banksia bulletin
issue number 029 - summer 2008
Friends of Bayside 2008 contact list Friends of Balcombe Park Coordinator: Mrs Joan Couzoff 26 Balcombe Park Lane, Beaumaris 3193 Phone: (03) 9589 1060
Friends of Long Hollow Heathland/ Friends of Table Rock Coordinator: Mr Ken Rendell 33 Clonmore Street, Beaumaris 3193 Phone: (03) 9589 4452
Friends of Bay Road Reserve Coordinator: Michael Norris (Abbott Ward Councillor) 5 Deakin Street, Hampton 3188 Phone: (03) 9521 0804
Friends of Gramatan Avenue Heathland Sanctuary Coordinator: Mr Ken Rendell
BRASCA Coordinator: Mrs Janet Ablitt 4A Fairleigh Avenue, Beaumaris 3193 Phone: (03) 9589 6646 Friends of Brighton Dunes Coordinators: Mrs Elizabeth McQuire 34 Normanby Street, Brighton 3186 Phone: (03) 9592 6474 and Ms Jenny Talbot 71 Champion Street, Brighton 3186 Phone: (03) 9592 2109 Friends of Cheltenham Park Coordinator: Mrs Valerie Tyers 65 The Corso, Parkdale 3194 Phone: (03) 9588 0107 Cheltenham Primary School Sanctuary Coordinator: Mr John Waugh PO Box 289, Cheltenham 3192 Phone: (03) 9583 1614 Friends of Donald MacDonald Reserve Coordinators: Mrs Alison and Mr Bill Johnston 4 Wellington Avenue, Beaumaris 3193 Phone: (03) 9589 5459
Friends of Merindah Park and the Urban Forest Coordinator: David Cockburn 72 Spring Street, Sandringham 3191 Phone: (03) 9598 6148 Friends of Native Wildlife Coordinator: Michael Norris (Abbott Ward Councillor) 5 Deakin Street, Hampton 3188 Phone: (03) 9521 0804 Friends of Ricketts Point Landside Coordinator: Mrs Sue Raverty 5 Rosemary Road, Beaumaris 3193 Phone: (03) 9589 2103 Friends of Watkins Bay Coordinator: Mrs Moira Longden 73 Dalgetty Road, Beaumaris 3193 Phone: (03) 9589 2725 Marine Care Inc. Ricketts Point Convenor Phil Stuart 104 Dalgetty Rd, Beaumaris 3193 Phone: (03) 9589 3053 St. Leonards College Conservation Group Coordinator: Ms Joanne Burke 163 South Road, Brighton East 3187 Phone: (03) 9592 2266
Friends of George Street Reserve Coordinator: Dr Val Tarrant 47 Bayview Crescent, Black Rock 3193 Phone: (03) 9598 0554
Disclaimer The views expressed in the Banksia Bulletin are not necessarily those of Bayside City Council or its representatives. Editors Amy Weir, Andrea Davies and Cr Terry O’Brien Copy deadlines 2008 Copy deadlines are set for the first Friday of the month of release: Autumn 2008 Friday 7 March 2008 for release end March Winter 2008 Friday 6 June 2008 for release end June Banksia Bulletin is published quarterly by Bayside City Council to service people interested in enjoying and protecting the local environment. Corporate Centre PO Box 27 Royal Avenue SANDRINGHAM VIC 3191 Telephone: 9599 4444 www.bayside.vic.gov.au enquiries@bayside.vic.gov.au Hours of business 8.30am – 5pm Monday – Friday (except public holidays) Printed on 100% recycled paper.
Cover photograph: Pterostylis nana by Pauline Reynolds
Acknowledgements Thank you to all the people who have contributed to this issue of Banksia Bulletin. The editors encourage people to submit articles, however Bayside City Council reserves the right to edit or omit articles. Artwork, illustrations and photographs can also be submitted to feature in the publication.
banksia bulletin - summer 2008
In this ISSUE
From the Mayor
Editors Note Amy Weir
4-5
Friends of George Street Reserve Valerie Tarrant and Pauline Reynolds
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Friends of the Watkins Bay Moira Longden
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Street Tree Strategy
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Carp removal at Elsternwick Park Lake Geoff Smith
10 - 11
Our Wilderness Illusion 12 - 17 Brenn Barcan Frogmouth Diary sequel Moira Longden
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Banksia Bulletin - postal copy or electronic copy? Amy Weir
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Banksia Bulletin mailbag
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Banksia Bulletin mailing list form
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Working Bee Dates
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Upcoming Event! Don’t miss the Bayside Community Nursery Gala Day on Saturday 29 March from 9am until 2pm. There will be a free BBQ lunch from 11am until 1pm. Bayside Community Nursery at 319 Reserve Road, Cheltenham
I am delighted to be able to write my first welcome as Mayor for the summer edition of the Banksia Bulletin, and hope you all enjoyed the festive season. Friends and volunteers make valuable contributions towards the conservation of indigenous plants and animals in Bayside along our foreshores and inland reserves. As someone who has worked in a not-for-profit environmental organisation that relied on volunteers, I have a particular appreciation of your valuable contribution. During the past year, Friends of Bayside have weeded and planted, preserved and regenerated some very important open spaces in Bayside. In addition to the work you have done with your hands, there is the work you have done with your advocacy. The natural environment needs wellreasoned and passionate advocacy to marshal resources and connect with the community. This is important as individual labours have the potential to reveal significant resources for major achievements. Your work has helped to ensure our local environment can be enjoyed, both now and into the future. I would like to thank you all for your contribution. Council’s vision for Bayside is a City that is strong, connected, healthy and sustainable. We recognise that when people give to their local area they are helping to build strong local communities. I am sure you will agree with me when I say that voluntary activity not only benefits the community but the individuals who generously share their time and skills. Participating in a voluntary activity has clearly been linked to improved health and wellbeing. The Mental Health Council of Australia states, “Volunteering is called the ‘win-win’ activity because it helps others and makes us feel good about ourselves. At the same time, it widens our social network, provides us with new learning experiences and can bring balance to our lives.”
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Being involved in voluntary activity as a community means having the opportunity to strengthen local interests and include people in community conversations and projects. Council’s role is to facilitate, motivate, communicate and coordinate opportunities for people to contribute to their local community. Contribute can mean someone participating in a local group, fundraising at the local school, participating in a community consultation, or simply buying groceries for a housebound neighbour. We facilitate, motivate, communicate and coordinate in a number of ways. Our key initiative is matching people’s skills and interests with community groups through the Invest in Our Community program. If you’re not already on it, it’s worth a visit. This is an area of our website where people can find out how to volunteer, what to volunteer for and the best ways to get the most out of volunteering in the local Bayside area. And we like to celebrate you! On 5 December each year, International Volunteer Day is held. It’s an initiative of the United Nations that recognises the invaluable contribution individuals make to communities worldwide. As part of the International Volunteer Day celebrations in December 2007, Bayside City Council acknowledged all voluntary activity across Bayside by placing a picnic table and plaque on the foreshore at Ricketts Point. When people use the picnic table they will be reminded of the work you and others do to improve the area in which we live. I wish you all the best for the coming year and look forward to meeting many of you in my travels around Bayside. Cr Andrew McLorinan Mayor
Editors notes
Corrections and acknowledgements Acknowledgements
Photographs courtesy of Pauline Reynolds
Although the Editors of the Banksia Bulletin take every care to reproduce material and photographs and acknowledgements accurately, occasionally we do unintentionally make an error or two – we are only human after all! In the last edition of the Banksia Bulletin on pages 16 and 17, we reported on the re-opening of the Indigenous Resource Garden (formerly the Native Resource Garden) on the corner of Bluff Road and Royal Avenue, which occurred on 13 July 2007 as part of NAIDOC week. This was an exciting project for Council and one that saw this special garden restored to its original design and planting structure, showcasing the great diversity and use of indigenous plants by the Ngaruk Willam and Yallukit Willam Clans of the Bunurong and Boon wurrung people.
hardenbergia violacea
I would like to acknowledge an omission in that article and that is the contribution of BRASCA (Black Rock and Sandringham Conservation Association) in advocating for the restoration of the Indigenous Resource Garden. During the past five years or so, various members of BRASCA have written articles for the Banksia Bulletin regarding the plants found within the Indigenous Resource Garden and BRASCA has lobbied diuris sulphurea
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for the restoration of this garden for some time. I would like to apologise for not mentioning this contribution in the article that appeared in the last edition of the Banksia Bulletin. BRASCA contribute many hours advocating and working towards the conservation and protection of the Bayside environment and this is work that is greatly appreciated by Council.
Corrections Sometimes we make errors in the spelling or correct identification or caption of a plant species – and we are very grateful that our readers are interested enough to provide us with the correct information. • In particular I would like to thank Val Stajsic from the National Herbarium of Victoria who has made the following corrections regarding the identification of plant species. ’Just a note to point out that the images of the fungus depicted on pages six and seven of the Banksia Bulletin Issue 028 (spring 2007) as ‘Clathrus cibarius’, are actually Ileodictyon gracile smooth cage fungus. Ileodictyon gracile is one of two white cage-like species, which resemble a soccer ball with the panels punched out.
There are good illustrations of both species and how to tell them apart in: Grey, P. & E. (2005), Fungi Down Under. Fungimap. Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. The cage arms in Ileodictyon gracile are smooth (wrinkled in I. cibarium), the arms widen where they join (no widening of arms where they join in I. cibarium), the arms are thin (thick arms in I. cibarium). The name ‘Clathrus cibarius’ is an earlier name for what we now call Ileodictyon cibarium (Wrinkled Cage). I will pass on this record to our Fungimap coordinator. Both species can be found in litter, mulch and woodchip.’ Also from Val: • The Diuris depicted on the front cover of Issue 027 (winter 2007) and captioned as Diuris orientis (on page two) is actually Diuris sulphurea.’ I would like to thank Val for this information and appreciate him sharing his knowledge. • We have also been informed that the Gramatan Avenue working bee time is from 1pm – 3pm on the first Sunday of each month, not 10am – 12pm as listed on the back page of working bee dates. Apologies for any confusion this may have caused.
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• Two photographs were also incorrectly captioned in the last edition: 1. The photo accompanying the article from the Bushland Crew on page ten and eleven of the spring edition, should have been captioned Hardenbergia violacea not Comesperma volubile. 2. The fantastic photographs of the smooth cage fungus (as correctly identified by Val Stajsic), which appeared on pages six and seven, were actually taken by another ‘Friend’ of Donald MacDonald Reserve, Kim Croker. Kim is an avid photographer and a new member of the Friends of Donald MacDonald Reserve, who kindly passed on these photographs to the coordinator of the Friends of Donald MacDonald Reserve, Alison Johnston, who passed them onto me for publication. My apologies also to Kim for omitting her contribution in the article and I look forward to receiving more photographs from her in the future!
Amy Weir Editor
Friends of George Street Reserve Sunday 19 November was a day to be remembered ... as a great team of Friends from many Bayside reserves joined the George Street Friends in a mighty effort to deal with the nonindigenous species, particularly coastal tea tree Leptospermum laevigatum which are emerging in large numbers in the 2006 burn site. Jo Hurse and other Citywide staff went beyond the call of duty in providing back up and additional labour. We were delighted that Citywide Parkcare Manager Lisa Carty was there, once again proving her love of our precious reserve and interest in the regenerating heathland. Rare small plants are emerging and Val Stajsic (Identifications and Research botanist of the National Herbarium Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne) reported his excitement at discovering sticky daisy heads Podotheca angustifolia last seen in Bayside in 1909 and presumed to be extinct in the Melbourne area. (See addendum).
Friends, Citywide and Bayside Council have faced many challenges since the unexpected fire of late 2006 but we are fortunate in the decision to keep working to ensure the survival of the regenerating indigenous plants. The discovery of a species last seen in the district nearly 100 years ago shows the value of that policy. It also shows that fire has an important part to play in management.
Valerie Tarrant and Pauline Reynolds Joint Coordinators
Senecio species are flourishing and the grass tree Xanthorrhoea minor is sending up a splendid flower head. Pardalotes have been sighted in the Tulip Street bank just inside the fence, and there are thornbills and many ravens within the reserve.
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Working bee volunteers at George St Reserve
An exiting addition found in the regeneration at George Street Reserve… Senecio longicollaris
Further to Val Tarrant’s article, we are delighted to provide a small additional snippet from Val Stajsic from the National Herbarium from the Royal Botanic Gardens… “During my visit to the George Street Reserve yesterday, I was thrilled to re-discover Podotheca angustifolia, last collected in Bayside in 1909, and presumed extinct in Melbourne area... Sadly, I only found one plant, which is in lovely condition and quite vigorous 30 x 30cm across. Podotheca angustifolia (sticky long-heads) is an indigenous, annual daisy (Asteraceae), which is locally common in the mallee and shrublands in NW Victoria, but also with scattered occurrences on sandy ground near the coast such as near Portland, near the Otways, and Wilsons Prom.”
all photographs courtesy of Pauline Renolds
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Friends of the Watkins Bay
On the whole we have had a good year, except that three of our group have experienced significant health problems and we wish them all the best. Our main task throughout the year has been watering and mulching, however the weed Erhata sp. still persists. This year for the first time there has been tube stock of coast beard heath, Leucopogon parviflorus. This beautiful shrub, which grows along the southern coast of Australia and into NSW, is not common at Ricketts Point or Watkins Bay. A few years back we were given some advanced plants in spring tins but we failed to get them through the very dry summer despite extra care. So far these little ones are doing well, but are protected in their plastic guards, heavily mulched with seaweed and are carefully watered. We were also given five advanced specimens of coast banksias Banksia integrifolia. Each plant has been adopted by a Friend, planted, mulched, watered and named. Most have been named after a beloved pet, (as a lot of our trees are) but one is called Bill. These trees receive extra visits from their special Friend, mainly to receive a good drink or two between workingbees. Earlier in the year we had thought that the drought was breaking.
The difficulties caused by this ongoing drought have made us all more aware of the struggle to survive for the plants in our own gardens as well as those in our care at the beach. It may sound fanciful but they have almost assumed pet status. However it is interesting to observe how tough some frontline beach and dune species are, such as the cushion bushes and the saltbushes. We wonder if they could be planted at any time of the year other than autumn and winter. As mentioned in the autumn Banksia Bulletin we were delighted by the return of superb fairy-wrens (blue wrens) to Ricketts Point in January 2007. Currently there are two pairs both using areas that we have re-generated. One pair has a chick and the other pair sounds as if though they have two chicks. They are very shy and stay concealed most of the time, probably because there has been a pied currawong in the area. These birds are known predators of small birds, chicks and eggs. A very generous thing occurred in September. The Beaumaris Branch of the Bendigo Community Bank offered financial support to community groups.
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We do not need much money as we mostly supply labour; however carting seaweed and cans of water is a problem for us because we are not young. We applied for and received $300 to buy a stout four-wheeled wagon for this purpose as well as some gardening gloves and small hand tools. We are delighted with this support and thank the Bendigo Beaumaris Community Bank for their generosity to us as well as to other groups. As always our thanks to Jo, Clare and all the Bushland Crew for their excellent support. Moira Longden Coordinator Friends of Watkins Bay
Photograph by David Williams
Street Tree Strategy In February 2007, Council resolved to review the Street Tree Planting Strategy (1997). Councillor Michael Norris and Councillor Derek Wilson were appointed to the review committee. The previous Strategy dealt exclusively with the evaluation of the current street trees, the proposed planting species in selected streets and species lists for the remainder of locations. At our initial meetings the review committee realised there were many more issues regarding street tree management that were not covered in a document relating to planting only, or currently only covered at a policy level within Council. As a result we decided to prepare a new document titled
the Street Tree Strategy that will incorporate reviewed information from the previous Strategy and also other strategic issues relating to street tree management.
The proposed Street Tree Strategy is currently available for public comment. Comments will be received until the end of February 2008.
The proposed Street Tree Strategy will incorporate issues such as:
To see a copy and for more information on how to provide feedback, please visit our website at www.bayside.vic.gov.au/ streettreestrategy/
• Programmed and reactive pruning • Species selection • Street tree stocking • Tree valuation • Inappropriate trees • Trees and development • Whole street replacement • Trees and infrastructure • Tree and open space/ bushland • Pest and disease management • Resident communication
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Carp removal at Elsternwick Park lake
Over the past few months, Bayside City Council had been receiving a number of calls from concerned residents regarding the presence of the introduced fish species, the European carp (Cyprinus carpio) at Elsternwick Park lake. Many residents were concerned that carp may be responsible for the disappearance of baby ducklings. The fish size has also raised comment from the community with many large fish being reported to Council. Since the construction of the lake at Elsternwick Park in 1998, carp have found their way into the lake. This is despite native fish being introduced into the lake and unfortunately, the number of carp in Elsternwick Park lake have been growing steadily. Carp are reported to grow to over one metre in length, and 60 kilograms in weight. In Australia, this species may reach ten kilograms, but four to five kilograms is more usual. Carp are omnivorous, sucking and straining mud from the bottom and sucking insects and plants from the surface. Juvenile carp feed mainly on microscopic algae, rotifers and crustaceans. It is this feeding habit that has negative impacts on the water body, as the lake substrate is disturbed during this feeding process, causing sediment to float in the water column, effecting light penetration and ultimately, water quality. The suspension of material in the water increases what is known as turbity.
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Turbidity favours the undesirable algae species known as blue /green algae over desirable and more favoured algal species favouring light. The impact these introduced fish have on Elsternwick Park lake could be seen, as much of the lake was often cloudy and brown coloured due to carp feeding behaviour. On 20 December 2007, K & C Fisheries were contracted to undertake carp removal. K & C Fisheries are highly experienced and one of the recommended companies utilised by Department of Primary Industries (DPI) for both carp removal and the capture of native fish for relocation. Carp removal was conducted using an 18-foot aluminum boat. Citywide Parkcare staff were also present to ensure safety during the launching and retrieval of the boat and to answer questions from the public. This activity drew considerable interest from people of all ages and the most frequent question was “what is going to happen to the fish – will they be processed for food or fertilizer�? Many of the removed carp were in the three kilograms to five kilograms range. It was explained that unfortunately the quantity of
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Photographs courtesy of Geoff Smith
fish in this lake did not allow for food processing but that the fish would probably end up as fertilizer. Discussions with DPI staff and the contractors confirmed that there are no documented cases of carp taking small water birds as was suggested by many park visitors to Elsternwick Park. Section by section the lake was cleared of fish, herding the bulk of fish to the shallow end of the lake where a large drag net was used to remove the remaining fish from the water. In total one hundred and twenty fish and two tortoise (which were returned to the lake) were collected. The release of carp into water bodies is illegal. Anyone observing such behaviour can report this activity to DPI on 136 186. Although it is unlikely that carp can ever be totally eradicated from Elsternwick Park lake, for now at least – the lake vegetation has a chance to re-establish. References: http://www.amonline. net.au/FISHES/fishfacts/fish/ ccarpio.htm Geoff Smith Infrastructure Team Leader Citywide Parkcare
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Our Wilderness Illusion The idea that wilderness is natural implies that human beings are separate from what we call ‘nature’ and therefore that we are ‘unnatural’. This belief is common among those non-indigenous Australians who regards ourselves as ‘environmentalists’ (or ‘greenies). I’ve been involved in discussions with other ‘environmentalists’ in Bayside (the suburbs of Brighton, Hampton, Sandringham, Beaumaris, Black Rock and parts of Highett and Cheltenham) who point to certain plants and animals (including Australian ones) and object to their presence because they are not indigenous to this part of Australia. My reply to this is ‘But we are not indigenous’. One of them acknowledged ‘Oh! I can’t answer that’. This hasn’t altered their passion, nor has it led to them recognising that when our ancestors (under the command of Governor Phillip) started occupying Australia in 1788 it was inhabited by the fully developed human beings whom we now call ‘Aborigines’, or Indigenes). We celebrate our occupation every year on 26 January and have a holiday called ‘Australia Day’. Aboriginal people call it ‘Invasion Day’. Our dictionaries express our lack of recognition in their definitions of ‘wilderness’. For example, the 1981 ‘Macquarie Dictionary’ says that a ‘wilderness’ is ‘a wild region as of forest or desert; a waste; a tract of land inhabited only by wild animals; any desolate tracts, as of
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water; a part of a garden set apart for plants growing with unchecked luxuriance…’.
Council repeats its ‘Statement of Commitment to Indigenous Australians’.
And so when most of we ‘environmentalists’ talk of ‘wilderness’ areas in Aboriginal Australia, including Aboriginal Tasmania, we exclude Aboriginal people from our thoughts – and actions.
Another example of our ‘exclusion habits’ was provided by Mark Dymiotis in his article ‘Global Environmental Sustainability’ printed in the 2007 winter edition of Banksia Bulletin. Mark wrote ‘Policies and actions must be scrutinised for effectiveness in: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, protection, enlargement and restoration of wilderness (my emphasis) areas where natural (my emphasis) and evolving biodiversity takes place, reduction in the overall use of water – not just in gardens and showers’.
One example of our ‘exclusion habits’ was given about fifteen years ago when Wurundjeri/ Woiwurrung Elder, Norman Hunter (Wonga) complained to me that his people were unable to provide themselves with Kangaroo meat (‘bush-tucker’) because ‘greenies’ had got the Victorian Government to make it unlawful. As for possums…well, you can imagine! And so Wurundjeri/ Woiwurrung people had to import ‘lawful’ kangaroo meat from New South Wales. (It was in New South Wales that I had my first taste of kangaroo meat). This was about the time that ‘bush-tucker’ was becoming fashionable among some gourmands. (In May each year Bayside City Council provides bush-tucker at the annual flagraising ceremony at which banksia bulletin - summer 2008
Compare what Mark says with what Clement Hodgkinson said at the Vegetable Products Royal Commission in 1887 ‘I especially noticed that in the Dandenong State Forest Reserve (Boonerwurrung/Wurundjeri country), the southern portion of the land, which was included by me in the forest, has been taken off, and that in the southern portion the finest trees (water providers) in the forest existed. The largest trees in the forest…were in the portion cut off’. The implication is that this magnificent water producing and conserving forest in the Dandenong Ranges was the result of thousands of years of skilled
management by Boonerwurrung and Woiwurrung/Wurundjeri people. The trees would have been home to possums and koalas - an important source of food and furs for the people who home it was – at the right time of year. Mark did not mention that our Earth (Mother Earth) is overpopulated, that our population is increasing – just like cancer cells – and we are searching for ways to make our endless growth and forest destruction safe or ‘sustainable’. When I read Mark’s article, I was busy with my own article “Climate change was predicted 120 years ago”. I expected comments about Mark’s sustainability goals from others in the next issue of the Banksia Bulletin and assumed that further discussion was unnecessary.
One way to explore our wilderness/natural mistake is to examine the situation in Aboriginal Victoria. One example comes from Lieutenant JH Tuckey, the First Lieutenant of “His Majesty’s Ship Calcutta”, which brought the expedition commanded by Lt Colonel David Collins, to “Port Phillip Bay” (Nerm), in 1803. A convict settlement was established in Boonerwrung country near Sorrento and Arthur’s Seat (Wonga) in October 1803, but it was not sustainable. Collins had already experienced the desperate
struggle for survival of Governor Phillip and the First Fleet in Sydney 1788 – 1791 and so he shifted from Nerm/Port Phillip to Aboriginal Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in April/ May 1804. Lt Tuckey wrote a book about the expedition. It is called “An account of a voyage to establish a colony at Port Phillip in Bass’s Strait, on the south coast of New South Wales, in His Majesty’s ship Calcutta, in the years 1802-3-4”. He wrote of the head of the Bay (Nerm) near the Yarra and Saltwater/Maribyrnong rivers (Woiwurrung/Wurundjeri and Boonerwrung Country) ‘The face of the country bordering on the port is beautifully picturesque, swelling into gentle elevations of the brightest verdure and dotted with trees as if planted by the hand of taste (guess whose hands they were) while the ground is covered with a profusion of flowers of every colour...’ (p. 73). Tuckey said of the soil ‘Its blackness proceeds from the ashes of the burnt grass which everywhere has been set fire to by the natives’. This was a foretaste of the: - ‘controlled burns’ conducted by the ‘Bushland Teams’ employed by Bayside City Council, and reported in Banksia Bulletin. Rhys Jones discussed the Australiawide use of fire by Indigenous people to cultivate their country and maintain sustainability in 1969 in the journal ‘Australian Natural History’. Rhys Jones coined the phrase ‘Fire Stick Farming’ to
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describe Aboriginal methods. Aboriginal use of fire as a tool to make their home safe and fruitful was also discussed by Sylvia Hallam in her book: ‘Fire And Hearth – A Study of Aboriginal usage and European Usurpation in South Western Australia’. Hallam wrote ‘The land the English settled (on the Swan River, Perth) was not as “God made it”, it was as Aborigines had made it’. An eyewitness account of the use of fire by Indigenous people is given by Mary Gilmore in her book ‘Old Days Old Ways’. The relevant chapter is ‘Fire and The Planted Seed’. All Bayside libraries have a copy of Mary Gilmore’s book.
In 2004 the Federal Government established a national enquiry on bushfire mitigation and management. The enquiry report said ‘There is widespread acknowledgement that Indigenous Australian’s burning over more than 40,000 years has played a central role in shaping the biodiversity of Australia. In recent decades there have been major advances in understanding the ways Indigenous Australians use fire.
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Our Wilderness Illusion For example: to hunt, to promote new grass which attracts game, to make the country easier to travel through, to clear the country of spiritual pollution after death, to create fire breaks for late in the dry season, and for a variety of other reasons’. By 2004, the total of Australia’s Indigenous and nonIndigenous population was more than 20 million. Pity help our fabled wilderness areas!
Once you see the tables you will understand how this map will appeal to Bayside residents because we are familiar with places it covers.
Brenn Barcan Local Resident
Lt. Tuckey’s description of Port Phillip Bay (Nerm) shows that it was not a wilderness. But what about the rest of the ‘Port Phillip District of New South Wales’. Was there room for a ‘wilderness’ somewhere else? Fortunately, in 1990 the Monash University Department of Geography and Environmental Science published a book written by Ian D. Clark entitled ‘Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800-1990’. Dr Clark’s book includes 16 maps which cover all of (Aboriginal) Victoria. Not a ‘wilderness’ anywhere to be seen, but plenty of forests with big evergreen trees! It is impractical to include all of Clark’s 16 maps in the Banksia Bulletin. Only the map which includes the areas that we now call ‘Port Phillip Bay’ (Nerm) and ‘Westernport Bay’ (Warn-mor-in) has been included. Ian Clark shows the ‘Bun Wurrung’, ‘Woi Wurrung’ and ‘Wada Wurrung’ as the people who prevented these areas from being ‘wilderness’s and ‘natural’.
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(cont.)
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Photograph by Frank
Frogmouth Diary sequel In 2006 a pair of Tawny Frogmouths nested in my back garden and raised two young. The family group stayed together for a few months roosting next door in a beautiful Agonis flexuose, Willow Myrtle, in the Pearce garden. Eventually the young birds dispersed however we did not know to where. When spring came in 2007 we wondered if the birds would return to my garden to nest again the Eucalyptus nicholli. All year the parent birds had roosted together during the day in their favourite tree in the Pearce garden, then early in September one bird was missing and did not return. The 2006 nest tree in my garden was deserted,
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possibly because the canopy is very thin this year. Drought or hungry possums, or both may cause this. The primary school is nearby, as well as some lovely gardens, so Ted and I hunted around and eventually found the other Frogmouth making a nest in a Liquidamber a few houses away in the beautiful Morris garden in Beaumaris. It was very high up in a fork, just a collection of a few sticks. Sitting commenced about 20 September. About one month later the parents appeared to be carrying food to the nest and by 19 November two well-feathered
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young were observed hopping along the bough beside the nest preening and vigorously flapping their small wings. On 24 November the Pearce’s awoke to a lovely sight. There was the little family in their favourite daytime roost, the beautiful Willow Myrtle, outside their kitchen window. Most days they are there but sometimes they come back to my Eucalyptus nicholli where their plumage blends perfectly with the bark. Moira Longden Local resident
Banksia Bulletin – postal copy or electronic copy? This summer edition of the Banksia Bulletin completes the first full complement of seasons with our ‘new look’. We have received some very positive feedback regarding the new layout, and especially regarding the amazing array of colour photographs. As part of our ongoing commitment to keeping the Banksia Bulletin a publication you continue to enjoy and receive, we are currently updating our mailing list and transferring this into a new and improved database. We have attached a tear-out slip on the following page asking you to confirm your contact details. As some of you may be aware, we make each edition of the Banksia Bulletin available on the Bayside City Council website at www. bayside.vic.gov.au We have also had some requests to receive the Banksia Bulletin electronically as a PDF document.
of receiving a hard copy posted to you in the mail. We have ensured that this is a separate page in this edition so you do not have to worry about tearing out part of an article. This will ensure we have your most recent contact details and also enable us to determine our print numbers for hard copy and set up an electronic email subscription list for the Banksia Bulletin. Thank you for your continued support of the Banksia Bulletin and I look forward to receiving your feedback.
Amy Weir Editor
We would now like to hear from you to let us know how you would like to receive the Banksia Bulletin in the future. I encourage all of our readers to return the tear-out slip to us so that we can confirm your contact details, and so that we will know if you would like to receive the Banksia Bulletin via email instead
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Banksia Bulletin mailbag. Editors Note: Occasionally an article in the Banksia Bulletin creates some discussion amongst our readers and I received the following email from Mr Donn Pattenden in relation to an article that appeared on page four of the winter edition of the Banksia Bulletin. I have reproduced it here with Mr Pattenden’s permission as it raised some interesting points of view I thought our readers would be interested in. ‘Dear Ms Weir, I read with interest the article by Jenny Talbot and Elizabeth McQuire. Although I agree with almost everything they say, I have a couple of points to make about their opposition to the growing of rice and cotton in Victoria. The authors suggest that these most water-intensive of crops should only be grown in high-rainfall areas such as Indonesia. I find it interesting that so many Victorian environmentalists tend to single out rice as the one food product that should be discontinued here. Surely the production of beef and dairy takes far more water and generates far more pollution than rice. Could it be that these environmentalists lose sight of scientific objectivity where their stomachs are concerned? Australians relate to beef and dairy products as necessities. Most do not feel that way about rice. No doubt most would even suggest that beer is more important than rice. Australians consume too much beef, dairy and beer. Many do not get enough whole grains. Objectively speaking, which would be better for Victorians and their environment: a reduction in the production and consumption of beef, dairy and beer, or the eradication of the rice industry? Cotton is also a problematic crop in terms of water usage and pollution. Most of the cotton products sold in Australia are made in China and India. These countries also suffer from drought, the effects of which are unimaginable to those of us fortunate enough to live in a place as comfortable as Victoria. Ideally, most Australian clothing would be made from locally grown organic hemp. But the abolition of the cotton industry would not bring this about. I would prefer to buy Australian cotton products than Asian ones, because environmental standards are higher here. I agree that it is time to seriously re-consider what we choose to grow and produce in this state. But if we are to do this, it must be done with objectivity and rigour. In an age of climate change and peak oil, we must truly think globally about the environmental costs of the things we produce and consume. Unlike most Victorians, I have a diet based on organic, locally grown brown rice. Although I would be disappointed if I could no longer consume this product, I would be happy to do so if an alternative could be suggested: a gluten-free grain more suitable to Australia’s dry climate. Most Australians baulk at the notion of changing their animal-product-based diets in the interests of sustainability. It is not enough to outsource the production of problematic crops. If Australia was not made for rice, then it was not made for cows either. Best regards, Donn Pattenden
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banksia bulletin - summer 2008
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banksia bulletin - summer 2008
Friends of Bayside
Working Bee times for March to May 2008 Time/Day
MAR
APR
MAY
Balcombe Park
Last Sunday 10am - noon
30th
27th
25th
Bay Rd
2nd Saturday 10am - noon
8th
12th
10th
BRASCA
Contact Janet Ablitt ph 9589 6646
Brighton Dunes
2nd Sunday 9am - 11am
9th
13th
11th
4th, 11th, 18th, 25th
1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th
6th, 13th, 20th, 27th
Tuesdays 8am - 10am
Cheltenham Park
1st Sunday 10am - noon
2nd
6th
4th
Cheltenham Primary
2nd Friday 9.30am - noon
14th
11th
9th
Donald MacDonald
1st Sunday 10am - noon
2nd
6th
4th
George St
3rd Sunday 10am - noon
16th
20th
18th
Gramatan
1st Sunday 1 - 3pm
2nd
6th
4th
Long Hollow
Last Sunday 1pm - 3pm
30th
27th
25th
Friends of Merindah Park and the Urban Forest
2nd Sunday 10am - 12pm
9th
13th
11th
Friends of Native Wildlife - Contact M. Norris*
1st Saturday 9.30am
Ricketts Point Landside
3rd Tuesday 1pm - 3pm
18th
15th
20th
Table Rock
Last Tuesday 12.30pm - 2.30pm
25th
29th
27th
Watkins Bay
Last Wednesday 1pm - 3pm
26th
30th
28th
*Contact Michael Norris for site details on (03) 9521 0804
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