Dates for your diary- Weeding Parties  

We work together selectively and gently removing weeds from the forest - plants which should not be there and which (if left unchecked) crowd out native flora. We usually have 5 - 15 members at our half-day weeding "parties" and non-members are encouraged to join us as well ! Everyone is welcome.     

Please note: There will not be any work parties held on days of severe   weather warning or total fire ban days for the Central District.

 

Reminder:  Change of plan for Wednesday Weeders

 

Due to the difficulty in finding suitable sites three to four months ahead of time, the Wednesday Weeders are going to try a new format. Actually, we are copying the Tuesday Mob’s scheduling, except we will work only on the second Wednesday of the month. Instead of work sites being posted in Forest Focus, we will decide where to work on a monthly basis. The work will consist mainly of follow-up hand weeding, usually at sites too small for a large group.  

If you wish to be included in "The Wandering Wednesday Weeders ", regularly or occasionally, please either send your email address to m.freshwater@bigpond.com  or phone Vivien on 9754 3093. She will then let you know in advance where the work site will be scheduled.  

Note these Wednesdays in your diary, 9:30-12:30 :  

13th February

13th March

10th April

8th May

Tuesday Mob

 The Tuesday Mob do heavier weeding, usually removing woody weeds with mattocks and saws, or drilling and filling weed trees with herbicide. We work from 09:00 every Tuesday morning for three to four hours and always have a tasty tea break. The venues for the Tuesday sessions vary from week to week.  To obtain details, please feel free to email Don at donvrac@gmail.com or Bill at bincoll@melbpc.org.au  

Saturday Schedule  

Saturday 23 February - Committee Meeting - 11.30 am. See previous minutes for venue.

Saturday 23 February - Project Afternoon - 1.30 pm. Yanakie Site - Meet at junction of Welch Track and Coles Ridge Track via Old Monbulk Road (Melway map 75 H 9). Poisoning or removing woody weeds, and handweeding English Ivy, etc.  

Saturday 23 March - Project Afternoon - 1.30 pm. Sherbrooke Lodge Road Site - Meet at the far end of Sherbrooke Lodge Road (Melway map 75 H 3). Poisoning or removing Sycamore Maples, and handweeding.  

Saturday 27 April - Committee Meeting - 11.30 am. See previous minutes for venue.

Saturday 27 April - Project Afternoon - 1.30 pm. Moore Break Site - Meet at the Jacka Street entrance (Melway map 75 D 4) Woody weeds and handweeding.  

Saturday 25 May - Project Afternoon - 1.30 pm. Foden Track Site - Meet at small carpark near Foden Track entrance (Melway map 124 6/7 C). Sycamore Maples and Tutsan.  

 

President’s report 2012 – Friends of Sherbrooke Forest, Inc.

This year has been a busy year for me, being very involved in family matters. I wish to thank everyone for their understanding and especially the Committee for keeping things rolling along smoothly.  

For several reasons our work party hours have been down on past years. Ill health, family commitments, well earned holidays and the wettest winter for some years have all played a part in the reduced input. Another factor is aging, and selecting suitable sites to suit our mobility is getting harder. As we are at the follow up stage in many areas it is noticeable just how much work has been done in the past. There are still plenty of challenges for our group, and bringing new folk into the fold is a slow process. When one considers the number of visitors per day and the number of vehicles which drive along and through beautiful vistas, we really should be able to attract more helpers. Do we sell ourselves enough? Is there someone out there who, rather than weed, would like to act as a publicity officer? How long since we have had a picture in the local paper? Kathryn has offered to create a facebook page for the Friends, which will contribute to our publicity needs. Thanks Kathryn and also Don and Liz, who continue to maintain and update our website. Thanks to Priscilla who continues to produce an informative and high quality newsletter. She has also developed an information sheet, combined with an application form in an effort to increase membership.  

Special thanks to all the Committee members for their continued interest and making our meetings quite stimulating at times. Vivien continues to make our meetings run efficiently. Bill and Vivien’s liaison with Trevor McIntosh has ensured excellent communication with Parks Victoria at the local level. Bill Incoll diligently works at several levels to convince the “powers that be” to fund trials for the biological control of Wandering Trad. We wish Bill every success as this weed is spreading at an alarming rate. Thanks to Alex Maisey, who represented the friends on the UDYEC bus tour for MPs, Councillors and Government Agencies. This was to seek longer term funding for the whole of the Dandenongs, “piggybacking” on the success of the Urban Fringe Weed Management Initiative.  

The Dawn Lyrebird Survey was again supported by our members. Congratulations to Alex Maisey, who successfully managed the surveys for the first time. Deer continue to be a problem and now appear to be far more wide-spread than when we first raised this issue at least four years ago. Our committee has been extremely patient, but will again raise with Park staff their lack of action to address this problem.  

Thanks to Bill and Kathryn, for the continued use of their home for meetings. Your hospitality is greatly appreciated.  

We have written to our Premier, Mr. Baillieu, regarding the situation at Grant’s. Vivien compiled a well researched letter, detailing the success of our group, and of our concerns regarding Grant's.  Disappointingly, our letter was not answered from his office, but passed on to the Regional Manager of Parks Vic. to provide a reply. Basically we were told that nothing could be done as the lease had another eight years to run. Commercialisation in National Parks is a very big issue. Here we have a glaring example of why “private investment” should never occur in our Parks.  

I trust you all have an enjoyable and safe Christmas. Best wishes and good health for the coming year.  

John Lloyd, President

  

Work Party Reports    

Project Morning — Woodfull Track Site — September  

This was the first Wandering Wednesday Weeders gathering. Ten Friends (of both genders) met at the old Pound Creek Picnic Ground area off Terrys Avenue. We walked along Woodfull Track looking for Forget-me-nots, thistles and ragwort. As we came closer to the Melbourne High site we found a plentiful supply along the track and large areas of Forget-me-nots on the high side of the track - in amongst the stinging nettles! We gathered the weeds (mostly Forget-me-nots) into heaps along the Track to rot down. We welcomed Geoff Edwards, former councillor with the Shire of Sherbrooke and early supporter of the Friends.  

Project Afternoon — Regnans Road Site — September  

On a sunny warm day ten Friends returned to the Regnans Road site. We drilled and filled woody weeds (mostly Sycamore Maple and a little Holly), uprooted Agapanthus and Red Hot Poker and pulled English Ivy growing around Mother Shield-ferns. That we had to work on the far edges of this site shows the improvements made by the Friends and Parks Victoria contractors. A beautiful large Blackwood stands out ; its upper trunk and branches have traces of dead ivy vines, and its lower trunk is now visible where the "fruit salad" of  weeds has gone. There is more ground ivy to remove from this site, plus patches of Angled Onion, invasive grasses and Alstroemeria or Peruvian Lily.  

Project Morning — Woodfull Track Site — October

Five Wandering Wednesday Weeders returned to Woodfull Track for more Forget-me-nots. With regular rainfall and cool weather, the piles we had left along the Track last month had not rotted away; we turned them over to bury the blue and pink flower heads. We mainly worked in the Melbourne High site where we cleared a large circular area of Forget-me-nots, Californian Thistle (Cirsium arvense), a few Ragwort plants and some Buttercup. Vivien recorded before and after photographs (below). Whipbird calls ricocheted around us and we heard Rosellas, Magpies and the Grey Shrike-thrush. On the way out the fellas climbed up the high side of the Track to deal with a large Pittosporum undulatum. As we shed boots and raincoats in the car park, a wildlife carer and her daughter pulled in to release a young echidna which had strayed into suburban Tecoma.  

Before (flowering Forget-me-nots at Woodfull Track) …           and After    

Project Afternoon — Yanakie Site — October  

Fortunately, the rain had cleared for us, and six members plus one visitor (Geoff Edwards from Queensland) spent a busy afternoon poisoning woody weeds, as well as handweeding Spear Thistle and small Sycamore Maples. The regenerating indigenous species have formed a thick carpet (see photograph), and there are many tree-fern seedlings underneath the Austrocynoglossum latifolium (Forest Hound's-tongue). 

Margaret and Jan found a new weed species, later identified as Ruscus aculeatus  (Butcher's Broom). It has tiny flowers underneath the 'leaves', followed by red berries.  

(Thank you to Vivien for this report and for her photo above showing the healthy regeneration at Yanakie - ed.)  

 

Project Morning — Nation Road Firebreak Site — November  

Three regular Wednesday Weeders were joined by local resident, Lesley Wilson, manager of the Birdsland Indigenous Plant Nursery, and by biology student, Rachel and her friend, David. Trevor McIntosh also joined in and whisked our weed bags away to Parks Victoria at the end of the morning.  

We concentrated on pulling Cat's Ear but also bagged Angled Onion, Centaury and Buttercup. We had to overlook the weed grasses which were everywhere. We found a large variety of native regrowth including Hop Goodenia, Olearia lirata, Olearia argophylla, Trigger Plant, Hairy Speedwell, Juncus pauciflora and several types of orchids. Lesley pointed out a bright orange and black butterfly with eye spots which Vivien confirmed was a Sword-grass Brown  (Tisiphone abeona) The larvae of this species feed on Red-fruit Saw-sedge (Gahnia sieberiana).  

The cool sunny morning was perfect weeding weather and we enjoyed the calls of a range of birds, visible (white and black cockatoos) and invisible.  

Project Afternoon — Sherbrooke Lodge Road Site — November  

A big goup of 13 turned out for the last Saturday work party of the year following the AGM. Parks Victoria will be slashing a fire break four metres in from the road, so we ignored scattered weeds in that strip. We walked further in to hand weed Sycamore Maple (continually reseeded by huge trees on properties nearby), Indian Strawberry Plant, Tradescantia, and thistles. Sharon and Priscilla had to check The Book to distinguish immature Clematis aristata from Aluminium Plant (Lamium galeobdolon). Both have white markings on the top of the leaf, but the Clematis is purple underneath, where Aluminium Plant is green and has a distinctive scalloped edge. Jan commented that Aluminium Plant was a common pot plant not so long ago.  

The day was hot and leeches slowed us down. Afternoon tea on the road verge was a breezy relief, with home made banana muffins and mince tarts and the first cherries of the season. After tea Jan spotted the missing clump of Aluminium Plant; we reduced by a third, but there is more to remove. We heard a loud crack and watched part of a limb from a dead gum drop where Friends had been working earlier. No wind, just ready to go. "Look up and live", say the foresters.  

Aluminium Plant (Lamium galeobdolon) Like tradescantia, aluminium plant rapidly covers large areas of ground with a thick mat that stops seedlings of other plants from establishing. It is shade tolerant, so can be a problem deep into bush areas, as well as on the margins. Stems take root wherever they touch the ground, and it is also spread from stem fragments dumped with garden waste. http://weedbusters.co.nz/get_involved/display_weed.asp?CompID=25

 

 

 

Project Afternoon – Yanakie Site – January 2013 

Ten Friends gathered at Yanakie for an Australia Day weeding party. Perfect weather, cool and cloudy, was an unexpected bonus. Vivien went after the Chocolate Vine (Akebia quinata) near the old homesite; she found its many stems were too intertwined to cut and poison, and asked Bill to have it "nuked !".   She then cut and poisoned ivy stems on a large Messmate-Stringybark. Six Friends spread out to remove or poison  woody weeds, while a trio bagged Spear Thistle flowers. We all noted how dry and dusty the plants were.  

Chocolate Vine (Akebia quinata)

Chocolate vine grows very rapidly, producing so many stems that it forms a thick, tangled mat that covers other plants. It will form a thick groundcover if it doesn’t have anything to grow up, smothering seedlings and stopping other plants establishing. It spreads by stem fragments, and birds also spread the seed.

http://weedbusters.co.nz/weed_info/detail.asp?WeedID=153

 

Assessing the Quality of Creeks in Sherbrooke Forest by Identifying Macroinvertebates, from Vivien Freshwater  

For the last eight years, a small team of FOSF members has been carrying out Waterwatch activities in Hardy and Monbulk Creeks.  

Hardy Creek has its source just below Grant’s Picnic Ground and joins Monbulk Creek on the Selby side of the forest. It has three tributaries which feed into it along the way. The area chosen for the Waterwatch site is north-east of Paddy Track near Jack-the-Miners.  

The method used to sample macroinvertebrates consists of collecting a sample using a fine net which is placed on the bed of the creek and slowly moved upstream for a distance of ten metres, while disturbing the small stones along the way. Many species cling to the undersides of rocks and need to be disturbed to help them find the net. The sample is then placed into a bucket of previously collected water and taken out to a suitable area to be identified.  

The sample is divided into two white trays and the debris allowed to settle. The macro-invertebrates can usually been seen with the naked eye, but a magnifying glass is necessary to identify the different species. These must not only be identified but counted as well. The bugs are placed in ice block trays, except for yabbies. These are too large and are likely to crawl away if removed from the tray.  

The bugs are assessed using a Signal Score, (Stream Invertebrate Grade Number) i.e. sensitive bugs have a higher signal score that tolerant bugs. In 2012 the staff at Melbourne Water produced a new system of identifying macroinvertebrates which has proved very successful. 

Probably the most interesting of all the water bugs is the Caddis family. They come in all shapes and sizes, some free-living and others in a fascinating array of homes. Some of their common names are ‘ginger nuts’, ‘vulture’ caddis, ‘igloo’ caddis and ‘attack’ caddis. The ‘attack’ caddis builds an exquisite cone shaped case of sand and tiny pebbles. As the name suggests, they hide in their camouflaged case and grab their unsuspecting prey as they pass. Stonefly larvae have amusing common names such as ‘hairy sprawler, ‘blond sprawler’ and ‘fluffy bums’. Damselfly larvae must be the most beautiful of all, with their delicate feather-like gills on the end of their tails. Water Pennies (a beetle larva) look like miniature Trilobites when viewed under a microscope.  

Stonefly larvae and Mayfly larvae are commonly found at the Hardy Creek site and have a higher Signal Score than fly larvae, snails and worms. The Monbulk Creek site is subject to run-off from Nation Road and can be inconsistent when it comes to sampling. Invariably, Hardy Creek has a much higher Signal Score than the Monbulk Creek site, which just below the Trestle Bridge.  

During the last drought, the number of Amphipods dropped dramatically from a couple of hundred per sample to about ten in 2010. Numbers are still building up and it is surmised that the low level of water in the creek was responsible for their demise. With low rainfall in December 2012 and January 2013, they may not fully recover this year. Another example of climate change?  

Once the bugs have been identified they are taken back to the area they where they were collected and released. All the results are forwarded to Melbourne Water via the internet.  

Reiner Richter has provided these photographs of adult forms of two sensitive Waterwatch species. His beautiful wildlife photography is available at http://rnr.id.au/

An adult dragonfly Austropetalia tonyana (male) (Sherbrooke) Photographer: Reiner Richter	An adult stonefly Eusthenia sp. (Sherbrooke) Photographer: Reiner Richter