Working Bee Sunday 5th September

I will add pics later. They got wiped before I could add them. We weeded today, mainly vetch, near the noticeboard and the large "Remnant Vegetation" sign, itself a remnant of previous installations.

In attendance were myself, Carol, Yvonne, Ruth, Malcolm and Damien. It was a mild morning after a wild night, there was no apparent tree damage in the reserve. Damien and I checked the fences and gates, they were still all intact. Still no sign of rabbits.

I took a couple of pics of the recently fenced foredune. I wish to use this as a before and after representation of how the dune can regenerate if it is given protection from pedestrian traffic.

FOPMF Ordinary Meeting August 28th 2010

We held our quarterly meeting at the usual venue, Sandridge Trugo Club Garden City Reserve, at 7.30pm. In attendence were myself, Annette Stewart, Janet Bolitho, Carol & Yvonne Goudie, Anne Callaghan and Pat Grainger. Ben Piper turned up at 9pm having worked late but the meeting had just wrapped up.

Malcolm Cook who along with Ruth having recently joined our group, has agreed to take on the Treasurer's role. Michael Hutchinson our long standing reliable Treasurer has handed on the job.

New Light Poles Go In Plus other additions

They were working on Saturday, Election Day, to get the lights attached to the poles. There are 13 of these double lighted Poles along the foreshore between Beacon Cove and the Sandridge car park plus 2 more lighting the car park itself. Like many new things they will take a while for the eye to get used to. The curved shape matches somewhat the curved line of SLV HQ, the other tall dominant feature at the west end of the beach.















The Play equipment is now up and running. A sand pit right next to the beach finds its supporters.















Its a bit hard to see in this picture of the BBQ site at the BC end of the beach. It is the small weather station attached to the top of the light pole above the BBQs. Will make enquiries at council and report back. I'm guessing it is linked to BOM but will verify.















This BBQ at the western end next to the carpark sits in a sheltered cul de sac. It will be interesting to see the use these BBQs get during the warmer months.

Old Fencing Being Removed

In this picture the older stainless steel wire fencing has been recently removed. This has been done by the contractors who are realigning the bike paths outside the SLV HQ. The wiring will be kept for other uses within the reserve. Not sure what this will be yet but its best that it is hopefully in safe keeping for the time being as it is expensive and would surely shrink over time.

No trouble with an east-west sight line now. Looks a bit stark at present.

Key to the Gates

David Hehir from COPP gave me a couple of keys to the four gates which allow access to the newly fenced off sections. Only two of the gates have locks on them at present but I understand the remaining two locks will be put on now that I have a key as we will need access for working bees.

August 7th Working bee

On the way to the working bee I took this photo of bike path realignment in front of Live Saving Vic HQ. I also noted that LSV had got some bigger wheelie bins rather than the standard 240 lt ones. The previous ones often stood overflowing in their carpark and looked messy.
Today's working bee saw us plant approx 100 grasses in the NW corner of one of the newly fenced areas adjacent to the central track to the beach. The plants were Distichlis, Sporobolis & Zoysia which were thoroughly staked and plastic guarded. In attendence we had Mark (cub/scout leader) from Kew with son Rollie so he could get a cub badge for is efforts as well as Tracey who is studying anthropology at Melbourne Uni. She is doing a PHD on Port Melbourne.
After Planting we did some weeding in the Distichlis bed (western end of grasses). Weeds were vetch and other stuff. Damien from City Wide and I walked around looking for signs of rabbits and the search revealed no evidence, maybe one digging. As the Reserve had had recent rains which smoothed the sand, it was easy to see if any new diggings had occurred. Also plantings from previous months were still intact and coming on.

Rabbit Poisoning Concluded

Message from Michelle Ritchie, COPP Open Space Tech Officer;

"Program finished mid last week. Rabbit contractor will be around a couple times this week and then return to pick up signs. If you see any more on your travels please pick up safely and discard in the bin."

Damien and I walked around on the weekend and picked up three dead rabbits and saw no live ones. Many of the plants put in over the last couple of months are still going well due to good rain falls. Some of them have had the tops nibbled off but fingers crossed/wishful thinking, the rabbits have been all killed.