Narrowneck Bushcare has been allocated a second home at Birdie’s Dell while we wait for the uncertainty about access to Narrowneck to be resolved following the March 2022 heavy rain and landslides.
The area that needed our attention was a side creek of Megalong Creek, that begins at Bonnie Doon (the south west gully near the junction of Bathurst Rd and Narrow Neck Road). Our creek drained an area behind a handful of houses sandwiched between the section of Cliff Drive that takes you to Cahills Lookout and Nelson Road.
An old map of Katoomba found on Dave Noble’s website named this area Birdie’s Dell, the swamp before the creek leaps over the cliff at Silver Spray Waterfall.
For several of our monthly sessions in late 2022 we removed Ivy and an assortment of weeds including Himalayan Honeysuckle, Agapanthus, Holly and Privet from an area adjacent to Cliff Drive (council land at 304-320 Cliff Drive).
Then in February 2023 we ventured deeper downstream into the trackless valley of Birdie’s Dell, leaving the road at a Sydney Water pumping station. We were seeking confirmation of a heavy infestation of weeds in the main swamp.
After gingerly walking steeply through a tough band of thick ferns, tea tree and banksia near the main creek line, we burst into the narrow open valley of sedges and other water-loving plants. Unfortunately it was heavily infested throughout with large Himalayan Honeysuckle.
Ahead of us was many months’ work in this otherwise delightful valley. This would be an ideal site for sunny winter days.
Keith and Andrew walked the full length of the open valley, about 300 metres, until reaching the national park boundary. About 50 metres before the boundary they were shocked to see massive erosion caused by last year’s heavy rain. It had undercut the peat causing slumping and 2 metre trenches eroded to the bedrock. Is this what will happen to the Blue Mountains swamps with more extreme rainfall events?
Andrew used Pocket Earth (screenshot pictured right) to record his walk with Keith down the swamp towards the national park boundary (marked as the green line near the top of the map). The black dot marked the area of major slumping shown in the photos below. The blue dot marked where the bushcare group began removing the Himalayan Honeysuckle.
We treated the Himalayan Honeysuckle at the top of the valley, but after a few hours of work there was hardly anything to show for our labours.
Before ‘cutting and painting’ the honeysuckle, you need to remove the flowers and seeds and bag them to avoid leaving behind any potential for reseeding.
We will need to keep returning to properly deal with the honeysuckle.