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Volunteer Newsletternewsletter Environment And NorthernNorthern andand YorkeYorke RegionRegion Department of VolunteerVolunteer NewsletterNewsletter Environment and SummerSummer 20112011 Natural Resources In this edition of the Volunteer newsletter: ‐ Thank you to the Friends of Althorpe Island CP ‐ Two new birders by Jan Aamodt ‐ Mt Remarkable Working Bee by Paul Shinks ‐ Of Herpos and Birdos by Andrew Wurst ‐ Farming on Social Media by Wendy Fowler ‐ OH&S volunteer management framework ‐ People Matters by David Armstrong ‐ Fairy Tern Census first round results ‐ Fairy Tern Surveys my volunteer experience ‐ Education Days by Wendy Cliff ‐ Busy, busy, busy Spring Photo: Paul Wiliams Thanks for the collaborations of: Jasmine Swales, Jan Aamodt, Paul Shinks, Andrew Wurst, Wendy Fowler, David Amstrong, Celia Manning, Kaye Simpson, Deb Agnew, Montse Soria, Wendy Cliff, Paul Williams, Chad Cole, Keith Baseley Thank you to the Friends of Althorpe Island CP! The Friends of Althorpe Island Conservation Park are celebrating this year their 15th anniversary. They have done an amazing job on the island managing weeds, eradicating cats, monitoring seabirds and maintaining the heritage listed cottages, access trails and grave sites. Many of the members have strong links with the island as ex‐lighthouse keepers or caretakers before the Friends group was formed. During the last few years, access to the island has been difficult but the group has managed the challenges to keep caring for the island. DENR and the Yorke Peninsula Team would like to thank the group for their on going support during the last 15 years! Well done team!! 1 Two new birders…………………………………………………….. by Jan Aamodt A warning to all birders of the Mid North – 2 new birders have joined your ranks – look for us in camouflage gear lurking in undergrowth. The well known and highly persuasive Cristina from DENR persuaded Julie and myself to take her place at an “Introduction to Birds and Bird watching “ course with John Gitsham at Gluepot Reserve on the weekend of 17 and 18 September 2011. Firstly, I missed the running of the Group 1 Underwood and George Main Stakes – just shows the sacrifice a person will make to keep wife and the persuasive Cristina happy. The course consisted of 1 lecturer/convenor (John) and 15 students from such diverse places as Tasmania, Northern NSW, Victoria and various regions of South Australia. This alone speaks volumes for John’s reputation in the field of bird watching. There was some trepidation in our hearts as we approached this task (not least being that our Clare departure was delayed until 5pm as we were required to attend a grassfire at Armagh with the CFS) and we arrived at Gluepot at about 8pm instead of the anticipated 5pm! Not a wonderful start. Saturday was hot and windy, 36 C which was 10 above average. Not ideal for either sitting in a lecture theatre (a term used guardedly as it is a converted shearing shed) and bird watching, accompanied by a very strong Westerly. Oh dear I thought, a day like this stuck with people who may suddenly burst into ornithological song or do strange signals with their hands. After about 15 seconds our fears were allayed. Apparently there were no twitchers in our group, which pleased me as people with tics tend to draw my attention and I hate to stare. The lessons started with the history of birds, through evolution from reptiles (George W, don’t read this) to their current status. A shortish walk in the wind led us to see 39 different species of birds (I think I saw only about 10 – very slow binoculars) including red capped robins, splendid wrens, the rareish southern scrub robin and 36 others. Of amusement was the appearance of apparently confused waterbirds. At the last remaining waterhole we encountered ibis, grebe, egret, heron and pied cormorant. These would have been a good sighting in wetlands, let alone an arid place such as Gluepot. The following and final day was mainly occupied with a bus tour around Gluepot which was a fascinating drive. 9 more species were identified, taking the tally to 48, which considering we were a gaggle (note the birdy term) of humans. As well as all the marvellous birds, we were also exposed to much of the flora of the region including some lovely specimens of Eremophila, Eucalypt, Senna, spear grass and lastly, though not overly floral, a bearded dragon. All in all, 15 satisfied customers departed Gluepot. As total novices in the art of bird watching, we would certainly recommend this course to anyone who has an interest in this field. I would love to say we are now able to identify just about every bird we see but ..................... Photo: Chad Cole 2 Mt Remarkable Working bee……………………………….. By Paul Shinks I left home early enough to arrive at the campground in Mambray Creek at 3:30, set up camp and go for a walk. The campground was busy, full of school holiday campers returning from exploring the park, sitting back reading a book or catching a nap in the last of the afternoon sun. The park full of people did not disturb the local Emu’s or Euro’s that grazed in the park as the sun started to melt behind the hills on the western side of Spencers Gulf. My mate Ian who was visiting his parents in Port Augusta was next to arrive at camp, it’s a pity he could only stay the night, it had been too long since we had last got together so we had a good time catching up over a couple of beers after starting the fire and waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. Next Kirrily and her partner Rob arrived in their Hilux ute and after introductions and a catch up it was time to cook tea. Paul Ewins Prado drove in next with his sister Ashley and her friend Pat from England as passengers, joined by Paul’s dad Andy and his mate Steve in another Prado. Last to arrive that night were Glenn and Troy in the Triton twin cab Ute who were glad to arrive after six hours on the road. After setting up camps and having tea we all gathered around the camp fire and enjoyed Paul’s guitar playing, having a chat and a couple of drinks with nibbles before bed. Saturday morning was an alarm clock like chorus of Kookaburra’s, getting us up in time for breakfast, packing up and meeting our last team member Richard in the token Subaru Forester at the Rangers office, where we met Ranger Chris Havelberg, collected tools, were briefed on the weekends work and set off up the farmers track to enter the park at the back of the link lands along Hallam’s Track. As we reached the top of track and chatted amongst ourselves on the UHF radio we were interrupted by the welcome voices of Karl, Bruce, Leo and families as they headed up to the northern Flinders. They were at Warnertown south of Port Pirie, 47km’s away and the reception was like they were alongside till we started down the other side of the range. Above: One of the locals from under a log we moved, native orchids by the track side Below: After work Saturday tacking a break and the lack of view Sunday on the way out We reached the Subaru track, and it looked in fairly good condition after the efforts we put in last year. Thankfully there were no major falls, but we still put in 6 hours of work each keeping the track wide enough for a CFS truck to pass through. Eagle eyes found native orchids not far off the edge of the track and plenty of Euros on the move. In the perfect winter weather the two Pauls had two chain saws ripping 3 through the thicker growth as the rest of the team cut smaller growth with loppers and poisoned remaining butts to prevent regrowth. The poison was mixed with a red dye, that stained a few shoes and pant legs with over spray if not careful. We got through all but the last kilometre of track, so as the sun started to get low in the west the decision to make this where we will continue tomorrow was made and it was time to head for the graveyard track and set up camp, cook tea and settle in for another night of camp fire friendship. There was no need to place any cool drinks in the fridge. That would have warmed them up, as the temperature hit 2 degrees at around 10, no need to get up early as there is not too much left to do…… Sunday morning we woke to drizzle and low cloud that turned into rain that was not going to stop. Oh no, packing up wet tents…not much worse than that. The rain looked like it had settled in for the day so that was that, no work today, lets get out before the tracks get too wet, we don’t want to damage them on our way out. The drive out up over the black range on the Mambray Creek track is normally some of the best scenery in the park, looking into Mambray creek, over to hidden valley, but it was gone, hidden by a dense cloud that limited us to a view stopped at 10 meters or so by thick white fog. As we got lower the day improved, the sun even shone, but looking back onto the black range there was a pall dark dreary cloud that would not lift for the whole day.
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