On Saturday 17th August MEG planted at Brookfield, beside Black Dog Drive, at Arnolds Creek beside Brookfield Village. Despite the icy wind eleven people participated, including Flo, Geraldine, Peter & Daryl of MEG, as well as several visitors.
At the suggestion of MEG’s Environmental Advisor Peter Sell, we concentrated mainly on planting masses of Tussock Grass (Poa labilliere), grown by the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, in the flood prone area where the storm drain joins the creek. We (& Melbourne Water) have already planted several hundred damp-tolerant hushes & trees at this site (Red Gum, Blue Box, River Bottlebrush, Woolly Teatree & Acacia provincialis).
We planted:
- Poa lab 1000
- Prickly Moses Wattle 15
- Melicytis 250
- Bursaria 15
- Lignum 5
- Lomandra micrantha 20
We didn’t see many birds while we were planting, no doubt due to the blustery conditions. We still managed to see (& hear) Red Wattlebirds, White-plumed Honeyeaters, Willy Wagtails (these always follow us hoping that we will uncover food for them) Magpies, Ravens Red-rumped Parrots & Eastern Rosellas. A Black-shouldered Kite dropped into the long grass about 30 metres from where we were planting. It remained hidden in the grass for several minutes before flying off. It must have caught something & eaten it on the ground before flying away.