River Conservation Society

River Conservation Society Inc. PO Box 846 YORK WA 6302 | [email protected] | www.riverconservationsociety.org

River Conservation Society

‘Caring for the Avon Catchment’

Newsletter No. 53

FB: York River Conservation Society www.riverconservationsociety.org

Autumn 2021 Issue

An historic moment for the River Conservation Society, the York Branch of the Wildflower Society and the York

community: the signing of the lease to the old tennis courts in Clifford St, which will be developed as an Environmental

Discovery Centre for the region. Let the work begin!


From the Chair…...

Welcome to the Autumn 2021 edition of the River Con-servation Society’s newsletter. I hope you find the arti-

cles interesting and are inspired to go out and enjoy this beautiful environment that we are so lucky to share here

in York.

It has certainly been a busy time since our last newslet-ter. At this year’s Australia Day ceremony, the RCS was awarded the Active Citizenship Award for community groups. This is something we should all be very proud of and was only made possible by the effort and dedica-tion of our members in carrying out many important projects in and around York. A new proposal was presented in November to the Shire of York for the RCS to lease the Old Tennis Club site on Glebe Street, with the aim of RCS and the York Branch of the Wildflower Society to establish an Envi-ronmental Discovery Centre. Well, a lot has happened since then! Not only has this been supported by Shire management but it has been overwhelmingly endorsed by Council. The RCS has also been pledged $60,000 by the WA State Government to assist in setting up our new Environmental Discovery Centre. By the time you are reading this we should have signed the lease and taken possession of the property. I would like to say well done everyone for such a great team effort in achieving this outcome. The Environmental Centre Building Committee has already started planning the refurbishment and getting quotes. Our Thursday Busy Bees continue and we are always looking for more helpers. The summer months were spent watering trees and shrubs in revegetation areas, trying to keep them alive. Now we are spraying the weeds and grass to stop our precious plants from being smothered. Such is the life of a conservationist. Most of the new signs have been installed on our re-serves and our members are locating and spraying Afri-can Boxthorn along the river again. With the early rain it is good to see the Avon River flowing again and hopefully the rain will mean an early start to a good wildflower season this year. This will certainly make collecting specimens for the Herbarium a bit easier and I think we can all look forward to some great days out in the bush. Things have been fairly quiet on the Rakali front over the summer with water levels and quality being very low. However, I did manage to get a couple of grainy photos of Rakali on our wildlife cameras in Bland’s and Gwambygine Pools, which shows that Rakali continue to live and possibly breed in the Avon River pools around York. Let’s hope we can find some in new loca-tions now that there is some fresh water in the river. At the end of last year, I was contacted by Bessie Boyle, a very brave and generous York School student, who offered to shave her head to raise money for the environment and to donate the money to the RCS. Thanks Bessie! Members of the public and local businesses have been donating their returnable containers to the RCS. Our Containers for Change Team have also been carrying out a container pick up from participating households around town each month. This is proving to be a valua-ble source of income for the RCS. The RCS received $9,260 in funding from the SOY, which has been used to buy spraying and planting equipment. This equipment will be put to good use in June when we will be planting approximately 12,500 seedlings along the Avon River in York.

We have been working hard to regain our Environmental Registration and Deductible Gift Recipient Status (DGR). The RCS is now a fully registered environmental organisa-tion with DGR status and a registered charity with the Aus-tralian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. We also hold a WA Charitable Collections Licence. These registra-tion and licences enable us to publicly pursue donations and offer tax deductibility for all donations of $2 and above. In early March with some help from the York community we carried out another successful River Cleanup and also got rid of a lot of weed from a block of land in town. Thanks again to Avon Waste for supplying us with bins. I would like to thank the Shire of York, our sponsors, do-

nors to our Gift Fund, and all those who support the RCS in many different ways. I look forward to continuing to work

closely with the Shire and the York community in the fu-ture, to protect and restore the Avon River and the local

environment.

John Crook

In this issue…

From the Chair

Containers for Change

Birds in a York Garden

Birds on Farms

Western Spotted Frog

RCS Clean Up Australia Day

Trail Camera Images

Australia Day Awards

Seed Orchard

Blue Tongue Lizard

Western Gerygone

Nature’s Treasures York & Surrounds:

The Numbat

Bessie Boyle

Celebration at proposed Environmental

Centre site

Book Focus: Butterflies

RCS Media Protocol

Office-bearers & Sponsors

Membership Form

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Containers for Change— York’s amazing participation

The Container Deposit Scheme is well and truly up and running.in the Shire of York. Each day we are seeing more and more locals coming in with their containers and embracing a new way of recycling. Putting a value on these items has had a huge impact on how they are treated in our community.

When you recycle at Containers for Change you get a 10c refund for every eligible drink container.

Look for the 10c symbol to make sure it is eligible. Here’s a little rhyme to help out:

Aluminium is a win Glass and plastic is always in

Steel and paper are good to go But milk and wine bottles are a no.

And remember to take all lids off.

If you run or represent a community group or charity, the scheme is an easy way of raising funds. You can simply sign up your group through the Containers for Change website and share your unique scheme ID with everyone in your network so they can nominate your group when they return their containers.

The community is to be congratulated on its positive response to the initiative. A staggering 12-15,000 containers are processed EACH DAY the facility is open.

Thanks to a band of member volunteers including Peter and Helen Green, Audrey Sole, Kevin Smith and Ken Graham, the River Con-servation Society has raised nearly $1000 by advertising and conduct-ing a monthly town pickup of containers for those people unable to make it to the recycling site in Maxwell St York - just from donations from their Scheme Number.

OPENING HOURS ARE WEDNESDAYS & SATURDAYS 10AM—2PM.

Get on board this great recycling initiative for a win-win for your budget, your favourite cause and the environment.

Peter Newman, Coordinator Containers for Change, York.

HOW CAN I DONATE MY CONTAINER REFUNDS TO THE RIVER CONSERVATION SOCIETY?

There are 2 ways: 1. When dropping off your containers quote Scheme Number C10327440. If your donated container refund is $2 or above keep your receipt as this can be used for a tax refund as the RCS is an ATO registered Deductible Gift Recipient. 2. Register with the RCS for a monthly pickup of your recyclable containers. Simply send a message to 0418 378 446 leaving your name and street address.

http://running.in


BIRDS in a YORK GARDEN By Helen Green and Bryn Watkins

---- 2020 may have been all about doom and gloom – a pandemic, social isolation, earthquakes, floods and fires, climate change. The list is long, but it seems that the natural world continues to go about its business. If David Attenborough (A Life on Our Planet, 2019) is to be believed, his hopeful message that the Earth can be restored if humans desist from some of their worst habits, seems to be at work in a small garden in the centre of York. This garden is a microcosm of possibility.

A densely planted garden of both native and exotic plants, fruit trees and vegetables, all levels of height, tall eucalypts, shrubs and ground covers is ‘bird heaven’. Over a number of years of observation and photography a surprising list of birds has emerged.

There are the usual culprits that frequent York, Australian Ravens, Corellas, Pink and Grey Galahs, Doves, Magpies and Twenty-eights. But the real surprise was the list that follows:

The owners are able to watch through their windows as nest building and the rearing of the young proceeds. The dense growth of plants is a naturally protective environment for the smaller birds in the merciless competition for territory and food.

Kookaburra Spinebill Willy Wagtail Silvereye

Rufous Whistler Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike Shrike Thrush Thornbills

Wattlebirds Red Capped Robin Grey Fantail Honeyeaters

Carnaby Cockatoo Pardalote Finches


There are water containers scattered through the garden, lots of places for the birds to nest in relative safety and a good supply of nectar bearing plants and creepers. The rich diversity of South Western Australia’s natural environment is real and alive here in York Town. We each can, at the very least, protect, restore and nurture our natural surroundings as an act of grace in our everyday lives.

Can you name all these York town birds?

Soon after we bought our small farm ( around 1995 ), I was asked by a visiting member of a conservation group who was visiting the farm, to be part of the “ Birds on Farms” project run by Birdlife Australia. Except for a few meagre remnant trees in a few small groups, the place was pretty bare, although we had started planting trees - for shelter belts and along salt scours and to make corridors connecting the farm to Wambyn Nature Reserve. At this stage the small plants were hardly more than babies.

So when I heard from the Wheatbelt branch of Birdlife about this project being brought back, I was keen to see the difference in bird life now these plantings were over 25 years old.

I chose 4 - 2 hectare survey areas. One included most of the shelter belt on the south side of the farm. This was a very early planting and included mostly Australian na-tive but non-indigenous trees and shrubs. The second was the creek salt scour that had also been planted out early with native and non- native plants. The third area was a remnant stand of mostly indigenous Powder Bark Eucalypts and alongside that was a regeneration area that connected the Powder Barks with the Reserve. This re-generation area was our fourth survey area and had been planted out in stages over about 15 or more years. It con-sisted of mostly indigenous species – a significant pro-portion came from seeds collected right here.

The autumn survey was only started by me this week. The idea is to do a 20 minute survey each season for each survey area. Before starting, we have to fill out a habitat assessment form which looks at the composition, density and age of the 3 stories of plants, as well as ground cover, land use, water availability and so on.

In the short time I have had to do any survey work it is already interesting to note the variety of birds seen and how that differs from those seen around the house. I am looking forward to noting the changes as the seasons progress.

If anyone is interested in doing these surveys and you have access to farmland, it would add useful data to our knowledge of how birds are coping with the farm-ing environment – especially where there are remnant stands of trees and/or regenerated areas.

BIRDS on FARMS – Penny Mossop

Wheatbelt NRM Black Cockatoo Talk Anika Dent from Wheatbelt Natural Resource Man-agement gave a very interesting presentation on Black Cockatoos at our General Meeting last November. Our knowledge and understanding of these iconic birds and the threats they face is greatly improved. Many members have downloaded the WA Black Cockatoo Survey123 app and will be adding sightings to it, thanks Anika! Read about the Survey123 app here:

http://wheatbeltnrm.org.au/survey123


Western Spotted Frog Heleioporus albopunctatus

Heleioporus is probably derived from the Greek words helios (sun) and poros (holes) on account of the spotted pat-tern of this species. Albopunctatus is derived from albo (white) and punctatus (spot).

Several days after the early autumn storm brought much needed rainfall to York and surrounds, the familiar nighttime “whoop, whoop” of the Western Spotted Frog could be heard. John & I applied mosquito repellent and took our torches and went to find the source of the calls. We walked down Ayoub Street with the calls becoming louder, crossed the railway line and there we found an ephemeral soak. The calls had stopped with our noisy arrival so we switched off the torches and stood quietly and it wasn’t long before the frog chorus recommenced. We rec-orded the sound and details on the Australian Museum’s Frog ID app and sent it off for a positive identification, this came back very promptly as confirmed Western Spotted Frog calls.

Western Spotted Frogs are a large, robust, globular species reaching up to 10 cm in body length with females larger than males. Their backs are chocolate-brown coloured becoming paler on the lower body and limbs, distinct white, cream or pale yellow spots/blotches cover the entire back, sides and limbs. There is a white stripe along the upper lip extending from the jaw to under the eye. The pupil if their large, protruding eyes is vertical, and the iris is silver-grey. Fingers are unwebbed and toes slightly webbed, both without discs. Adult males have large black spines on some fingers during the breeding season.

Western Spotted Frogs live along ephemeral creeks, in swamps and temporary watercourses. During extended dry periods outside of breeding times, they stay buried in moist, cool soil that they have excavated by rotating like a corkscrew, digging out the soil underneath and throwing it on top of themselves. Shortly after the first autumn rains the males emerge and dig a burrow in a sandy depression and begin calling. Peak calling period is April however calls are also heard in March and May. If their calls are successful in attracting a mate, eggs are deposited in the bot-tom of the burrow in the damp soil, the frogs then leave the nest and the eggs continue to develop inside the protec-tion of the foamy egg mass. If all goes to plan, and the season breaking rains arrive on time, the nest burrow is

flooded and the eggs hatch and develop into free swimming, iridescent gold, black spotted, tadpoles. The tadpoles take between four to five months to de-velop into frogs.

Worldwide the decline in frog populations is attributed to the chytrid fungus, climate change and habitat loss. In Australia, the leading causes of the de-cline in frog numbers is habitat loss, fragmentation of vegetation and salinisa-tion of soils and waterways. These causes are very evident in Western Aus-tralia’s Wheatbelt where European settlers cleared140,000 square kilometres of native vegetation for farming purposes in less than 150 years. Less than 10% of native bushland remains in the Wheatbelt agricultural area. These remnant pockets of native vegetation on conservation reserves, national parks and private property provide very valuable protection for native flora and fau-na including frogs.

The River Conservation Society is giving thought to how we can increase the quality and quantity of frog wildlife corridors, to connect areas of habitat so

frogs can move easily from one area to another, this will assist frogs to increase populations and find shelter and protection from drought.

Whether you have a small garden or a large property, there are some sim-ple things you can do to help your local frogs:

Build a frog pond, see “Building Frog Friendly Gardens” Western Australian Museum publication.

Keep fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides away from frog ponds and frog habitats

Grow/keep areas of native vegetation, place/keep logs, rocks and leaf litter for frog shelter.

Plant native tussock grasses and other native plants.

Keep livestock away from sections of stream and riverbanks and retain riparian vegetation.

Maintain and improve wetlands and other natural waterways on your property.

Create wildlife corridors to connect areas as drought refuges.

Fence off a portion of your dam for frogs.

References:

DBCA Landscope Magazine Vol 35 No 4 Winter 2020

Frogs of Western Australia, WA Museum Publication, MJ Tyler, LA Smith & RE Johnstone

Frogs of Western Australia, DPAW Publication, D Pearson, C Thomson-Dans & G Wardell-Johnson

Museum of Western Australia (includes recording of call) http://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/frogwatch/frogs/western-spotted-frog

Australia Museum Frog ID app

https://www.frogid.net.au/

Article by Maryanne Crook

Photo: Atlas of Living Australia. Western Spotted Frog (Heleioporus albopunc-tatus) by Wayne Clarke, Toodyay.


Talk about making a difference ! The corner of Avon Terrace and Glebe St was our focus for this event on March 7th. Some of our previous projects had involved litter removal from reserves, the walk trails and from pools in the Avon River itself within the shire of York. 94 Avon Terrace is a prime location in the centre of York and had become overgrown with a particularly troublesome weed - Salsola australis—known as Roly Poly or Tumbleweed. This is a relative newcomer to the town of York but poses a potential 'weed hazard' if left to establish itself. It produces thousands of seeds per plant and colonises very quickly, espe-cially with summer rainfall events. The River Conservation Society’s aim was to try and stop (or slow down) this species infesting riparian land along the River as well as tidy up this area - taking pride in our town. Permission from the owner was sought, who kindly agreed to make a donation to the group in apprecia-tion. 12 members volunteered their time and cleared the larger specimens of the somewhat prickly giant balls. Swannie's Yard Services finished the clean up with a brush cut and spray and it made such a differ-ence. Councillor Stephen Muehlensein also took part in the day, giving lots of moral support and keeping us entertained with his banter. Special mention and thanks to Avon Waste who very generously supplied the 3 skip bins, and to the Cof-fee Carriage for cooking the delicious breakfast to get us started on the day. Litter was also removed from the walk trails and dog exercise area behind the carriage. We are so pleased to see the amount of litter reducing in these areas thanks to our vigilant helpers who help keep a watchful eye out for something that may have been left behind. Well done everyone - Keep our Town Beautiful and the Environment Healthy :-)

Audrey Sole

RCS Clean Up Australia Day 2021

Dedicated RCS members Penny Mossop, Maryanne Crook, Audrey Sole, Daina Lee and Stephen Muhlensein, hard at work.

Casuarina comes from the Malay word for Cassowary, as a resemblance was seen in the bird's feathers and the trees’ drooping needles. Obesa, meaning stout or plump, probably refers to the fruiting cones. Walking along the Avon River Walktrail at the moment you can't help but notice the Sheoak trees covered in orange coloured, drooping, inflorescences.

These are the flowering spikes on the male trees of the Swamp Sheoak. Casuarina trees are dioecious, meaning there are separate male and female trees. The female trees can also be seen carrying last year’s brownish-grey fruiting cones and if you look closely,

you can see the small, red, feathery female flowers.

Swamp Sheoak -Casuarina obesa

Left: Female sheoak with flowers and cone.

Right: Male sheoak with flowers.


River Conservation Society member and York Wildflower Society’s seed orchard caretaker, Bruce McGregor, has made good use of a Christmas gift of a wildlife camera. Bruce has set up his camera on several occasions in the hope of photographing the kangaroos he knew were coming into the seed orchard at night and early morning to feed on patches of grass. Two of the captures on Bruce’s camera were a Eu-ro (Macropus robustus) and a Western Brush/Black-gloved Wallaby (Macropus irma). The Western Brush Wallaby was particularly exciting as their range and numbers have been seriously reduced since European settlement. RCS Chairperson, John Crook, has had wildlife

cameras out on the Avon River pools, and photo captures were made of Rakali in Gwambygine Pool and Blands Pool and a couple of photos of very fast

flying little bats also at Gwambygine. Feral cats and foxes are always showing up too, a worrying problem for the survival of Rakali.

New

Trail

Camera

Footage

Photo Credits Camera Traps: Bruce McGregor and John Crook. Euro, Western Brush Wallaby and Rakali

Shire of York Australia Day Awards We are honoured to have been awarded the Active Citizenship Award (Community Group or Event) in this year's Shire of York Australia Day Awards. The

award was accepted by our Chairperson John Crook on behalf of the River Conservations Society's mem-bers. The award recognizes all the hard work and

commitment given by you all - Congratulations!


The Seed Orchard is maintained by the York Branch of the WA Wildflower Society. It is a strip of Shire land running along the west side of the river.

Welcome rain during November 2020 and early March 2021 has given the established trees and also seedlings planted over the past few years a real boost and new growth abounds! Unfortunately the rain and warm weather has also resulted in carpeting the seed orchard with the dreaded Caltrop. Spraying programs during the last couple of months is gradually seeing the Cal-trop spread being controlled, at least for now. A motion detector camera that was set up by Bruce McGregor in the orchard showed that we had some welcome nocturnal visitors. (See page 8). Not so wel-come are the visiting rab-bits, evidenced by a num-ber of burrows throughout the orchard. A recently purchased trac-tor is being put through its paces by Bruce. It is well suited to the orchard and will be a very versatile and useful unit. Plans are un-derway to install a spray boom on the tractor to im-prove weed control work. Bruce and Pat McGregor’s contribution It’s important to acknowledge the amazing work that Bruce and Pat McGregor have done in the Seed Or-chard over the past 20 years and their hard work con-tinues. As the orchard further develops, it will become a fantastic asset for the York Branch of the WA Wild-flower Society and the River Conservation Society to draw on. Ken Graham

Extra help in the Seed Orchard I was working in the study and heard some rustling under the bed. Thinking it was a mouse, I investigated and found a bobtail lizard. I removed it from the bed-room and put it outside. I researched this bobtail, shingle back or blue tongue lizard or proper name Tili-qua rugosa. They camou-flage into their environ-ment, can live up to 50 years and mate for life; they give birth to live ba-

bies who are self sufficient after a few days. Sadly they are killed by cats, dogs and kookaburras and because they are slow crossing the road they are often killed by cars. They are wonderful in the garden eating snails and insects, but don't plant strawberries as they love them too. Rosemary Parker

Western Gerygone The Western Gerygone (Gerygone fusca) is a small, pale grey coloured bird that forages in the canopy of eucalypts, acacias and other trees. I say‘ je-rig-o-nee’ when talking about these lovely birds but others may use a different pronunciation.

Its plaintive whistle usually alerts observers to its pres-ence long before it is seen. Its voice has been variously described as being ‘sweet’, ‘pensive’, rising and falling then seeming to end mid song. Its upperparts are grey-ish/brown, chest is whitish and tail feathers have a black and white pattern with the central pair being grey and outer tips and base feath-ers white. It has a bright red eye with a faint white eyebrow. Juveniles differ in having a faint yellowish tinge to throat and breast.

It is widespread in the drier, open forests and wood-lands of inland Australia but is also found in the wetter Jarrah and Karri forests of the SW of WA.

Usual breeding time is from August to January. A domed nest is attached to branches and enter the nest through a side opening. There are 2-3 eggs per clutch and they are pink-white in colour and speckled red-brown.

They can be heard on our property for most of the year, usually singly or in a pair but this autumn we have seen three feeding at the same time. They do seem to holi-day elsewhere during the height of summer.

Eucalyptus leucoxylon subsp. rosea (Pink-flowered Yellow Gum) in all its glory.

Birds in My Garden

Cheryl Warburton

NEEDED – MILK CRATES The RCS is looking for some used milk crates that they plan to use for storage. If you have suit-able crates can you please contact Ken Graham and we would be happy to come and pick them up. Email: [email protected]


Intrepid seekers of rare species, Fred and Jean Hort have been to places in the Wheatbelt most people wouldn’t know exist. Since the early 1990s this energetic couple, teamed with Fred’s brother Bert, have been document-ing populations of rare plants and insects as volunteers for the Department OF Biosecurity, Conservation and Attractions and the WA Herbarium. Over this time, they have collected and recorded a stag-gering 13,000 specimens. The Horts were invited by the River Conservation Soci-ety to give a presentation at the Racecourse Function Centre last Saturday, March 27th. The talk was attended by around 50 people. The Wheatbelt can proudly lay claim to three of WA’s most famous botanists: James Drummond, WA’s first

government naturalist; Rika Erikson, botanic artist and author of many books on native plants and birds; and York’s very own Oswald Sargent, who had the phar-macy on the corner across from the Castle Hotel and was an avid plant collector. Oswald’s work began in 1903 with his discovery of a rare plant (Asterolasia grandiflora) which is restricted to a small area encompassing Toodyay, Northam and York. Oswald Sargent Reserve (beside the Golflinks) was named after him, as are many plants that were rec-orded and collected by him. Fred and Jean drive and walk vast distances in their pursuit of rare flora and fauna, but their enthusiasm makes it obvious that they feel it is worth it. (cont. next page)

NATURE’S TREASURES IN YORK AND SURROUNDS Article: Kathy Boladeras Photos: Maryanne Crook


the only natural populations are found at Tutanning and Perup Nature Reserves. Fortunately a breeding program has been developed and the translocation of numbats has been occurring in 9 locations - Boyagin, Tutanning, Karroun Hill and Dragon Rocks Nature Reserves, Battaling Forest, Cocanarup Timber Re-serve, Hills Forest, Stirling Range National Park and Mt. Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary.

We must be thankful for this collaboration between government and private individuals who have had the foresight to assist the numbats to survive into the fu-ture. They certainly make me smile and I am sure they are a precious part of our diversity we must protect for the future. Reference : https://www.nacc.com.au/

threatenedspecies-week-myrmecobius-fasciatus-

numbat

Bessie Boyle, a stu-dent at York District High School, is con-cerned for the envi-ronment and the plants and animals that rely on healthy Avon and Mackie Rivers. In consulta-tion with her family she decided to raise funds to help im-prove the environ-ment by shaving her head and donating the proceeds to the River Conserva-tion Society. Bessie's Big Shave occurred in the last week of term four 2020 with Bessie's school friends, her family and RCS members on hand to witness the Big Shave. Bessie was concerned that she wouldn't raise enough funds to make a difference to the local environment so she promised to only shave her head if $500 was received in donations. Well Bessie needn't have worried - $1,455 was raised! These funds will be used to purchase native plant seedlings for planting by Bessie, her friends, family and RCS members near the new river crossing above Mile Pool. Well done Bessie!

(cont. from previous page) Jean started photographing flies more recently; once you’ve seen some of her images, you’ll never think about flies the same way again. Scientists from overseas have shown an interest in coming to WA to add to their studies of some species photographed by Jean. Fred and Jean’s enthusiasm for what they do has sparked interest in our local rare flora, which must be preserved for future generations to enjoy. The River Conservation Society has developed an exten-sive herbarium which is housed at the Sandalwood Yards, and is accessible to the public. Contact Audrey Sole if you are interested in viewing the collection.

I think you will agree that numbats are the most adorable creatures. I have been following a facebook page.... Dry-andra (Incl Boyagin/Tutanning) - A South West Aus-tralian Safari.....where a host of beautiful photos have been posted taken in the reserves. Thank you to wildlife and wildflower enthusiast Lyn Alcock for the use of her images. Numbats were once found in York. How sad to think that there are less than 1000 individuals in the wild, now an endangered species. They were previously recorded across much of arid and semi-arid Australia from West-ern New South Wales through to South Australia and much of the southern half of WA. Their habitat consist-ed of open eucalypt forest containing Jarrah, Marri, Wandoo, mallee ( Euc. sp.) and even salmon gum. In Boyagin Reserve near Narrogin the numbat feeds on termites attracted to the Brown Mallet (Euc. astringens) and use their sharp claws to scratch and burrow. They are around 40cm long from head to tail, weigh only 500g, and have reddish-brown fur with white bands on the rump and above the eye. Numbats build nests in hol-low logs or trees, or dig burrows comprising a narrow shaft 1-2 m deep, opening out into a chamber lined with vegetable matter such as grass, bark, leaves and flowers. As it is a marsupi-al, I was surprised to learn that the numbat does not have a pouch. The tiny juveniles at-tach themselves to a teat surrounded by brown fur where they remain until mature enough to survive. They are solitary animals, active during the day and have amazingly long tongues with which they scoop up their main dietary source - termites. Unlike echidnas and liz-ards who can break open a mound the numbat must wait until the insects are on the move. Being diurnal leaves the numbat vulnerable to predators such as eagles and hawks, and of course more recently foxes and cats. A once common species is now under such pressure that

THE NUMBAT (Noombat or Walpurti) Audrey Sole

Bessie Boyle Fundraising for the Environment

https://www.nacc.com.au/threatenedspecies-week-myrmecobius-fasciatus-numbat




The River Conservation Society together with the York Branch of the Wildflower Society are very happy to announce that the lease has been signed for the Old Tennis Court site in York. The lease is a 5+5+5+5 tenure which effectively gives us a 20 year lease! This building and grounds on the banks of the Avon River is in the perfect location to establish our Environmental Discovery Centre. Work will commence on this Centre this week. If anyone would like to be involved and help us with this very exciting project, please contact our Chairperson John Crook 0429 799 450 or our Environmental Centre Com-mittee Chair Audrey Sole 0418 378 446.

The Environmental Centre Committee enjoyed a small celebration to mark the lease signing. An opportunity for all RCS and Wildflower members to celebrate will be at the next RCS General Meeting on 22nd May. A grand opening is planned for about 18 months’ time. Maryanne Crook

Signing the Lease - 7 Glebe Street York

Smiles all round: Audrey Sole, Grant Morrell, Rosie Fleay, Sarah and Peter Smith.

John Crook, Kevin Smith and Ken Graham.


BOOK FOCUS

A Naturalist’s Guide to the Butterflies of Australia

Available online from booktopia.com.au

In November last year a friend sent me a photo of an amazing butterfly she found in her garden in York. Large and colourful; black, creamy white and red with a wingspan of over 70mm. After consulting with Jean Hort we found out that it was the Citrus or Orchard Swallowtail. As its name suggests it is attracted to our citrus trees. I had never seen it in York before but apparently there was a colony in Albany. Butterflies can hitch a ride on the upper air cur-rents and travel huge distances. Recently I have seen several of these in my garden - and how beautiful ! This began my discovery of our local butterflies, and what good timing. This year they have been exceptional, perhaps with the recent heavy rainfall and following warm weather. Anyway, down the rabbit hole I went!! Using this newly published book by Australian Geographic I have learnt that there are around 38 different butterflies that frequent our SW of WA. Only 3 are introduced - the Cabbage White, The Monarch or Wanderer and the European Painted Lady. That leaves 35 native species. WOW!! All of the butterfly species we have seen lately (apart from the cabbage white laying eggs on your newly planted vegies) are native to Australia. They are common species found widespread in Australia. We are waiting to see one NOT so common - a species of Neolucia which has an association with Daviesia angulata locally. This butterfly was thought to have been extinct but thanks to the efforts of Fred and Jean Hort it is being reported in Toodyay to Harrismith and Corrigin. Many butterflies have dependencies on particular plant species such as sedges, mistletoes, pea plants and even with ants (save THAT for another day!). As pollinators and producers of caterpillars that are a food source for so many other species, they form an important part of the 'web of life' so vital for a healthy ecosystem. So how do you tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth? If you look closely (which is easier through a camera lens IF they sit still!) at their antennae, all butterflies’ antennae are clubbed. On the other hand, moths have simple or the most elaborate antennae which may be complete works of art. Antennae (plural for antenna) are used as sensory appendages which can even tell direction similar to a compass - important for migration. Butterflies are diurnal (active during the day) while most moths are night timers, (nocturnal). There are always exceptions such as the Sun Moths or Synemon sp. which, as the name suggests, are active during the day. If you see a butterfly land and fold its wings, you will notice they are held upright. A moth’s wings will be held flat along its body. Moths and butterflies belong to the Family Lepidoptera which refers to the scales on the wings which give some their beautiful markings. As individuals age these

scales wear out and sometimes, they can look quite 'dog eared'. Here are some of the species we have seen in abundance recently: THE MEADOW ARGUS Junonia villida 40-50mm wide Widespread in Australia. Found in bushland and grassy areas, often seen close to or landing on the ground. Nectar feeding adults, while caterpillars eat foliage of both native and introduced species. AUSTRALIAN PAINTED LADY Vanessa kershawi 45mm wide Found across southern regions of Australia. Low flying unless migrating. Can be seen in grass and woodland areas. Uses varied host species- native and introduced. Loves plants in the 'daisy' and 'mint' families. Caterpillars are active at nighttime. LESSER WANDERER Danaus petilia 60mm wide A showy orange, black and white butterfly - check out those spots on the body! Widespread in Australia occurring in many habitats. Adults and caterpillars feed on Milkweed species which contain toxic compounds. This makes them an undesirable food source to predators- an im-portant defence mechanism. THE ORCHARD SWALLOWTAIL Papilio aegeus 102-108mm A large showy specimen mainly found in Eastern Australia - Nth Qld to Western Victoria. Oth-erwise patchy. Caterpillars feed on citrus and develop into a 'hard to see' budlike, green pupae attached to stems.

And finally, the Satin Azure which decided to visit my garden whilst watering. Wet wings were not so good for flying so it was happy to dry out on my thumb making for a good photo.

THE SATIN AZURE Ogyris amaryllis 34mm The upper wings are brilliant blue with black margins. Widespread on mainland Australia where mistletoe (Amyema sp.) is found. Adults are 'highflyers', over 4m descending to perch on host species or find a mate. This butterfly species has an interesting association with sugar ants where the juvenile is taken underground and tended to until ready to hatch. An amazing collaboration by the members of the insect family to assist the survival of their spe-cies. DOES THIS MAKE YOU WANT TO FIND OUT MORE?? Go to : SatinAzure.pdf (butterflyconservationsa.net.au)

Reference: A Naturalist's Guide to the BUTTERFLIES of AUSTRALIA by Peter Rowland

& Rachel Whitlock.2020 Article by Audrey Sole

Meadow Argus—Jean Hort

Australian Painted Lady—Vanessa Kershawii

Satin Azure Butterfly—Audrey Sole

https://butterflyconservationsa.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SatinAzure.pdf


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