SWAN BAY Saltmarsh plants fringe Swan Bay Weeds... Orange-bellied Parrot and its islands and connecting Fennel and Blue Periwinkle ENVIRONMENT TRAIL providing important are some of many serious winter habitat for endangered environmental weeds in this Enjoy a stroll by the shores of Swan Bay, a Ramsar Orange-bellied Parrots. Habitat woodland pocket. They Blue Periwinkle of international significance. The numbers in this leaflet refer destruction, competition with compete with and smother to markers along the walk / cycle track. Fennel introduced birds and feral animal native ground flora. Short walk: from markers 1 to 14 is 1.5 km one way. Beaded Glasswort predation are major causes of Look for these local plants…. Medium walk: from marker 1 to DEDJTR is 2.5 km one these Parrots’ decline. way. Seaberry Saltbush, a waist high plant bearing red berries in Further along the track Long walk: from marker 1 to Murray Rd saltmarsh boardwalk Common Tussock-grass autumn, grows in profusion along the track’s edge. Coast Pomaderris Bower Spinach, an edible fleshy-leaved plant with a stalked 1. FILTERING PONDS shrubs and Common Tussock-grass, planted yellow flower, trails and climbs through the woodland. Frogs live among the reed-like Cumbungi in the wetland Superb by Swan Bay Fairy-wren ponds to the left of the track. After rain, stormwater flows into Bower Spinach Environment Association, Seaberry Saltbush the ponds. The Cumbungi and other plants filter pollutants grow in an area once from the stormwater before it enters Swan Bay. densely infested with 2. SWAN BAY weeds. Understorey Coast Banksia is a tree with two

Extensive mudflats -rich in plant and animal life- are exposed plants such as these toned leaves, woody cones and at low tide. provide essential habitat pale yellow flower-spikes. New for many small animals. Coast Pomaderris Holland Honeyeaters and Red At low tide crabs, marine snails Wattle Birds are often seen here 4. REMNANT COASTAL MOONAH WOODLAND and worms hide among , feasting on nectar with their long Shore burrow in the mud, or shelter Moonah, Coast Wirilda, Coast Beard-heath and Coast Tea- brush-tipped tongues. -crab beneath rocks to protect tree form the basis of this woodland, together with a diverse Coast Banksia themselves from predators and mix of understorey shrubs, herbs and grasses. 7. FOOD AND SHELTER

Pipi dehydration. At high tide pelicans The interpretive sign at this viewing platform will enable you The dense-canopied tree to the right of the track is a and cormorants can be seen to identify some of the local native (indigenous) plants in this Moonah that is hundreds of years old.

Bristle Worm roosting on the stormwater pipe. woodland as well as invasive weed species. The indigenous people of this area, the Wadawurrung, used

Coastal Moonah Woodlands were once extensive along the Moonahs for shelter and food, making a sweet drink from Along the shoreline the silvery coast. They are now listed as a ‘threatened’ woodland the flowers. They collected food and medicine from the Coast Saltbush grows. A scaly, community under ’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. flowers, roots and leaves of many of the plants you have waxy surface on the leaf protects seen on this walk. this plant from salt winds. Growing 5. BIRDS OF SWAN BAY Small orchids, daisies and mosses once grew in the shelter nearby is the scrambling, smaller of Coastal Moonah woodlands. Many of these plants have leafed Marsh Saltbush, a plant of Coast Indulge in bird-watching at this viewing platform, using the been displaced by weeds or through land clearance. State significance. Saltbush interpretive sign to identify the birds. At low tide look for spoonbills, egrets, herons and ibises feeding in the 8. SWAN BAY CATCHMENT

3. SWAN BAY –IMPORTANT HABITAT FOR BIRDS shallows. In the distance look for Black Swans resting on Look out over Swan Bay to the Bellarine Hills. Notice that the mudflats. At high tide Cormorants sit on the wooden From October to April much of the vegetation has been cleared from the hills. Bar-tailed Godwit posts with their wings outstretched to dry. thousands of migratory Yarram Creek which drains the western part of the Swan shorebirds (waders) reside at Bay catchment has suffered serious erosion and siltation 6. LOOK AROUND YOU due to vegetation loss. Groups such as Bellarine Catchment Swan Bay. They feed on the mudflats at low tide and roost How observant are you? See if you can spot the plants that Network work with landowners and land managers to along the shoreline at high tide. are native to this area and those that are not. protect, restore and link up remnant indigenous vegetation and reduce erosion and nutrient run-off to Swan Bay. 9. INDIGENOUS PARASITE 12. LICHEN DEDJTR QUEENSCLIFF – SALTMARSH GARDENS

Adjacent to Queenscliff Primary Wire-leaf Mistletoe Look at the orange lichen growing on the branches of the DEDJTR (Dept of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport School near Stokes St, Wire-leaf Common Boobialla tree. Lichen is composed of a fungus and Resources) carries out innovative scientific research Mistletoe grows and feeds on the and an alga that grow together as a single unit, benefiting and monitoring for the sustainable use and management of Coast Wirilda trees. In summer the each other. Lichens are slow-growing. They do not damage our aquatic resources. Sixty thousand indigenous saltmarsh distinctive red, tubular flowers, their host plant. Air pollution and human damage are threats plants have been planted around the DEDJTR building followed by green berries make the to lichens. Some varieties of lichens are utilised by birds which houses research laboratories and aquaria. As part of mistletoe easy to spot. Mistletoe (nest-building) and insects (camouflage). its water-efficient design, stormwater from the site is filtered birds eat the berries and deposit the through saltmarsh ponds to minimize impact on Swan Bay. 13. SANDHOPPERS, SEAGRASS AND SNAILS Coast Wirlida sticky seeds onto the host plant. Swan Bay is part of the Heads Marine National The Medium Walk ends here. To complete the Long Walk, 10. RUNAWAYS Park and regulations apply to the flora and fauna here. Take continue along the Bellarine Highway walk / cycle track to As you walk along the track you will see many care as mudflats can be easily damaged by trampling. Murray Rd and walk along Murray Rd to its intersection with environmental weeds invading the Coastal Moonah Ward Rd. The saltmarsh boardwalk path commences At first glance a can appear lifeless, but its pitted woodland. Most have been dispersed from residential opposite the Ward Rd intersection. BEWARE OF TRAINS surface gives evidence of the many animals that make use of gardens by birds, wind, water or dumped garden rubbish. as you cross to the boardwalk. it. Look for the obvious tracks and trails of marine snails and English Ivy and Cape Ivy can shorebirds and subtle signs indicating that pipis, burrowing MURRAY RD - SALTMARSH BOARDWALK be seen climbing through crabs and worms live beneath the surface. Moonahs. Italian Buckthorn, Three interpretive signs located along the boardwalk will Bellarine Pea and Boxthorn English Ivy Dead seagrass washes up along the shoreline. At low tide, give you an insight into the special plants that grow in Swan grow vigorously. These Cape Ivy dead seagrass provides food, shelter and moist conditions Bay’s saltmarsh zone and the animals that use this plants, introduced from other for tiny sandhoppers, important wildlife corridor. Italian Buckthorn countries, flourish as their crabs and marine snails. Decaying seagrass is a natural predators are Boxthorn Bellarine Pea absent. rich food source for sandhoppers, worms and snails. These, in turn, are Many native animals surviving in our remnant Coastal Sandhopper (magnified) eaten by fish and birds. Moonah Woodlands depend directly on indigenous vegetation for food and shelter. Changing conditions can 14. SWAN BAY SEAGRASS lead to local extinction of our flora and fauna. Learn to Swan Bay’s extensive underwater seagrass meadows recognise and remove environmental weeds from your support a myriad of marine life. They are important fish garden. nurseries. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

11. DRAINS TO THE BAY Leaflet revised and produced by Bellarine Catchment Network. And Seahorse Black Swans are often seen Swan Bay Environment Association

How many stormwater drains can you see at the Dod St. from this viewing platform intersection? They and other drains discharge into Swan Funding support from Swan Bay grazing peacefully on the Environment Association.

Bay. Polluted stormwater is a threat to Swan Bay seagrass meadows. In winter ecosystems. It increases nutrients promoting excessive Seagrass Text and illustrations by Sue Longmore, most of the Black Swans and Bellarine Catchment Network (BCN). algal growth which, reduces sunlight available to plants. disperse to nearby inland SBEA and BCN Websites: waters to breed. www.sbea.webuda.com As you continue along the trail admire the tall Moonah trees www.environmentbellarine.org.au flanking the trail and peer in under the Moonah canopy. To find trail markers 12 and 13 turn right at the next track. Other BCN publications: The Short Walk ends here. For the Medium and Long Walk, Coastal Plants of the (see map). This will take you to the Swan Bay shoreline. Inland Plants of the Bellarine Peninsula continue along the walk / cycle track. Indigenous Wildlife of the Bellarine Peninsula