Silent Achievers

I spent a couple of pleasant hours tonight, meeting with some like-minded landholders from our catchment area. Nothing major to report, apart from the news that the dreaded Texas Needle Grass is moving in to our neighbourhood. I think the genie is well and truly out of the bottle, but no-one seems willing to call this one yet.

Meantime, it's great to be reminded of the silent efforts of many others across the Hills, all looking after their own little patches of bush. Not all of them are blessed with the same quality of scrub that we have, and many of them aren't nearly as fit and able as me. What keeps them going, as far as I can tell, is a genuine love of the bush, and a desire to actually make a difference.

A big bouquet too, to the folks at the AMLRNRMB who co-ordinate these little programs, and bring people together. Well done guys!

I'm not at all sure that we're winning just yet. But that's not going to stop me trying.

Sixty Years of Regrowth

In a previous post I referred to some aerial photos I had of our beaut little property going back to 1949. I obtained these through the great folks at Mapland and their historical search service. There's even an interactive search now that you can run yourself to locate old photos. And it's good value for money too, if you can find the right photos.

Here's what Wirra Birra looked like in 1949, presumably just after the woodcutters had been in for a bit of pillaging. (you can click the map to enlarge it)


And here's what it looks like around 2002 (again, click to enlarge)




We seem to have been very lucky, in that the stringbarks were felled for their timber, but the stumps left to re-shoot. While it's evident that things were a real mess back in the 40's, with the property denuded, and criss-crossed with snig tracks, things seem to have been left to regenerate naturally.

And for that we're extremely thankful.

Back in the 40's there wasn't the same weed pressure on a cleared bit of ground, and most of the native plants could re-establish themselves, without too much competition from the ferals. Today it would be a vastly different story. One of my longer term projects is to take some GPS co-ordinates off the 1949 map, and see if I can locate some of the cleared features or tracks, on the ground. My thesis is that some of the weed outbreaks we do have (notably the erica) will correlate to the areas that were hit hardest.

But that's for another day.

Struggling for Time....

Well, I think the weeds are winning. It's been a far busier time than I expected, and I found myself flying off to NZ this week, and then on to the US after that. No time to spend out in the bush, which is a shame at this most beautiful time of year.

Looking after the property is going to have to wait till after the 28th when I get back - and that's after I squeeze in competing in the second running of the Yurrebilla Trail Ultra.

But I was happy during the week to hear from my contact at the tediuosly-named Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resource Management Board who was organising a tour of the area by the Board members, and wanted to show them over our property. Unfortunately, due to other commitments, I wasn't able to help - but did manage to get them some aerial photos I have of our property going back to the 1940's, and which highlight well the desecration of the bush that occurred so widely back then, but also the stunning recovery that the bush made over the next few decades.

From what I can determine, our property was clear-felled for timber just prior to 1949, and has been regenerating naturally since. The big clue to this are the many multi-stemmed stringybarks on the property, that have regrown from the stumps from nearly 60 years ago. The occasional mature tree remains, and those stand out for their larger trunks and different habit. They're magnificent specimens, and it must have been a magical place back then before 'the axe'.

Meantime, the AMLRNRM board is managing to do some good works on the ground, and we've been the beneficiary of some of them over the past few years. I just wish there were more of these very practial programs, and a few less strategic plans.

Busy times ahead

Spring has sprung upon us, and the beaut rainfall we've had in the last month has things looking real good. Of course, that means the weeds are thriving too. Montpellier Broom is having a bumper year, and just coming in to flower, and the dreaded monadenia orchid is starting to think about blooming. Busy times are ahead on the property.

The big upside of spring though is the flowering plants, and this year is looking great for orchids in particular. Maybe I've just not noticed them before, but in recent weeks it seems that wherever I look, I see an orchid. Just in recent weeks I've spotted

• Mayfly orchids
• Mosquito orchids
• Banded greenhoods
• dwarf greenhoods
• veined helmet orchids
• Red beaked orchids (albeit not in flower)

(excuse the lack of scientific names, but my references are out of date - these things seem to change all the time)

For an experienced orchid lover that's probably a meagre list, but for me, just finding and identifying some of these guys for the first has been tremendously exciting. I've been out and bought the expensive new digital SLR camera (a Canon D450) and have been filling up the hard disk with photos. And the macro lens turns up tomorrow - can't wait to get out there and take some extreme close-ups.

Will post some photos soon.

Meantime, the Derwentia project continues successfully. The seedlings I raised earlier are now off at Keiran's nursey getting the type of love and attention I can't give them, but I have another few pots on the go as well - and I'm very happy to see new tiny seedlings starting to appear this week.

Kieran also gave me a large Derwentia he raised from my seed taken last year, and I'm planning to pop that into a prominent place in the front garden on the weekend.