News Friends of Darebin Creek

April 2008

Upcoming events to look out for 27 April Sunday – Working Bee at Electric Spur with and MCMC Melway 31 D1 Cnr Gona St & Liberty Pde Heidelberg West. 10am-12noon. Morning tea and kids activities provided. 25 May Sunday – Bike Ride/Picnic “Explore Darebin Creek” (route TBA)

www.friendsofdarebincreek.org.au

Environmental Event Reports

Quarry Hills Walk - 26 August 2007

This walk was led by local environmentalist Peter Roberts and took place on a beautiful day up at Mill Park. The park entrance was spectacular with magnificent plantings. Wildflowers could be seen along the way as well as some birdlife.

Peter’s expertise in environmental interpretation was very evident, he even pointed out all the surrounding mountains with their name and height (“I know them because I’ve climbed them all.”) His young daughter was also impressively fit and managed to keep up with the adults.

We concluded the walk by examining the girth of a large river red gum. This particular tree had two branches that had crossed then grown together, considered a tree of great significance by indigenous peoples.

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Thanks to Sheryl and Peter for making this day possible.

Text and photos Sean Walsh

Darebin Creek Discovery Walk 11 November 2007

This walk was led by Brian Bainbridge from Management Committee, who has been providing training to the Friends of Darebin Creek on weed identification and management.

We started at the Darebin Creek park entrance at Gona St, Heidelberg West, and examined some weeds that appeared to have come over (and in some cases under) residential fences. From there we went for a walk through the surrounding streets, looking for invasive plants that are being carefully tended by not-very-well-informed gardeners. We spotted some real nasties, including desert ash, sweet pittosporum, mirror bush and cotoneaster.

A wide variety of commonly cultivated plants can go a-wandering and become an invasive problem for the Darebin Creek. Please check before buying a plant whether it’s known to be a local environmental weed. Council brochures (such as http://www.banyule.vic.gov.au/Assets/Files/Weeds brochure.pdf) are a good source of information.

We finished the walk back at the Darebin Creek with some morning tea and discussion, while our Art Coordinator (Fiona H) sat in the shade and sketched some local plants.

Thanks to Brian for a great day and for sharing his knowledge with FODC. Text Sean Walsh

2 Clean Up Day 2nd March 2008

Our regular annual cleanup was at a different site this year, with the focus being a small wetland between Gona St and Southern Rd. Thanks to everyone who helped on the day. A special mention goes to Chris Murphy and Chris Walker-Cook who got down into the muddy reeds to rid the wetland of accumulated litter.

An unexpected benefit of the day was discovering plenty of wildlife. A skink accidentally landed in my clean up bag. I gently took it out and it kindly posed for a photograph. A similar thing happened with a young praying mantis. But the real surprise of the day was found at the edge of the wetland. I spotted a little creature with a dark purple body and a bright yellow stripe running down its entire length. It moved like a worm, stretching its body out and slithering. It was probably about 10-15 cm long when fully stretched out. Julia Vanderoord (our regional waterwatch coordinator) consulted her network of experts and we have some ideas, but still don’t have a definitive answer as to what it is. Possible phyla include the Nemertea (ribbon worms) or Platyhelminthes (terrestrial flat worms). I am pretty sure it wasn’t a leech because of the way it moved, and it didn’t seem to have a noticeable mouth like leeches do. The colours of this little worm were very impressive. If anyone has any further ideas on what it might be, or if you have seen one yourself, please let us know.

Thanks again to the Banyule Bush crew for supporting the cleanup effort. Text and photos Sean Walsh

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______Nature Returns to Upper Darebin Catchment

On 29 June Friends of Darebin Creek will join together with Darebin Parklands Association (DPA) members and a private landholder to protect the endangered Plains Grassy Woodland community in Woodstock. Woodstock is approximately 30 km north of the city and is a rural area that is in the headwaters of the Darebin Creek. The Darebin Creek Management Committee will coordinate the project with funds from the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust through the Northern Nature Project*.

Over 1000 indigenous plants comprising, tree, shrub, grass and groundcovers will be planted. The DPA will supply some of the plants from their plant nursery project. The landholder will fence off the site to exclude stock and will undertake weed control before the planting takes place.

This project builds on the 2007 project where over 50 volunteers were involved in restoring Grassy Woodlands on a private landholding in Mernda.

This is your opportunity to visit the very top of the Darebin Creek Catchment and contribute to the enhancement of our precious Grassy Woodlands.

4 To get involved or find out more contact Therese Grinter on 94994454 or [email protected]

*Northern Nature Creek Connections is a joint project of Merri Creek Management Committee, Coordination Committee and Darebin Creek Management Committee and funded by Natural Heritage Trust. ______

From the Bushland Management Team

Wildlife Sightings We again recorded Growling Grass at the Growling Grass Dam at Bundoora Park. It was very pleasing to hear them calling from an area that we revegetated with reeds and rushes just last year. We have also observed Mistletoe Birds near Bell Street, Nankeen Night Herons at Dundas Wetland and Black-fronted Dotterels at Bundoora Park. We also spotted a Blue- tongued Lizard and four Tawny Frogmouths at Cherry Street Reserve and had a mob of seven Grey Kangaroos and a pair of Grey Currawongs at Forensic Drive Reserve in Macleod West.

Weed Control A Chilean Needle Grass (CNG) control method we have been trialling over the last couple of years is starting to show good success. We first spray out an area of CNG then thatch the area with Kangaroo Grass Themeda triandra thatch. The site is then left for at least six months for the seed to fall out of the thatch and drill into the top soil. Finally we burn the thatch which also encourages the seed to germinate. I did two quadrats at one of our sites and found 38 Themeda seedlings per square metre in one and 50 seedlings per square metre in the other. We will still need to do follow up weed control in these sites but with this much germination of the Kangaroo Grass seed it should provide good competition against the CNG. (Photos: Kangaroos at Cherry St & Nankeen Night Heron) Chris Cobern, Team Leader, City of Darebin Bushland Management

5 Have you seen this weed?

The flower stalks are a distinguishing feature of Alligator Weed.

Alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) is currently growing along the Darebin Creek, including within the boundaries of the Darebin Parkland. Originating from South America, Alligator weed has been classified as a Weed of National Significance (WONS). In , it has also been proclaimed as a State Prohibited Weed, which is the highest category to which a noxious weed can be listed. This means all infestations, must be eradicated from the state. Water (MW), in conjunction with the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is currently managing these infestations.

Eradication is needed because of the serious impacts this weed has on both aquatic systems and agricultural land. Alligator weed is very invasive and has the ability to regenerate from fragments. According to the latest computer-based modeling, Alligator weed has the potential to spread to almost all Australian waterways, wetlands and flood plains.

This weed is very similar looking to Australian native species. However, Alligator weed has white, papery flowers on a long peduncle or flower stalk. These stalks do not exist in native Alternanthera species.

If you see this weed do not attempt to remove it, please ring your local council, the D.P.I. – Frankston Centre (03) 9785 0111 or the Darebin Parklands Rangers (03) 94993486. Matthew Strong, Darebin Parklands Ranger ______

Friends of Darebin Creek Annual General Meeting (5/3/08) Guest Speaker was Peter Roberts a campaigner for Redgums who spoke about the precarious state of the old redgums along the Darebin Creek & the northern corridor, due to expanding development. He emphasized their traditional & spiritual values as well as their environmental significance.

6 Peter said there is some limited council (Whittlesea) support for his work, but although the trees are classified as significant, this is really a token gesture – 1 metre outside the drip line, & the isolation of each individual tree, means there is no support, as it is often surrounded by asphalt or concrete outside the protected area. The soil becomes anaerobic & compacted, & there is no understorey. Some are many hundreds of years old, and were here first, so should be taken into consideration much more than they are. Some developers are more sensitive than others eg Australand, Aurora, but most are just there for the money, & the trees quickly deteriorate after they are gone. He urged us to consider the Spirit of Place (genus loci) & emphasized how the birds, mammals & insects need the growth corridor, & how the environment warms up with too much city growth (urban heat island effect), and this area is expected to be a rapid growth corridor. Helen Walker-Cook

FODC welcome Peter Roberts to the FODC Committee as Campaigns Coordinator.

Photo Sean Walsh ______

Macro of the Moment: Water Scorpion

• Nepidae is an insect family commonly called water scorpions because of their resemblance to scorpions. • They have a tail at the end of their abdomen which they use as a snorkel, putting it above the water to collect air. • They live in water weeds or the mud of ponds, lakes and streams. • They catch other pond with their front legs and suck out the body fluids. • Baby water scorpions look just like adults except without wings and are, of course, smaller. Erica Stute

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Changes to Banyule Bush Crew

FODC would like to welcome Emma Mann (aka Hespa) who has replaced Omni on the Banyule Bush Crew working with Damien.

It’s Autumn Frog Census Monitoring time

For detailed information on how to make a recording (cassette or digital) see the participation page on the Frog Census website

Some of the Victorian frogs you might hear in autumn are listed below

There is detailed information on the distribution, calling and breeding patterns, and sound files of the calls on the Frogs of Australia Website http://frogs.org.au/frogs/of/Victoria/

• Neobatrachus sudelli - Common Spadefoot Toad • Crinia signifera - Eastern (common) Froglet • Limnodynastes dumerili - Eastern Banjo Frog (Pobblebonk Frog) • Litoria raniformis - Growling Grass Frog • Litoria ewingii - Southern Brown (Ewing's) Tree Frog • Pseudophryne semimarmorata - Southern Toadlet • Limnodynastes tasmaniensis - Spotted Marsh Frog • Geocrinia victoriana - Victorian Smooth Froglet • Litoria verreauxi ver - Whistling (Verreaux's) Tree Frog For further info www.melbournewater.com.au/frogs

Interested in frogs? Meet the Darebin Froggers

For the past 2 years the Darebin Froggers have discovering the fantastic frogs that live in the Darebin Creek Catchment, concentrating on sites within the Darebin Parklands, a wetland in Thornbury and further upstream on the Darebin Creek. Last years results are:

Frogs found in the Autumn 2007 Census (Darebin Council) source Melbourne Water Frog Census http://frogs.melbournewater.com.au Crinia signifera - Eastern (common) Froglet Limnodynastes dumerili - Eastern Banjo Frog (Pobblebonk Frog) Litoria fallax - Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog Litoria ewingii - Southern Brown (Ewing's) Tree Frog Limnodynastes tasmaniensis - Spotted Marsh Frog Limnodynastes peroni - Striped Marsh Frog Geocrinia victoriana - Victorian Smooth Froglet

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Cute but not a local: → Eastern Dwarf tree frog (photo T. Grinter)

We are also interested in tracking the movements of the Queensland Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog (pictured) also known as the “banana box frog”, coming down in fruit boxes from Queensland. People finding these frogs have let them out into local parklands, thinking they are doing the right thing.

←The Pobblebonk or Bango Frog (photo J. Vanderoord)

But that’s not all we do! Other activities in the past have included Waterwatch testing, Rakali spotting and Frog training with the Research centre.

If you are interested in joining our group please contact Therese Grinter, Darebin Creek Management Committee on 9499 4454 or [email protected].

Waterwatch Wrap on the Darebin Catchment

Welcome to the Waterwatch team at the Darebin Creek in Thornbury. Michael and Phillip begun water testing at this site after the Waterwatch Advanced training held in November and have already monitored monthly since then, finding out heaps of interesting information, collecting some great baseline data on this highly populated section of the Darebin Creek. (Right: Phillip and Michael at their site, photo by J. Vanderoord)

The main aim of the monitoring for the group has initially been “use the data to learn about the condition of Darebin Creek and how it changes over time, especially seasonally and in response to rainfall events, and to help estimate the cumulative effects of the stormwater inputs and base flow upstream of the site on the water quality of Darebin creek.” The group are testing salinity, pH, Ammonium,

9 Phosphate, Air Temperature, Water Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen monthly and water bugs seasonally. Michael has become really keen and went out on a weekly basis in January, when he discovered and reported some broken stormwater drain lids to Council.

The Banyule Bush Crew team on the Darebin Creek, headed by Damian Karney have been busy monthly sampling the Darebin Creek, near Dougherty Road in Heidelberg West. The monitoring was set up amid concerns of the long term degraded water quality coming in to the Darebin Creek at this section. Much of this pollution appears to be coming from the Lillimur Stormwater drain, underneath Dougherty Road. Melbourne Water and the EPA are starting some works in this area to alleviate the pollution incoming, including installing a bioretention filter at the site in late 2008.

The aim of this monitoring is to determine if the bioretention filter will be successful in improving the water quality, once installed. Also, the data collected can be used to determine if there is any difference in the water quality downstream from the stormwater outlet. (ie how much impact the drain is having on Darebin Creek water quality) This is a 2 year project and almost 1 year of monthly sampling has been completed and Damian is writing a report of the first year’s findings.

J Vanderoord, Waterwatch Coordinator Photos: Omni and Damian sampling at the Darebin Creek site in Heidelberg West.

10 FREE WATER TESTING EVENT!

Interested in learning what's really going on in your local creek, wetlands or river? Can frogs, platypus or even native fish survive in your waterway?

Port Phillip & Westernport Waterwatch run FREE river health training sessions for teachers, community groups and individuals wishing to help improve their river health monitoring skills by regularly testing the water. You will learn the different sampling techniques, including aquatic macro invertebrate sampling and identification, how the data you collect is used and how to develop a monitoring plan. It’s fun, free and very easy to do! All equipment is provided. BYO lunch. Morning and afternoon tea included.

Sunday 15 June 2008, Time: 9:30-4:00pm at Diamond Valley Learning Centre (Cnr Diamond Creek & St Helena Roads, Greensborough). Bookings essential contact Julia Vanderoord (Waterwatch Coordinator) on 9457 9885 or [email protected]

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FODC members relaxing at the Social BBQ on 9 February 2008. Photo: S Walsh

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Help us distribute the FODC Brochure More members means more support for the creek. The Friends of Darebin creek membership brochure comes complete with map and information in seven languages. Call Sean (tel no below) for copies to distribute to neighbours, at schools and clubs, and other key centres. Got anything to say? Contributions to the FODC newsletter always welcome. Please forward these to [email protected]

Contact Numbers President Sean Walsh 9439 4623 (h) Activities Adrian Hotchin 9478 1683 (h) Media Marg Dobson 9402 0913 (h) Newsletter Coordinator Wendy Miller [email protected] Water Pollution? Call EPA (quote drain sign’s number if known) 9695 2777 Darebin Creek Management Committee 9499 4454 Melb. Wildlife Sanctuary & Indigenous Nursery 9479 1206 Shopping Trolley Hotline 1800 245 022 Litter Report Hotline 1800 352 555 Wildlife Rescue Hotline 0500 540 000 Vic Police Motorcycle Squad 93807283

Darebin Creek Provisional Calendar

April Sunday 27th Electric Spur Working Bee with City of Banyule and Merri Creek Management Committee – tools and morning tea supplied. May Sunday 25th Bike Ride/Picnic “Explore Darebin Creek” route TBA June Wednesday 11th Weed Workshop DCMC Environment Centre June Sunday 29th DCMC planting at Woodstock (the source of the Darebin Creek) July Sunday 27th National Tree Day, Darebin Creek Reserve, Gronn St car park, Mel 19D2 10:30am-12:30pm, lunch supplied, RSVP Chris on 84708756 / 0419 750 533 August Sunday 31st Waterway planting near Amcor factory Dougherty Rd, Mel 19E10 September Sunday 28th Electric Spur weeding day, tools & refreshments supplied October Sunday 12th Weed buster Day Cherry St Reserve Mel 20A7 November Sunday 30th Quarry Hills Wildflower Walk December Wednesday 10th Frog Census & Possum Prowl Bundoora Park 7.30-9.30 supper supplied December Christmas break up at Furlan Club, details TBA

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