Author: Lyn

Our aim in putting plants in the ground is to improve biodiversity – that’s a given. But what we most want to see is sustainability – plants healthy and reproducing, kept in balance by natural processes.   Very dry conditions and, until ...

The fungi we see above ground are the sporing bodies – much like fruit on plants – and they disperse tiny spores to produce the next generation. Methods of dispersal are hugely diverse and, in this, Bird’s nests are particularly interesting. ...

Ramaria abietina is the first coral fungus to be recorded in the Park, so-called because they resemble marine corals. Corals are different from agarics and boletes in that the spores are on the external surface of the upper branches. R. abietina is a species f...

Sunday June 30 was a productive morning with 20 species in all recorded in one small section along Woodland Walk in Westgate Park. This was a good result given the fact that for the previous week the weather had been warm, windy and dry – not ideal condi...

Vegetation recovering after recent rain provides good habitat for a range of birds, including numerous Superb Fairy-wrens and the usual honeyeater species. Water quality in the Large Freshwater Lake appears very good – most water birds were obs...

Winter for many native plants is a time for recovery; recovery from hot, dry periods and a time to settle in and make the most of the impending rain. This stasis-like mode allows many plants to burst into growth and flower when the spring warmth and light come...

The pinkness has gone now, no doubt because of cooler weather, recent rain and less sunshine, but it was certainly spectacular while it lasted. We now understand, thanks to sampling by freshwater ecologist, Joan Powling, that this explosion of colour was ...

Please join us on the first Saturday of the month to work with locally native plants 10.30am to 12.30pm

On the survey date drought was still biting at Westgate Park, which received very little rain in late April and early May. All lakes were very low, with exposed mud connecting the freshwater lake’s islands, and the freshwater dam almost completely dry. ...

After many dry months and just 3 mm of rain in March, Westgate Park is severely stressed, with numerous dead shrubs and trees, especially narrow-leafed peppermints and banksias. Although some eucalypts, including the large Ironbark near the windmill, are flowe...