Our walk in Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve took place on Thursday the 16th. The time of day chosen for this outing was late afternoon/evening to give participants the chance of seeing nocturnal animals emerging in the twilight period after sunset.
Mulligans Flat is a special reserve managed by the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust. It contains healthy populations of several nocturnal species re-introduced inside a “feral predator-proof” fence. In 2012, in partnership with the ACT Government and others, Adrian Manning’s group at the ANU’s Fenner School, released first, the Eastern Bettong (Bettongia gaimardi). About 30 individuals were sourced from Tasmania to form the founding population. Adrian’s team, including Jenny Newport, Helen Crisp, Nicki Munro and Will Batson, continued to survey and monitor the population. Numbers quickly exceeded 100 then developed into a stable population of between 150 and 200. Other re-introductions followed, including the New Holland Mouse (Pseudo novahollandia), then Bush Stone-curlew (Burhinus grallarius), and then Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus).
Field Naturalists were fortunate to have relatively mild and calm weather during the walk, though a cold change was in the air as gathering clouds provided a spectacular sunset for us.
After entering the main gate, we headed off along the Old Coach Road. It was built in 1880 to link early rural settlements to Bungendore, which soon became a railhead link to Sydney. Today it traverses healthy, structurally diverse woodland and open forest containing old-growth trees. Here we encountered birds such as the Scarlet Robin, and at a dam, the Australasian Grebe. Alas, we didn’t hear the plaintive call of a curlew – maybe next time! Sandra Henserson has provided a full bird list below.
In this part of the reserve, the ground cover provided ideal habitat for bettongs, with long tufted grass and logs. We had been seeing scratching in the soil, and Julia Raine was in the process of pointing out bettong nests that were hiding at the base of grass tussocks, when one shot out from a nest and in seconds had disappeared into the distance.
Bettongs are small macropods that construct dome-shaped nests on the ground using grasses, leaves and bark, and use their prehensile tails to carry the material to their sites. These nests are used by individuals, or by mother and joey, for resting during the day, concealed from predators. Each bettong may build multiple nests within its home range and they are often reused over several seasons. These animals are eco-engineers. They are great diggers of the soil, searching for their beloved food source – native truffles. Their diggings enhance soil structure and biodiversity, and also facilitate water penetration, and in turn, plant germination and growth. Their absence for so many decades in the ACT has no doubt led to degradation of local ecosystems.
We returned to the car park by dark, making a loop via the Old Woolshed, and enjoyed the scarlet sky along the way.
Bird List (compiled by Sandra Henderson)
Spotted Dove: 5
Crested Pigeon: 15
Australasian Grebe: 1
Little Pied Cormorant: 1
Laughing Kookaburra: 2
Galah: 2
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo: 2
Crimson Rosella: 5
Eastern Rosella: 5
White-throated Treecreeper: 1
Noisy Miner: 6
Red Wattlebird: 1
Weebill: 3
Buff-rumped Thornbill: 5
Australian Magpie: 7
Pied Currawong: 3
Gray Fantail: 3
Magpie-lark: 3
Australian Raven: 1
Scarlet Robin: 1
– John Stein