I
went to Farrer ridge yesterday. I haven't been there before.
It was very windy but saw a
corella, king parrots, 4 Yellow tailed blacks, black shouldered kite (80% sure, sillouette), Noisy friarbirds and red wattlebirds, and other
small birds- fantails, weebills, thornbills, fairy wrens.
On the Far
East near the main road is a lot of red anthered wallaby grass
(Joycea) and heaps of mattrush (Lomandra filiformis- I think), perhaps painted
button quail habitat. Patches of silver wattle and another wattle.
East of the Trig point isn't very
native but quite a lot of New Holland daisies, some still in flower (mainly V
cuneata), and everlasting daisies flowering Chrysocephalum apic and semipaposum
and interestingly quite a few red box, (E polyanthemos).
On the West side of the Trig
point it was very native. Probably because of the 2003 fires which had scorched
the earth, and only native plants could grow in rock. I have never seen so many
indigo plants (Indigofera australis) and Nodding blue lilies (Stypandra glauca),
it is going to be spectacular blue/purple flower display next October. Also
cauliflower bushes (Cassinia) and Lomandra and some false sarsparilla
(Hardenbergia violacea). Up the top were also a lot of Mealy Bundies (Eucs)
which seem rare in Canberra, Northside.
Along the Suburbs I think are a
lot of E Viminalis planted. In the West some
parts have been burnt and recovery is pretty good with plant species stated
above, plus grassland species
Benj
