We would like to wish all the volunteers and friends of the Bushcare program a safe and Merry Christmas.
The office will be closed from 23rd December until Tuesday 3rd January. For urgent matters you can call the 4780 5000 council number as there will be essential services still being delivered over the break.
Bushcare Groups wont be meeting during this period but will resume from 3rd January onwards.
With the Blue Mountains Community we’ve taken part in the Great Southern Bioblitz which managed to record 711 observations of 402 species over 4 days from 28-31 October. You can view them all here:
The bio-control Leaf Smut Fungus (Kordyana brasillensisis) being trailed to help contain the growth of the weed Wandering Trad (Tradescantia fluminensis) which impacts plenty of sites across the Mountains. If private landholders would like to access stems of this bio-control fungus, you can contact CSIRO to provide the stems for planting in your Wandering Trad patch.
It was released at these 7 sites: Glenbrook Lagoon Else Mitchell Park Tunnel Gully Knapsack Creek Fairy Dell Mount Irvine Gloria Park
The Great Southern Bioblitz event for 2022 will be held from Friday the 28th October until the end of Monday on the 31st, incorporating different communities, areas and regions across the Southern Hemisphere. The platform iNaturalist is a useful identification tool and it benefits communities and professionals to track and store information about species across the world.
At the picnic this year we are using iNaturalist to upload as many observations as we can on this weekend. There will be a crew at the Bushcare Picnic to start you off if you are keen to start but need some help. Or you want to explore the platform.
Introduction. Third Reedy Lake is a freshwater wetland in the Kerang region in north central Victoria. It is part of the Kerang Wetlands Ramsar Site, which means that it is recognised as being of international significance for wetland conservation as it supports threatened plant and animal species and ecological communities and rookeries of colonial nesting wetland birds.
Prior to European occupation this wetland, along with Middle Lake and Reedy Lake, would have been inundated only when floodwaters came down the Loddon River and caused the intermittent Wandella and Sheep Wash Creeks to flow. At that time the wetland experienced a natural wetting and drying cycle, filling up from floodwaters and drying out completely between floods, which occurred on average once every 3 to 4 years.
In the 1920s, however, this natural wetting and drying cycle was discontinued. Third Reedy Lake became part of the Torrumbarry Irrigation Scheme. Water was diverted out of the Murray River at Torrumbarry Weir and made to flow through a series of natural wetlands including Kow Swamp, the Reedy Lakes, Little Lake Charm and Kangaroo Lake to deliver water to irrigate farms. The lakes and swamps became permanently inundated. While this meant farmers had a reliable supply of water it also profoundly altered the ecology of the wetlands.
Community groups which support the Blue Mountains Bushcare Program would love your help.
Even if you can’t make it to Bushcare, there is so much you can do just by photographing the important weeds you see around you.
Priority Weeds are plants that have the potential to pose a biosecurity risk to human health, the economy, the livability of our city and the environment.
This will help us:
view a map of priority weeds across the catchment
reduce the impact of weeds
detect new weeds
Once you return home, simply download the iNaturalist App, then upload your smartphone photos to iNaturalist.
A combination of artificial intelligence and citizen science will identify the species in your photos.
Your observations will be mapped by our project, and you will have made an important contribution to your catchment.
IN THIS ISSUE… Bushcare is going paperless The ‘Bushcare Is’ sign is coming to a site near you Community Conservation Program Survey Council wins Environmental Education Award Bushcare Picnic – Save the Date Vale Jill Rattray Drosera Species An ode to Karen Emergency Dashboard Meredith Brownhill receives an award Council calls for urgent action to save koalas Talented cadets join Healthy Waterways Team Bushcare is turning 30!
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service invites you to provide feedback on the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area draft Plan of Management and draft Master Plan. Submissions are open from 6 May to 5 July 2022. The draft plans provide a framework for the future management of Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area. To find out more or make a submission, visit www.environment.nsw.gov.au/consult Submissions close 5 July 2022 environment.nsw.gov.au