4 April Bird survey
Highlights of the April survey were the high number of Grey Fantails – possibly four separate groups.
And a sighting of an early visitor in the shape of a female Flame Robin, along the Yarra in the planted shoreline belts. This area is frequently used by fishermen for shelter.
The three almost fully grown stilts are likely to be the same nestlings that avoided, with parental help, an attacking Collared Sparrowhawk one month ago.
The Rufous Fantail seen on 22 March was in a very poor condition and may not have survived.
And further to our earlier report of the important roles yabbies play in the ecosystem, a sighting of a Little Pied Cormorant with a recent catch in the freshwater lake.
Note from Andrew McCutcheon
At the very same time this female Flame Robin was recorded and considered to be a very early arrival for Westgate Park, I (AWMcC) was up on the Bogong High Plains near Falls Creek where lots of Flame Robins are still present in very good habitat conditions with lots of food in the form of insects around.
As these robins typically migrate to lower altitudes in late autumn/early winter and Melbourne is particularly dry at the moment, it makes me wonder where this bird along with other sightings by Gio and David Eades not so far away have come from, and why so early?
Volunteers bounce back at WBBNL
After two difficult, COVID-affected years, Westgate Biodiversity and Bili Nursery Landcare is set to relaunch its volunteer program.
Starting soon in the nursery, potential volunteers who have previously expressed an interest will be contacted with the aim of ramping up activities through April.
WBBNL’s co-manager with responsibility for organising the volunteer program, Mars Reid said: “We’ve had a lot of interest in volunteering over the summer that we haven’t been able to action.
“The people that sent in forms to volunteer will be contacted to organise some batch inductions and then get people onto a roster.”
April is a timely point of the year for voluntary effort with a seasonal focus on moving stock around the nursery, such as relocating stock from shady to sunnier spots to help maintain plant growth.
“April is also when our orders go out to council. Volunteers will help us to prepare these orders,” Mars said.
Other activities in the wetter months include: plant propagation; opportunities for seed collection; working bees to tidy up the nursery site, with the bonus of free excess plants for volunteers.
And in Westgate Park, the cooler weather brings more opportunities for planting and maintaining previous plantings
Regular volunteers returning to the park will be pleased to see renovations to the compound: a new leak-proof roof and gutter; fresh, clean plant tables; and new gravel.
Watch this space for more news.
Yabbies’ many roles in ecosystems
Whether eating or being eaten, yabbies play a vital role in wetland ecosystems such as Westgate Park.
Yabbies have been recorded in the park for more than a decade.
Here’s a sighting from a survey conducted on 15/11/2010: “It was exciting to find a baby Yabby in the survey amongst some very sensitive specimens.”
A fascinating read here from CSIRO details new research into the many roles yabbies play.
Yabbies are what are known as omnivores – their diet includes many different sources of nutrition. Importantly among those sources are bottom-of-the-food-chain algae and “detritus”, which is organic and/or decomposing material in the water.
But yabbies are in turn prey to predators such as waterbirds and fish. This means they can also act as a sort of one-stop link between the bottom of the food chain and the top.
Which makes yabbies much more than an ugly-duckling creature in any freshwater system.
Did you know?
Algae, common in wetlands, produce high-quality fatty acids, such as omega 3 and omega 6.
Yabbies fed with a diet rich in these fatty acids grow fast – doubling body mass in around 70 days.
The diet of wild yabbies in wetland habitats contains higher concentrations of these fatty acids compared with yabbies in rivers.
7 Mar Bird survey
Forty-six bird species were sighted along the Westgate Park survey route on a humid but clear March day. When added to opportunistic sightings between surveys, a total of 64 species were sighted in February and early March.
On the day itself, lake levels were still very high, and the park remains a pleasure to visit.
Interesting species this month were a Brown Quail and an Collared Sparrowhawk very actively hunting small stilts – and therefore actively resisted by a group of adults.
The dearth of Welcome Swallows and Silver Gulls is concerning and there are few frog calls.
Of great interest is the return of a Brushtailed Possum to a high stump near the site of the old toilets. The animal squeezes in amongst the shards of wood left when the tree snapped in high winds, and can just be seen from the path. Another Brushtailed Possum lived here continuously for four years. After a break of some 12 months the niche, which can’t be fantastically comfortable, has been reoccupied.
There were a number of interesting sightings reported on eBird over the last month. The most notable are a pair of Red-rumped Parrots observed by Elke Link, who wrote: “Flying in from West, landed in tree at small reedy swamp near Wharf Rd. Took off after brief perch. Appeared to be a pair.”
And a Spotless Crake observed by Douglas Rowland at the dam wetland, who wrote: “Good views in the small u-shaped wetland on the west side next to Wharf Road.”
This is only the second record in the park of a Spotless Crake, since our regular monthly bird surveys commenced in March 2007. The other sighting was during the March survey in 2016.
31 Jan Bird survey
Lake levels are still very high, and the park is a pleasure to explore.
Interesting species this month were an Australian Darter, a Brown Quail and a Budgerigar, the first for the park and apparently a wild bird rather than an aviary escapee, which unfortunately cannot be confirmed (Thanks, Daniel Gilmore for the detailed sighting report in the bird survey below).
The absence of Welcome Swallows is concerning, while the absence of frog calls is surprising. Moreover, Silver Gulls were low in number.
On the other hand, the surveyors had the impression of abundant insect life including damselflies and spectacular turquoise and yellow dragonflies.
They also watched a small group of Superb Fairy Wrens feeding a Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo near the
barbecue.
Regarding Superb Fairy Wrens, today’s count has recorded the most ever at 98 in the park.
This indicates the habitat must be in optimal condition with the vegetation supporting an abundance of small insects and other invertebrates on which the wrens depend as a food resource.
Channel 9 ‘postcards’ at Park
On Sunday, 13 Feb, Channel 9’s Postcards went to air featuring Westgate Park and a ride on the punt to Newport.
If you missed it, see it here.
Admin assistant position 1 day/week
We are hiring! Westgate Biodiversity is looking for an admin assistant to take care of records, manage supplies, follow up enquiries, etc. one day/week.
This is a paid position, based at Bili Nursery, 525 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne.
See here for the position description and email your application here.
Unlocking secrets of samphire
Westgate Park is home to the only area of saltmarsh to be found between the Yarra and the Mornington Peninsula. And native samphire (Sarcocornia quinqueflora), a succulent and edible plant, is a vital part of the saltmarsh environment.
But there is a big problem when it comes to supplying plants for revegetation projects; samphire is slow-growing and that pushes up prices.
So, our Bili Nursery team is working to come up with practical solutions.
“We are doing a lot of experiments with trying to produce samphire faster and better for revegetation,” says Bili Nursery manager Nic Brinkley.
“The goal is to try to find a system to produce really big ones, really quickly, so that we can more greatly assist with saltmarsh revegetation.
“The saltmarsh revegetation is particularly important because it is the [type of coastal] area we have lost the most of in Melbourne.”
Westgate Park’s saltmarsh has, for a different reason, become world famous; it’s also known as the Pink Lake. Under certain hot and dry conditions, the salinity of the water reaches the ideal point where a purple sulphur bacteria (harmless) proliferate. See here for more on this.
Bird survey 10 Jan
Doubtless the hot weather contributed to lower bird numbers in this survey but nonetheless, 40 species were recorded and 62 Superb Fairy-wren were observed. In the photo bottom left, the Superb Fairy-wren with a dull red colour around the eye is a juvenile or female.
The Bassian Thrush was seen between surveys by Mervyn Marsh and Leo Norman. It’s a relative newcomer to the Park. Birdlife Australia says the Bassian Thrush prefers densely forested areas and gullies, feeding on the ground scratching through leaf litter for invertebrates. It’s a secretive bird which means a good clear photo of it is something of a triumph!
Bassian Thrush 
Aust Reed Warbler,
photos Mervyn Marsh
Purple Swamphen 
Australasian Grebe 
Chestnut Teal pair +7 ducklings
photos Michael Drake
Superb Fairy-wren 
Superb Fairy-wrens, photo Mervyn Marsh 
Black-winged Stilt, photo Michael Drake
How many river red gums in a propagation tray?
We’ve been having some notable successes at the Bili Nursery over recent months. Here’s a tray of river red gum seedlings (eucalyptus camaldulensis) prior to pricking out.
Have a guess how many potentially towering trees there are in this tray.
I seriously underestimated the total at 500. But what do you think?
Westgate Biodiversity Bili Nursery and Landcare (WBBNL) manager Nic Brinkley estimates there are around 2000 individual plants.
The river red gum is one of the most widespread plants in Australia and each of these seedlings has the potential to grow 25 to 45 metres in height.
But first, for the next stage of propagation, they’ll all need pricking out to individual containers.
For an entire tray, such as this, that delicate process might take a beginner more than a week of painstakingly delicate work and, unfortunately, a high attrition rate.
But the most skilled of our nursery workers and volunteers reckon on a pricking out target of 1000 plants per day.
Each of those tiny seedlings should then develop into robust shoots ready for distribution to customers or retail.
You can find these plants and many, many other indigenous plant species at the Bili Nursery, 525 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne 3207.
January opening times Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm.