News from Mills Beach
The weather wasn’t co-operating for much of our October working bee but nevertheless we did what we planned to do.
We checked the recent plantings up on Red Bluff and were happy to find that many had survived the dry September and looked okay, notably the she-oaks, banksia and correas. The grasses hadn’t done so well, with many being a mixture of green leaves along with dead ones. As expected, in some areas the recent rainfall hadn’t penetrated very far and so some plants had to be watered.
Afterwards Anthony and Kate took us on their annual nestbox inspection, armed with a camera fixed at the end of long extendable pole and wirelessly linked to a display screen. I have been on several of these inspections and this was the most productive by far: two nest boxes and a tree hollow were occupied by rainbow lorikeet fledglings and a third nestbox accommodated a microbat, possibly a Gould’s Wattled Bat. It’s good to see that they’re still being used. Thank you Anthony and Kate
Finally we went to an area between the Hebert and Bath St paths to check out plants put in some time ago, and found that they all seem to be doing well. This area has been overgrown with buffalo grass for some time and this has only recently be cut back to allow some work to be done there. It could be another focus in the future.
And we weren’t the only ones working in the area. A Naturelinks crew hand weeded around the spinifex on the foreshore then woody and hand weeded Polygala myrtifolia , Boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera), Spear thistles (Cirsium vulgare), Black coral pea (Kennedia nigricans), Cape ivy (Delairea odorata) and mirror bush (Coprosma repens) between the Bath St. and Herbert St. path part of the polygon. They also brush cut and selectively sprayed around sensitive areas of good vegetation. They also saw couple of dead rats and another penguin and also noticed some natural recruitment of Banksias which was promising (thanks to the crew and to Sally for providing this report).
Finally, here is a link to a news item about an 800 year old boomerang found in the area a few years ago:
https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/family-finds-ancient-boomerang-near-creek-on-mornington-peninsula/2jsxnu8dq
