A group of Friends of Berowra Valley headed off from 107 Rosemead Rd Hornsby for a two and a half hour (5 km) circuit walk follows the much-loved Blue Gum track.
We experienced the dramatic changes in vegetation as the tall blue gums growing on the rich, volcanic soils of the Hornsby diatreme give way to the woodland on the iconic sandstone ridgetops, a haven for many species of wildlife.
Many thanks to David for an entertaining and informative walk. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.
Friends of Berowra Valley, a community group committed to protecting our precious bushland and local environment, ran the Berowra Fauna Fair on Sunday 17th March from 10am to 3pm, at the Berowra Community and Cultural Facility (Berowra Community Centre). With the support of Hornsby Shire Council we celebrated the marvelous wildlife found in our bushland shire.
The Fair opened with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony by Uncle Laurie a Traditional Owner in the local area.
Uncle Laurie smoking ceremony
The event was designed to engage all ages in experiencing our native wildlife and also to learn from experts in their field on 30 min talks ranging from fungi, spiders, koalas and platypus, marine life, birds, native bees and native orchids.
Australian Wildlife Walkabout Park with an echidnaJabiru Wildlife with a red-bellied black snakeSydney Bats with an endangered Flying Fox
Over 350 people enjoyed the stalls featuring many organisations that work with our local flora and fauna. The greater Hornsby area is a native animal hot spot and home to some of Australia’s most iconic animals. Learning about these animals is a great step towards making sure they are still here for future generations to enjoy.
A big thank you to Uncle Laurie and all of our speakers:
Vanessa McPherson and Michael Gillings, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University who spoke on Fungi.
Dr Helen Smith from Australia Museum on The Secret Life of Spiders.
Judy Harrington from Birdlife Australia on our local threatened species the Glossies and Powerful Owls as well as some of the other local birds people can see in their backyards or surrounding bushland.
Sue Martin and Pat Schwartz from CHEN and Glenorie Environment Centre and Hills – Hornsby Rural Koala Project on detecting Platypus and Koalas in the local area.
David Booth and Gigi Beretta, Marine Ecologists from UTS on Sydney as a major hub of marine biodiversity but also a hotspot for climate change. They discussed their work in Sydney on seadragons, seahorses, invading tropical fishes and new subtropical coral beds off Sydney
Abbie from Kids Connecting Nature on our local native bee species and who also ran a workshop on how to make bee hotels that work.
We were also very fortunate to have many fabulous organisations contribute their local wildlife including:
Jabiru Wildlife who gave a fascinating demonstration of local snakes, including the red-bellied black, the Brown Snake and many others with lots of tips on safety around snakes.
Australian Wildlife Displays who brought a ringtail possum, Tawny Frogmouth, Bluetongue Lizard, Green Tree Frog, Diamond Python, Lace Monitor and Long-necked Turtle.
Hornsby Shire Council Bushcare teamFantastic Hollow Tree built by Friends of Berowra Valley
A very special thanks to Hornsby Shire Council for the community event grant that made the fair so much easier to run and Apex for contributing their entire takings on the day. Also to all of the members of Friends of Berowra Valley who contributed their time and effort in organising and running this community event.
The Berowra Fauna Fair is coming up, bigger and better than ever. With the support of Hornsby Shire Council we will be celebrating all of the marvellous wildlife with whom we share our bushland home.
On Sunday the 12th March from 10am to 4pm, at the Berowra Community and Cultural Facility (Berowra Community Centre), The Gully Road Berowra, we will commence with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony by Uncle Laurie. The centre will be a hub of fauna based activity including native animals, information from wildlife rescue, local plants for sale, a workshop on building a bee hotel and a BBQ run by Apex. Throughout the event there will be continuous 30-minute talks by experts on bats, birds, frogs, fungi, marine animals, koalas and more. There will be plenty of opportunity to share experiences and ask questions, or just to sit back and learn something new.
The greater Hornsby area is a native animal hot spot and home to some of Australia’s most iconic animals such as the echidna, and threatened species such as the platypus and koala. Learning about these animals is a great step towards making sure they are still here for future generations to enjoy. Other familiar friends, including bandicoots, sugar gliders and glossy black cockatoos, will also be featured in talks at the event.
Speaker Programme
Time
Talk
10am – 10.30am
Uncle Laurie
Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony
10.30am -11am
Fungi Biodiversity
Vanessa McPherson and Michael Gillings
School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
Learn about one of our most important ecosystem engineers in a fascinating talk about Fungi Biodiversity.
Genoplesium baueri R.Br. (family Orchidaceae) is an endangered terrestrial orchid species endemic to the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia. Genoplesium baueri was spotted by Wendy Grimm in 2009, as an isolated plant growing along a fire-trail in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, near Mount Colah with members of the Australian Plants Society North Shore Group. G. baueri was previously recorded in the 1940’s around Cowan and Mt Colah.
Wendy went on to monitor several populations of the rare orchid 2009-22 in local National Parks and nature reserves and published the results in Cunninghamia and was awarded a MPhil for her studies. Wendy has been part of the APS NSG Walks & Talks program at Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden since retiring as a hospital scientist in 2007 and has enjoyed a life-long enthusiasm for geology, flora & fauna and conservation of the environment.
Helen Smith works behind the scenes at the Australian Museum in Sydney where she helps to look after one of the largest spider collections in the southern hemisphere. These spider specimens are for research, so they are carefully preserved and labelled. But Helen also loves to get out and about to see what spiders and other little animals are up to in their day-to-day lives. Have you ever wondered why there are silk lines across the bushes glistening in the sun, or marvelled as a huntsman spider defies gravity to run across a smooth window? Or maybe you spotted a white speck moving in your lawn then realised it was attached to a camouflaged spider – what was that all about?
Come for a peep into the secret world of our 8-legged friends and find out about some of the astonishing things they do every day as they live their spidery lives.
A talk about your special Glossies and Powerful Owls as well as some of the other local birds people can see in the backyards or the surrounding bushland. Plus some hints on attracting birds to your gardens
An update on the wonderful work in the local area to detect platypus and koalas in our local bushland.
1.45pm – 2.15pm
Seahorses, seadragons, tropical fishes and corals: the Sydney scene.
David Booth and Gigi Beretta
UTS and FoBV
Sydney is a major hub of marine biodiversity but also a hotspot for climate change. Gigi Beretta and David Booth are marine ecologists who study marine fishes and corals from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney. We will discuss our work in Sydney on seadragons, seahorses, invading tropical fishes and new subtropical coral beds off Sydney!
Friends of Berowra Valley ran a fun event as part of the Great Southern Bioblitz on Sunday 30th October. Around 25 citizen scientists recorded the amazing diversity of Stringybark Ridge, Pennant Hills using the iNaturalist app.
A combination of power users and people new to the app ensured that the beautiful surrounding area was recorded. Each of these observations is fed into the Australian Atlas of Living Australia. This massive database is an invaluable tool for scientists and researchers.
Check out some of the amazing biodiversity in our project for the Berowra Valley Catchment.
The Friends of Berowra Valley ran a talk on the 7th May on our local koala population. Our speakers were volunteers associated with the local koala population initiative the Hornsby-Hills Rural Koala Project. They have been running an amazing program aimed at encouraging the health, protection and population increase of koalas in the Glenorie/Maroota/Arcadia/Hornsby areas. With the help of camera traps and song meters they have been listening out for koalas.
The Friends of Berowra Valley launched the inaugural Berowra Fauna Fair celebrating all the marvellous creatures with whom we share our bushland home. On Saturday the 19th March the Berowra District Hall was a hub of fauna based activity, including guided walks, a display of live frogs, native plants for sale from the Australian Plant Society with afternoon tea provided by the CWA. Throughout the event there were talks by experts on bats, birds, frogs, turtles, koalas and bees.
The day officially commenced with a very special Welcome to Country by Erin. This was followed by a day of presentations from world-class wildlife experts and ecologists. The line-up was outstanding. Visitors were able to also speak one-on-one with our experts at their displays.
Thank you to the CWA for your beautiful scones and sandwiches. The money raised by the CWA is going directly toward flood relief.
You could feel the community spirit in the room. It was so nice to see everybody come out and enjoy a great day together. We are also so blessed to live in an area surrounded by such a special natural environment.
We look forward to our next special event on Koalas at Mt Colah in May 2022.
Thanks again to all who attended and the amazing presenters and stall holders.
Encouraging Wildlife to Your Place – Martyn Robinson
Our Wonderful Birds including Glossy Black-Cockatoos and & Owls – Judy Harrington Birdlife Australia
