Despite recent rain and the prospect of more to come about
19 members made their way to our rendezvous in the paddock at the home of
Michael and Monica King, on the road to Crows Nest Falls. Here we met up with
Steve Plant, member of the Progressive Community of Crows Nest, and the
recently formed Crows Nest Community Solutions, a charitable company that has
acquired several vacant blocks of land in the area between Bullocky’s Rest and
the Crows Nest National Park in order to protect them from development, and
eventually make them accessible for environmental enthusiasts.
Steve gave us a brief history of the early settlement and
rural industries of the area before leading us across the creek by way of a
sandstone outcrop – fortunately still above water level despite the recent
rains. Steve was very considerate of those of the party who, in his words, were
“less sure-footed” and found us a choice of routes up the bank onto the narrow
strip of alluvial land beside the creek, which had provided the only land
suitable for the original settlers to crop. To our right was a tumbled band of
granite rock, with one presenting a perfect bed for a large colony of rock
orchids, a few of which were still in flower.
We then made our way between broken sandstone and clumps of
invasive Rhodes grass, and up through the open forest, largely ironbark, until
we found several long, crude concrete troughs at ground level, remnants of the
original piggery, with evidence of split-wood fencing, foundations of
outbuildings, and simple farm mach-inery. As we gained height we were shown a
hand-dug cutting nearly two metres deep through the rocky sand-stone ridge,
through which the whey from an adjacent butter factory had been gravity fed
down to the pig troughs. All of this agricultural activity had been abandoned
over 60 years earlier, but it was fascinating to picture what it must have been
like for those early pioneers.
Between those “less sure-footed” and those intent on
bird-watching and botanical discoveries our progress up Mt Dingo was
fortunately quite slow but well worth the climb to enjoy the views from the top
of the cliff. Once again, we were offered a choice of routes, from a careful
scramble down the cliff to a well-contoured descent back through the forest of
grass trees. One of our members pointed out a small clump of tiny hooded
orchids that miraculously escaped being mangled by a carelessly-placed boot.
Most of the party met at Bullocky’s Rest for a picnic lunch
before driving round to Chasely Park where Steve led us through to the foot of
the Pump Hole on Crows Nest Creek, where he showed us a photograph, circa 1910
judging by the fashions of two ladies standing on the ledge below the old “elephant
footed” eucalypt that still keeps guard over the pool. Once again Steve pointed
out a superb colony of rock orchids blanketing the cliff face, fortunately
protected by being on the only part that could not be easily reached by
vandals.
We were doubly blessed on this outing, by the rain that had
been forecast holding off until we were all just about back home, and by having
the privilege of Steve’s leadership, with his comprehensive knowledge of the
area, its history, fauna and flora.
(Report by Shirley Cormack)
Bird list for Dingo Mountain and Bullocky’s Rest, Crows
Nest (Jan Veacock)
Dingo Mountain: Little Black Cormorant, Black Duck, Wood
Duck, Rufous Night-heron, Kookaburra, Sacred Kingfisher [a pair flying around
where the cars were parked], Peaceful Dove, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Rainbow
Lorikeet, Rufous Whistler, Grey Thrush, Grey Fantail, Willie-wagtail, Leaden
Flycatcher, Black-faced Cuckoo shrike, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Scarlet
Honeyeater, Little Friarbird, Noisy Miner aka mickey [nesting], Striated
Pardalote, White-throated Gerygone, Eastern Whipbird, Red-backed Wren, Superb
Blue Wren, White-throated Tree-creeper, Magpie Lark, Pied Currawong, Torresian
Crow.
Bullocky’s Rest: Apostle Bird, Noisy Miner, Pale-headed
Rosella, Kookaburra, Torresian Crow, Grey-crowned Babbler, King Parrot, Rainbow
Lorikeet, Pheasant Coucal.
Also seen were two koalas at Dingo Mountain Road. I was not
present for the last walk to the creek from the small park so I have no list
for there. A huge number of cicada shells were seen and photographed on one of
the trees in the small park.
Plants at Dingo Hill
(Article and photo by Trish Gardner)
Situated just east of Crows Nest, Dingo Hill preserves a
large area of a unique ecosystem type which occurs only on sandstone-derived
soil near Crows Nest. We were fortunate to have Steve Plant show us around, as
he has a deep knowledge of the history, both natural and human, of the area.
Dingo Hill is a naturalists’ paradise, with high diversity of plant species,
and the resulting high wildlife diversity that you would expect in these
circumstances.
The area is unusual for its large number of Eucalyptus species.
One of these is the Helidon ironbark Eucalyptus taurina, a timber notable for
splitting with a very straight grain. Unlike the small-leafed ironbark
E.crebra, another of the three ironbarks which occur in the area, the Helidon
ironbark decays if used in the ground.
However, it was widely used for above-ground structures such
as the piggery whose ruins stand on the hill. A noticeable characteristic of the Eucalypt population was
the lack of old trees - a common feature of natural areas close to all our
towns, where timber was heavily harvested for construction and for firewood.
The results are a lack of habitat hollows, and a disproportionate population of
applegums (Angophora species), which don’t make good firewood.
Dingo Hill is also unusual in having so many
members of Proteaceae family within a very small area. These are three species
of Banksia, two Grevilleas, and one species each of Lomatia, Hakea, Persoonia,
and Petrophile. Dry rainforest species were in evidence. Examples were the
local tuckeroo Cupaniopsis parvifolia, the leopard ash Flindersia collina, and
the canthium, Psydrax odoratum. As Steve pointed out, the ecology of the area
is fire-dependant, and fires would have kept the numbers of these species low.
Without fire, however, the rain-forest species would have been dominant - and
this may be the long-term future of Dingo Hill, given that residential
development spreads around it, and fires may be unwelcome in the future.
Of interest to all of us were nodules of resin exuding from
the trunks of the grasstrees, Xanthorrhoea johnsonii. “Xanthorrhoea” means
“yellow flow” (of resin), but in this species the resin flow is red. If warmed,
it becomes soft, and was used by Aborigines for gluing axe heads to their
handles. It could also be ground to a powder and mixed with water as a
medicine. Look for samples which will be brought to the next meeting for Show
and Tell.
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| Flying duck orchid (Caleana minor) |
The find of the day was a group of small
orchids. At first, we mistook them for greenhoods, as they “nodded” in a
similar way, but close examination showed they were something quite different.
We eventually discovered they were small flying duck orchids, Caleana minor.
This was a new species record for the area. Thank you to John Dearnaley for
identifying it for us.
