Birdie’s Dell is on the mend

We’ve now spent well over a year at Birdie’s Dell and we are starting to see progress.

Each month we have been treating the Himalayan honeysuckle that is dotted through the long finger of peat wetland. In winter the honeysuckle loses its leaves and the remaining green stems are hard to spot hidden amongst the grasses and sedges. Come spring the bright green new shoots stand out, and the race is on to remove flowers and any seeds.

These honeysuckles in May have a slightly golden colour and are about to lose their leaves in winter.
These honeysuckles in May have a slightly golden colour and are about to lose their leaves in winter. While they have already dropped their seeds, it’s still useful to remove them to prevent a new batch of seeds next spring.

Morning tea break is perhaps the highlight of the session. We can sample each other’s treats, whether it is fruit cake, home baked slice or the obligatory ginger nuts. And we can share news and views, and get worked up about the latest environmental threat. Many of our crew are seasoned environmental campaigners, so we’re also plotting and scheming.

A sunny lunch spot in Birdie's Dell.
A sunny lunch spot in Birdie’s Dell, the kneeling mats preventing a wet bottom from the soggy ground.
The obligatory ginger nuts.

We have now removed all the obvious honeysuckles to a point 80 metres downstream from the top of the wetland. It is satisfying to see the native vegetation closing in on areas that once had large tufts of weeds.

Looking west down Birdie’s Dell. Our crew is slightly left of centre, pictured below. When we began over a year ago, this scene would have been full of Himalayan honeysuckle.
Bushcarers hard at work.

During warmer summer days we have been avoiding the open wetlands and instead remove weeds from the bushland adjacent to Cliff Drive on the southern side of Birdie’s Dell.

The road impacted by the landslip at the start of Narrow Neck is now repaired and we will be soon allowed into the bush along Glenraphael Drive. While Birdie’s Dell still has work to do, we are keen to get back to our home base at Narrow Neck to see which weeds have returned after a two-year absence.