5 Community Conversations at one Open Day

Saturday 14 March 10am-noon
Progress Hall. 197 Skye Point Rd
(Parking at Gurranba Reserve)

1. Grow Me Instead Display - Protecting Coal Point’s Living Web

An important Open Day conversation centres on something slowly disappearing all around us, our biodiversity. Globally, species are disappearing at unprecedented rates. Habitat is shrinking. Ecosystems are under pressure.

And yet here on the Coal Point peninsula, we are in a rare and precious window of time. We still have extraordinary diversity in our yards, reserves and verges. Bushes, shrubs, trees, groundcovers, grasses, insects, birds, possums, fungi and flying foxes, all the intricate threads that form the web of life.

Some of it is obvious. Some lies hidden in dormant seed banks beneath lawns, but it is still here. Given the chance, it returns. Our local landscape has strong regenerative capacity. Birds move through the canopy spreading seed and maintaining genetic diversity. Life is ready. The question is, will we make room for it?

The garden escape problem

At the Open Day a Grow Me Instead display will highlight common weeds across the peninsula.

Some are already established in bushland. Others remain mostly in gardens but have the potential to escape.

Once certain species move beyond the fence line, they outcompete local natives, alter soil conditions, suppress regeneration and reduce habitat complexity for wildlife.

That’s why we need local heroes. Native species that provide nectar, pollen, fruit and shelter. Plants adapted to our soils and climate extremes. Species that strengthen the genetic diversity of our isolated peninsula.

What you’ll see at our Landcare team’s display:

• Common environmental weeds

• Garden plants to keep under watch

• Recommended native replacements

Bring a sample or photo of a mystery plant and we’ll help identify it.

Have the conversation about why small decisions matter, the verge planting, the creeper allowed to spread, the clippings dumped in the reserve. Each choice either strengthens or weakens the web of life.

We will also take orders for autumn plantings, where cooler soil and better rainfall makes for strong establishment before summer.

Join the conversation. Let’s strengthen the strands of our living web.

2. Progress Hall Access, Inclusion and the Next Chapter

In 1951, the people of Coal Point built Progress Hall through garden parties, fundraising and working bees. For more than seventy years it has hosted dances, concerts, meetings and celebrations. It is owned by the community, not council.

But expectations have changed. Accessibility standards have strengthened, community understanding of inclusion has grown. What was once acceptable no longer meets contemporary standards.

If the Hall is to serve everyone into the future, we must plan for it now with a strategic approach.

This year, CPPA will develop a detailed Disability and Access Plan, with a staged, strategic framework that assesses the current limitations, identifies best-practice solutions, integrates building and landscape design and positions the CPPA to apply for grant funding to implement the design.

We are seeking expertise from landscape architects, design specialists, surveyors and grant writers.

More than compliance, accessible design benefits everyone; parents with prams, less mobile residents, hall users moving equipment. Good access is good design.

At the Open Day we invite imagination. What could be possible? Seamless pathways, integrated landscape design or flexible outdoor spaces. The Hall was built by the community. Its next chapter will be shaped by the community too. If you can't make it to the open day and are interested in contributing to the discussion, register your interest here

3. Dancing Through the Decades with music, movement and community.

When Progress Hall was built, it was designed for dancing, with a raised stage, sprung timber floor, and plenty of room to roam with razzle and dazzle.

This year we want to bring that intention back to life with Dancing Through the Decades, a celebration of music from the 1950s to the 2020s across eight events.

And who better to provide the soundtrack than our own community? Coal Point is rich with talented musicians. Bands. Duos. Solo artists. Some gig regularly, others may just need the right invitation...you’re invited!

The concept is that each event will include a dance instructor to guide a few moves from the era, nothing formal, just enough to get started, then the floor is yours.

Dancing dissolves age barriers, it builds connection without saying a word and is good for the brain and the body.

If you would like to attend, perform, organise or suggest some songs for a decade, come to the Open Day or get in touch through this Expression of interest form.

Let’s fill the Hall with music and dance again. 

4. From Brighton Avenue to a Nature-Positive Future

Thinking Ahead of the Curve

Some conversations take years. In 2016, a DA for 2 Brighton Avenue/133 Excelsior Pde proposed removal of 215 of 218 trees on the block. Community concern was strong with 133 submissions and the matter progressed to the Land and Environment Court. The amended proposal retained 31 trees in keeping with Council’s recommendation “the applicant should give strong consideration to retaining continuous canopy vegetation to conserve scenic amenity to the Toronto Bay area”

As the implementation of the DA works began with the gruesome grind of the arborist’s arsenal it has again highlighted how confronting canopy loss can be. Biodiversity decline rarely happens in one sweep. It happens incrementally, tree by tree.

Across the Coal Point peninsula, connected canopy corridors allow wildlife to glide, flit and forage between the Spotted Gum Open Forest, remnant rainforest gullies and Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest. When those corridors are thinned or broken, fragmentation compounds and safe movement through the landscape becomes harder with each passing year.

The bigger picture

In February, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services released its Business and Biodiversity Assessment.

Its message is clear. Biodiversity loss is not just environmental. It affects economic systems, property values and community resilience. Nature underpins everything. The report calls for shifting financial flows toward protection and regeneration, not simply managing decline.

A local response?

One Open Day conversation will explore the idea of a local Green Investment Fund.

Not an offset scheme or a protest mechanism but a proactive investment model supporting habitat protection and restoration, linking of wildlife corridors and collaborative and sustainable housing

This would require careful design and collaboration. It is not about stopping development. It is about recognising biodiversity as living infrastructure.

The Brighton Avenue story reminds us that decisions today shape canopy cover for decades. How do we move from reacting to shaping? Join the conversation or register you interest in the project here.

5. Fortify Your Foreshore

Walk the waterfront after a storm and you can see the change. Exposed roots. Slumping banks. Sections of foreshore that are quietly disappearing. The foreshore is under pressure.

This year, CPPA proposes a workshop series titled Fortify Your Foreshore. You can register your interest in the workshops here.

Workshop One – Where and When

Where is the foreshore? It is not a fixed line. It shifts over time with water levels, storm surge, sediment movement and vegetation change.

Experts, historical mapping and current mapping will help demonstrate where the foreshore sits now and where it may move in future.

Workshop Two – What and Why

The foreshore is the transition zone between land and lake. Water meets soil. Roots bind banks. Fish shelter. Birds feed. It is one of the most biologically rich areas in the landscape.

Healthy foreshores absorb wave energy, filter runoff, protect property and safeguard water quality. When degraded, impacts ripple outward.

Workshop Three – Who and How

Responsibility for the foreshore is shared between landholders, Council and State agencies. But practically, one property owner’s actions affect their neighbour.

Hard structures can deflect wave energy. Clearing vegetation can accelerate erosion. We will explore soft engineering approaches such as strategic native planting and appropriate structural responses.

Protecting foreshores is not a single-property issue. It is a whole-of-community project. If you live by the water, walk the shoreline or care about the health of our lake, this conversation is for you.

Complete the Expression of Interest form to keep in touch about the event.

The Cursed Cassia

Over the last couple of weeks, our local area has been decorated with golden highlights. This “golden glory” is in fact classed as a noxious weed in NSW. Introduced from South America, Cassia (Senna pendula var.glabrata) has invaded our whole coastline.

It is a fast growing plant that can suppress the growth of native species and displace them. It produces huge amounts of long-lived seeds contained in long beans. One mature tree can be surrounded by a small forest of its own offspring in no time at all.

We can really help prevent the spread of this pest by gathering the green pods before they ripen.

Luckily, young plants are quite easy to uproot. Mature plants are best controlled by lopping just above ground level and then painting the stump immediately with undiluted Roundup. They can also be sprayed with Roundup, at a rate of 20ml per litre, but beware of spray drift onto other plants.

Happy cassia culling!

So long Senna…it’s pod-picking time

What’s bright and yellow and given half a chance will spread throughout your garden and the local bushland? Cassia, also known as Winter Senna, botanical name Senna pendula var glabrata.

Its yellow flower-heads were a visual treat a month or so ago but now the flowers are gone the cylindrical green bean-like pods are drooping with intent. Soon they’ll burst open and spread the 20-40 seeds amongst your garden and then eventually into the bush as the birds, bugs and beasties carry them off.

So what’s the harm in a few lovely yellow flowers? They spread and keep spreading, replacing the native plants and eventually changing the whole plant community if not controlled.

Controlling it is easy and very doable, if it’s in bloom now, you can’t miss it.

If you’re really fond of your Senna, responsible plant ownership is needed. After it’s finished blooming pluck off the seed pods and put them in the bin.

If you want to remove the plant permanently, they are easy to dig out, especially now the soil is so moist, just make sure you get all the roots. Being a very weedy species you’ll probably have to go back over the area a few times to deal with the seedlings but they pull out very easily.

There are some very clear pictures of all life stages of the plant available online

http://www.iewf.org/weedid/Senna_pendula.htm

Winter Bird Survey

The Winter Bird survey has turned up a treat…White-headed Pigeons, three of them perched high in the Casuarinas that border Puntei Creek. This sighting is perhaps a rarity on Coal Point since there are very few records of these birds on the western side of Lake Mac. In the Hunter region they are mostly reported within the wet forests and rainforests margins further north although occasional sightings are made along the margins of the Watagans. In these areas these birds forage for various native fruit but also like Camphor laurels and Privet. The Privet along Puntei Creek is currently heavy in fruit.

The complete Winter Bird survey can be read on the CPPA website

Meaningful mounds emerging

Local Landcarers have been rounding up weed menaces, making mounds of Mothers of Millions (MoM) and turning fields of Fishbone Fern into hummocks of would be humus.

Gurranba Reserve has the mother of a patch of MoM (Bryophyllum delagoense).This pesky persistent succulent is coming into bright red flower now and is an easy to pull out plant. If you visit Gurranba Reserve with your canine companion (it’s leash free) you could easily fill a bag of MoMs whilst Fido frolics. It’s a great kids pull-out-plant too because it has camouflage capability. Just when you think you’ve got them all, there’s always another one lurking in the shrubbery, a great holiday Treasure Hunt activity. If you want to add some MoMs to the pile at the park the landcare group will happily keep an eye on them.

The West Ridge Reserve, just up the hill from the School, is another spot Landcarers have been making efforts removing Fishbone Fern. This garden escape has a tendency to run rampant and the amount of fishbone fern plant material is formidable. It is being kept contained on site and will be watched.

Fishbone Fern is a native of Queensland and does well in its state of origin, we have some local supporters that could well give it the heave-ho if given the chance such as Rasp Fern (Doodia aspera) and Maidenhair fern (Adiantum hispidulum.

Would you like to know what local plants are in the area? The updated flora list from the 2017 Flora surveys is now available
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NOT IN OUR BACKYARD! But in a vase..beautiful.

Free bunch of Formosa flowers available from your local bushland. 

Do you remember our formidable foe the Formosa Lily?

Throughout the cool months, the aggressive invaders have been lying in wait underground, in the form of a garlic-like bulb. In spring the new green stalks grow surreptitiously among the greenery, but by January it is difficult not to notice the tall, waving trumpet-shaped white flowers of the elegant Taiwan (or Formosa) Lily along our peninsula. Before summer is gone, hundreds of tissue light seeds will burst from their pods and be carried by the breeze to surrounding bushland, backyards and gardens.

Unfortunately, these weeds have no enemies in the world of nature and can proliferate unimpeded. Thank goodness for the many local residents who have been working hard to arrest their spread. One reported that the goal of a lily-free garden was in sight, executed a few at a time over a period of weeks. Action such as this is so heartening, because, as Coal Point is almost an island, the Landcare team see this as a winnable war.

Removing the complete bulb requires care as each scale of the bulb will form a new plant if dropped. When you dig them up, it is best to bag them and put them into the landfill garbage bin. A handy picture guide to removal is still available online .

If digging isn’t your thing just cutting off the flowers before they seed will slow their progress for at least this year. Just a reminder, too, while the secateurs are out, to snip the seed heads from finished Agapanthus to prevent unwanted new young plants in the local bushland.

The elegant Formosa Lily does have an innocuous look-alike in the beautiful November Lily. The greatest difference is the November Lily’s contentment in staying right where it has been planted!

Wetlands for Our Future

World Wetlands Day (2/2/16) has been and gone, but this year there was a gift given that will ensure our local wetland at Carey Bay continues to be strengthened and the problems confronting it addressed.

The first of the gift givers were volunteers from Trees In Newcastle, they tackled one of the most common problems our reserves face, the impacts of garden escapes. Twenty metres away from the Endangered Ecological Community - Swamp Sclerophyll Forest on Coastal Floodplain, was a historic ‘garden-sculpture bed’ which contained many immanent threats to the wetland as well as decommissioned art works.

The weed targets that were tackled included a colossal Cassia tree, fully laden with seeds ready for dispersal by the local birdlife, spider-plants creeping out their tentacles in search of moisture and a wandering wisteria that long ago escaped over the fence. A three hour landcare session saw the healthy weed wall reduced to a mountain of green.

Neighbourly concern about the amount of green waste impeding pedestrian progress around the Pony club saw locals that care for the land combine efforts to address the pile of problematic materials. A trip to the recyclers saw cast off metal scraps removed and friendly neighbours provided a high sided trailer to cart away most of the remaining vegetation.

The following week local landcarers then completed the task distributing logs for habitat and ensuring any seed or weed propagules were dealt with.

Landcaring takes many forms, there are those that can go out weekly as a group, some help when and where they can, it was such a wonderful World Wetland Day gift to receive support from the neighbours, the locals and the landcarers. Thankyou for giving your time and tools.

The colossal Cassia

Slow and steady

A community effort...a great result

What weed is that?

Mickey Mouse plant is not a Mickey Mouse weed. It’s a truly tough one!

Ochna, unripe seed

Ochna with ripe seed, the birds love it.

Ochna serrulata has been introduced from South Africa. It is a hardy shrub to 2m high, commonly seen along Coal Point and invading our fragile bushland. It is dispersed into bushland by birds and through dumping. 

Its yellow flowers and attractive bright red and black berries are eye catching, but belie its noxious status and the struggle required to uproot it. It has an extended taproot that breaks easily when hand pulled. Pruning off spent flowers before they
form seed will slow dispersal. However, the most successful control is by scraping the stem near the base for 6-8cm and painting immediately with undiluted glyphosate (Round Up). 

Hairy Clerodendrum is a great substitute,
the birds like this one too, and so does the bushland

Some native alternatives are Native Fuschia (Correa species and cultivars), Christmas Bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum), or Hairy Clerodendrum (Clerodendrum tomentosum). If you “go local” you will notice that your garden blends into the local environment better, it will be lower maintenance, should require less water and will provide habitat and food for local wildlife. 

For a European style garden roses, camellias, azaleas and hydrangeas have been in used for a long time and shown no inclination to escape or compromise our bushland beyond the back fence.

Building a Buffer

Carey Bay Wetlands on Clean Up Australia Day 2003

The Carey Bay Wetlands will have some much needed protection from invasive exotic grasses and garden waste dumpers when a buffer zone of 700 Spiky Mat-Rush – Lomandra longifolia is planted on Thursday 9^th and 16^th during the April School holidays as part of the Threatened Species Last Stand on the Coal Point Peninsula project. 

The assisted regeneration of the Carey Bay Wetlands started in 2003 with Clean Up Australia Day providing the impetus to clean up the weeds. The lantana was as high as an elephant’s eye and a dozen years on you would have to search pretty hard to find any at all.  

There is still a lot to do though… when the lantana barrier came down, the edges became a soft target for dumping garden waste and the ex-lawn clippings took up residence as a Buffalo grass bandit, reaching out and into the Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest, an Endangered Ecological Communities (EEC). 

The buffer strip being prepared for the April 2015 planting

The wetland has shown amazing resilience. One local stopped by to share with the landcarers the history of the site and recalled when it was a farm and there was ‘no trees there at all’. Now there are three recognised EECs present with no planting having occurred. This is a testament to the longevity of the local seed-bank. Landcare is about supporting the natural process of regeneration and it’s heartening to know that a landcaring hand can make such a difference.

The local landcarers have been ably assisting by the TIN landcare crew, preparing the site for an April community planting.  The grass edge has been sensitively treated with glyphosate to ensure the planting has the best chance of survival. Rocks and bits of old wire fence from the farming days are being removed to ensure that there are no trip hazards, holes are being dug and the mulch will arrive in time for the planting process.

Everyone is welcome to come along to the planting between 9am and noon on Thursday 9^th and 16^th April, Excelsior Parade, Carey Bay, sign on near the Ambrose Street intersection. Wear sun safe clothing, enclosed footwear and a hat and BYO water bottle. Morning tea will be provided at 11am.

Another corridor in the Landcare compendium

In 1995 the Progress Association became a Landcare group, that’s 20 years ago! Our first landcare project was at Gurranba Reserve and we’ve continued to identify, protect and regenerate significant public assets throughout the community ever since.

In March another important parcel was added to the local landcaring compendium, the Hampton St to Laycock St corridor link was extended. Previously a triangular parcel of only 0.145ha at the Pony Club end the landcare site is now 0.596ha and covers the full length of the road reserve.

This narrow parcel of public land may at some time in the future become a road connecting Hampton St and Laycock St. The local landcarers are keen to invest time and resources to regenerate this parcel and increase the community awareness of this vital public vegetated corridor that connects Coal Point and Carey Bay at its narrowest point. 

Lessons learnt from 20 years of landcaring are many, an early one, which continues to resonate, is that not everyone sees the beauty in the bush and would rather the beasts that turn quality bushland into weed infested no-go zones. 

This appears to be the case in this small reserve where the full complement of environmentally destructive activities is found. It’s used as a communal toilet, parking station, green waste dump zone, stormwater outlet and backyard extension. It does beg the question would you let someone do this in your own backyard? And if this answer is no then why is it OK to do it in what is the public’s bigger backyard?  

And what about the bushland garden? What if someone came into your yard and chopped down the plants that you spent the last two years nurturing and watering in drought conditions, plants that were specially selected so the neighbours wouldn’t get upset, ones that would grow low and not be a problem and provide food for the local birdlife, would you be entitled to be upset? The local landcarers were. 

At the Hampton Street Corridor landcarers are trying to turn the tide of years of dumping, neglect and abuse of public land to make an area that is a community and natural asset, worthy of protection and hopefully strengthen the case for not putting it under asphalt at some time in the future.

If you’d like to be involved in the regeneration of the Hampton St Corridor or a local landcare project please contact Robyn or Suzanne for further details.

T.R. – Terrorising the Region by Lois Simpson

Tyrannosaurus rex? No, but just as bad - it’s Turkey Rhubarb!  This insidious weed (Acetosa sagittata) is a native of South Africa. It thrives anywhere other than in the driest ground, spreading out of sight underground, with potato-like tubers forming along lateral rhizomes, which can be over a metre long. They are very tricky to remove. The above ground foliage, with its bright green arrow head shaped leaves, grows vigorously and will smother supporting vegetation. This pest is having a last flush of flowers before autumn. If these small clouds of pale green to pink flowers appear in your yard or nearby bushland, try to bag them securely and place them in your land-fill bin. The light seeds are carried far by the wind and there is no natural biological control to slow their numbers. 

Above: Turkey Rhubarb tubers have been found as big as rockmelons. 

The stems snap easily and care is needed to trace them back to the soil and dig them out.

Below: A prolific seeder, this is an easy way to locate it.

NTD to support EEC at CBW

National Tree Day (NTD) will come early this year with a mass planting of 700 Lomandra longifolia planned for the April school holidays at the Carey Bay Wetlands (CBW). The site preparations are underway with a two metre strip being treated by killing off the exotic grasses in readiness for planting and mulching. 

The Autumn planting program hopes to ensure the plants are well and truly settled in before next summer and provide multiple opportunities for locals to do their bit to protect the Endangered Ecological Communities (EEC) in the Carey Bay Wetland complex.

One of the aims of the planting is to define the edge of the wetland to prevent the dumping of garden waste. The invasion from exotic grasses is a threat to the EEC. Thousands of hours of landcaring effort are being given to rectify the historical problems generated by such past actions. 

Unfortunately, very recently, another quantity of lawn clippings was dumped just inside the edge of the EEC and is suspected to be from unaware mowing contractors. Please let your contractors know that the Endangered Ecological Communities of the Carey Bay Wetlands are not for dumping garden waste. 

Garden Escapes almost Gone at Progress Hall

The fiendish fern removal and slope stabilisation demonstration at Progress Hall highlighted the impact of garden escapes. Once a stronghold has been established by the Fishbone and Asparagus ferns very few natives can outcompete the water hungry and soil surface sealing ferns. 

The Grow Me Instead guide suggests native ferns such as the Rasp fern, Rough Maidenhair and Gristle Fern as hardy frond friendly replacements…and they are locally found as well. 

A selection of fire retardant and bird friendly plants was selected to replace the fiendish ferns at the Hall. Thanks go out to Robyn, John, Jacob and Andrew for the slope stabilisation landscaping of the grounds around the Hall. 

The blog has links to Fishbone fern removal and Asparagus fern removal technique

Robyn Gill demonstrated Fishbone and Asparagus Fern removal,
solarisation and slope stabilisation techniques

 

Forest Owls, Fungi-mapping & fossils

Lake Macquarie Landcare’s Super Saturday Session on July 12^th at the Landcare Resource Centre has something for everyone. Starting at 9.30am a presentation about the Forest Owls in our area will be given followed by a call to action to record the distribution of 100 of the more common fungi in the area via the fungi-mapping project. A break for lunch and then it will be off fossicking for fossils in the Tingirra Heights Insect Fossil beds, pondering the preservation of rare winged insects of the past. RSVP is essential to the Landcare Resource Centre on 4921 0392

Who gives a Hoot?

Powerful Owl

You can join the Powerful Owl Project on Sunday 13 April, 10am to 1pm at Coal point at Progress Hall, 197 Skye Point Rd

Come along to hear about the owl’s habitat and threats, the results of the Powerful Owl research project and receive training to become an owl observer.

Bookings essential to Council on 4921 0333.

Do you see what I see?

Eastern Spinebill

by Catherine Wroe- Local Wildlife Carer 24/3/14

I keep an close eye on the bird life on the West Ridge and wanted to let you know that today I have a Masked Owl roosting in a tree near my aviaries, unfortunately being harassed by all the local birds. I also saw a Powerful Owl a few weeks ago and a couple of Spangled Drongos - which is pretty unusual to get here, lots of Rufous Fantails, Eastern Spinebills and other small birds.... The Goshawks are gone so the birds are coming back, and the small bird population seems to be growing.

It's been lovely seeing all of the small birds and I've never seen so many Rufous Fantails with their young - I usually only see one or two. Now I'm lucky enough to be getting a family of Eastern Spinebills , Scrubwrens, Variegated Fairy-wrens, Easter whipbirds, Golden Whistlers and other small birds coming into my garden - the bushy plants I've planted have grown enough to entice them down and I'm stoked... Another area with lots of small birds, especially honeyeaters at the moment, is some bush next to the clay pigeon shooting site along the road going towards the Awaba garbage dump, great for any bird watcher.

Masked Owl

Goshawk

Spangled Drongo

Birds of Coal Point (and Turtles)

An important part of the TSLS project has been the monitoring of the birdlife in the local area. Birds are being used as indicators of the bushland health and to guide the bush regeneration strategies over the life of the project…and beyond.

Tom Clarke reported the Spring Survey highlights…” It was great to see the migrant birds (Sacred Kingfisher, Dollarbird, Channel-billed Cuckoo and Eastern Koel) back in the area again and busying themselves in re-establishment. A pair of Dollarbirds was encountered at Carey Bay and was suffering the attentions of Magpie Lark; we wait with interest to see if they can secure the advantage of the dead trees within the wetland. 

Another sign of spring was the widely encountered behaviour of nest hollow inspection. Laughing Kookaburra were checking out and/or excavating nest hollows in various arboreal termite mounds at Noorumba Reserve, Burnage Reserve and West Ridge South while Rainbow Lorikeet were inspecting tree hollows at West Ridge Central and West Ridge South.”

The spring, summer, autumn and winter seasonal bird surveys and the 1^st annual report are now available for viewing.

Additionally BirdLife Australia, through the Powerful Owl project has shown that there was a local chick hatched. This was the first year this project has extended beyond Sydney. An interesting observation noted in the report is that “Powerful Owls have been seen eating a higher number of birds this year along with the usual diet of possums, including Rainbow Lorikeet, Currawong, Kookaburra, Magpie, Channel-billed Cuckoo and even a Noisy Miner. 

P.S The Hunter Central-Rivers CMA has recently produced a movie about marine turtles and with the warmer weather about you may be lucky enough to see some bobbing about.

On the prowl for the Powerful Owl

Several locals have heeded the call of Birdlife Australia and gone on the prowl for the Powerful Owl in the Toronto Area. 

The first couple of expeditions did not provide a sighting but recently a successful viewing occurred off Centennial Parkway. With the support of a local landowner nice clear whitewash (bird droppings) were seen, with a very furry pellet in the middle of it, so real evidence of local presence. The owl prowlers watched a Powerful Owl pull apart something furry then fly overhead to another perch and heard a Powerful Owl call several times. A glimpse was had of what was thought to be a female flying past then the calls came from further away so hopefully some chicks will be heard in the near future. 

Powerful Owls are the largest owls in Australia with possums, especially Ringtails being a favourite food. They will also take roosting birds and swoop on they prey grabbing them with their feet. 

The Powerful Owl mates for life, often 30 years,  and the pair defends its territory all year long. Their home includes an area that has open forests, woodlands, sheltered gullies with a watercourse and large vertical tree hollow for the nest. You can see why the Toronto area has been chosen by this local pair.

If you would like more information about the Powerful Owl project  contact David Bain  from Birdlife Australia david.bain@birdlife.org.au
M 0421 337 545 | T 02 9647 1875

A local Powerful Owl range being surveyed

The Formidable Formosa Lilly

One of the sleeper weeds that is awakening at the moment is Formosa Lily.
It looks pretty, has a fun seed capsule that makes a great rattling sound and the seeds are far flung when shaken...this makes them very attractive to pick and play with while walking through the bush. But today’s fun is tomorrow’s bane of the bush and the rapid increase in Formosa lilly is a problem.

Like any weed it has the potential to replace the natives . Our biodiversity is our legacy and landcaring is about keeping it local.

If you want to do your bit for the bush feel free to pick the flowers and take them home, pick the seed pods and take them home to play with.

Please don’t scatter the seed in the bush. This is a very difficult weed to control.

If you want to remove the whole plant the roots are an underground bulb, like garlic and quite fiddly, you’ll need a trowel and then bag it up and get it out of the bush.

Worried about possums in your roof?

Supporting the local Powerful Owl population is one way to keep possum numbers down. 

These large dark grey-brown owls are and few and far between. They mate for life, live for over 30 years, are in need of some good old growth trees for nesting and their preferred food is possum...one a night.
 
You can help provide local data on these big birds by joining in The Powerful Owl survey-http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/surveys/Powerful-Owl-Project