Quokkas
in the Northern Jarrah Forest 

R U OK? Day
Planting and Morning Tea

• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
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SJ Food & Farm Fest

The SJFFA are thrilled to still be able to run their 2021 Agricultural Show and hope you will all join them on the 13th of November, at 1432 Karnup Rd, Serpentine.

All pre-purchased tickets have been automatically updated in Humanitix with the new date. If you wish for your ticket(s) to be refunded, please contact the SJFFA via info@sjfoodandfarmalliance.com.au with your details to organise a full refund.

Visit the Food and Farm Fest page and also on their Facebook page for all details.  

Landcare SJ Inc
Annual General Meeting

Hollows on the Range
for
Threatened Glossy Black Cockatoos 
 

In June 2021, the Glossy Black-Cockatoo was voted by the public to become the inaugural winner of the Saving our Species Threatened NSW Species of the Year.  Currently listed as vulnerable in NSW, it is likely to soon be relisted as nationally threatened under the EPBC Act.
 
Glossy Black-Cockatoo numbers have dwindled severely due to land clearing and habitat degradation causing the loss of hollow-bearing trees and stands of their most important food source Allocasuarina species.  Breeding success is a key limiting factor in population recovery for the Glossy Black-Cockatoo.
 
When bushfire swept through the Nightcap National Park, NE NSW in November & December 2019, the quietly, charismatic Glossy Black-Cockatoos not only lost large expanses of their food trees but also the old-growth hollow-bearing trees they need for breeding.
 
Glossy Black-Cockatoos feed almost exclusively on only two species of She-oak trees.   They are also limited with their breeding choices … not any old tree hollow will do.  The region’s Cockatoos and Owls are restricted to the larger hollows only found in Blackbutt trees greater than 200 years old.  
 
Many of the Cockatoos decamped to Mt Jerusalem National Park, a little way north.  Whilst food trees are present, quantities of suitable nest hollows are not.  Logging in this part of the range only ceased in 1995.
 
Sadly, since 2019 no juveniles have been seen within the flock.
 
With funds provided by a Landcare Led Bushfire Recovery Grant, the Wilsons Creek Huonbrook Landcare Top of the Range Glossy Black Cockatoo Nest Hollow Project, will install a variety of specialist artificial hollows in carefully selected sites to see if the Glossy Blacks will use them:  timber nest boxes, PVC hollows as successfully used on Kangaroo Island for this species, and specially designed Black Cockatoo hollows known as CockatubesTM from Landcare SJ in WA.

Photo: Glossy Balck Cockatoos, Cockatubes in installed by Wilksoon Creek Huonbrook Landcare

Covid-19 lockdowns, border closures and unforeseen spiralling freight costs caused inevitable delays and threatened the project.  Our CockatubesTM had been made but were stranded in Mundijong, south of Perth.  Our sincere thanks for the generous support of Northline Freight Services, who brought their national freight network to the rescue for free.  After transporting the CockatubesTM 4,350 kms across four states to the Byron Bay hinterland, the project is now back on track for installation of the hollows in September.
 
This Glossy Black-Cockatoo Project brings together a uniquely qualified team of passionate local volunteers.  Professor Sarah Legge – a nationally recognised expert in threatened species conservation – is supported by ecologists Darren McHugh from NPWS, Justin Mallee from NPWS Saving our Species, and Dr Jo Green, well known in NE NSW for her environmental work with both Tweed and Byron Shire Councils. 
 
Tweed Byron Local Aboriginal Land Council and its team of Indigenous Rangers are delighted to be partners in a well-conceived project to support this iconic species.
 
Together, we will harness what we do know about the Glossy Black-Cockatoo and its breeding preferences, offer a choice of artificial custom-made hollows and monitor the results.  We hope for a successful breeding event either next year or the one after.  At the very least we will add to the pool of knowledge on how to save the Glossy Black-Cockatoo.
 
The Landcare Led Bushfire Recovery Grants Program is supported by the Australian Government’s Bushfire Recovery Program for Wildlife and their Habitat.

Northline Transports Cockatubes
from Coast to Coast 

When I first spoke with Francis Smit at SJ Landcare back in March 2021 to price their specially designed and highly successful artificial Black Cockatoo CockatubeTM hollows, life seemed ‘relatively’ normal.  I never considered the fact that we’d be bringing them about as far across Australia (from west to east) as is possible, in a pandemic!
 
When our grant application was lodged in early June, NSW was still free from Covid-19 infections.  By late July when we learnt our grant application was successful, in a typical Covid-19 twist the project now looked compromised as Regional NSW joined Greater Sydney in lockdown and every State border closed tight.  We were now struggling to freight our Cockatubes from SJ Landcare in Mundijong, an hour south of Perth to us here in Byron Shire.
 
While the original very high freight cost doubled, no one could give us any guarantee of delivery timing.  Freight companies aren’t finding it easy at present.  Our Cockatubes were made, but not going anywhere soon.  Making them here wasn’t an option for an affordable price either.

Photo: Landcare SJ to Wilson Creek Huonbrook Landcare

In desperation, I appealed to Northline Freight Services, one of Australia’s biggest logistics companies.  After all, I only wanted a quote.  They listened; said they’d get back to me with a price; then blew me away with their offer to freight our hollows over for free.  They’d take them the very next day, see you in a week!  I suspect that Francis Smit back in WA is still smiling.
 
A wonderful contribution to help our conservation work for this iconic threatened species. 
Thank you, Northline

Photos: Left - Cockatubes leaving Mundijong, Right -  Cockatubes arriving in Byron Shire, Northline logo

An End to Native Forest Logging

 Native Vegetation Policy

Nyoongar Calendar
 

During the Kambarang season, we see an abundance of colours and flowers exploding all around us. The yellows of many of the Acacias continue to abound, along with some of the Banksias and many other smaller delicate flowering plants including the Kangaroo Paw and Orchids. Also during this time, the Balgas will also start to flower, especially if they've been burnt in the past year or closely shaved.

One of the most striking displays of flowers to be seen during this season will be the "Mooja", or Australian Christmas Tree (Nuytsia). The bright orange/yellow flowers serve to signal the heat is on its way.

For the animals, October is also the most likely time of the year that you'll encounter a snake as the reptiles start to awaken from their hibernation and look to make the most of the warmth to assist them in getting enough energy to look for food. It's also a time that many young families of birds will be singing out for their parents to feed them. Koolbardies (Magpies) will also be out protecting their nests and their babies.

Many things are undergoing a transformation with the warm change in the weather.

Longer dry periods accompany a definite warming trend.

- South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council

Species: Caladenia latifolia