Hi Denis
The area is hilly country with mostly native vegetation
regenerating from the 2003 fires. Much of the area used to be pine
forest. Larger plants would be mostly less than 5 metres high and consist of
eucalypts and wattles (especially Red Stem Wattle Acacia rubida) and the
occasional Kurrajong. There are many shrubs including Daviesia, Pomaderris,
Cassinia, Bursaria and probably heaps of other things that I missed, I didn’t
pay as much attention to the plants as I could have. The slopes and ridges tend
to be dry and rocky, while there is lusher vegetation in the gullies. There is
also lots of blackberry, which the heathwrens seem to use quite happily.
Structurally I guess it is pretty similar to some of heathy habitats I’ve
seen. In any case it obviously suits the heathwrens, they do seem to like a
good shrubby understorey.
Someone once told me they thought that heathwrens may be a fire
succession species, moving into burnt areas once regenerating vegetation
reaches a suitable stage. I’ve seen them in other burnt areas of varying
ages so there may be something in this but I don’t think anyone has
actually studied it. I have seen them in unburnt habitat too.
I think heathwrens are quite widespread in the sandstone heath
type country you describe but I guess they would be just elusive there as
anywhere else.
cheers
Steve
From: Denis Wilson
[
Sent: Wednesday, 6 May 2009 11:22 PM
To: Lindsay & Diana Nothrop; Steve Holliday;
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] RE: Chestnut-rumped Heathwren at Pierce's
Creek
Out
of curiosity, would someone please describe the habitat in which these
Heath Wrens are found?
I
assume it is "heath" of some form, but my (very rough) memory of the
Pierces Creek area does not fit with this comment: "As there are thousands
of hectares of that type of country".
My
interest is sparked by having just come back from a trip into sandstone
heath country in the Budawangs, and am now wondering if I might have missed an
opportunity to look for these Heath Wrens. Predominant shrub flora was low
Epacrids, Kunzeas, and patches of Banksia, occasional Mallee-form Eucalypts,
interspersed with sedge-like vegetation.
