CNC Reflection- Susan Kruss
We had a wonderful time over the four days of the City Nature Challenge, choosing different environments and exploring them to see what we could find. Geelong is ideally located close to a variety of beach and bushland places. We have a 4WD so we chose places perhaps a bit more difficult to access, and where others might not go, such as Kirk’s Point (coastal), Inverleigh Reserve (rough tracks) and Aeroplane Rd in the Brisbane Ranges (very steep). We found more species by driving and stopping to explore rather than by walking longer trails.
The first day we went to Bannockburn where we found the Flame Robin and Jacky Winter but were disappointed as the Acacia Paradoxa has been cleared (very few small birds) and the Sugar Gums are being harvested. It was dry and there wasn’t much understorey flora coming through. A long time-consuming walk netted just 36 species.
Next day Kirk’s Point had a wealth of birds and coastal flora, some shells and sea urchins. Then we went to the Western Treatment Plant which was closed last year. Birds were plentiful despite the migratory ones having left, and there were some interesting coastal plants. Bird highlights were Brolgas, Blue-winged Parrots and Red-necked Avocets.
The Brisbane Ranges had some birds and a lot of plants. Many are not flowering so it is harder to identify them at this time of year (many thanks to the people who identified them for us). There wasn’t much fungi yet. Flowering plants included Epacris impressa, Early Wattle, Golden Grevillea, Shiny Cassinia and Cranberry Heath. Some Nodding Greenhood leaves have started to come up.
Inverleigh had lots of flora, again mostly leaves with some nice orchids coming up. We are looking forward to returning there in a few weeks time. To end the nature challenge I took our six-year old grandson to Balyang after school on the Monday. He is an excellent finder of insects and snails but he couldn’t find much. There are relatively tame birds to photograph, some water plants and a few insect cases.
We have enjoyed sorting our photos and seeing the discussions on iNaturalist, including tips on what we need to photograph for identification (different for almost every species)!
Susan Kruss
Thanks Susan for sharing. Rod
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