the clematis...(along with black wattles) is important for sugar gliders in the winter. at that time...
TRANSCRIPT
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PO
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AG
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PA
ID
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IRN
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AL
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Victo
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1
The Clematis Spring 2008 Issue No 77
Quarterly Newsletter of theBairnsdale & District Field Naturalists Club Inc A0006074C
2
BAIRNSDALE & DIST FIELD NATURALISTS CLUB INC. A0006074C
List of Office Bearers for 2008 President: Pat McPherson ph. (03) 5152 2614 [email protected]
Vice President: James Turner ph. (03) 51551258
Secretary: Pat McPherson ph. (03) 51522614
Assistant Secretary: Fran Bright ph. (03) 51522008
Treasurer: Margaret Regan ph. (03) 5156 2541
Correspondence to: The Secretary,
P.O. Box 563,
BAIRNSDALE 3875
Web Site: www.eastgippsland.com/bdfnc
General meetings take place at: Noweyung Centre, 84 Goold Street Bairnsdale
3rd. Friday of the month at 7.30pm sharp. No meeting June, July, August
Committee meetings take place: Thursday of the previous week
before the 3rd. Friday of the month at members homes except June, July,
August when held on field excursions if required.
.
Group Co-ordinators: Botanic Group: James Turner Ph. (03) 5155 1258
Fauna Survey Group: Jenny Edwards Ph. (03) 5157 5556
Bushwalking Group: Noel Williamson Ph. (03) 5152 1737
Plant Study Group: Heather Oke Ph. (03) 5156 3231
Newsletter Editor: Pauline Stewart Ph. (03) 5152 1606
80 Bengworden Rd. Bairnsdale.3875
email: [email protected]
All articles for SummerClematis must be in by September 1st.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE 1. To further the study of natural history in all its branches, promoted by
periodical meetings, field excursions and other activities.
2. To observe and strengthen the laws for the preservation & protection of
indigenous flora and fauna and habitat and important geological features.
3. To promote the formation and preservation of National and State Parks
and Reserves.
23
22
It also looks out of place in the Australian bush, being so green, not grey-
green. In its second year each plant flowers and then dies. The inflores-
cences are tall with pendulous branches bearing many pink or red florets.
Along the creek was Kanooka or Water Gum (Tristaniopsis laurina), Sil-
ver Wattle, Forest Nightshade (Solanum prinophyllum), Golden Everlast-
ing (Xerochrysum bracteatum), Wait-a-while or Lawyer-vine (Smilax aus-
tralis) and Common ground-fern (Caloclaena dubia). Kanooka is found
throughout eastern Victoria along streams. It has glossy green leaves and
fragrant yellow flowers similar to those of eucalypts, but the petals are
free and the stamens are united in 5 bundles. Silver Wattle has bipinnate
(feathery) foliage and globular flower-heads in racemes. Forest Night-
shade is a low shrub with lobed leaves with hideous spines arising from
the veins. It has the typical violet potato flowers. Wait-a-while is a vigor-
ous climber which often sprawls across the ground. It is armed with scat-
tered prickles which seem designed to hinder one’s progress, presumably
hence this common name. The common name Lawyer-vine may suggest
that when it gets it’s hooks into you, it doesn’t let go!! Common ground-
fern looks very like Bracken, but the fronds are more delicate and yellow-
green. There was a lemon gilled fungus with a frilled edge; the cap was so
transparent that the gills below could be seen. It was possibly a Mycena.
The road followed a crest with overhead powerlines and the vegetation
below these had been kept slashed. There were many plants of bright pink
Common Heath. There were two adjoining very interesting plants. One
had each of its flowers striped with pink and white down the length of the
flower. Each petal was pink with a white stripe down the centre. On the
other plant the flowers graded from pink at the top to white at the bottom,
somewhat like Fuchsia Heath (Epacris longiflora) which is red and white,
and common in gardens and is native to NSW. A Quail was flushed from
the undergrowth. Another plant in flower was yellow Clustered Everlast-
ing (Chrysocephalum semipapposum). Further along Ash Range Road
was Ploughshare Wattle (Acacia gunnii), a shrub to 1m with assymetric
pointed phyllodes (like ploughshares) and big round flower-heads.
Thank you James for finding interesting plants, even on a cold windy day!
☺
3
RULES TO OBSERVE ON FIELD TRIPS: 1. Excursions are cancelled on days of TOTAL FIRE BAN.
2. Participants to keep a visual on the car in front and behind.
3. When making a turn, give signal, and stay at intersection until
following car has also turned.
4. If separated from other cars, stop, and stay with your car.
Other members will return to find you.
5. Car pool passengers should offer a donation to the driver for fuel costs.
Responsibility for the accuracy of information and opinions expressed in this
newsletter rests with the author of the article.
SUBSCRIPTION FEES
Family membership $30
Single membership $20
Mid-year fee (new members only) $10
LIBRARY INFORMATION - Librarian - Dot Prout Phone: 5153 1303
• Books are generally borrowed for one month - however you can write on
the sign-out sheet if you wish to have it longer.
• Should any library materials need maintenance, please make me aware of
same.
• If you wish to recommend a book, this can be done by writing a short
recommendation for the Clematis. This information could be from our li-
brary books or from other books that you believe our library could look at
purchasing.
CONTENTS
Program October to December 2008 5-6
President’s Message 7-8
Summary of Report on Smoky Mouse Field Trips 2008 8-16
Colquhoun Forest 17-19
Burnt Areas North of Bruthen 20-22
4
CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS and email address’s for meetings
and field trips.
Andrew Bould 5156 6494 [email protected]
Jenny Edwards 51575556 [email protected]
Heather Oke 5156 3231 [email protected]
Elden Marshall 5157 9134
Pat McPherson 5152 2614 [email protected]
Wendy Parker 5152 2615 [email protected]
Margaret Regan 5156 2541
Jeremy & Nina Stewart 5153 0216 [email protected]
Pauline Stewart 5152 1606 [email protected]
James Turner 5155 1258 [email protected]
Noel Williamson 5152 1737 [email protected]
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY FOR BUSH WALKS
Easy Flat, good firm track.
Moderately easy Mostly flat, track in good to fair condition
Moderate May be undulating, track in good to fair condition
Mod. difficult May be some steep sections, track may be rough in
places
Difficult May have long steep sections, track may be non
existent at times
Walks vary in distance from 6 to 14 km.
Contact the leader of the walk for a rating if it’s not included in the
program.
Please take note of safety procedures in your Bairnsdale & District
Field Naturalists Club Inc. ‘RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY’
booklet.
-
21
melagramma) with a yellowish-green labellum and Granite Greenhood (P.
tunstallii) with a dark labellum. They are both plants that have no basal
rosette; Tall Greenhood grows to 80cm with up to 20 flowers and Granite
Greenhood is up to 25cm with up to 8 flowers. The flowers are translu-
cent and shiny. The lateral sepals are joined for half their length and end
with triangular, often brown, points. The labellum has a darker central
stripe. The Granite Greenhood is listed as vulnerable, but we found many
more of these than the Tall Greenhood. Nodding Greenhoods (P. nutans)
were just coming into bloom. Spotted Pardalote and White-throated
Treecreeper were heard calling.
We drove along Little Dick Road into an area burnt during the 2007 bush-
fires. At the corner of Beckers Road, the fire had obviously not been too
intense. The overstorey trees were recovering and most of the shrub layer
had been removed. Some of the trees were Yellow Box (Eucalyptus mel-
liodora), Red Ironbark (E. tricarpa) and Mountain Grey Gum (E. cypel-
locarpa). One of the small gums had its trunk heavily indented by a
creeper which had coiled all the way up. The creeper had presumably dis-
appeared during the fires, but a nearby plant was Dusky Coral-pea
(Kennedia rubicunda), a very vigorous climber. The wattle here was Red
Wattle (Acacia silvestris) which has bipinnate leaves and looks very like
Silver Wattle (A. dealbata). Differences?? Pinnules of the leaves of Red
Wattle are mid-green, broadest below the centre, pointed and widely
spaced; those of silver green Silver Wattle have straight sides, blunt tips
and are closer together. A shrub in flower was Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria
spinosa) which as the names suggest has spines on the stem, and fragrant
small white flowers. Another creeper was another pea, the brilliant Purple
Coral-pea (Hardenbergia violacea). Again we found Granite Greenhood,
Nodding Greenhood and Trim Greenhood. White-eared Honeyeaters were
calling.
Up to the top of Mount Little Dick where there is a good view to the ocean
and an old disused wooden fire tower. It was too exposed to have lunch
here on such a cold winter’s day, so along Pound Yard Road we stopped
beside a creek where there was lots of Incense Bush (Calomeria amaran-
thoides) growing. This plant grows vigorously, particularly after fire. It is
a tall (to 3.5m) herbaceous biennial with bright green stem-clasping
leaves. The leaves are thin and sticky, and the plant exudes a strong per-
fume. It looks a little like tobacco, to which it is not related, being a daisy.
20
BURNT AREAS NORTH OF BRUTHEN - 20 July 2008
by Margaret Regan
From the car park for the Bruthen Walking Trails, we followed the Berry
Farm Loop which is the yellow trail. This is a one hour, 4km walk, to the
north. This area had not been burnt in the 2007 fires which came very
close to the township of Bruthen. It was not the best time of the year to
see plants in flower. In spring some of this area has large patches of or-
chids. There were, of course, Trim Greenhoods (Pterostylis concinna) in
flower. These dainty neat little orchids seem to be blooming on so many
excursions. Although each flower doesn’t exist for very long, Trims are in
flower from May till September. One of the trees was Apple Box
(Eucalyptus bridgesiana). It is a small to medium tree with tessellated
fibrous bark, long tapering adult leaves and stalked fruits with 3-4 exserted
valves. The juvenile leaves are grey-green with no stalks and crinkly mar-
gins. Apparently the wood is hopeless for burning. It seems that this tree
(along with Black Wattles) is important for Sugar Gliders in the winter.
At that time of the year there are few insects about and the Gliders supple-
ment their insect and nectar diet with sap exuded from the trunks of these
trees. Joan’s Dad used to call Apple Box Snotty Box. Perhaps that was
for the sap oozing down the trunk!! The rather sparsely distributed Gold-
en Wattles (Acacia pycnantha) were showing their bright balls. Another
Wattle was Spreading Wattle (A. genistifolia) whose phyllodes have de-
veloped into nasty spines and whose flowers are formed into balls. There
was one plant of a deep pink Common Heath (Epacris impressa). The
small shrub Hop Goodenia (Goodenia ovata) showed a few yellow flow-
ers amongst the bright green toothed leaves. Hop Goodenia is often found
along the disturbed edges of roads. Except for one species in Malaysia, all
the other 120 species of Goodenia are Australian endemics (i.e. they only
grow in Australia), of which 22 are Victorian. We also found the endan-
gered Bushy Hedgehog Grass (Echinopogon caespitosus) whose inflo-
rescence is more open than that of the Common Hedgehog Grass (E.
ovatus). We have seen this endangered Hedgehog Grass before at Swal-
low Lagoon. There were some tiny specimens of the bracket Rainbow
Fungus (Trametes versicolor) along a fallen branch. These were velvet
browns in concentric bands on the upper surface with a white edge and
mushroom-coloured beneath. Another bracket was thin and layered or-
ange above, but with grey-green layering below. We saw quite a few
specimens of two very similar greenhoods: Tall Greenhood (Pterostylis
5
PROGRAM - OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 2008
OCTOBER
Wed. 8th. Plant Study Group
Thurs. 9th. Committee meeting 7.30pm at Pat McPherson’s home
Frid. 17th. General meeting 7.30pm Speaker from DSE Bairnsdale on
‘Koalas of Raymond Island’.
Sun. 19th. Monthly excursion 9.00am Bridge Club to ‘Winkie Creek
Briagalong’
Contact: James Turner
Sun. 26th. Bushwalk: 9.00am Bridge Club to ‘Bruthen Walking Trail’.
Rated: Moderate
Contact: Pauline Stewart
NOVEMBER
Wed. 12th. Plant Study Group
Thurs. 13th. Planning meeting/Committee meeting 7.30pm at
Pat McPherson’s home
Frid.21st. General meeting 7.30pm Speaker from East Gippsland
Landcare Network to talk on their direction for the next
5 years.
Sun. 23rd. Monthly excusion 9.00am Bridge Club, 9.30am at Bruthen
Bakery to ‘Gelentipy’.
Contact: James Turner
28/29/30th. Camp Out to Limestone Creek, north of Benambra.
Contact: James Turner
DECEMBER
Sat. 6th. Special excursion 9.00am Bridge Club, 9.30am Bruthen
Bakery to ‘Canni Creek’.
Contact: James Turner
It is your responsibility to contact the co-ordinator of each field
trip to notify them of your intention to participate.
The co-ordinator can then notify you if the trip has to be cancelled
due to adverse weather conditions or other unforeseen
circumstances.
6
Wed 10th. Plant Study Group
Thurs. 11th. BBQ 6.00pm followed by Committee meeting 7.30pm
All members welcome to this Christmas Breakup social event
BYO meat and drinks and a salad/dessert to share.
Frid. 19th. General meeting, Annual general meeting and Christmas
Breakup 7.30pm - bring along your photos (can be
prints, slides or CDs) for a Members Photo Show.
A plate of supper would be welcome.
George Stewart, one of the contributing photographers with president Pat
McPherson after the launch of the 2009 calendar.
19
shrub has very narrow leaves and the cones when mature are covered with
bright orange-black hairpin styles. They were in magnificent condition
with many fresh cones which the Crescent Honeyeaters were loudly enjoy-
ing. We searched and found the specific fungus which grows on the old
shed cones of this banksia. This cup fungus Large Banksia Cup
(Banksiamyces macrocarpus) is blue and the cups grow out in between the
seed follicles. There was also Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata), anoth-
er shrub whose leaves may be entire or serrated and have cut-off or
notched tips; Myrtle Wattle (Acacia myrtifolia) with phyllodes with thick-
ened margins and flowers in balls in small racemes; and Juniper Wattle
(Acacia ulicifolia) with needle-like phyllodes with stipules and single balls
of flowers. There were two coral fungi, one a mushroom pink and the oth-
er pale yellow.
We were distressed to drive along Prices Break and see the damage creat-
ed by a bulldozer driver making enormous drains at very close intervals
destroying vegetation. Surely a smaller drain would have been sufficient
to control the run-off. This sort of damage appears to be very common
this year. Apparently further east a patch of the rare Nowa Nowa Grevil-
lea (Grevillea celata) had been removed by such rampant bulldozing!!
We went to marvel at the old disused Nowa Nowa rail trestle bridge over
Stoney Creek. Built in the early 1900s it is 276m long and 19m high.
Back to Corduroy Rd to see Pelicans or the Small Helmet-orchid Corybas
unguiculatus). The flower is very enclosed with the dorsal sepal hooded
in the upper half and the labellum tubular with the margins incurved.
Thank you once again James.
☺
18
istifolia) was in bud and most unpleasant it was too - poking one painfully
all the time. It has spiny phyllodes with the flowers in globular heads 2-4
per axil. They are both small, open shrubs.
Down Quarry Road we took the path to the old Quarry. On the way we
heard Bell Miners and Yellow Robin. Scarlet Bracket Fungus
(Pycnoporus coccineus) was found on a small dead branch. The quarry
which supplied stone for maintaining the entrance to the Gippsland Lakes
has been given a tourist upgrade. At the site are information boards about
the uses of the rock from the quarry. The granite was transported 13 km to
North Arm on a tramway travelling beside Mississippi Creek. Part of the
display is a set of two wheels from a trolley set onto some 3’6’’ gauge
rails. The granite was then used either as rocks at the entrance or crushed
to make concrete. The tramway was opened in 1910 and was used until
the mid 1930s. The original entrance to the lakes was partly constructed
with timber and this was destroyed by toredo worm. The stone from the
quarry was used for repairs. The granite was also used for other projects
in Lakes Entrance and in Melbourne.
We strolled along the tramway track beside Mississippi Creek and found a
large brown cup fungus about 10cm across, which may have been a Pezi-
za. The Small Rooting Shank is a gilled fungus with a long white stalk
and gills, and a mid-brown shiny cap. There was a fawn coral fungus just
erupting through the soil, and the gilled fungus we call Pizza Cap
(Amanita xanthocephala) whose orange cap bears the remnants of the veil
which covered it in the button stage. We listened to a wonderful Superb
Lyrebird imitating Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo, Eastern Whipbird, Grey
Shrike-thrush, Crimson Rosella, and Red and Little Wattlebird. There
were Fringed Helmet-orchids (Corybas fimbriatus) with laidback or re-
clining flowers!! The circular labellum has deeply fringed margins. The
surface of the ground was moist so that all the mosses, liverworts and li-
chens were hydrated and bright, but the lyrebird scratchings showed us
that just beneath was dry, dry!! We saw the common satiny Coltricia cin-
namomea woody pore-fungus which has a round brown upturned cap with
a white rim. Along part of the track near the quarry the cutting revealed
limestone with embedded shells.
On to Siberia Crossing Road to one of our favourite sites to see the small
patch of isolated plants of Hairpin Banksia (Banksia spinulosa). This
7
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
In 2007 our Club responded to the enthusiasm of members like Jen
Wilkinson, Andrew Bould and Pauline Stewart to showcase the
beauty and diversity of the flora and fauna of East Gippsland
through the medium of a quality full colour calendar. Having made
the decision to proceed, the search was on for a seeding grant which
we eventually obtained from the East Gippsland Catchment Man-
agement Authority under its Regional Catchment Investment Plan.
The 2008 calendar was highly acclaimed and 424 copies were sold
which has enabled us to produce the 2009 calendar and thus far ful-
fill our intention to make it an annual self funding calendar
There are 2 separate functions associated with a calendar- first, de-
veloping the calendar and second, marketing it. On both counts we
are very much on a learning curve.
For example, this time we have been much more rigorous in our
specifications to subscribing photographers and have reduced the
size. We have increased the print run from 500 to 750.
From a marketing perspective, we took the advice of retailers to re-
duce the price from $15 to $12. We have it ready for sale much ear-
lier, and it is packaged more conveniently in lots of 20. We have
placed them in commercial enterprises where they sold well last
year.
Now it is time to say thank you.
Thank you first and foremost to Jen Wilkinson who has car-
ried most of the production effort this year and to Pauline
Stewart for her participation in the early part of production
Thank you to the photographers who submitted photos and
to those whose excellence in photography has been rewarded
by inclusion in the calendar
Thank you to Andrew Bould and James Turner for their edit-
ing and input in the latter stage of production
Thank you to Pauline Stewart who is co-ordinating the mar-
keting of the calendar
8
Thank you to Margaret Regan who juggles the many finan-
cial transactions associated with the calendar
Thank you in anticipation to all members of the Club whom
I am sure will buy up big again this year.
It was my pleasant duty to launch the beautiful Bairnsdale and Dis-
trict Field Naturalists Club calendar for 2009 at a general meeting
on 19th September.
Any reader wanting calendars can contact Pauline Stewart,
Tel: (03) 5152 1606
Pat McPherson
President
SUMMARY OF REPORT ON SMOKY MOUSE FIELD TRIPS
April 5-8 and April 10-12, 2008
by Jenny Edwards
These field trips were conducted by Jenny Edwards of Gippsland High
Country Tours, Bruthen (Research permit No. 10004063) in conjunction
with volunteers from Bairnsdale & District Field Naturalists Club. Both
field trips were funded by a Commonwealth Envirofund grant to conduct
searches for Smoky Mouse colonies in the Cobberas area. This article is a
summary only, the full report is available on request.
Aims for these two visits were primarily to-
Search for new Smoky Mouse colonies in the Cobberas area using
a variety of methods.
Determine whether the existing colony near Native Dog Flat ex-
tends beyond the perimeters already recorded.
Investigate potential sites in the Cobberas area for future survey
work,
Record site characteristics and vegetation for all survey sites.
Record all wildlife species encountered during the visits on the
Atlas of Victorian Wildlife Database.
If any Smoky Mice are captured -
17
COLQUHUON FOREST - 22 June 2008
by Margaret Regan
We met near the corner of the Princes Highway and Bruces Track. On a
wander close by we found in bloom, Nodding Greenhood (Pterostylis nu-
tans), Trim Greenhood (P. concinna) and Mosquito Orchid (Acianthus
exsertus). Unfortunately there was also the odd flying relation of the last-
named, even though it was a very cold day. There was a tiny (3mm) pale
yellow gilled fungus with a long stalk growing in the midst of a clump of
the bright green moss Thuidium. A little further north along Bruces Track
in the bush we saw, beneath the overstorey of White Stringybark
(Eucalyptus globoidea) and Blue Box (E. bauerana), Cranberry Heath
(Astroloma humifusum) with bright red tubular flowers, and Common
Heath (Epacris impressa) whose tubular flowers ranged in colour from
pale to medium to deep pink. We also found Woolly Grevillea (Grevillea
lanigera) with its cream and red flowers. There were again Trim Green-
hoods and the stunning large-flowered Cobra Greenhoods (P. grandiflora)
where the petals making up the hood with the dorsal sepal, are brown and
flared out horizontally. Another orchid was Spurred Helmet-orchid
(Corybas aconitiflorus) which had a spur on the stem below the flower.
The Helmet-orchids have a curved hooded dorsal sepal enclosing the flow-
er. The Spurred Helmet-orchid has a heart-shaped leaf which is green
above and purple beneath. The species name of this orchid arises from its
resemblance to Monkshood (Aconitum), an introduced perennial garden
plant. On a dead branch were a number of the hairy cream fungus Split
Gill (Schizophyllum commune). It has a lateral stem and the gills are each
divided into two. Growing in amongst another moss called Bryum was
this time, a minute yellow disc-shaped cup fungus which may have been
Yellow Earth Buttons (Discinella terrestris). Some puffball fungi were
Earth Stars. These have two layers, the outer of which splits open like a
star, and the inner thin papery layer has a tiny pore at the top through
which the spores are released. It is very difficult to resist puffing one!!
There was an large ants’ nest, about 60cm across and 20cm high made up
of tiny sticks. We heard a White-throated Treecreeper giving a variety of
calls, and one was even tame enough to climb a tree quite close to two of
us. They are a very striking bird, close up, with bold black and white scal-
lops on their breasts below the white throat. Even further up the track
Sweet Wattle (Acacia suaveolens) made a very pretty sight. It has long
thin phyllodes and flowers in clusters of balls. Spreading Wattle (A. gen-
16
.
Mixing the bait ↑
Checking a hair tube →
Collecting scats ↓
Photos by
Jenny Edwards
9
Collect Smoky Mouse hair samples for DNA study
Collect Smoky Mouse scats for diet study
The study area is located in the East Alps Unit of the Alpine National Park
on the Suggan Buggan 1:50,000 Mapsheet 8524-S. The Alpine Fire 2003,
burnt through this entire area although the burn intensity varies greatly
from intense hot burns, through slower understorey burns to unburnt
patches.
Summary of methods used
The only site within the Cobberas area and in fact within the entire East
Alps Unit of the Alpine National Park where live Smoky Mice have been
trapped is the Native Dog Flat site. The only other record (Atlas of Victo-
ria) is a record of a dead Smoky Mouse found near Native Cat Track in
1974.
Although there has been much discussion about what constitutes ideal
Smoky Mouse habitat and it is generally agreed that they do require a di-
verse heathy understorey, there is little to help determine where are the
best places to search for Smoky Mice. It appears that they may prefer a
habitat where fire has been excluded for many years. From records in oth-
er areas, it seems that Smoky Mouse populations experience unexplained
fluctuations possibly due to resource availability or predation
It was not possible to search the entire study area on these two short field
trips, so the aim was to select the more likely sites for Smoky Mouse and
to include them in the searches.
A habitat modelling exercise was conducted in which a list of the 11 most
commonly recorded plant species found at the successful capture sites
were used to represent the “ideal” Smoky Mouse habitat and fed into Flora
Information System (FIS). The best match that occurred in the Study Area
was one quadrat with 6 of the plant species present and one just outside
the study area which was also included.
Given the size of the area to be searched large scale live trapping was
considered unsuitable in terms of effort required as well as in terms of the
large by-catch of non-target species that would be captured. The use of
hair tubes requires less effort, but the success of gathering Smoky Mouse
10
hair samples with hair tubes, seems to vary considerably with the hair tube
design.
Predator scat analysis was decided upon as the preferred large scale meth-
od to search for evidence of Smoky Mice across the study area. This
method is totally non-invasive and the aim was to collect scats over a
number of vehicular or walking tracks in the study area..
Prospective survey sites was selected using the following criteria-
Historic Record
Identified through habitat modelling
Proximity to known site
Identified as unburnt in 2003 (or very lightly burnt)
Summary of site selection criteria for Smoky Mouse search sites,
April 2008
Site Historic Habitat
Modelling
Effects of
2003 fire
Other
notes
Survey
methods
Native Dog
Flat/Buchan
**
Yes No Unburnt Adjacent to
Existing
known pop-
ulation
•Elliott Trap
•Predator
scat collec-
tion
Native Cat
Track
Historic site
Yes No High Inten-
sity burn
Historic site
within 3 km
of known
site
•Hair tube
transect
•Predator
scat collec-
tion
Rams Horn
Track
No No Patches of
very light
burn
Within 5km
of known
site
•Elliott
Traps
•Predator
scat collec-
tion
Sugarloaf
Track
No Yes
6 species
present
Medi-
umhigh
intensity
Approx 4.5
km outside
study area
•Predator
scat collec-
tion
15
report for details.
General wildlife observations
In addition to the wildlife species recorded through trapping, hair tubes and preda-
tor scat collection, general observations added a couple of very significant threat-
ened species to the list. At Square Flat, abundant scat of Broad-toothed Rat was
observed on runways in the heath and an animal was observed out basking. In
addition a dead Alpine Water Skink was discovered.
Discussion
The single capture of a tagged Smoky Mouse on the “lower West Bank” transect
at Native Dog Flat demonstrates an extension of a known site rather than the dis-
covery of a new site. It clearly shows that the river is no barrier, with ample
“steppingstone” providing access across the water. The vegetation in which this
Smoky Mouse was trapped is hardly typical, consisting of a small patch of wet
heathland vegetation right on the river bank. Consistently, however it has been
unburnt for a considerable time with very old heath plants.
While no Smoky Mouse hairs were found during trapping a new site, in hair
tubes/funnels or in predator scats, it is early days post-fire and vegetation is still in
fairly early stages. We did identify further potential habitat including some un-
burnt/lightly burnt sites.
Captures of good numbers of Bush Rats and Agile Antechinus at the Rams Horn
Track site show good post-fire recovery of these species in lightly burnt habitat
and hair tube transect results show that they have also returned in habitat that was
burnt at high intensity over an extensive area 5 years previously.
Further analysis of results are in the full report.
Recommendation
Although no new Smoky Mouse sites were recorded a lot of valuable data was
collected on habitat and on other small mammal species. Potential future survey
sites were identified and it would be very productive to consider applying for an-
other grant to conduct a similar exercise in future years.
Photos →
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Twelve were collected from approx 6km of Forlorn Hope Track from the Black
Mountain Road to the Buchan River (passing the site identified during habitat
modelling). Eight were dog scats, 3 were fox and one a possible fox. Prey in-
cluded Rabbit, Common Wombat, Brushtail Possum, Bush Rat, and Eastern Pyg-
my Possum.
Fifteen were collected along approx 3km Sugarloaf Track from Wombargo Track
to just north of a site identified through Smoky Mouse habitat modelling. Twelve
were dog scats and three were fox. Prey included Rabbit, Brush-tail possum spe-
cies, Common Wombat, Black Wallaby, Common Ringtail Possum, and Agile
Antechinus.
In addition to confirming the presence of Dog and Fox, the predator scat analysis
confirmed the presence of eleven other mammal species and although the sample
size is small, provides an interesting snapshot of preferred/available prey for each
predator.
Summary of Prey species found in each type of predator scat
Site Description and vegetation Surveys
A site description including a vegetation list was compiled for the Elliott trap
sites, Hair tube site and two other sites being considered for future surveys. See
Prey species Dog Fox Quoll?
Wombat 12
Brushtail possum sp 8 5 2
Rabbit 6 3
Dog 3
Black Wallaby 3
Common Ringtail possum 2 2
Grey Kangaroo 1 1
House Mouse 1
Eastern Pygmy Possum 2 1
Agile Antechinus 1 1
Dusky Antechinus 1
Bush Rat 1 1
Total scats analysed 37 19 5
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Forlorn
Hope Track
No Yes
6 species
present
High inten-
sity burn
Within 10
km of
known site
•Predator
scat collec-
tion
Rocky
Plains
Creek Falls
No No Medium
intensity
burn
Potentially
suitable
habitat
•Site de-
scription
and vegeta-
tion for fu-
ture survey
Little River
Cascades
No No Unburnt Potentially
suitable
habitat
•Site de-
scription
and vegeta-
tion for fu-
ture survey
Limestone
Creek up-
stream of
Bridge
No No Burnt Potentially
suitable
habitat
•Not visited
or surveyed
Limestone
Creek Trk
near Stony
Creek
No No Lightly
burnt ??
Potentially
suitable
habitat
•Not visited
or surveyed
** Elliot traps were set adjacent to the current known colony of Smoky Mice
(Native Dog Flat site) to satisfy the aim of determining whether this site extends
beyond the current known perimeters.
Elliott Trapping
Elliott Traps were used in two trap transects (20 traps each) over each of the two
visits. One transect along Rams Horn Track and one along the west bank of the
Buchan River opposite the known Smoky Mouse site. Clean traps were baited
with peanut butter, rolled oats and honey bait plus freshly broken pieces of
12
walnut. Dacron was placed in every trap for warmth and each trap was inserted
into a plastic cover to offer protection from cold and rain. Traps which captured
an animal were replaced with clean traps for the next night. April 5-8 they were
set for 3 nights and April 10-12, just 2 nights. Thank you to Parks Victoria at
Omeo and Heyfield for the use of Elliott traps for this survey.
One Smoky Mouse (P. fumeus) was captured in the last trap checked on the last
day of the second field trip on the lower West Bank trap line at Native Dog Flat.
This was a tagged animal, number 955 which is a mature male first captured in
the main trapping grid as a mature male in December 2007 approx 60m from this
trap and at a higher altitude (approx 30m higher) on the opposite side of the river.
Smoky Mouse scats were collected from the trap after processing and stored in a
sealed container then dried and frozen prior to being sent to Dr Fred Ford
(CSIRO). The analysis of these scats will help to determine the identity of plant
and seed remains in the scats and therefore important food plants.
Non-target species captured in traps at the two West Bank, Native Dog Flat tran-
sects were 3 sub-adult Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis). Non-target species
captured in traps at the two Rams Horn transects were 11 juvenile & sub-adult
Bush Rats (R. fuscipes) 4 of which were subsequently recaptured and 5 sub-adult
Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis), 2 of which were subsequently re-captured.
Hair Tubes and Funnels
The hair tube transect along Native Cat Track extended (north and south) along
the track from a point close to the historic Smoky Mouse site. Although intensely
burnt in the 2003 fire, the post fire regeneration is quite dense.
Two different designs of hair tubes (home made poly hair tubes and commercial
Fauna Tech hair funnels) were used alternatively in each transect along Native
Cat Track. Hair tubes were baited with the same bait as Elliott traps and mostly
placed alongside logs or stumps.
Three 220m transects of hair tubes and funnels were set out over the two field
trips consisting of 40 hair tubes/funnels. The two different designs were set alter-
natively in parallel lines on each side of Native Cat Track. In total these were set
for 360 hair tube/funnel nights covering both sides of 660m of track.
A total of 34 hair tubes/funnels had hair or hair-like material adhering to the
tapes/wafers or scats within the hair tube or funnel. These were all sent to Barba-
ra Triggs for analysis.
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Transect Definite Probable Other material
Line 1 Antechinus sp (1)
(scat)
Rattus sp (1)
No hairs (2)
Line 2 R. fuscipes (4) Rattus sp (7) Plant fibres (1)
Invertebrate larvae scat (1)
Caterpillar hairs (2)
Human hairs (1)
No hairs (1)
Line 3 R. fuscipes (5) Antechinus sp (2)
(scats)
Rattus sp (5)
No hairs (1)
Human hair (1)
Whisker (1)
Predator Scat Collection
Predator scats were collected in the vicinity of the Native Dog Flat trapping sites
and along 4 vehicular and walking tracks which were systematically searched
during the field trips. Sixty-one predator scats were collected in total. All were
sent to Barbara Triggs for analysis of both predator and prey.
Five were collected from Native Dog Flat camping area and the vicinity of the
Native Dog Flat Smoky Mouse site. Four of these were consistent with Quoll scat,
but no groom hairs were present, the other was possibly a dog scat. Prey were
Common Wombat, Agile Antechinus, Bush Rat, Brushtail possum sp. and Eastern
Pygmy Possum.
Seventeen scats were collected along approx 2.5km of Native Cat Track from
Black Mountain Road south to just south of the historic Smoky Mouse site.
Twelve were dog scats and 4 were fox, plus one probably fox. Prey included
common Wombat, Dog (as prey), Common Ringtail Possum, Eastern Pygmy pos-
sum, Common ringtail Possum, Black Wallaby, Brushtail Possum sp. and Rabbit.
Twelve scats were collected from along the full length (approx 4km) of Rams
Horn Track including two from a gully just off the track and one from the rocks at
the summit. Seven were fox scats, four were dog and one possibly quoll. Prey
included House Mouse, Rabbit, Common Wombat, Grey Kangaroo, Dusky Ante-
chinus and Brushtail Possum sp.