Proposal to proclaim addition to Horsnell Gully CP
John Fleming | Published on 6/29/2024
Recently the committee received news of a proposal to proclaim additional land into Horsnell Gully Conservation Park.
In response members of the committee met with Rangers on site to view the proposed land addition. (there is a report of the visit below)
Hi,
I should really put a few words together about the visit to Horsnell and walk along the Coach Road fire track.
We met at the Horsnell Gully carpark. Ben Brice, David Cox and myself represented the Friends, with Rangers Tom P, Tom G and Alisha who is usually based at Para Wirra.
We started with a short walk up the Garden Gully, beyond the edge of the original project site where we discussed options for maintaining the work that had previously done here. Blackberries had been cleared out of the gully by Dept funded contractors when Pembroke students worked further up the valley. Both types of broom and gorse are filling the void left by the blackberry and there is Watsonia regrowing following previously Friend's funded Watsonia treatment.
It is evident that some of the eucalypts along the valley wall have died - they are surrounded by olives, and others appear very stressed - another area that is a potential candidate for free a tree!!
We then drove up to the Skye lookout and proceeded on foot along the Coach Road fire track. The fire track itself will not be included in the gazettal and will remain the property and responsibility of the Council. We encountered a number of walkers along the fire track, including those with dogs. As this is a council road, it comes under the jurisdiction of the Adelaide Hills Council.
Initial impression is poor, with large amounts of Gorse and Olive. As we progressed along, the Gorse diminished significantly. There were patches of Olive and of Boneseed, but the bush seems overall to be in good condition and relatively intact. There is evidence of a prescribed burn some years ago.
Ben found Brachyloma ericoides (brush heath) on the quarry side of the track - this species is rated near threatened - stable in FLB01. Impressions of the new area, i think are overall favourable, generally of good quality, but with areas of significant weed threat. Ranger Tom said that the area was habitat for Bassian thrush and Chestnut rumped heath-wren.
There were vantage points where we could look across Horsnell Gully CP - it is evident there are bands of olives going down the valley wall, and what appears to be areas relatively clear of olives - interesting to see.
Scabious was all along the fire track.
I had a quick look on Nature Maps to see if any other species of interest had been found in the area and found the following.
The list needs to be considered with the knowledge that some of these records are very, very old (e.g. the last recording of Microtis atrata was October 1897 and some are spatially suspect, for example, Olearia adenolasia is only found on Eyre peninsula, yet, there is one record that came up on the search list here)
Flora
Ptilotus erubescens Hairy-tails -R
Eryngium ovinum Blue Devil -V
Dianella longifolia var. grandis Pale Flax-lily -R
Olearia adenolasia Musk Daisy-bush - R
Picris squarrosa Squat Picris -R
Podolepis jaceoides Showy Copper-wire Daisy - R
Senecio pinnatifolius var. pinnatifolius - R
Blechnum nudum Fishbone Water-fern - R
Carex gunniana Mountain Sedge - R
Hypolepis rugosula ssp. rugosula Ruddy Ground-fern - R
Acacia dodonaeifolia Hop-bush Wattle - R
Acacia gunnii Ploughshare Wattle - R
Cullen parvum Small Scurf-pea -V
Glycine latrobeana Clover Glycine -V
Pultenaea graveolens Scented Bush-pea - R
Sphaerolobium minus Leafless Globe-pea - R
Viminaria juncea Native Broom - R
Logania saxatilis Rock Logania - R
Eucalyptus dalrympleana ssp. dalrympleana Candlebark Gum - R
Eucalyptus fasciculosa Pink Gum -R
Eucalyptus viminalis ssp. viminalis Manna Gum - R
Caladenia leptochila ssp. leptochila Narrow-lip Spider-orchid - R
Caladenia pusilla Pigmy Caladenia - R
Caladenia reticulata Veined Spider-orchid - R
Microtis atrata Yellow Onion-orchid - R
Pterostylis curta Blunt Greenhood - R
Thelymitra grandiflora Great Sun-orchid - R
Veronica derwentiana ssp. homalodonta Mt Lofty Speedwell - E
Austrostipa multispiculis Many-flowered Spear-grass - R
Deyeuxia densa Heath Bent-grass - R
Echinopogon ovatus Rough-beard Grass - R
Poa umbricola Shade Tussock-grass - R
Rytidosperma tenuius Short-awn Wallaby-grass - R
Spyridium daphnoides Spoon-leaved Spyridium - R
Galium propinquum - E
Correa glabra var. leucoclada Rock Correa - R
Leionema hillebrandii Mount Lofty Phebalium - R
Philotheca angustifolia ssp. angustifolia Narrow-leaf Wax-flower - R
Anthocercis angustifolia Narrow-leaf Ray-flower - R
Fauna
Pseudophryne bibronii Brown Toadlet – R
Hylacola pyrrhopygia parkeri Chestnut-rumped Heathwren (Mount Lofty Ranges) – E
Petroica boodang boodang Scarlet Robin - R
Antechinus flavipes Yellow-footed Antechinus – V
Isoodon obesulus obesulus Southern Brown Bandicoot (SA mainland and KI) – V
Pteropus poliocephalus Grey-headed Flying-fox – R