88 addison ave athelstone 5076 number 153 jan feb mar 2017 ... · page 1 88 addison ave athelstone...

Friends of Black Hill and Morialta Inc. Number 153 Jan –Feb - Mar 2017

88 Addison Ave Athelstone 5076 Number 153 Jan Feb Mar 2017 In this Edition: Green Army Update Outgoing President’s report New Members New President’s report Crag Care report

Committee Contacts Olive Hill Report 4th Creek project report 3rd Falls Track project report Diary Dates

Green Army Update

Our first Green Army Team graduated on 17 November 2016. The event was well attended, with Jacob and Asher representing Australian Conservation Volunteers, Kerri Villiers, Ranger in Charge, Dave Heard, Senior Ranger, Brent Lores, Ranger from DEWNR. The Friends were also well represented. Highlights of the first part of the project include significant work on

• Chincherinchee in Horsnell Gully Conservation Park;

• Erica in Black Hill Conservation Park

• Broom, gorse, blackberry and furze muraltia in Morialta Conservation Park

• New fencing in Morialta Conservation Park Graduates were awarded their certificates, and spoke of their involvement in the program, each talking about a weed plant they encountered and a project they had worked on. Ranger in Charge, Kerri Villiers reflected that the precursor to Green Army (Green Corps) was personally significant to her as it marked the start of her career in working in the environmental sector.

A new team has now commenced, and we look forward to working with the new team to continue to generate

great environmental outcomes for the Parks.

John Fleming


Outgoing President’s report We ended 2015 with a bang! The Fort Glanville Historical Association helped us end the picnic in the park in style with their cannon firing a resounded end to a year or celebration.

At the Friends of Parks Forum, we attracted a number of awards for the events we put on throughout 2015 which was the Morialta Centenary Year. Community Engagement – for the work done in connecting up with the SA Rock Climbing Club and UNI SA Rockclimbers to create the Crag Care project. Regular events in Morialta where the rock climbers could learn about biodiversity in the park and contribute to caring for the habitat around the rock climbing sites.

And two awards for the Morialta BioBlitz. Innovation and the McLaren Shield for Group Achievement of the Year. The Morialta BioBlitz was a collaboration between: UniSA (the Discovery Circle); the South Australian Museum; the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources; Natural Resources Adelaide & Mt Lofty Ranges; and the Friends of Black Hill and Morialta. The event is supported by SGIC and the Campbelltown City Council. There were 605 observations made at the Morialta BioBlitz, made of 184 different species

Sandy Pitcher (DEWNR Chief Executive), The Hon. David Wotton (former Minister for Environment, and current Patron and Life Member, Friends of Parks Inc.), and

Duncan MacKenzie, President, Friends of Parks Inc. present the McLaren Shield to the Friends of Black Hill and Morialta president.


We also celebrated our 30th Anniversary this year, and were recognised by the Department at the annual volunteers thank you celebration.

Meanwhile, Jacob and the Green Army Team have been amazing. The focus of the work is around protecting and restoring habitat for the Chestnut Rumped heathwren and the Southern brown bandicoot. They have done this by addressing weedy species threatening the habitat of these threatened species, working to allow better migration paths by connecting areas of quality bushland. They have been successful everywhere they have worked through Horsnell Gully, Black Hill and Morialta and will all their projects. I

have had nothing but positive feedback for their work particularly the sensitivity they have approached tasks with, causing the minimal amount of off target disturbance, thoroughness, sound techniques and amount they have been able to achieve. Congratulations and thankyou to Jacob and his team. I would especially like to thank our Rangers for all their support this year, Dave Heard, Brent Lores and Steph Cole, along with Anthony Abley who has helped us work out priorities for work. Looking forward. The Friends Forum gave an opportunity to reflect on the group’s achievements, and be excited and challenged by new ideas presented by a range of speakers. My head was swimming with new ideas by the end of the forum, full of possibilities for members to get out and get involved in the parks, and engage more of the community in caring for the natural biodiversity on our doorstep. So I created a wish-list of possibilities, not for the people already engaged in on park activities but ideas for people who support the parks, but are not able to engage in the current range of activities we do:

• Developing the grassland in Morialta • Expanding Community Engagement • Expanding and consolidating networking

with other groups • Indigenous History of the parks • European history of the parks • Built history of the parks • Frog recording and identification • More work with the wildlife camera

• Recording and identifying bat calls. • Recording and identifying Cicada calls • GPS mapping of species in the parks • Further development of Social Media

• Facebook • Youtube • Instagram

• Ongoing work on the website • New ideas

So if any of these ideas speak to you, please get in contact with the committee, and make your interest known. There are such a range of options to get involved!! Best wishes for the New Year.

John Fleming Outgoing President


New Friends of Black Hill and Morialta Members The committee would like to take this opportunity to welcome the following new members:

• Marina Walker

• Sandy Cochrane & Linty McDonald

Incoming President’s report: A note to introduce myself as the new president. I joined the group in 2010 with my partner Garth after we moved to Adelaide from Brisbane. As we live close to Morialta and spend much of our recreational time in the park we were both keen to help out once in a while. Since then my interest and involvement has evolved from coming along and learning from members on the ground to taking up training opportunities as they become available; accepting the co-ordination role for 4th Creek in 2012 and joining the committee; adding mid week working bees for First Falls Nov 2012; taking on the treasurer role Nov 2013 – Nov 2016; commencing the Crag Care project May 2014; accepting the role of Morialta Centenary Co-ordinator 2015; becoming Vice-President 2016 in addition to successfully applying for a number of grants and our current Green Army team. I can honestly say it has been an amazing ride so far! This year we have a lot coming up with our second Green Army team now on the ground working in the parks and our volunteer support officer putting together 3-year project plans for each park. The Horsnell Gully Plan has been completed and the Black Hill plan is already in the compilation stage. The information members have shared with DEWNR staff has meant the Friends have obtained significantly more direction and support from our Volunteer Support Officer Steph Cole, our Senior Ranger Dave Heard and Ranger Brett Lores than we did in the years when I first joined the group, before we had Volunteer Support Officers. This coordinated approach has given us a much better vision of the requirements of each park and allowed better targeted work to be instigated. If anyone is interested in reading an electronic copy of the Horsnell Gully report please contact me and I will email you a copy. Have you ever considered being more involved with the group or joining the committee? We’ve had a number of long term members of the committee retire this year after decades of amazing service. Added to that our Treasurer resigned in December as other commitments left him feeling unable to perform the role effectively. At this stage, with the support of the committee, I have taken on the role of acting Treasurer however we would dearly love to see someone else accept this position. If you aren’t interested in being treasurer but are interested in being more involved, any other administrative skills you feel you may be able to provide would also be very welcome! From as little as helping with the group’s decision making to taking the minutes, editing this newsletter or offering to coordinate a project site, it all helps spread the load and provide fresh ideas and insights. Any input is gratefully received and you get a chance to learn more about what is happening in the parks. A win win for all. More information later in the newsletter. I would like to thank the retiring members of the committee for all their hard work and dedication. Between them they have put in decades of committee work over the years. Additionally I would like to thank John Fleming for his years of support and mentoring. Without his quiet encouragement I would never have dreamed of taking up such a role when I first joined the group in 2010! I hope I can fill the position even half as well as he has done though hopefully for not as long, as he has been president for 7 of the past 8 years and secretary for a few of those years too. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for being supporters of the Friends of Black Hill & Morialta and to wish you and your families a safe and happy new year. Hold onto your hats as we are in for another wonderful journey in 2017!

President Liz Milner


Crag Care site map

Greenhood discovered during Bushland Condition Monitoring

Morialta Crag Care report 2016

As I sit to write this report I can’t believe that Crag Care is in fact still only 2.5 years old as so much has been achieved since we commenced! 2016 has been an amazing year in the site with some good news to report.

Late 2015 the Crag Care Project was lucky to secure some funding for training and contractor support through the NRM Community Grants programme. In 2016 we were able to send 5 members representing Friends, CCSA & UniSA on a 2 day Bushland Condition monitoring course. The course took participants through a number of indicators which can be checked to establish the bushland condition and threats to a site. This was an amazing opportunity for participants as the course is usually financially beyond the Friends group’s capacity. Subsequent to this training a site in the Crag Care project area was monitored late August 2016. We are very pleased to report that the site came out with the very highest level of species diversity, with 6 different orchid species identified. Not so pleased to report that the site also came out with the very highest level of threat due to the weed abundance and cover. This makes it a perfect site for us to be working in and is right on the edge of the zone we have been targeting near the main climbing track to Boulder Bridge so next year we shall be moving our efforts into this area. Other good news is the elimination of willows in the creekline. Some of the grant money at the request of the park rangers was used to treat all remaining willows in the creekline which borders the climbing areas last summer. In the past week these willows have been revisted to follow up on that work and we are highly confident that all mature willows will have been successfully killed. This along with the


Crag Care turns two

upstream and downstream willow work is an amazing outcome for the park. To support the Crag Care project our Volunteer Support Officer allocated some funds for work in the Crag Care site. Contractors went into the site in early Autumn. First of all they removed the last of the small blackberry patches in the site which exist above the cliffline. There is still the largish patch in the gully you walk past between the access to Boulder Bridge and Far Crag, though they have reduced the size of this patch with spraying and it will be slowly reduced over time to allow native animals sheltering in it time to relocate. Next they removed most of the Broom and Gorse near the park entrance which we hadn’t yet got to. Once that was completed they went on to treat a number of olive trees complementing the work already done by Crag Carers. Volunteers have since done some broom follow up and it is now difficult to find a mature broom plant in the area. By following through with this work removing any new plants over the next few years we should slowly but surely remove one of Australia’s worst environmental weeds from our site. The last of the grant money was used in September 2016 to target the area above Far Crag. The contractors swept the area from the top of the cliffs to the main walking track treating all the remaining olive & boneseed. They have also done a test spray of the bulb Ixia. This brings me to the bad news. Ixia is of great concern as two years ago there was just a small patch in the climbing areas, but with this year’s increased and prolonged rain it is running rampant along track edges and starting to grow in high quality bush in many adjoining areas of the park. It is of very high concern as it will out compete our native lilies, orchids and other smaller ground covers as it displaces them. We are in the process of evaluating the best way to tackle this emerging weed. To top off the year the Crag Care project won the award for “Community Engagement” at the Friends of Parks forum held October 2016 and the project has once again been successful in obtaining financial support through the NRM Community Grants programme, securing approximately $3000 to pay for contractors to support our project in 2017. Way to go team! Over 150 volunteer hours have been contributed to the Crag Care project this year. The team have targeted olive, broom, boneseed, hawthorn, dog rose and St John’s wort focusing primarily on the entry tracks to the Billiard Table/Boulder Bridge areas and the olive at the base of Billiard Table. We were quite excited earlier in the year when we realised we’d “crossed the track and turned the corner”. Great job everyone! In 2017 we are planning to put motion detection cameras in the area the Cunnigham Skinks live in to monitor their dependence on the blackberries at the base of Far Crag. Look out for them down there soon. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Garth Wimbush who assists with the co-ordination and hosting of Crag Care days, Rob Brooks for hosting Crag Care events when we were off playing in the mountains, the Climbing Club of South Australia and UniSA Rock Climbing Clubs for maintaining their membership and continuing to support the project, the Adelaide University Mountain Club and Scouts SA Rock Climbing Group who also support the project, the many Crag Carers who have helped out and contributed towards the strengthening of the South Australian Climbing Community, and to thank the Friends members and DEWNR staff who have contributed their time and expertise to the project thereby enabling it to be so successful. 2016 has been great, looking forward to seeing you all out at the Crag in 2017!

Liz Milner Crag Care Co-ordinator


Committee Contacts President Liz Milner Ph: 0403 969 263 [email protected]

Deputy President John Fleming Ph: 8336 5275 [email protected] Secretary John Fleming Ph: 8336 5275 [email protected]

Acting Treasurer Liz Milner Ph: 0403 969 263 [email protected]

Minute Secretary Records Officer

Ann Taylor Ph: 8251 2335

Membership Officer Russell Dahms Ph 8336 5275

Committee Member Dr Rob Brooks [email protected]

Newsletter editor Website

John Fleming John Fleming

Ph. 8336 5275 [email protected]

Public Officer Russell Dahms Ph 8336 5275

Have you considered joining the committee? There are opportunities to be involved, and to have an influence over

the decisions the group makes. You are welcome to come to a committee meeting to see what we get up to.

Details in the Diary Dates section. We meet at 7:30pm on the third Wednesday of the month at 88 Addison Ave

Athelstone.

Olive Hill Project Site Report - 2016

Work this year was carried out by the Friends of Black Hill & Morialta and Pembroke School

Community Care Project in two specific areas, ie the Friends on the summit of Olive Hill and

Pembroke School the western side of the hill where the School continued its impressive long term

involvement commenced in 1989 working in a variety of sites in the Black Hill and Morialta

Conservation Parks. This year, all work was focused at Olive Hill.

On their first visit students were taken on a tour where previous groups have performed

work over the years and an Induction Process undertaken so that they were fully informed about O H

& S matters, the safe use of tools and chemicals that will be employed during future visits.

Background information about the history of the site was given including revegetation work carried

out in the past, land management principals and control methods employed to deal with weeds and

feral animals.

On each visit, before work was undertaken, the safe and proper use of chemicals, tools and

equipment was demonstrated plus Cut and Swab/ Drill & Fill methods of weed control requiring the

use of a herbicide and water mix. Again, O H & S requirements were discussed to ensure that

everyone fully understood their responsibilities to co-workers, themselves and the environment

they are working in.

Student using the Drill & Fill method of Olive control.


Students have continued to play a positive role here contributing substantially by clearing,

cutting and swabbing a variety of woody weeds and have gained work experience from these

collaborative, team effort experiences. Weed species treated and removed were Olive, Rhamnus,

Boneseed, Box thorn and Artichoke.

Preserving plant specimens.

Friends Group members held three working bees on the Summit and the main activities

undertaken were to continue the Cut/Swab and Drill & Fill of Olive regrowth and other woody weeds.

The enclosure at the summit that was constructed to protect a range of native plant species

too needed attention as fallen trees had damaged the fence and rabbits had made incursions into the

area under the rabbit proof fencing. Fallen trees were removed off the fence, wire netting was re

clipped and new top wires were fitted and strained. Also, bushes growing in through the netting

were removed preventing further fence damage.

Rabbits are very active on the summit and are persistent in trying to breach the netting fence so a

constant vigil is required here. Outside the enclosure new seedling have little hope of survival as

Rabbits are constantly grazing off the new shoots that emerge.

Consequently, much more needs to be carried out here if we are to maintain areas previously

controlled and more working bees and an increase in volunteers are needed to expand weed control

activities in this site that was the First Project Area of the Friends of Black Hill & Morialta in 1986.

This year the Friends contributed a total of 27 hours to the site.

After 27 years this year saw my final coordinating, environmental educational role with the

Pembroke School Community Care Programme and while there is much I could say I will limit it

simply to this. It was a privilege to work with some great youngsters and staff and the camaraderie

experienced will be a lasting memory. It was also one staff member, John Mugford who became a

dear friend who stirred in me a dedicated interested in ants that lead to my collaboration with an

amazing ant expert and friend, Archie Mc Arthur. To this day I still collect ants for the South

Australian Museum in their memory.

This year Pembroke School contributed 172.5 volunteer hours to the Olive Hill Project which is an

impressive effort.

Graham Churchett

Project Coordinator.

Montacute Valley Although Montacute Road is repaired, the creek crossing to the project site adjacent to the Yurrebilla Trail and old quarry has not yet been repaired at the time of the newsletter. While the site remains inaccessible, working bees will be held in an alternate location along 4th Creek in Morialta, next to the stone gazebo, along falls road (Near the Bamboo patch). Check the website for any updates. Please also note, the regular working bee date has been moved to the second Monday of each month.

John Fleming

Not all visits were about

performing hard work and here

students are learning how to

preserve plant specimens for

identification. We also looked at

the soils/geology, and types of

plants used by the Aboriginal

people and how they knapped

and used stone to make tools.


Fourth Creek Report 2016 Well what a difference a year can make. Fourth Creek is usually one of those areas where we slowly chip away at things whilst trying to keep the good areas clear of incoming weeds. The beginning of the year started in this way with good work done pushing back the blackberry on the track leading into the pedestrian ford from Wandilla Drive, treating all the fennel on the site and drilling some smaller ash trees in the same area. In March we are sorry to say we found silver nightshade growing at the end of Wandilla Drive and up the vehicle track which leads up the ridge line. This weed is notoriously difficult to control and can spread rapidly so it became a focus for us to try and treat it all. The Conservation Volunteers Australia and the Pembroke School Community Engagement teams both helped to tackle the infestation. A sweep of the area was done but an inspection last week has revealed we are far from on top of it so it will again become a priority for us in 2017. Late Autumn the district ecologist visited the site and put forward a plan to vastly improve the grassy slopes near the Resource Centre utilising the Green Army team. Much work had been done in previous years removing weeds from these areas but the number of non local eucalypts, particularly the sugar gums & the spotted gums, have been rapidly increasing at the cost of our local pink, blue and red gums. The department agreed to remove the seeding non locals and the Green Army have helped clean the area up and fence off the illegal pathways. Some of the area has also been sprayed for soursob and we have 1500 plants coming in May to revegetate the site using local natives. We have our fingers crossed for Autumn rain so that we can get as many plants as possible in the ground and growing strongly before the Green Army team finish. The Bushcare Major Day out community event was once again well attended with about 30 people registering on the day. The nasturtium front has moved much further downstream than ever before!

Then spring came and with it the flood events in late September. What a transformation! So much which was both good and bad was washed out of the creek bed and down into the Torrens. We can only hope all the lovely rushes and sedges are growing along the banks there or helping to improve the fertility of the sea grass beds! It is a natural cycle. The flood also realigned where the water flows. Perhaps not as large as the 1981 flood event but still incredibly significant in its own right, I feel we may be talking about 2016 for some years to come. We are still watching and waiting to see what grows back - in the meantime we are working hard to clear the creek banks of the now reduced woody weeds all along 4th creek. This summer there has been much work done using the last of the money from the 2015 On Park Volunteer Support Grant which was requested to help with willow and ash control. As previously reported all mature willows from Colonial Drive through to Stradbroke Road – the full length of 4th creek within Morialta - were treated early 2016 by


A treated willow

volunteers and contractors. Follow up work has now been done on all willows as some of the larger ones had limbs reshooting. However, we believe we will eliminate all the mature trees from the park this summer! We cannot prevent upstream plants in private property from breaking off and creating new trees in the creek but we will remain vigilant and try to prevent this tree from re-establishing itself. Huge thanks go to Garth who single handedly instigated this project with the initial mapping of the entire creek and then provided much assistance with the treatment of many trees. I have great news on the ash front too. All ash between First Falls and Stradbroke Road have been treated. These are another weed difficult to kill but we have high hopes of eliminating them soon. If you see any ash looking alive in Morialta CP please let us know as at this stage we think these are the only ones which exist in the park and that they are all on their way out! This year we have had two new regular attendees join us, Carmel at the beginning of the year and Marina after coming along to the Bushcare Major Day out event. Both are very welcome additions to the regular team which is Ann, Bruno, John & Russell. Bruno has moved away from the area now though and we are missing him. I’d like to thank everyone who came along and helped out and in particular John for hosting the working bees whilst I was away and for taking the Pembroke School teams at various times into the site where they have done valuable work. It is a huge site to look after and every visitor is most welcome.

Liz Milner Project Coordinator

3rd Falls Track Project Report If you take the time to visit the top of the 3rd falls at Morialta you will see a lot of change. This year, 2016 has seen a large amount of weeding work in this area. Of note are

- Looking North East, the final clearing of small broom seedlings around the boot scraper by Maureen & me.

- looking North up the steep slope, completion of the removal of broom & gorse in the triangle between the Colonial Track and the Third Falls track by Maureen,

- Looking upstream, broom and gorse work by Josh and his team, and work further upstream by Jacob and his team from the Green Army.

- Looking south, up the steep slope, basal spraying of olives by Josh and his team. - Looking west, above the falls, Maureen & I have continued to remove weeds from this area. By

removing a large blackberry, I have uncovered a number of Australian Hollyhock that flower with large white/pink flowers in spring.

- Along the Third Falls track to Moores Road, Maureen & I have completed the, now, annual patrol of this part of the project.

This year has also seen the heavy rains later in the season, which has scoured the creek bed. We will continue work in this area to protect the native plants that are already regenerating in this area. It is pleasing to see the changes in the areas where we have worked previously, each year the small seedlings of native plants that we have carefully worked around, get a bit bigger, the understory of the small bulbs, herbs and orchids gets a little thicker. This year we have again seen the tree martins along the creek.

Paul & Maureen. 2016


Committee Meetings Wednesday 7:30pm Black Hill Conservation Park 88 Addison Ave, Athelstone.

• 18 January 2017 • 15 February 2017

• 15 March 2017

•

Diary Dates! Please note: Working bee dates may change due to weather conditions and other factors. Working bee will be cancelled if a severe, extreme or catastrophic fire danger day is forecast. Please wear suitable clothing, all tools provided. Remember to check our website for changes to the schedule!

Wildflower Garden Sunday 1 January 2017 9:00 am Black Hill Conservation Park Meet at the building at 88 Addison Avenue Athelstone.

Montacute Valley project – Relocated to 4th Creek Morialta Monday 9 January 2017, 9:00 am Near stone Gazebo, Morialta Conservation Park

1st Falls Project Wednesday 4 January 2017, 9:30 am Morialta Conservation Park Meet near the interpretive signs by the car park closest to first falls.

Crag Care Sunday 8 January 2017, 9:30am Morialta Conservation Park Meet at the Climbers Track (gate 17) off Norton Summit Road. Working bees are generally held on the Second Sunday of every odd month.

Wildflower Garden Sunday 15 January 2017, 9:00 am Black Hill Conservation Park Meet at the building at 88 Addison Avenue Athelstone.

4th Creek Project Wednesday 18 January 2017, 9:30 am Morialta Conservation Park meet in the carpark by the Resource Centre - take the turn off just before the pay station.

Horsnell Gully Saturday 21 January 2017, 2:00pm Horsnell Gully Conservation Park Meet in the main car park at Horsnell Gully. Focus on tangier pea, watsonia, brush cutting.

Ambers Gully Sunday 29 January 2017, 9:00 am Black Hill Conservation Park meet at the car park off Gorge Road

1st Falls Project Wednesday 1 February 2017, 9:30 am Morialta Conservation Park Meet near the interpretive signs by the car park closest to first falls.

Wildflower Garden Sunday 5 February 2017, 9:00pm Black Hill Conservation Park Meet at the building at 88 Addison Avenue Athelstone.

Montacute Valley project project – Relocated to 4th Creek Morialta Monday 13 February 2017, 9:00 am Near stone Gazebo, Morialta Conservation Park

4th Creek Project Wednesday 15 February 2017, 9:30 am Morialta Conservation Park Meet in the car park near the Resource Centre

Horsnell Gully Saturday 18 February 2017, 2:00pm Horsnell Gully Conservation Park Focus on broom, blackberry, olive, watsonia.

Wildflower Garden Sunday 19 February 2017, 9:00pm Black Hill Conservation Park Meet at the building at 88 Addison Avenue Athelstone.

Ghost Tree Gully Sunday 26 February 2017 900am Black Hill Conservation Park Meet at gate 5, Everest Ave. Athelstone.

Crag Care Sunday 12 March 2017, 9:30am Morialta Conservation Park Meet at the Climbers Track (gate 17) off Norton Summit Road. Working bees are generally held on the Second Sunday of every odd month.

1st Falls Project Wednesday 1 March 2017, 9:30 am Morialta Conservation Park Meet near the interpretive signs by the car park closest to first falls.

Wildflower Garden Sunday 4 March 2017, 9:00 am Black Hill Conservation Park Meet at the building at 88 Addison Avenue Athelstone.

Montacute Valley project check website Monday 13 March 2017, 9:00 am Montacute Valley Black Hill Conservation Park

4th Creek Project Wednesday 15 March 2017, 9:30 am Morialta Conservation Park Meet in the car park near the Resource Centre

Horsnell Gully Saturday 18 March 2017, 2:00pm Horsnell Gully Conservation Park

Seed Collection / Site inspection / cake and cuppa Wildflower Garden Sunday 19 March 2017, 9:00 am Black Hill Conservation Park Meet at the building at 88 Addison Avenue Athelstone.

Ambers Gully Sunday 26 March 2017, 9:00 am Black Hill Conservation Park meet at the car park off Gorge Road

Remember to check : www.facebook.com/fobhm.org for any changes

88 addison ave athelstone 5076 number 153 jan feb mar 2017 ... · page 1 88 addison ave athelstone...

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