National Tree Day

Baw Baw Shire hosted a successful National Tree day planting event in the Charles St Park in Warragul today. 

 

Tessa and Jordan helping Tyson of Baw Baw Shire.

The park is an extension of Brooker Park and runs alongside Hazel Creek, the habitat for several important species. The revegetation will help with water quality and improved biodiversity as well as enhancing the aesthetics of the area for public use.

 

Start 'em young. Perfect family activity.

Young and and not so young took part, fostering a positve attitude toward conservation in the community.

 

'Onya Ron. Thanks for a great day's work and pleasant company.

National Tree Day is a Planet Ark initiative. Here’s a link to a fun Planet Ark video on why planting a tree is a valuable exercise in so many ways.

The following four links are summaries of some Planet Ark research into the values of trees – well worth a read…

Planting Trees: Just What the Doctor Ordered – PDF / 1.8MB

Valuing Trees. What is Nature Worth? – PDF / 532KB

Needing Trees. The Nature of Happiness – PDF / 960KB

Climbing Trees: Getting Aussie Kids Back Outdoors – PDF / 350KB

Bellbirds, Lerp and Dieback

Heard any Bellbirds around Drouin of late?

There are three or four bushland locations within or adjacent to urban Drouin, where these endemic honeyeaters are easy to find – or at least to hear, because quite often it is their sweet bell-like call, (Graeme Chapman - external link), that gives away their presence.

 

Bell Miner - often heard more than seen.

Bell Miners gather in large social groups, sometimes up to 200 strong, and aggressively defend their feeding territories, often chasing off much larger birds than themselves and peculiarly, often including species that offer no competition to them at all!    

 

Feeding on lerp - those little white spots.

They prefer dense eucalypt habitat with plenty of undergrowth and recently I encountered a colony busily feeding in the old Drouin Nature Reserve in Pryor Rd.

The Old Drouin Nature Reserve is excellent Bell Miner habitat.

Bell Miners feed largely on lerp, the ‘protective’ sugary coating of the leaf eating insect called psyllid, (Birdlife – external link). The jury is out at the moment, but some research suggests that the birds actually farm the food source by just taking the lerp and leaving the psyllid to survive and excrete a new sugary coating.

 

A psyllid, (look closely), and plenty of lerp.

Over time, the leaf eater population builds up and may eventually defoliate the tree – a form of dieback, (Bell Miner Associated Dieback working group – external link). The Bell Miner colony then moves on to ‘fresh fields and pastures new’.

Aint nature grand?

“And, softer than slumber, and sweeter than singing,
the notes of the bell-birds are running and ringing.”

-        Henry Kendall (1869) – external link.

The ‘Ents’ of West Gippsland

J. R. R. Tolkien wrote about ‘ents’ in his trilogy ‘Lord of the Rings’. Ents are tree-like beings, very old and very tall and stiff-limbed, with bark-like skin and leafy ‘hair’. Originally the land of Middle Earth in the world created by Tolkein was covered in a great forest which has been progressively destroyed by humans over the centuries.

This Ent was seen recently in Drouin ... keep your eyes peeled.

‘Treebeard’ is the oldest of the species of ents. He lives in the ancient forest of Fangorn. He is very tall, rough and wrinkled with a barky long beard and spreading branch arms. For those fans of Lord of the Rings you will know that ents take a long time to make up their minds and that is because for centuries they have had time on their hands until the coming of man.

Up until 150 years ago West Gippsland was covered in what was called ‘The Great Gippsland Forest’, an area of heavily timbered hills and gullies, giant eucalypts, dense undergrowth and tall tree ferns. Drouin was one of the last towns to be ‘opened up’ because of the immense trees and dense bush.

Man came and settled, clearing forest for farmland and felling trees for building and firewood. In its heyday Drouin boasted some 14 timber mills within what is the town boundary today. But remarkably some of the old trees have survived. Mostly Mountain Greys, some Strzeleckii and Messmate and a few Blue Gums, Narrow-leafed Peppermints, Manna gums, Swamp Gums, Mahoghany Gums and others.

The tall giants left in the town, like the ents are witness to the progress of man and stand as monuments to what once was. It is remarkable that they have survived!! The oldest and largest of these is The Settlement Giant a huge Mountain Grey in Settlement Road.

Jod's Greybeard.

One of my ‘Lord of the Rings’ friends says he should be called ‘Greybeard’! Perhaps other Lord of the Rings fans might agree!

Thanks go to Jod and Judy for a wonderful contribution.