Woodvine Wandering | Day Ten

Out the back of Forcett is a 377 hectare property which is managed by the Parks and Wildlife Service as a nature reserve. It was donated to the crown a little while back by the landowner, Ernie Shaw. He understood the importance of what he had on his land. Not simply that it is significant habitat for a range of species and ecological communities which are under threat, but because he could see the amount of land clearing going on within the area. Woodvine would not fall to the same fate under his watch, so he put it into conservation.

You can read about the history of the property in the management plan which was produced by PWS. If you are into that kind of history then I guess it is pretty interesting. I’m not so much into the detailed history of who lived where and why and did what, it’s not my thing. What is my thing, is the part of the story that shows the respect for the land that Ernie had. His passion for this patch of bush was so strong that he made sure it would be protected in the future. Which makes him a pretty damn awesome bloke. I’m grateful for being able to now go and visit this special little patch of bushland knowing it won’t be earmarked for subdivision. Thanks Ernie!

Woodvine is a nature reserve. Which means its main objective is not for us and our recreational pursuits. You can’t go there and tear around on your motorbikes, shoot things for fun, camp for a few days and light some fires, or take your dog in there to crap all over the place. There are ample other areas which you can do those things. So please, if you do visit Woodvine, or any reserve really, then respect the rules which apply to them. They are not created to ruin your fun, control your life or any other ‘we live in a nanny state’ kind of argument. The rules are there to conserve and protect the flora and fauna which exists there. Respect that and don’t be a jerk, the world is bigger than you.

Oh and if you are wondering what Day Ten means, I have decided to work a nine day fortnight. Day Ten is dedicated to wandering and botanising and not doing washing or cleaning the house.

Woodvine is a decent size patch of land. As it is a reserve where the main objective is conservation, there are not a lot of formal walking tracks. There is one track which extends west from the main entrance near the homestead. It is an out and back, which runs for about two kilometres. Pretty flat, along a sandy trail, with only a slight incline so it is quite accessible.

There are quite a few different vegetation types within its boundaries, some of which are threatened. The track doesn’t extend into all of them, but weaves its way through some different dry and wet forests. There is a patch of button grass moorland which you have a great view of from the track. Outside of the southwest, you don’t get a lot of button grass communities, so it’s always pretty special to see them where you don’t expect them to be.

Most of the walk goes through some really wonderful Eucalyptus amygdalina coastal forest. This type of forest has a typically sandy substrate and the understory contains a lot of heathy plants. Epacris, Aotus, Banksia, Leptospermum and Acacia species are usually dominant. There is also a bit of Allocasuarina too, which is a plant I really don’t have much time for. No idea why. I just don’t. However, having said that, if I HAD to put up with Allocasuarina then it would be A. monilifera. Maybe because this species is generally smaller and is usually just here and there rather than everywhere.

Amongst the shrubby stuff there are a whole lot of sedges, graminoids and other species. Some patches are pretty thick with Pteridium esculentum (bracken fern). Bad time of year to be botanising though as a lot of the little stuff isn’t out. It can also be hard to spot things when there aren’t loads of different flowers to catch your eye. It’s still marvellous though!

Eucalyptus ovata forest is one of our threatened vegetation communities. It is also threatened at a federal level if it meets the benchmarks. Most people know that we have threatened plants and animals, but a lot don’t realise that we have whole communities which are threatened. I know it used to catch me up in early days. Eucalyptus ovata as a single tree is not threatened, but chuck a whole bunch together in a forest and it is. Same applies to Eucalyptus globulus. The tree itself isn’t threatened, but a forest full of them is. Both are also the favoured snack foods of the swift parrot too. I bet everyone knows them!

Anyway… ovata forest is generally found in the wetter lower lying areas. They don’t mind having their little feet wet. It becomes really apparent not far into the track where you get a really distinct change in the vegetation. All of sudden everything gets thicker and a bit taller with a few more spiky Acacias and Eucalyptus ovata dominating rather than E. amygdalina. Even if you don’t know the names of your eucs, if you just pay attention to the form and the leaf sizes and shape, you can pick the difference.

There is another patch further on, which is a bit bigger. Although it is surrounded by more Eucalyptus obliqua, which could make it harder to easily spot the difference in the eucs if you don’t know them well. But I still reckon you could tell by the change in the understory. Just give it a crack. Anytime you are out walking in the bush, pay attention to the differences as you move along. You don’t need to know the names of things, you don’t even need to be able to recognise all the plants. Just look for the differences, you’ll realise more changes than you think!

It’s in this bit where I actually stopped and tried to look at birds. I don’t have a bird lens and I only had my macro on the Nikon. However, I did manage to get a couple of terrible photos! Considering I couldn’t even see them in the viewfinder and I just pointed in the general direction, I am quite pleased. Took a bit of searching the image and zooming later to find them. Was enough for me to work out the Bassian thrush myself, and for Erin to tell me the other one is a female golden whistler. Look at me bird!

Birds are wonderful. I am pretty focussed on plants, and I don’t think that will change, however I am going through a bit of a bird phase. I downloaded the Merlin app and I really like that it can throw a bunch of suggestions at me about what bird I think I am seeing. I know some of the most common ones, and what to look for in terms of habitat for the threatened ones. But overall, I am not a bird watcher. I find it very difficult to stand still and be quiet. Even harder to try and do both at the same time. Unfortunately, that seems to be the best way to spot a bird…

There were bucket loads of them at Woodvine though. All tweeting and singing and flitting around from tree to tree. I stopped a couple of times to try and catch them long enough to get a good look at them. Eastern spinebills are by far my favourite, the dear little things, and I saw a few of those. There was also a scarlet robin, some ravens, a few kookaburras and a whole bunch of other little flappy ones that were too fast for me.

Distinguishing between calls is clearly the best way to know who is who in the hundred acre wood. Unfortunately I don’t have a brain that sounds stick in. Not easily anyway. Maybe the common ones, like a raven or a wattle bird, but all the little chirps… nope. I’ll just have to learn to get better at using binoculars I guess.

There is clearly a population of devils here, and eastern quolls too probably. Devil scat (and maybe a quoll one) was present along pretty much the whole length of the track. Some fresher than others, some bigger than others. This shows that they are quite active through the area. Which you would expect. It is a pretty varied habitat, and apparently up in the northern part of the site, it is a bit rockier and has some nice areas for devils to make their little homes. I didn’t get that far, but from the tracks you can see a few uprooted trees which look like they could have a nice network of burrows.

No doubt they would love hanging out around the old homestead too. Probably a nice lot of rats and mice up there to feast on! I think if I was a carnivorous marsupial I would be quite happy living here. A nice little reserve, free from dogs (probably not cats though) and not many humans, with a whole lot of different habitats. I could go and knick around the open areas and catch little mammals, or maybe head over to the closest human dwelling and grab a chook. Plenty of thick scrub to hide in and some nice places to build a home.

Important Tips

Dogs are NOT allowed in Nature Reserves. There are reasons for this. Not just because someone went ‘meh, lets annoy dog people’. No dogs, means no dogs. Not even on a lead. Don’t argue or whinge about it. Just respect it (yes it is an annoyance of mine)

Our natural areas are precious, and we need to ensure they are cared for and looked after to the best of our abilities, which means abiding by the rules, even if we think they are shit, or we think we are too good for them…

• Clean your boots before you go! It’s super important to keep diseases out of the reserve
• Take your rubbish out – this includes tissues – there are no bins at Woodvine, so pack it out.
• Leave the plants as you find them – don’t pick flowers or take home a sprig of foliage (unless you have a permit)
• Leave the animals to be wild and don’t feed them or chase them with sticks or go poking around looking for them. Just enjoy seeing their poo on the tracks, and if you happen to see a real live animal then be excited!
• Stay to the formed tracks (even if they are muddy). Don’t just head off scrub bashing through the bush unless you have a really good reason. There is plenty to appreciate and enjoy from the track (including the orchids which line it).
• Most importantly, enjoy it and remember to thank the late Mr Ernie Shaw for ensuring this wonderful patch will be protected.

Check out my Ramblr from my days wandering

Read the Woodvine Nature Reserve Management Statement 2010

Remember to Photograph Nature Nicely