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This newsletter edition features:Major funding secured by SA Arid Lands NRM Board for Mound Springs Management Project
Bernice Cohen
After a weather-induced postponement in June, the Friends of Mound Springs 2013 field trip finally hit the road on August 5th. The main purpose of the field trip was to look at possible strategies to manage springs and their vegetation communities. There was a particular focus on the proliferation of Phragmites around those springs that have been fenced to exclude stock. The observations made on this field trip will provide valuable input into an Natural Resources SA Arid Lands project that will investigate management strategies for South Australia’s mound springs (see above item). The field trip also provided FOMS with an opportunity to meet and discuss springs management with pastoral lessees and managers.
Of course, the trip also allowed us to spend time in some of the world’s outstanding landscapes and the privilege of viewing Aboriginal rock etchings and the great Palthiri Pithi grindstone quarry. In addition, we were able to commune with some of our wildlife – particularly the flies, but also the occasional bearded dragon, dingoes, emus, a lonely kangaroo or two, galahs, corellas and an occasional wedgie. At least one of us developed some affection for the Brahmin and Brahmin-cross cattle taking advantage of recent rains and green pick on Anna Creek Station. At night under the universe’s outstanding night skies, we had the opportunity to gaze into gidgee and coolibah fires, while occasionally savouring a nip of amber fluid.
Colin Harris, Simon Lewis, Bernice Cohen, Margie Barnett and Bruce Gotch made the trip through Billa Kalina, into Anna Creek, The Peake, Nilpinna and Allandale. We visited many springs, including Billa Kalina, Frances Swamp, Big Perry, the Fountain, Twelve Mile, Outside Springs, Big Cadna-owie, Old Nilpinna and Tarlton.
We met Colin Greenfield of Billa Kalina who has voluntarily fenced some springs. He showed us a spring that has a proliferation of Phragmites. No more than 100 metres away within the same exclosure, is a second spring with no Phragmites. Colin’s view is that this represents differences in water quality. He showed us other springs that cattle have access to. One of these has been trampled and polluted, but nevertheless has a diversity of vegetation, pools of clear water and is generally very attractive.
In addition, we caught up with Jodie and Nathan Keogh, managers of The Peake and had useful discussions with them about springs and general pastoral management.
Several interesting observations were made at the springs inspected by the group. Most still showed significant growth of Phragmites but, at the Fountain and Outside Springs, there was just a hint that the Phragmites in the main vent may be dying out, with open water observed at both locations. Progress at these springs will be watched with particular interest. At Twelve Mile, recent cattle intrusion has impacted upon the Phragmites, but there is fresh growth of bulrush, Typha, at the top vent.
Recent cattle intrusion at Twelve Mile has impacted heavily on Phragmites
Recent cattle intrusion at Twelve Mile has impacted heavily on Phragmites but there is a healthy stand of Typha at the top vent
At Old Nilpinna, the fenced spring has virtually ceased to flow and this seems to be the result of evapotranspiration associated with prolific bamboo growth. Just outside the fenced area, another spring is flowing well and supports a large wetland. Tarlton Spring, nestling in a beautiful setting in the foothills of the Peake and Denison Range, remains almost dry. Tarlton Spring is not an artesian spring as such, but a discharge spring from the adjacent ranges. We half expected a reasonable flow at Tarlton following recent good rainfall years but this was not to be. This may just be a factor of the time taken for seepage from the range to manifest at the spring.
At Outside Springs there is a suggestion that Phragmites is in decline in the main pool
At Nilpinna dense bamboo appears to have contributed to a cessation of flow
In general, springs that had been fenced showed significant growth of Phragmites and little or no open water. Springs exposed to cattle had significant trampling and fouling, but some of these had a range of plant species, and none were clogged with Phragmites. Clearly fencing on the one hand and grazing on the other both create their own set of management issues.
Decisions on preferred future management regimes will depend to a large extent on the value the community places on criteria such as clear open water, plant diversity and rare or endemic plant and animal species.
In May this year a group of FOMS members and associates undertook a ten-day trip to maintain and monitor the walking trails installed in 2011 by the Friends of Mound Springs group at Strangways and the Peake, sites of enormous significance because of their natural and cultural values.
Our party was Michael (chief chef) and Grant (co-driver and chief assistant) in the Toyota Hi-lux, carrying everything you could possibly require while camping in the desert, and Bjarne and myself in the trusty Nissan X-Trail towing the very heavy A-van, full of enough supplies for 10 days. We helped to design and install walking trails at these sites on previous trips with the Friends of Mound Springs group, and this time our little group of four people in two vehicles did the monitoring and maintenance run.
This was a challenging trip of more than 2,100 km on rough unsealed roads in remote areas. We survived the full range of mud, rain, cold nights, clear skies, raging winds, a full moon, sunny days and very slow going at times. We reached our goals at Strangways and The Peake repeater stations, but not without some serious challenges.
After a slight delay starting while we renewed the battery in Michael’s fridge, we made good time to camp in Farina at sundown on the first day. We found the camp ground very crowded, as the Farina Restoration Group was in residence for 5 weeks of restoration work. This historic town is rising from the ruins to become a tourist destination with an amazing story to tell, and an inspiring group of volunteers doing an amazing job restoring the town. Most importantly, the bakery was in full swing, producing sausage rolls, apple scrolls and other delicious treats.
We set out from Marree in light rain, but it just persisted, turning the unsealed Oodnadatta Track into an endless ribbon of mud, varying only in colour. There was red mud, yellow mud and brown mud, in sticky gooey masses. It flew up in the air, onto the windscreen and roof, and plastered everything in a sticky layer. The A-van kept changing colour, and will probably never be really clean again!
We finally reached Strangways Springs after three days on the road and spent four days camped there. Several times we experienced stunning sunsets and sunrises, as well as the glory of the full moon rising over the desert. The open skies frequently fill with amazing clouds and light, and the desert landscapes are full of varying colours and landforms. The stars are stunning, with the full sweep of the Milky Way, but you need to look before the moon comes up and the sky is no longer dark.
Our monitoring tasks were to check the status of the walking trails at Strangways Springs and The Peake, and to renew stores of brochures for the trails at each site. Everything was in order, no maintenance work required, and the requested photopoints were taken. We did the trip to The Peake in one day, instead of moving camp, and were glad we were not towing the A-van on still muddy and often corrugated roads. Once the work was done, we were free to go walking, take photos and enjoy the gourmet menu and wines. As the sun shone and temperatures rose, we had to resort to fly nets over our hats to keep out the pesky flies.
We headed back south, stopping first to check classic mound springs at Blanche Cup and The Bubbler, and back to Farina again, before heading for our favourite place of former years, Warraweena in the northern Flinders Ranges Then back to Adelaide for a very welcome shower and comfortable bed after ten days on the road.
In an internal report to FOMS after the above trip Anne drew attention to the impact of visitors climbing to the top of Cutting Grass Spring on the Springs Walk at Strangways Springs.
Cutting Grass Spring is site no. 7 on the Springs Walk and in the brochure visitors are informed that it is named for the occurrence of cutting grass, Gahnia trifida, a disjunct plant of the mound springs, the nearest other occurrence being many hundreds of kilometres away in south eastern Australia. The brochure also asks people not to climb to the top, the mound being steep and fragile and not having an open pool on its summit.
In spite of this advice Anne had noticed that people were climbing the spring and she recommended an on-site sign to reinforce the message in the brochure. Given the perceived urgency FOMS organised the immediate printing of a temporary sign and this was installed in mid-June this year by a small FOMS party. A permanent sign, with a lower profile, will be installed as soon as possible.
In an earlier newsletter we reported on plans by the (now) Department for Environment and Water to upgrade access walks to Blanche Cup and the Bubbler in Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park. This work is now understood to be virtually complete.
DEWNR also plans to rationalise car-parking arrangements at the two locations. There have been concerns that recent works on the car parks has not been as effective as it could be.
This newsletter edition features:
Members will recall the expedition by a team of FOMS members with expert assistance from Rob Marshall and Sue Barker to Strangways and the Peake in May 2011 to establish a series of self-guided walking trails.
In May 2012, Colin Harris, Elaine Smyth, Bernice Cohen and Simon Lewis headed north once again to check on the condition of the walking trails and to top up the supply of brochures. (Thanks must also go to Bill Giles who, a little earlier, checked on the situation at Strangways on a separate trip through the region.)
We are pleased to report that the trails are all in good shape. There were still brochures at each location but the topping up was timely.
We made some interesting but not unexpected observations at both Strangways and the Peake. At Strangways, the Springs Walk is clearly the more popular of the two and it appears that the majority of walkers are venturing as far as the cemetery, then retracing their steps back to the ruins. At the Peake there is a similar pattern on the Coppertop Smelter and Mine Walk, with many walking up the gully to the smelter site then returning to the ruins.
During our return journey, we stopped in at Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park to remove vegetation growing through the ruins of the Mt Hamilton police station. Good progress was made, with the work to be completed at a later date by a work crew organised by Tony Magor of the Department for Environment and Water (DEWNR).
Another trip highlight was the sight of Beresford Hill surrounded by water following recent good rains.
The Little Bubbler is a relatively modest spring near Blanche Cup and the Bubbler in Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park. The spring’s vegetation has been monitored by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources since the mid 1980s. For most of this time, the vegetation at the spring vent and along much of the tail has comprised an almost pure stand of bore-drain sedge, Cyperus laevigatus.
However, during the last two or three years, the common reed, Phragmites, has become established at the spring vent. Phragmites is indigenous to many mound springs, but often has a tendency to grow vigorously to the exclusion of other spring vegetation. This has been noted at several springs fenced by the Department in the 1980s (e.g. Big Perry, the Fountain, Twelve Mile) and at Finniss Springs following destocking.
It is possible that Phragmites was introduced to the Little Bubbler on the shoes of researchers or monitoring personnel and therefore may not be a truly natural introduction. Although Phragmites is not yet proliferating at this spring, it may have the potential to do so.
The question therefore arises: should FOMS be suggesting to DENR that active steps be taken to remove Phragmites from the Little Bubbler? Some of us think the answer to this question is “yes” but any comments from FOMS members on this would be welcome.
Another point of interest about the Little Bubbler is the propensity for its tail to change direction from time to time. The left-hand fork in the tail in the above photograph is a recent “break-out”. The new tails tend to be colonised by species such as Cyperus quite rapidly.
Some of the FOMS volunteers at Strangways. From left: John Childs, Bill Giles, Hadyn Hanna, Colin Harris, Bernice Cohen, Chris Hanna, Leigh Childs, Anne Jensen
FOMS volunteers bending their backs at the Peake
FOMS members had a busy time in May 2011 establishing a series of walking trails at Strangways Springs and the Peake. Both sites are of national importance because of their combination of mound springs and ruins of Overland Telegraph repeater stations.
FOMS has been involved in protective works at the two locations for the last three years. FOMS has worked with S Kidman & Co and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the installation of protective fencing and informative signage. Much of the recent protective work has focussed on the Peake, where fencing was constructed in 2010 to prevent indiscriminate vehicle access to the nearby gidgee creek-line. This complemented earlier work by FOMS volunteers (in 2008) to establish bollards around the main car-park.
In 2010 FOMS was fortunate to secure a State Government community NRM grant of $9,600 to complete this work by establishing self-guided walks through the springs and other cultural features at both Strangways and the Peake, an initiative which had been previously suggested to FOMS by S Kidman & Co Managing Director Greg Campbell. During 2010 there were two trips by FOMS personnel to determine the routes for the walking trails.
The project came to a climax in May this year when 26 FOMS volunteers gathered on site with mattocks, rakes and scrapers to develop, as well as blisters and sore backs, a total of about 6 km of walking trails. The group was guided by trail construction experts Rob Marshall and Dr Sue Barker, with trail markers established at points of interest and brochures prepared to guide walkers around the trail loops.
Many thanks go to the following helpers who made it all possible:
DENR Regional Manager Geoff Axford pointing out the way forward to Colin Harris and Janet Walton. Perhaps Bernice Cohen (seated) thinks she has heard it all before!
Linking of the Mine Trail at the Peake. From left Bruce Gotch, Sherrie Gotch, Sue Black, Margie Barnett, Colin Harris, John Childs, Leigh Childs, Elaine Smyth
There are now three walks at each location. At Strangways, the Mound Springs Walk takes visitors on a 1.8km walk around several active springs and the cemetery; the Woolwash Walk (2.2km) ventures down to the ruins of the wool-scouring plant and back along the springs plateau; and the Settlement Walk is guided by signs identifying each of the buildings. At the Peake, the Coppertop Smelter and Mine Walk (1.5km) explores the old mine and smelter and provides sweeping vistas of the springs and ruins on the return loop; the Creek and Cemetery Walk provides a short 0.6km loop along the watercourse; and the Settlement Walk showcases the old buildings.
The completion of the physical works in May paved the way for finalisation of three FOMS brochures – one each for the Strangways and Peake walks and a third with general information on mound springs. The brochures are of a high quality and the input and assistance of a number of FOMS members was very much appreciated.
Twelve thousand brochures have been printed and 4000 were transported to the on-site dispensers by Colin Harris and Simon Lewis 7-10 August 2011.
Pictured are the first visitors to use the brochures at Strangways Springs on 8 August, Heather and Tracey Mahon from Sydney.
This work effectively completes a major and very successful project for FOMS at Strangways and the Peake, although ongoing maintenance of the trails will be needed and the brochures will need to be topped up from time to time.
Many thanks again to all who have contributed, especially the FOMS members who worked tirelessly on the construction of the trails. Special thanks are extended to Rob Marshall and Dr Sue Barker, walking trails experts who generously contributed a great deal of time and effort before, during and after the construction work. The high standard of the completed work is in no small measure due to their commitment and expertise.
This newsletter edition features:
This newsletter edition features:
