Linda and Roger's Bunhybee Grasslands - Landscape
This is a page within Roger and Linda's
Bunhybee Grasslands Web-Site.
Bunhybee Grasslands is a 49 hectare / 120 acre conservation
property 35km south of Braidwood, in southern N.S.W.
You can follow through the internal links, or you may find it
easier to use the Site-Map.
This page contains some basic information about the landscape on and surrounding
the property, and some photos, within the following groups:
The property is on a west-facing slope 1km above a creekline that runs northwards
and joins the Shoalhaven 4km away. The range to the west, the Tallaganda, is
part of the Great Divide. It includes some national park, but is mostly 'state
forest', i.e. liable to be clear-felled and replaced with radiata pine at any
moment. The valley has been good sheep-country, but with wool's decline is now
mostly cattle, and is increasingly subject to subdivision into hobby-farms too
small to be viable. Most of the valley is improved pasture, but some patches
of native, or largely native, grassland remain.
The property can be divided into three broad segments, and brief outlines of
each are below:
- The Grasslands, which make up the majority of the property
- Snow-Gum Woodland along the western boundary, Jerrabatgulla
Rd
- The Adjacent Woodland, a narrow strip to the north and
north-east
1. The Grasslands
There are scattered shrubs and occasional trees across the grasslands that
make up the majority of the property. In particular:
- there is one copse of snow-gums in the centre-north
- there are a few lone snow-gums scattered around
- there's a moderate amount of Kunzea around
- there are Wattles (Acacia Spp.):
- A. brownii
- Silver Wattle (A. dealbata)
- Ploughshare Wattle (A. gunni)
- Late Black Wattle (A. mearnsii)
- Blackwood Wattle (A. melanoxylon)
- there are Ti-Tree:
- Ti-Tree (Leptospermum Spp.), incl.
- L. ?obovatum (photo below)
- Casuarina (Allocasuarina distyla)
- Silver Banksia (B. marginata)
- Small-Fruited Hakea (H. microphylla)
There's limited birdlife in this sector, but there's a resident lark, and a
Richard's pipit was seen on one occasion, seemingly wandered in from the rather
better pickings in the improved pasture across the road. A pair of nankeen kestrels
has been seen over the property.
An echidna has been seen, as have one of the resident wombats, and various
Eastern Grey Kangaroos that have wandered down out of the Bunhybee Peak woodland.
Unfortunately, so have feral pigs, and one fox (dead).
2. Snow-Gum Woodland
Along the western edge is a narrow rim of E. pauciflora [but which
Ssp??]. The coverage is generally 25-50%, and the grasslands are apparently
a little different here compared with the exposed areas that cover most of the
proprety. (But that remains to be explored).
There's a limited but seemingly healthy bird-life in this sector, including
a resident grey fantail, diamond firetails (seen on one of four visits during
spring), eastern rosellas, 8 crested pigeons, and migrating yellow honeyeaters
in spring and autumn (in large quantities, seen going both ways in the first
year we were visiting the site).
A blue-tongue has been seen on one occasion. (A dog on a leash is much more
likely to pick up something deep in grass than humans are!).
3. The Adjacent Woodlands of Bunhybee Peak
The edges of the forest along the north-eastern boundary, and to a lesser extent
the northern boundary, are dominated by snow-gums.
The edge of the forest in these segments is abrupt, and aligned with the edge
of the property, which suggests that the forest originally continued some distance
onto the property, that it was cleared at some stage, and that it has been held
at bay by continued grazing. (But that all needs to be investigated).
On the eastern side, about 30-50 metres east and uphill from the boundary,
there is a rapid transition to other species, which is readily visible in the
canopy when it is viewed from the gate or the main ridge.
According to the Management Plan (1.8, p. 8 and App. B pp. 37-41), the other
main species are:
- Candlebark (E. rubida)
- Ribbon Gum / Manna Gum (E. viminalis)
- Black Gum (E. aggregata)
- Broad-Leaved Peppermint (E. dives) – including one attractive
outlier in the north-eastern corner of the property – although that
one could be Narrow-Leaved P. (E. radiata)
Additional species since identified (in all cases with reasonable confidence,
but without strong scientific claims!) include:
- Swamp Gum (E. ovata)
- (Mountain) (White) Gum (E. dalrympleana)
- Black Sally (E. stellulata)
The birdlife is very different in the woodland, and includes magpies, a black-faced
cuckoo-shrike, and (heard only) kookaburra, tree-creeper and another non-identified
call.
The Photos
For larger images, click on the thumbnails below.
The Grasslands and Surrounds
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From the Ridge, NNW - 20 Apr 08 |
From the Ridge, WNW - 20 Apr 08 |
From the Ridge, WSW - 20 Apr 08 |
From the NE to the Ridge - 20 Apr 08 |
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From the Ridge, WSW - 6 Jun 08 |
From the NE to the SW - 6 Oct 08 |
'You've got 20 minutes to be back at the car' - 6
Oct 08 |
Central-West, Looking West - 15 Nov 08 |
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Rocks, looking NNW - 15 Nov 08 |
Ridge Rocks, looking W - 15 Nov 08 |
Pool in the Main Creekline - 15 Nov 08 |
From the Ridge, WSW - 15 Nov 08 |
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Autumn Contrasts, Near the Gate, Looking West - 25
Apr 09 |
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Fungus, eastern end
of Echidna Ridge
26 Apr 09 |
Ditto |
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In the SW corner,
looking Eastwards
6 Sep 09 |
Ac. Brownii,
near the copse
6 Sep 09 |
Westwards
over the main dam
6 Sep 09 |
Ac. Brownii above
the main dam,
looking SE – 6 Sep 09 |
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Echidna Ridge
22 Sep 09 |
with Leucopogon Virgatus |
Pultanaea, L. squamatus,
Trigger Plants – 7 Nov 2009 |
SW corner, looking W
– 30 Dec 2009 |
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Grasslands in SW Corner
20 Feb 2010 ... |
Towards ESE from SW Corner |
Towards NE from SW Corner |
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5 April 2010
W from Picnic Corner |
SW from Picnic Corner |
SW from
beside the copse |
N along W boundary |
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Anthurus archeri
(Seastar Stinkhorn Fungus) |
... and its location |
Leptosperm, Kunzea,
Banksia marginata,
sthn streamline
2 May 2010 |
Bracken fern
and Lomandra |
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Rolling hills, NW ... |
... West ... |
... SW, into late pm sun |
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6 Nov 2010 – Kunzea,
view westwards ... |
... and Pultenaea, SW ... |
... and southwards |
Colours! |
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Kunzea and the scrape,
northern block looking NE |
Kunzea and the
view SW again |
28 Dec 2010
Joycea pallida |
Plumegrass and Themeda |
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16 Nov 2011
Stylidium and View WNW |
Goodenia hederacea alpestris
and Hibbertia |
10 Dec 2011
Grasslands ... |
... and Zero |
The Snowgums along the Western Boundary
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Looking NE 0- 6 Jun 08 |
Snow Gums and Rocks - 6 Jun 08 |
The Snow Gum Branch that was also shot by Rainer Rehwinkel
and used in the NCT's Sales Brochure - 2 Sep 08 |
Snow Gums looking East - 6 Oct 08 |
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To the NNW, with Dog - 15 Nov 08 |
Grasses 30m inside the gate, looking south - 25
Apr 09 |
Possible E. rubida (candlebark), South Block - 25 Apr 09 |
Possible E. dives (peppermint), South Block - 25 Apr 09 |
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Snow gums and
Ac. dealbata
(Silver Wattle)
6 Sep 09 |
Snow gum woodland
11 Nov 09 |
6 Nov 2010
Xerochrysum and
view westwards |
28 Dec 2010
Yorkshire Fog
50m South of the gate |
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12 Mar 2011
Where the 'dead' wombat was,
but much lusher after rains
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NNW from the gate,
past the Leptorhynchus
myrtifolium's new growth |
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The Water Features
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Main Dam - 2 Sep 08 |
Across the Dam WSW - 2 Sep 08 |
The Family at the Dam - 6 Oct 08 |
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Small Dam, with doomed thistles, looking SW - 25
Apr 09 |
Small Dam, with rare passing ute, looking NW - 25 Apr 09 |
Waterline on South Block, with Cassinia longifolia - 25 Apr 09 |
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Southern waterline,
middle, looking upstream |
Ditto,
looking downstream,
also on 6 Sep 09 |
The main dam
6 Sep 09 |
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The main dam
22 Sep 09 |
The dam wall looking SW
22 Sep 09 |
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The main dam
14 Oct 09 ... |
... From the dam, up the main water-line (actually trickling!)
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A full dam – 7 Nov 2009 |
Marker-rocks only a few cm above the water-line |
Chain of ponds, just above the dam – 7 Nov 2009 |
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After rain – 20 Feb 2010 ... |
... Waterline in SW corner |
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5 April 2010
Water-Grass ... |
... in a full dam ... |
... and to the NE |
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Dam Dog |
Dam Wall |
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2 May 2010
Reeds in sthn waterline |
Also in sthn waterline ... |
... green gunge |
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6 Nov 2010
Full dam ... |
... with Kunzea |
Pond in northern block,
and view westwards |
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21 Mar 2011
Southern Creek-Line |
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16 Nov 2011
A full dam ... |
... looking to the SW ... |
... and with dog |
Bunhybee Peak to the East
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The NE Edge
20 April 2008 |
... The Differential Canopy ... |
... East of the Main Ridge ... |
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... Bunhybee Forest ... |
... Bunhybee Fringe |
... From the NE corner
back to the ridge,
with Peppermint |
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From the NE corner
to the approaching storm
in the West
6 Oct 08 |
To the NE corner
from the northern edge
15 Nov 2008 |
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... Blue Bottle-daisy ... |
... and its leaves |
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Patersonia ?occidentalis |
... (a swamp iris? up on the hill?) ... |
... and Georgie admiring it |
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From the top of Bunhybee, looking SW |
View over Bunhybee and Parlour,
SSW up the Jerrabattgulla valley |
The Vicinity
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Jerrabatgulla Creek 2 days after 100mm, from the bridge
on Kwawaree Rd ... |
... and a detail from it –
Constable in the Shoalhaven |
This is a page within the Bunhybee Grasslands Web-Site, home-page
here, and site-map here
Contact: Linda or Roger
Created: 17 November 2008; Last Amended: 23 January 2012
