Flowering now – the sedges
Lepidospermum concavum – Sandhill Sword-sedge (top) is a handsome sedge with sharp-edged leaves often tipped with reddish-brown. Its flowers are small whitish, emerging from brown spikelets.
Eleocharis acuta – Common Spike-sedge is a semi-aquatic sedge which spreads rapidly in shallow water with creeping rhizomes – here in the Chain of Ponds where they are providing safe habitat for water birds and frogs.
Pink Lake story
See the DELWP Biodiversity webpage under ‘Protecting the Pink Lake’ for the story of conservation and crowd control at the lake last year with quotes by our David Sparks.
With the hot dry start to summer the salt lake turned pink again in early January but we still don’t have boardwalks in place so please take care to not trample the saltmarsh vegetation around the lake edge.
Here’s the text:
Protecting Melbourne’s Insta-famous pink lake: Volunteers mix conservation with crowd control
When Westgate Park’s lake turned hot pink this February, it quickly trended as Australia’s hottest Instagram destination.
But behind the tens of thousands of social media selfies, a small team of dedicated environmental volunteers quietly toiled to protect this incredible wetland on the city’s doorstep.
Around 20 volunteers with the Westgate Biodiversity Bili Nursery and Landcare group suddenly found themselves in scenes more reminiscent of a daily, never-ending music festival, than a quiet inner-suburban park.
Together they clocked around 1500 volunteering hours in March, alternating conservation with crowd control.
Westgate Biodiversity’s manager David Sparks said the task was far greater than their three paid staff could manage.
‘Some days it was 1500 people, 1500 the next, it kept coming and rising,’ David said.
‘We have a great group of volunteers who work with us year-round on conservation and re-vegetation across 40 hectares, and suddenly it was all hands on deck doing all manner of tasks.’
Volunteers began producing signs for visitors, explaining what they knew about why the lake was turning pink (high heat, low rainfall is the start of the process), and collecting rubbish in every spare moment.
They worked to keep people from standing in the lake and tried to protect native vegetation against the crowds. Unfortunately and despite their best efforts, much of the recently planted saltbush was trampled and destroyed.
And while the impact on vegetation was upsetting for David and his group, the pink lake’s popularity has provided huge opportunities for the park to educate visitors more broadly about nature and conservation in the future, he said.
‘We’ve got 150 species of birds here and amazing plants we’d love for people to experience while they’re here,’ David said.
‘And because it’s likely that the lake will turn pink again next year, we’re now sitting down with Parks Victoria to look at a way forward. This includes possibly building a boardwalk to protect the vegetation, improving signage about the lake and its colour process and creating other designated visitor facilities and areas.’
Dec bird survey
The large Freshwater and Saltwater lakes have risen lately, which suits diving feeders, such as Hardheads, Australasian Grebes and Hoary-headed Grebes – suggesting aquatic invertebrates and other small prey are plentiful in the former.
Australasian Grebes Hoary-headed Grebe
With several eucalypts flowering lightly, numerous nectar feeders are present, especially Rainbow Lorikeets, White-plumed Honeyeaters and Red Wattlebirds. A worry: one Noisy Miner was sighted in the park proper.
Interesting/notable sightings: Reed Warblers, one Black-shouldered Kite – in a low red gum, and a Red-kneed Dotterel.
Survey
Flowering now
Westgate Park is quite dry despite the relatively cool weather. Most plants have finished flowering now and we are busy collecting seed. Here are some still in bloom in the Southern Wetlands
Microseris lanceolata – Yam Daisy Eryngium ovinum – Blue Devil 
Chrysocephalum apiculatum – Common Everlasting 
Xerochrysum viscosum – Sticky Everlasting 
Arthropodium milleflorum – Pale Vanilla Lily
New Manager
We are delighted to announce Nicholas Brinkley’s appointment as Westgate Biodiversity’s Manager. He comes with excellent credentials in nursery management and a passion for the environment and revegetation. He has also worked with people with intellectual disabilities and is into botanical rarities, including carnivorous ones!
Welcome Nic!
Our first photography workshop
Many beautiful photographs have been taken of Westgate Park but few have taken of the area after dark. This night time photography workshop is for beginners who have cameras that can be used in manual mode – preferably DSLRs.
We will start indoors at the Port Education Centre.
The workshop will cover camera modes and controls and the many options for working in low-light conditions – ISO, shutter speed and aperture.
At this time of the year, sunset is around 8.30pm and we will start indoors with setting up the cameras then head off to the banks of the Lower Yarra River near the marina and Westgate Park, via Lorimer Street in Port Melbourne.
As the sky darkens, Coode Island and Appleton Dock across the river to the north-east will light up, as will Westgate Bridge.
This workshop will cover camera modes and controls and the many options for working in low-light conditions – ISO, shutter speed and aperture.
Here is the kit you will need:
- A DSLR or mirrorless camera that can be set to manual and bulb modes
- A prime or zoom lens preferably with low aperture values such as f/2.8 or f/3.5 (the lower the aperture value the more light passes through the lens) and a suggested focal length of 80mm or more.
- A sturdy tripod
- A remote shutter release
- A small torch to see your controls once it gets dark (useful for light painting too).
- A fully charged battery and a spare (long exposures use more power)
Maximum group size 6. Cost is $75. See here to book
Bili Nursery summer hours
From Nov to end Feb, Bili Nursery retail will only trade on Fridays – 10am to 4pm or by appointment (phone 9645 2477). Saturday retail will resume in March.
Here’s why:
- The hot, dry conditions in Melbourne in late spring/summer mean there is less moisture in the soil to establish plants
- Our production cycle is timed to peak in winter as that’s when most contractors are putting plants in the ground
- By summer, we have very few plants left to sell
So at this time of the year, we are often out collecting seed and our focus turns to propagating so we can start the cycle all over again!
We are still open during the week for volunteers to help us during this busy propagation time. Register here for nursery volunteering.
AGM invitation: 27 Nov
You are invited to the Annual General Meeting of the Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Landcare Inc., held on Wednesday November 27th, 2019 at Port Ed, 343-383 Lorimer Street, Port Melbourne (under the Port Control Tower) beginning at 6.30 pm. A light meal and drinks will be available from 6.00 pm.
A member may appoint another member as a proxy for the meeting by using the form in the button below.
The agenda is:
1. to receive and consider—
(i) the annual report of the Committee of Management on the activities of the Association during the preceding financial year; and
(ii) the financial statements of the Association for the preceding financial year
2. to elect the members of the Committee;
3. to confirm that the annual subscription remains at $10 per person, nil for concession holders and that there be no joining fee.
Also below is a nomination form should you wish to stand for the Committee of Management.
Tony Flude
Secretary
Dr Luis Mata – guest speaker
After the AGM Dr Mata will present the findings of the 2-year Pollinator Project at Westgate Park.
Monthly surveys by RMIT researchers, 7 workshops and the observations by citizen scientists have yielded rich data about insects at Westgate Park.
Dr Mata works as part of the National Environmental Science Programme – Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, where he is contributing to The Shared Urban Habitat, a research project looking at addressing the broad question of how humans can effectively share the urban habitat with other species.
He is particularly interested in developing protocols for bringing nature back into cities, including methods to understand how insects and birds disperse through fragmented urban landscape.
It’s not to be missed!
AGM Committee Nomination Form
AGM Proxy form
Recruiting for new manager
If you are interested in biodiversity and in playing a significant role in improving the bushland environment of Westgate Park and indeed in the Sandbelt Region of Melbourne, this may be for you.
It means leading a large and keen group of volunteers and staff in revegetation work and in growing our Bili Nursery business of producing locally indigenous plants (currently ~120,000/year).
We need someone with skills, knowledge and experience in these fields; a person who is innovative, enthusiastic and very good at engaging the community in our endeavours. Take a look at our website for more on what we do.
This is a full time position, salary $70,000-$78,000.
Applications close Thurs 31 October 2019.
If you have a query, call Lyn on 0407 691 512.