-crowned night Heron also found in North America. Then a very pleasing shot of a Red-billed Tropic bird, this followed by the Galapagos Fur Seal on a big rock platform.

And a nice photo with the two phases of the Red footed Booby and for comparison a Nazca Booby all together in one photo. The next fellow was a Short Eared Owl and Ken explained how he had to move pretty fast across rocky terrain to get the photo. (The same species as the Short Eared Owl in England, but the Galapagos one is a sub. sp.)

Fernandina Island took all night to reach, crossing the equator, they saw common Dolphins.

Fernandina has the most active volcanoes and one erupted a week after Ken was there. A Green Turtle swimming in an inlet. On one occasion while snorkelling Ken had one swim underneath him. More Herons, Crabs and a Lava Heron (is slightly different to the Striated Heron).

Lava Cactus (just about the only plant growing in the lava), The Galapagos Cormorant (flightless) Nannopterum harrisii (not named after Ken). Marine Iguana swimming in the sea (they feed entirely at sea; Darwin describes how they tried drive them to the sea but preferred human to the threat in the water. On the way back to the ship the Galapagos Penguin and then two Lava Gulls sitting on the rail of the ship, as if wanting not to be left out.

Isabella Island, an interesting plant from the Euphorbiaceae family, Poison Apple Hippomane mancinella. (Not only is the fruit poisonous but the sap is extremely dangerous also). A Brown Pelican and Juv. Sally Light Foot Crabs and a Juv. Brown Pelican. Darwin s Cotton, Gossypium darwinii, endemic to the Galapagos, (the Sturts Desert Rose is also a Gossypium). The flower of the Muyuyu or Cordia Lutia.

Crossing the equator again to Santiago Island, a Galapagos Flycatcher and another variety of Lava lizard, a Yellow Warbler and an American Oystercatcher. (Feeding a chick) a few species of snake are known, but Ken didn’t see any.

Bartholome Island the most barren of the Island and has a 900 step lookout point with the best view over the Archipelago. “A lush plant in a barren landscape” a Chamaesyce amplexicaulis. Ken was 64 years old, one of the youngest in his group even so they arrived at the top of the steps long before their much younger guides. Lastly the Grey Mat-plant in the Borage Family Boraginaceae, Tiquilia nesiotica.

Questions and Answers preceded, like you can't wonder at will, guided tours are the only way you can see the islands, an interesting method to control feral goats, and the distances between islands were discussed, Ken also brought along a selection of books on the flora and fauna of the Galapagos Islands. A fascinating talk. Thanks Ken

Article by Denis Nagle