Transforming Westgate Park
The revegetation plan for Westgate Park using indigenous plants was developed by the Friends of Westgate Park not long after their formation in 1999, informed by in-house expertise in botany, planning and gardening and the invaluable Indigenous Plants of the Sandbelt – by Rob Scott and others and the Guide to the Indigenous Plants of the Greater Melbourne Area – Flora of Melbourne – by Marilyn Bull.
Westgate Park – a constructed and then largely neglected landscape of 40 hectares – is now an environmental gem, thanks in large part to this plan.
Background
Before it was constructed by the Victorian Department of Conservation, Forests & Lands in the 1980s, the land that is now Westgate Park had been mined for sand, degraded by industrial processes and rubbish dumping and it was used as a construction site for the Bridge. Countless truckloads of demolition waste and soils of all types were brought in from all over Melbourne to shape the park into small hills and mounds, wetlands and lakes. It was initially vegetated with Australian plants but most were not indigenous and either died because they were unsuitable for the Melbourne climate or became weedy. (These have provided limited shelter, especially for birds, and so are being removed only as indigenous plants mature and can take their place.)
For these reasons, revegetation using only the pre-settlement sand dune and marsh vegetation would have been inappropriate. Instead the plan was to create a diversity of species-rich, bushland habitats that once existed within 5-10 km of the Park at the time of European settlement – South Melbourne and Port Melbourne and along the Yarra to the city – part of the Sand Belt Region of Melbourne.
Plant communities
Nine indigenous plant communities or Ecological Vegetation Classes were identified that would:
- be resilient to climate change
- be attractive habitat for a wide range of birds and insects
- minimise the requirement for ongoing maintenance
- increase the vegetative mass to also capture carbon and help reduce the heat island of central Melbourne
- be a showcase for the amazing diversity of indigenous plants from this region
EVCs were determined by soil, exposure and topography and they transition in a natural manner from Coast Banksia Woodland at the river edge through to Saltmarsh around the salt lakes further inland at Todd Road. Altogether there are 320 plant species in the Park, many are in several of the nine EVC areas.
Reclaiming nature takes time & effort
The first areas to be planted almost 20 years ago were near the Yarra River and north of the Freshwater Lake. The usual practice is to spot plant large trees and shrubs so that once these mature, the area can be planted out with a diversity of shrubs, grasses, wildflowers and groundcovers that benefit from the microclimate and protection of larger vegetation.
Because little topsoil was used initially, all garden beds are mulched several times over before leaves and bark can build sufficiently to protect the soil and create substrate for beneficial fungi, microbes and insect populations.
Other maturing areas such as the northern red gum woodland, the heath on the northwest corner of the freshwater lake, grassy woodland on the hill west of the freshwater lake and grassland just north of Westgate Bridge show the potential of indigenous vegetation to provide habitat and a food chain for an astoundingly diverse range of fauna. They also make an attractive floral display in spring and summer.
In recent years around 20,000 plants have been put in the ground each year and more than 300,000 planted since 1999. The vast majority of these were grown by the St Kilda Indigenous Nursery in Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne and the Friends of Westgate Park in their small compound (now combined under amalgamation and called Bili Nursery). For many years now, plants in both nurseries have been propagated from seeds and cuttings harvested from Westgate Park and, as more plants reach maturity and insect populations grow to pollinate them, more can be grown and supplied to other Sand Belt areas.
Some of the many threats to plant survival are drought (the Park is not irrigated), possum and rabbit attack, weed invasion, incorrect soil pH and lack of mycorrhizal fungi. However, many plants are producing seed in substantial quantities and, with rabbits now under control, thousands are regenerating – a good indication that they will be self-sustaining well into the future. More planting will be necessary, particularly in those areas most recently added to the Park until perhaps 2021/23 and thereafter, vegetation should only require ongoing maintenance.
See also our page on biodiversity here and our 320 plants in the middle section of the home page.
Citizen Science – birds
For two decades our ‘bird survey volunteers’ have meticulously counted and recorded the bird species in Westgate Park and the number has now grown to 175. Not bad for a park surrounded by industry and traffic!
The surveys, held on Monday mornings, follow the same route around Westgate Park and the reports provide extraordinary insights into the movements of these birds. Typically ~60 bird species are seen or heard each month. Sightings between surveys are added to the data. Weather, lake water levels and notable or unusual sightings are recorded.
On these routes we often come across non-bird species like the Long Necked Turtle digging a hole in which to lay her eggs. The very cute families of Superb Fairy Wrens – now the biggest population of these birds in Melbourne.
Our brilliant photographers – Ursula, Andrew, Elke, Peter and others – capture moments in time like the Powerful Owl with a small possum in its claws, the mating rituals of the Hoary-headed Grebes, the Yellow-Tail Black Cockatoos ripping bark to get to the grubs, the Pied Cormorant with a yabby, the Willy Wagtail about to fledge, the shy Buff-banded Rail. So many stories!
If you would like to join the group to look and learn, call Rob on 0407 362 840.
Bili Nursery
| Aceana echinata | Eryngium vesiculosum | Pimelea glauca |
| Aceana ovina | Eucalyptus cephalocarpa | Pimelea humilis |
| Ajuga australis | Eucalyptus globulous | Pimelea linifolia |
| Arthropodium minus | Eucalyptus macrorhyncha | Poa ensiformis |
| Asperula conferta | Eucalyptus microcarpa | Potomogeton cheesemanii |
| Austrostipa bigeniculata | Eucalyptus obliqua | Potomogeton crispus |
| Austrostipa curticoma | Eucalyptus regnans | Potomogeton ochreatus |
| Austrostipa densiflora | Eucalyptus siederoxylon | Prosthanthera melissifolia |
| Austrostipa gibbosa | Eutaxia difusa | Prosthanthera nivea |
| Austrostipa pubinoidies | Goodenia gracilis | Pultenaea gunnii |
| Austrostipa rudis | Goodenia humilis | Pultenaea hispidula |
| Austrostipa semibarbarta | Goodenia pinnatifida | Pultenaea pendunculata |
| Baloskion tetraphylla | Gratiola peruviana | Pultenaea scabra |
| Baumea arthrophylla | Hibbertia fasicularis | Pultenaea stricta |
| Baumea articulata | Hibbertia sericea | Pultenaea tenuifolia |
| Baumea juncea | Hovea heterophylla | Pycnosorus chrysanthes |
| Bolboschoenus caldwelli | Imperata cylindrica | Pycnosorus globosus |
| Bolboschoenus fluvitalis | Juncus holoschoenus | Ranunculus amphitrichus |
| Bolboschoenus medianus | Juncus australis | Ranunculus lappaceus |
| Bossiea obcordatus | Juncus gregiflorus | Rodanthe anthemoides |
| Brachyscome diversifolia | Juncus pauciflorus | Rumex bidens |
| Brachyscome graminea | Juncus procerus | Rumex brownii |
| Brunonia australis | Juncus sarophorus | Rumex tenax |
| Caesia calliantha | Juncus semisolidus | Rutidosis leptorhyncoides |
| Caesia parviflora | Juncus subsecundus | Rytidosperma bipartitum |
| Cassinia longifolia | Kunzea leptospermoides | Rytidsoperma fulvum |
| Carex bichenoviana | Leptorhynchos squamatus | Rytidsoperma pallidum |
| Carex breviculmis | Leptorhynchos tenufolius | Schoenoplectus pungens |
| Carex guadichaudiana | Leucopogon ericoidies | Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani |
| Carex inversa | Leucopogon parviflorus | Senecio glomeratus |
| Carex inyx | Leucopogon virgatus | Senecio hispidulus |
| Cassinia longifolia | Lobelia irrigua | Senecio macrocarpus |
| Chamaescilla corymbosa | Lomandra filiformis | Senecio odoratus |
| Chorizandra australis | Lomandra filiformis subsp coriacea | Solanum aviculare |
| Chorizandra cymbaria | Lomandra multiflora | Spyridium parvifolium |
| Clematis aristata | Lomandra nana | Tetratheca bauerifolia |
| Coprosma quadrifida | Lythrum salicaria | Themeda triandra |
| Craspedia canens | Minuria leptophylla | Tricoryne elatior |
| Craspedia paludicola | Montia australasica | Triglochin alcockiae |
| Craspedia variabilis | Muehlenbeckia adpressa | Valisneria australis |
| Cyperus gunnii | Myriophyllum salsugineum | Velleia paradoxa |
| Cyperus lucidus | Myriophyllum verrucosum | Veronica plebia |
| Davesia latifolia | Myriophyllum caput medusae | Veronica subtilis |
| Davesia leptophylla | Myrsine howittiana | Vittadinia cuneata |
| Davesia ulicina | Olearia ciliata | Wahlenbergia communis |
| Dianella sp aff revoluta | Oleria asterotricha | Wahlenbergia graniticola |
| Dianella tasmanica | Ozothamnus obcordatus | Wahlenbergia luteola |
| Dillwynia cinerascens | Ozothamnus rosmarinifolius | Wurmbea dioica spp dioica |
| Dillwynia sericea | Patersonia fragilis | Xanthorrhoea australis |
| Eleocharis sphacelata | Pimelea curviflora | Xerochrysum palustre |
Bili Nursery
You can choose from our big range of indigenous plants at Bili Nursery, 525 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne. We are open Monday to Friday 9-4pm and Saturday 10-3pm.
Our story
Since its inception over 20 years ago, Bili Nursery (formerly SKINC) has supplied the indigenous plants that have revegetated the Sandbelt area along the City of Port Phillip coastline.
Drawing on remnant vegetation from as far away as the Mornington Peninsula, the original team devised a species list of plants to put back into the surrounding area. Most of the parent stock was collected from these patches, and over the years, these plants have provided seed and propagation material for over 2 million plants.
These indigenous plants have been used extensively along the foreshore, re-creating frontal sand dune ecosystems and in reserves such as Canterbury Road urban forest, Lagoon reserve, Gill reserve, Turner reserve, Wattie Watson reserve, Point Ormond, Elwood Canal and in numerous local residents gardens.
Plants in Westgate Park
For over 20 years the Friends of Westgate Park, now Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Landcare, volunteered in propagating and planting over 320 indigenous plant species in Westgate Park, Port Melbourne – a 40 hectare bushland park.
These were the plants of the Sand Belt Region of Melbourne – from the Birrarung Yarra River bank to the CBD, down to Port Phillip Bay and around the bay to Brighton.
Here are the lists and images of those plants:
Microbat monitoring is back
You are welcome to join us for the spring Microbats survey after a few months of no activity over winter. We meet at the Barbecue area near the toilets and the entrance to the Park on Todd Road at 5pm Sat 19th October.
If you are new to microbat monitoring, let us know you are coming here. Bring a warm jacket, torch, enclosed shoes/boots; wear mossie repellent. Snacks/drinks if required.
This time we will be meeting to check on bat boxes and at dusk hopefully to observe microbats flying out of their roosts and to record their echo-location calls as they forage for prey. Their calls are outside human hearing range so we will use echo meters to produce a spectrogram or chart which can help identify which microbats are present.
Just over a year ago Andrea and the team at Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Landcare started our Citizen Science Microbat project by initiating a “Hollows for Habitat” programme of bat boxes and birds at Westgate Park to aid microbats and birds to find a roost or safe place to breed in the absence of hollows which would normally be found in old trees (often 100 years old or more).
Here’s what the Gould’s Wattled Bat echo-locating call looks like on a spectogram:
Here’s a recap of our activity and a refresher for those of you who haven’t been before:
Here is the Manual for the project we have at Westgate Park. Here is the map of the box sites.
Our last survey was June 23 and our single male Gould’s Wattled bat was still in residence.
We’re hoping to find a brooding box or additional microbats using the boxes this year.
Echolocators have so far only picked up Gould’s Wattled bats with any certainty, with plenty of microbat bat sightings over the freshwater lake at dusk so we’re hoping to expand on that this summer.
7 Oct bird survey
Continuing moderate rains have maintained water levels in both major lakes. On this overcast and windy day, overall numbers were exceptional, with some rarities encountered. Several species appeared to be breeding. There is quite a lot of recent algal growth in the freshwater lake.
A high number of species that are only occasionally seen have been recorded on today’s survey, the most notable being a Blue-winged Parrot, White-winged Triller, Red-necked Stint and a pair of Pied Oystercatchers along the Yarra River. Sightings by our photographer Ursula and those recorded on eBird for September are no less impressive. They include a Pink-eared Duck, 20 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, White-necked Heron and Intermediate Egret in breeding plumage.
9 Sept bird survey
Recent moderate rains have raised water levels in both major lakes. The Powerful Owl recorded in August remained in the park a few more days, but has not been observed since 12 August. On this overcast and windy day, overall bird numbers and diversity was still substantial. Several species appeared to be preparing to breed.
One concern: few Willie Wagtails have been seen during the last surveys. With demolition operations next door at the former HWT Plant, Noisy Miners may be being forced into the park.
5 August bird survey
As can be seen in today’s results, the survey was very rewarding. After several dry months, there has been reasonable rainfall over the last few weeks. Unusual sightings today were four very elusive Brown Quail, Little Grassbirds calling on the edge of the Large Freshwater Lake, at least three Tree Martins in flight in the vicinity of the windmill and a male Powerful Owl roosting in a blackwood a short distance north of the dam.
The Powerful Owl was our bird of the day, with the four Brown Quail as runners-up for second. This is only the second known record of a Powerful Owl visiting the park since our regular surveys began in 2007. The previous record was on 12 and 13 May 2021. Single Powerful Owls occasionally visit parks in inner Melbourne in the winter months for short periods to no doubt feed on the plentiful numbers of possums before moving on to their typical forest habitats. The owl that visited Westgate Park in 2021 was seen with a Ringtail Possum.
After several months we can presume that Red-browed Finches are gradually strengthening their numbers almost to the point of becoming residents in the park. They are now frequently seen in small groups of up to ten birds. Also pleasing were the sightings of three Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, a species that regularly overwinters in the park.
Coast Banksia plants
