Bushland Condition Monitoring (BCM) training pics

An amazing day was had by all at the Bushland Condition Monitoring training day hosted by TIm Milne courtesy of the The Nature Conservation Society (NCS) and Native Vegetation Council grant all organised by the indomitable Anthony Abley, Bush Management Advisor extraordinaire from the DNER. So much information to take in on everything from assessing site's for BCM, equipment, flora identification etc etc. Fabulous turnout and a great response from all who attended. One day we might pen some more detailed notes to go with all the pics but for now, hers a few - write your own captions!

Control Method for Arum Lily

As promised last Sunday, here is a good control method for Arum Lily (per Anthony). This is based on the active ingredient glyphosate (eg Roundup) and doesn't require any metsulfuron-methyl (eg Brushoff) which is expensive and poses a high risk of off-target damage to native vegetation.

Firstly...

Effective control requires:
1. Preventing seed set by removing the short-lived soil seed bank.
2. Killing the significant below ground rhizome which can be resistant to above ground control measures.

The thick waxy resistant leaves mean foliar applications of herbicides have very little effect on the underground rhizome. However, cutting the plants off at ground level and swabbing the soft stumps with herbicides containing glyphosate is an effective way of killing the rhizome with very little off target damage to the surrounding vegetation. This can be achieved with relatively little effort.

The Method...

Tools
• Sharp knife to cut stems
• Spray bottle with adjustable nozzle (to spray), or sponge-topped plastic bottle (to swab).

Herbicide mix
• Glyphosate (1 part) and water (5 parts). Buy the 360g/L product.
• penetrant (see label for dilution rates)
• dye (e.g. EnviroDye)

Important to mix well.

Method
• Cut the stem(s) close to or at ground level.
• Apply the herbicide mix (spray or swab) to the cut stems within a few seconds of cutting.
• Take care near water to avoid contamination

When to control
• Control can occur any time between June and September before plants begin to set seed.
• Ideally control should commence as the first flowers appear.

OTHER INFORMATION:

Where to get ingredients for the herbicide mix:

Coopers - Mylor
258 Strathalbyn Road, Mylor, SA, phone (08) 8388 5304
http://www.coopersrural.com.au/

Macspred - Wingfield
7 Rosberg Road, Wingfield SA 5013.
Tel. (08) 8262 6944

Factsheet: "Using Glyphosate"
http://www.amlrnrm.sa.gov.au/Portals/2/pest_animals_plants/RCU_-_Using_Glyphosate.pdf


All the best!
Tim

Weeding War Report: Arum Lily devastation at Justin & Sam's...

In what was one of the best turnouts for a while the PHBG was fortunate enough to have gorgeous Springish weather and a jolly turnout at Lot 18 yesterday. Attending their first weed war day were Alison & Steve along with their gorgeous kelpie Ellie who kept herself bust checking on everyone as they spread out along the creek in the hunt for Arum Lillies and the odd bit of Broom and gnarly Gorse (way to go with those 'Man Gloves' Justin!). James also backed-up for his second war drive and put in a man sized effort. Thanks to go to Lyndall, Tim, Justin and Sam (for the brownies).

The enemy & WMDs

The Winter rains had put some decent water in the creek and the frogs were lovin' it...

An ally in the war

A great day, thanks all!

Two rare bird species observed in one morning!

A sighting from Tim: 
 
Last Sunday morning (21 August), while walking through a PHBG member's property at the northern end of the Bull Creek Range, a bird similar in size to a blackbird caught our attention, only 5 metres from the edge of the track where we were standing.  We recognised it as a Scaly Thrush (also known as a Bassian or White's Thrush).  This species is rarely seen nowadays in the Mt Lofty Ranges due to declining habitat.  It is also a very secretive bird, preferring dense cover. The plumage has striking black scaling or mottling on a pale background – see linked video and image:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG5j94YTDjI
 

 
And at the same location and time, we were lucky enough to hear and see a pair of Peregrine Falcons – which didn't seem to concern the Scaly Thrush - in the tops of some tall pines.

 
 
Tim

Bush Management Workshop a winner!

The  Bush Management Workshop ably run by Anthony Abley went off with a bang (or is that a cut 'n swab?!?) on a chilly Thursday night in the Prospect hill Memorial Soldiers Hall. Anthony put on a jam-packed presentation condensing a two-dat workshop into 3 hours. A great turn-out included Tony Randall from the Goolwa to Wellington Local Action Planning Association as well as groupies Paul, Jenni, Lyndall, Justin, Matt, Tim and new kid on the block James! Ant also gave out Weed Warrior show bags (well, buckets actually). A pic of said show bucket and its contents will be posted soon(ish). Thanks Ant, we learnt a heap and traded all sorts of info. A nice precusor to September's two day Bushland Condition Monitoring workshop by The Nature Conservation Society...

We're Baaaack!

Well, after a bit of a hiatus news posting-wise, the PHBG is back! Kind of. The current Blogger set-up is proving somewhat inadequate for an embedded page like this, so towards year's I'll be looking at alternative so that EVERYONE in the group can post here. There will of course be lots to report as we gear up planning and expending the first round of the NVC grant. What we'll attempt to do is diarise the structure of the group as it changes and the way on which we develop the project over the next three years so that other bushland groups can have a crack at doing this themselves.

But 'til then, please enjoy some sporadic posting on all things bushland and groupie...

Craig