It’s a few months since I walked Farrer Ridge. Things are very dry and the foliage on most of the trees (probably Blakely’s red gums) thin and dry. The saplings look unhealthy, but they have a remarkable capacity to regenerate after rain. A small number of different species of trees look very healthy. I didn’t look at the dams, but one waterhole in the creek had sufficient water for a small number of birds and animals. From memory, in the drought, the dams dried out first. From time to time I would come across an usually moist patch of soil, not necessarily in a creek bed.
Most common native birds were seen or heard, but they were few and far between. By contrast, near Sulwood drive, the starlings and Indian mynas were thriving and a real worry.
The usual amount of plastic bags and drink containers were around, including a series of roofing tiles that had apparently been used as markers for some kind of group activity and never removed. When you couple all of this with the free-range dogs that one usually encounters earlier in the day, one has to wonder about the ultimate success of these narrow strips of “nature” reserve that run between suburbs. Are they headed in the same direction as the “Great” Barrier Reef? What is minimum area necessary for a truly viable nature reserve? Hilltops alone without creeks and flats will surely severely limit the range of species that can survive.
Margaret Leggoe
