It was as though a grey fantail – singing a tinkling, thin song – had arrived on cue. Landcare volunteers were busy turning an old overgrown, log-strewn quarry into the latest addition to Hobart’s wildlife landscape.
The members of the Waterworks Valley Landcare Group had already named their latest project Fantail Quarry and the fantail, flitting through the treetops above the volunteers’ heads, was giving their efforts a seal of approval.
The work of the 13 Landcare and Bushcare groups in Hobart often goes unnoticed but, beyond weed control and planting native trees and shrubs, a project comes along to catch the eye.
The Fantail Quarry is just one such initiative and it has already transformed a section of the lower Pipeline Track just below the northern border of the Waterworks Reserve.
Over two weekends more than 30 volunteers cleared weeds and fallen trees from the site and then erected two wooden benches made out of tree trunks.
On the first Sunday of this month – the group always meets monthly on that day – I joined them as they put the finishing touches to their latest effort.
The last stage involved planting tree and shrub species commonly found in the area. Among trees were both white and black peppermint gums, and a tree that might eventually attract the forty-spotted pardalote, the white gum which is vital habitat for this endangered bird.
Shrubs planted to meld with existing vegetation in the area, which borders the Sandy Bay Rivulet, included bursaria, musk, blanket leaf and dogwood.
This part of the rivulet is not only rich in about 60 bird species, several mammals are also found there. So to provide food Bennett’s wallabies, potoroos and pademelons the volunteers also planted poa and lomandra grasses.
Before the planting, the group got down to their usual task: clearing invasive weeds under the supervision of professionals from the Hobart Council’s Bushcare program which overseas the activities of the groups which fall under the Bushcare and Landcare umbrella.
The volunteer bush regeneration program has been running since the mid-1990s. On average about 120 volunteers turn up each month. With additional field days and special events, volunteers contribute more than 3000 hours each year to not only regenerating the city’s green spaces but raising awareness of environmental issues in their local areas. Bushcare also provides support to local schools and other organisations undertaking community-based care of the city’s bushland.
The groups are also involved in track development and maintenance and specific projects have involved creating the Glover Trail on Knocklofty. The Friends of Knocklofty, another Bushcare group, opened up areas from where the Victorian artist John Glover painted panoramas of Old Hobart Town. The Friends also converted a dry old cattle dam into what is now known as the Frog Ponds, giving a home to rare and threatened frogs.
Meanwhile, the Waterworks Valley group have not finished work at the Fantail Quarry, They are now considering putting up nest boxes in the hope of attracting swift parrots to nest there.