Sunday 31 March 2013

Friends of Daly Reserve, Gisborne

Macedon Range's newest conservation group had its first meeting on Sunday March 24, 2013. Like me (until recently), you probably won't have heard of it let alone been to Daly Reserve in Gisborne (Howey Street, behind the Scout Hall). It is a small patch of part-parkland and part-remnant vegetation that somehow escaped from development and stands proudly near the centre of Gisborne.

On hearing that the reserve was under threat of development, a few individuals took up the fight to save this lovely Council reserve. I heard about it last year via an email from our Riddells Creek Landcare president, Narelle. Coincidentally, our member David Francis and I independently popped in when we next passed the area to have a look and, without trying too hard, we named 50 species of indigenous plants in the reserve. But most excitingly we both spotted what we have since confirmed as being an extremely rare wattle, Acacia verniciflua (Bacchus Marsh variant) - which has recently renamed as Acacia rostriformis:


It was a great day last Sunday at the group's first meeting and how exciting it is to see a new group born.

I was asked to lead a walk after the main meeting, during which the group spotted a few species not previously recorded there ... they were:

Tricoryne elatior (Yellow Rush-lily) - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8798/ 

Wahlenbergia multicaulis (Branching Bluebell) - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8799/

Eastern Grey Kangaroo - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8802/  

At the time of the meeting David and I had found 56 indigenous species at Daly Reserve. Since then I've been back a couple of times and managed to get the species list up to 93 - it really is a very diverse spot. Getting close to the '100' milestone! Some very interesting species too, showing wide diversity:

Zebra Spider Hunter Wasp (a new one for me) - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8828/  

White Punk (a massive shelf fungus that grows on Eucs - often seen fallen to the ground) - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8812/ 

3 species of dragonfly including this female Wandering Percher - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8826/  

Grey Currawong (quite an unusual bird) - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8817/ 

Nodding Saltbush (a bushfood plant) - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8810/  

Scopula rubraria (moth) - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8816/  

Yellow-banded Dart (tiny butterfly) - http://natureshare.org.au/observation/8821/ 


A full list can be tracked via this link (it updates automatically):
http://natureshare.org.au/species/search/1423/
... or via the collection itself:
http://natureshare.org.au/collection/262/species/
... and here are all the photos/observations I've uploaded so far:
http://natureshare.org.au/collection/262/observations/

Good luck Friends of Daly Reserve from all of us at Riddells Creek Landcare!

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