16:6 - September 2024 Update

SEPTEMBER 2024 UPDATE

This Post is to capture for records last year's update on general delivery circulated to the 16:6 Heritage Agreement Directors.

We envisage that we shall use a post to update directors on future overarching project outcomes.

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A lot has happened in the last six months, so here is a snapshot of some matters to share and some future forecasts.

The topics here

1. What we have been doing both on 16:6 and Grant and my management block Currawong

2. Grant funding (and attachments)

3. Big issues – Exotics, Flora and Fauna

4. New species

1. What we have all been doing both on 16:6 and Currawong

Grant and I have been busy as our plan is for August and September to spend as much time as possible at the heritage agreements, as this time of the year should be best for species ID and plant work, weed control and mapping

We have started to set up Photo points on the properties Excel spreadsheet, and we have a database where all images taken at these sites will be maintained.

So, the photo point is a two-star picket, with numbering (we use cattle ear tags) and GPS. Each quarter or season, you take images from these sites so that, over time, you can monitor the environment, control weed infestations, and regenerate species. You can also report on the work we do. It’s a long-term project but one of value. ( see Post on Photopoints)

In addition, the points have GPS, so any of you, others, students, etc., can locate them and work from a known site with known species.

Of course, with the rare or threatened fauna such as Mallee Fowl, we don’t give the exact location (1000 metres or more away so that people can not easily locate these birds); however, we have the exact records on file

We are all putting time into this valuable place, so we wish any science to be valid and useful beyond us. We are trying to establish programs that others can pick up and use in the future. In addition, we are managed scientifically correctly so that University students can use our HAs if need be, and their research or papers are based in sound science.

Exclusion Zones – as a part of the Grant Funding, we have erected five exclusion zones. Fenced areas of 20 x 20 or larger which have Goat and Kangaroo fencing to exclude them. We can manage and map species regeneration/recruitment in these sites without browsing. This is needed to plan species growth and to adapt to climate change (or drought)

We were funded $8000 for 16:6 to erect two (put in four), and then for Sec 13 Currawong Grant, and I contributed $24,000 as we used one as a compound around the shed. The cost here was high as the digging required substantial earth-moving equipment. We have yet to finish there, perhaps electrify and mesh, but we can already see grasses in the areas that larger herbivores cannot brows easily.

Weed control has been a big focus (see below and iron grass), with Grant and I spending about 40 hours this year doing weeding and pulling. Generally, I do this work as Grant is focused on building the base site on Section 13.

Our work site is 80%, maybe more done … We have completed the compound, brought it 5 x 5000L tanks, the shed living space is done, and the bathroom (is half done). The workshop is complete. Grant has set up, tested, retested and changed the solar power, so he is happy. He has put up one carport to protect equipment, and one is half done (finished this week, we hope). Then, he built a second shed to create a courtyard. This is for poison, tools, etc. Grant's building is a blessing.

It is now a safe, comfortable, and suitable place to be based. We can work longer days in a wider weather range, still sleep well, and maintain our basic needs to allow us to work another day. Camping was fun, but it had hairs on it….

Over this past year, one of the main focuses has been building networks and learning new things. We have met with new neighbours to discuss boundary alignment and weed and feral animal control, attended workshops (mainly online), met with landscapes, and worked with PIRSA and DEW.

Networking and looking for a regional approach to land management is one of the best ways to ensure greater outcomes.

2. Grant funding (and attachments)

This area is big. We need to align our work to meet the funding the Native Vegetation Branch provided.

It means loads of record-keeping and reporting. Thankfully the main acquittal is not until 2025.

For every dollar that the NVGrant put in (16:6 to date $22,000) (Sec 13 to date $11,000) we as the stewards of this land need to match whether In-kind (work hours) or with our contributions, such as paying for fencing exclusions, managing feral animals, planting etc we have some good friends who have assisted, for example, one friend who is a Biologist hires himself as a consultant at $1000 per day. He has been coming up and mapping Birds and Wildlife and has invoiced us for a few thousand dollars. But he volunteers at No cost. The invoice is a formality to show that we are putting in the effort to offset the government's costs.

The primary areas for the Grant are

1- The engagement of iron grass and their work and reporting- weed control

2- The erection of suitable exclusion zones

3- The photo points (we have established about 50, with another 25 this year)

4- The management of feral animals

5- Hours of mapping, photographs, wildlife cameras and review of the data for entry into the state records ( BDBSA)

All of the planned and funded deliverables under the Grant are on track.

3. Big issues – Exotics, Flora and Fauna

Unfortunately, but realistically, we have now used cameras to capture Foxes and Cats on every section of land within the agreement, which has changed some of our priorities to focus on feral animal control.

As you know, feral predators such as foxes and cats can have devastating impacts on our native species, especially small reptiles and ground-nesting birds, of which we have many.

Grant and I attended a training course delivered by the Centre for Invasive Species, and it was quite enlightening. Did you know that feral Cats have been implicated in the demise of at least 20 mammal species and subspecies? Their population fluctuate between two and six million a year (depending on the year), and they consume between 1.5 billion birds and even more lizards each year. So my adage of “Shoot one feral cat a year and save more wildlife than smuggled from Australia annually shout be, save more wildfire smuggled in 100 peoples lifetime.”

D Armstrong set up cat traps in spinifex areas where the Bardick and Mallee Fowl have been recorded.

Foxes are also a big issue, as they are a main threat to our Mallee Fowl. They are far more opportunistic and will eat anything, including carrion. They spread weed seeds from Boxthorns and other introduced plants, and for us, an issue is that they can spread sarcoptic mange to the wombats when they use their warren system.

As Foxes seem to be growing, we have been looking at options beyond baiting, which is affordable but time-consuming and not always effective. Our online training introduced us to the use of other bait mechanisms. So Grant and I expanded our tools by purchasing two CPE (Canid pest ejectors). These are far better than fox baits alone as the ejector consists of a stake to hold it in the ground, a piston mechanism and a capsule of 1080 solution that sits inside of a bait head (dried meat) when a Bait is taken it is 100% effective. The Fox is the only animal in the HA that can pull the bait and get the dose. (Dogs could do this, but we have no neighbours with Dogs, and we also notify all neighbours before baiting)

We have been happy with the trial of the CPEs. Except in the first month, a fox took the bait and the ejector ($90.00 each), so Grant is working on a solution in the sand to prevent Foxes from taking the whole mechanism. Bloody Fox is not supposed to be able to do that.

The bait heads and poison can only be purchased under licence from Landscapes, BUT the ejectors I have found online cost five under $400, so I am considering getting more. The big advantage over normal baits and traps is that they can remain in the open (wild) for a month or two, whereas baits need to be replaced each week and traps checked twice a day, which is just too difficult on such a large scale.

Setting up a CPE in the sandy areas where fox prints are prominent

Other programs we have engaged in the last quarter include using the Feral Scan App to report ferals (Landcare) and working with PIRSA regarding Goats.

4. New species – and species records

Over the last months, with the cooler months and now spring approaching, we have listed or added a few new species to our records as well as extending the range of others (Flora and Fauna)

Fauna, such as locating a new mallee fowl nest and images of other mallee fowls, are on cameras quite far from existing sections.

A Bardick located the n early morning on Section 227

1. Malleefowl	Leipoa	New nest 226 – 227 borders
2. Malleefowl	Leipoa	Camera sightings 5 km east on a fox cam
3. Tawny Frogmouth	Podargus	227
4. Willie Wagtail	Rhipidura	226
5. White-eared Honeyeater (FR, MN, LNE, MM)	Nesoptilotis	226 and 215
6. Singing Honeyeater	Gavicalis	227
7. Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater	Acanthagenys	227
8. Bynoe's Gecko	Heteronotia
9. Malleefowl	Leipoa	Sighting 249 224 juvenile
10. White-browed Babbler	Pomatostomus	227
11. Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat	Lasiorhinus	On 227 13 km from any known warren on our lands
12. Restless Flycatcher	Myiagra	249 and Sec 13
13. Jacky Winter	Microeca	Sec 13
14. Scarlet Robin	Petroica	Sec 13
15. Domestic Cat (Feral Cat)	Felis	Alas new sightings, 226, 249 and Sec 13
16. Australian Owlet-nightjar	Aegotheles	Sec 13
17. Chestnut-crowned Babbler	Pomatostomus	227 and 215
18. New Holland Honeyeater	Phylidonyris	Sec 13
19. Bynoe's Gecko	Heteronotia	249
20. Emu	Dromaius	Dad on egg 226 (nesting)
21. Southern Whiteface	Aphelocephala	Nesting on Sec 13

Malleefowl image was taken when replacing cameras at mound 226. The southern White face from the Birds Australia site ( as our images are too small or not suited for a public post)

Plant species are even more.

This is just what we have uploaded to the State database. Many of the most amazing flowering species we (16:6 or Ellura, our neighbours) have not uploaded as yet – a job for summer days

Recently, we have found some stunning flowering plants, such as Baeckea, Boronias, and the violet shrub.s

1. Atriplex eardleyae	Eardley's Saltbush
2. Atriplex stipitata
3. Atriplex stipitata (NC)	Bitter Saltbush
4. Chenopodium curvispicatum	Cottony Goosefoot
5. Enchylaena tomentosa var. tomentosa	Ruby Saltbush
6. Eriochiton sclerolaenoides	Woolly-fruit Bluebush
7. Maireana brevifolia	Short-leaf Bluebush
8. Maireana erioclada	Rosy Bluebush
9. Maireana pentatropis	Erect Mallee Bluebush
10. Maireana radiata	Radiate Bluebush
11. Maireana rohrlachii	Rohrlach's Bluebush Rare and we have 38 recorded now Sec 13, 227 and 226
12. Maireana trichoptera	Hairy-fruit Bluebush
13. Rhagodia crassifolia	Fleshy Saltbush
14. Rhagodia parabolica	Mealy Saltbush
15. Rhagodia sp.	Saltbush
16. Rhagodia spinescens	Spiny Saltbush
17. Rhagodia ulicina	Intricate Saltbush
18. Sclerolaena diacantha	Grey Bindyi
19. Sclerolaena obliquicuspis	Oblique-spined Bindyi
20. Sclerolaena patenticuspis	Spear-fruit Bindyi
21. Sclerolaena uniflora	Small-spine Bindyi
22. Dianella revoluta (NC)
23. Angianthus tomentosus	Hairy Angianthus
24. Olearia brachyphylla	Short-leaf Daisy-bush
25. Olearia minor	Heath Daisy-bush
26. Olearia muelleri	Mueller's Daisy-bush
27. Podolepis rugata var. rugata (NC)	Pleated Copper-wire Daisy
28. Senecio spanomerus	Native Groundsel
29. Vittadinia cuneata var. cuneata	Fuzzy New Holland Daisy
30. Vittadinia gracilis	Woolly New Holland Daisy
31. Vittadinia sp.	New Holland Daisy
32. Wahlenbergia communis	Tufted Bluebell
33. Convolvulus erubescens (NC)	Australian Bindweed
34. Euphorbia drummondii
35. Euphorbia verrucitesta
36. Acacia ancistrophylla/sclerophylla
37. Senna artemisioides ssp. filifolia	Fine-leaf Desert Senna
38. Senna artemisioides ssp. petiolaris
39. Senna artemisioides ssp. X coriacea	Broad-leaf Desert Senna
40. Goodenia arguta	Toothed Velleia
41. Goodenia sp.	Goodenia
42. Gramineae sp.	Grass Family
43. Isoetes drummondii ssp.	Plain Quillwort
44. Westringia rigida	Stiff Westringia
45. Lichen sp.
46. Moss sp.
47. Eucalyptus brachycalyx	Gilja
48. Eucalyptus dumosa	White Mallee
49. Eucalyptus gracilis	Yorrell
50. Eucalyptus leptophylla	Narrow-leaf Red Mallee
51. Eucalyptus oleosa (NC)	Red Mallee
52. Eucalyptus rugosa	Coastal White Mallee
53. Eucalyptus socialis (NC)	Beaked Red Mallee
54. Melaleuca lanceolata	Dryland Tea-tree
55. Nitraria billardierei	Nitre-bush
56. Oxalis perennans/exilis	Native Oxalis
57. Austrostipa elegantissima	Feather Spear-grass
58. Austrostipa nitida	Balcarra Spear-grass
59. Austrostipa sp.	Spear-grass
60. Rytidosperma sp.	Wallaby-grass
61. Triodia irritans	Spinifex
62. Triodia irritans var. (NC)
63. Geijera linearifolia	Sheep Bush
64. Santalum acuminatum	Quandong
65. Dodonaea bursariifolia	Small Hop-bush
66. Dodonaea viscosa ssp.	Sticky Hop-bush
67. Dodonaea viscosa ssp. angustissima	Narrow-leaf Hop-bush
68. Eremophila glabra (NC)	Tar Bush
69. Eremophila glabra ssp.	Tar Bush
70. Eremophila glabra ssp. glabra	Tar Bush
71. Eremophila longifolia	Weeping Emubush
72. Eremophila scoparia	Broom Emubush
73. Myoporum platycarpum ssp.	False Sandalwood
74. Nicotiana goodspeedii	Small-flower Tobacco
75. Roepera apiculata	Pointed Twinleaf
76. Roepera aurantiacum/eremaeum	Shrubby Twinleaf
77. Roepera glauca	Pale Twinleaf
78. Roepera ovata	Dwarf Twinleaf
79. Roepera sp.	Twinleaf
80. Zygophyllum aurantiacum (NC)	Shrubby Twinleaf

A shingle-back-eating evasive weed species.

I want to share the amazing tool on which our 16:6 reports and species findings are loaded: NatureMaps. This tool is for any of us to use: it is one of a few websites on which you can develop maps, plan reports, and record species.

NatureMaps Home (environment.sa.gov.au)

That's about all this update can be posted. The areas on the Website, finances, directors' meeting, and finances are not captured in this post, nor are the attachments, as this post is accessible by many others who visit the site. Those details are, of course, more private.