Six weeks after the bushfires and the bush is bursting with new life.
Blackened trunks clothed in fresh green epicormic foliage, masses of new
growth sprouting from underground lignotubers, leafy new waratah stems
already a metre tall, tiny banksia seedlings...
Walking in burnt heathland near Wentworth Falls today, everywhere I looked
amongst the blackened stems and branches were all kinds of woody seed
capsules opened up and releasing a multitude of seeds. Banksias, isopogons,
petrophiles, hakeas, allocasuarinas... you could pick any branch at random
and pluck out dozens of seeds - seeds already peeking out of gaping
capsules. I shake a branch of a mallee eucalypt laden with nuts, and tiny
seeds rain onto the ground below. A real smorgasbord for seed-eating birds,
so it was not surprising to find Crimson Rosellas and Red-browed Finches
abundant in the burnt areas. There were also Beautiful Firetails here and
there and at one stage it was a delight to have a Red-browed Finch and a
Beautiful Firetail together in the same binocular view.
After looking closely at the allocasuarinas it's easy to see why there have
been a few reports of Glossy Black-Cockatoos turning up in unburnt areas
where they are not usually seen. Their specialised feeding habits would
make things difficult for them in the burnt areas (unlike the finches who
can just pluck the seeds out of the opened valves). Most of the
allocasuarina seeds seem to have already fallen out of the cones and I
think the ones that haven't would soon fall out when the bird tries biting
into it, which I suppose is why Glossies usually feed from unopened seed
cones.
Apart from the seed-eaters, there is no shortage of Brown Thornbills and
White-browed Scrubwrens within the burnt areas, and White-throated
Treecreepers, a Pilotbird and a Superb Lyrebird could be heard calling
today. The odd unburnt Banksia serrata is obviously providing enough
flowers for a few honeyeaters.
Late this afternoon I stood on top of the rocks enjoying the solitude on
Kings Table and a small group of about ten White-throated Needletails
whooshed past my ears, heading east towards Sydney.
Cheers
Carol
Carol Probets
Katoomba
Blue Mountains NSW
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