Friends of Jirdarup Bushland
Our Containers for Change ID is C10408106. Thank you.
The Friends of Jirdarup Bushland
The Friends of Jirdarup Bushland is a community group based around Victoria Park. We are dedicated to the preservation of Jirdarup Bushland Precinct which includes Kensington Bushland, George St Reserve and Kent St Sandpit. We organize community events as well as planting and weeding days each year.
Our aim is to help the community connect with nature through protecting, regenerating and revegetating the Jirdarup Bushland Precinct.
Follow us on Facebook or Instagram to get the latest news and get involved in our activities!
The Bushland
Jirdarup Bushland Precinct, with ‘Bush Forever’ site Kensington Bushland at its heart, is a rare slice of remnant banksia-jarrah woodlands tucked away in Victoria Park. A hidden natural treasure and biodiversity hot spot, Jirdarup means ‘Place of Birds’ in the Nyoongar language. It is home to 62 species of birds, as well as 14 species of reptiles and over 200 plant species. Get creative and immerse yourself in photographing the wealth of Jirdarup’s flora, fauna, and landscapes.
The Bushland entry points are from Etwell Street, George Street and Baron Hay Court. There is free parking, wide pathways, and dog walking is permitted. Disabled access is via Baron-Hay Court entrance. You can take photos from the public access areas in Jirdarup Bushland, but please don’t jump the fences.
‘Images of Jirdarup 2020’ Photography Competition
Thank you to our sponsors for making these great prizes possible. Most of all, thank you to all the competition entrants for helping to share with the wider community just how special the Jirdarup Bushland Precinct is for us all.
Competition Winners Announced
1st Place Flora: Ain't Life Grand(is) - Alison Higgins
2nd Place Flora: The Herd - Mark de Cruz
1st Place Fauna: Teaching the Young One - Christine Chester
2nd Place Fauna: The Sentinel - Emma Jones
1st Place Landscape: Birth in the dying acres - Xinyang Zhao
2nd Place Landscape: Winter Morning - Jon Young
1st Place Junior: Foney Fungi - Sav Noble
2nd Place Junior: Yellow Joy - Ching Yi Lu
1st Place People's Choice: Winter Morning - Jon Young
2nd Place People's Choice: Afternoon Yawn - Kerry Whitworth
The Camera Electronic $100 gift voucher was won by Flora Johnston. Congratulations!
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Hello,
if you have been down to the Jirdarup Bushland I am sure you will have seen lots of activity on the ever so popular bird waterers. 🥳🤩
We've now entered the Noongar season Djeran, known as the 'season of adulthood'. 🤓
The season changes when the nights turn cool, bringing a morning dew. Red flowers, like banksias, are in bloom, rain starts to fall and flying ants cruise on the light south westerly winds.
Make sure you take a stroll through the bushland, as the Banksia menziesii, commonly known as firewood banksia, are now flowering. They are a gnarled tree that gets up to 10 m tall.
They are often two-coloured red or pink and yellow, and their colour has earnt them some unusual common names such as port wine banksia and strawberry banksia. Yellow blooms are rarely seen.
Both pictures were taken by Georgina Wilson on 10/04/2021. Thanks, Georgina.
Enjoy Djeran, the autumn in our bushland.
Kind regards,
Klaus - Friends of Jirdarup Bushland
Hello everyone,
here's a belated 'Easter Egg' from Jirdarup Bushland. 🙂
The amazing pictures were taken by Mark Molinari on 04/04/2021.
Thank you very much for sharing your wonderful pictures with us, Mark.
Enjoy your next visit to the bushland, our magic little place in suburbia.
Kind regards,
Klaus - Friends of Jirdarup Bushland
Geoff Groom kindly sent through his photo of a very special bird! 👌
“In 2019 I photographed this bird in Kensington Bushland. I believe that it is a hybrid between a White-cheeked Honeyeater and a New Holland Honeyeater. I wrote an article, which appeared in Australian Field Ornithology (Volume 36 - 2019).
Currently I am trying to see as many Western Australian birds as I can, in one calendar year. Alan Collins currently holds the record, having seen 419 birds. Currently I have seen or heard 326 different species. Two of these birds were seen for the first time this year in the Jirdarup Bushland - the Western Wattlebird and the White-cheeked Honeyeater.
If you would like to follow my progress, check out my Facebook Page WA Big Birding Year - 2021 .”
You can see more shots of the hybrid and Geoff's paper (with many more pictures of the hybrid) on BirdLife Western Australia's website: https://www.birdlife.org.au/afo/index.php/afo/article/view/2170
Fiona
These stunning photos were taken in Jirdarup Bushland yesterday morning by Georgina Wilson; aren’t we lucky to have these wonderful birds as part of our lives?! ❤️
Enjoy your local Bushland! 🌿🙌
Want to join us making a difference by watering and weeding in the Bushland? We do Saturday and Sunday - 7am for the earlybirds (so ~7.30 for most folks) to 8.30 on both days. Whether you give 40 minutes or more of your time, it all adds up! Beginners are very welcome too.
We suggest wearing long trousers, a hat, sunscreen, closed shoes, and gloves. We’ve got buckets and weeding tools. Any questions please contact us, Fiona (0404 069997) and Vicki (0416 049 550) or email us on admin@friendsofjirdarupbushland.org.au - or just rock up to the Christmas Tree crossroads in Kensington Bushland. Thanks!
Post by Fiona
Photos by Georgina Wilson - thanks for sharing these with us!
(if you want to share photos with us then email them to us admin@friendsofjirdarupbushland.org.au
Thanks!
Do you remember our post just over a week ago where we asked for help as we were “wondering what our cockatoos are doing”? (Up to 20 Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos had been seen on the ground or on rocks near the Etwell Street entrance to the Kent St Sandpit, appearing to be eating small stones, sand, and chewing the surface of large rocks.)
Presumably it’s important as the birds are at risk when they are at ground level (the Sandpit is currently fenced off and locked so they are safe from off-lead dogs). We wondered if the rocks were rich in some minerals that the birds need in their diet? 🤔
Steven Spragg makes the “general observations of the same behaviour in most species of Cockatoo in Australia. Reading up on it they require additional minerals not usually present in seeds such as Iodine, Calcium and other salts like magnesium, Iron etc so grit is an important source for such minerals.”
NB Some birds, like poultry, needed shell grit because they cannot chew. Poultry are in the large category of Passerines, which includes more than half of all bird species; these birds have three toes pointing forward and one back to facilitate perching. Passerines need grit to aid their digestion processes and Psittacines (parrots) generally do not.
Here’s another great selection of interesting Black-cockatoo photos taken in Jirdarup very recently. These highlight the variety of important food source plants for Black-cockatoos that occur within Jirdarup, including:
Prickleybark Eucalyptus todtiana (https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/5790)
Dwarf sheoak Allocasuarina humilis ((https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/1732)
Balga Xanthorrhoea preissii (https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/1256)
There are many nut-laden Prickleybarks at the moment, particularly in the George Street Reserve plantings.
Photos by Georgina Wilson - thanks so much for sharing these photos and observations Georgina!
Post by Stephen and Fiona
Can you help us? We’re wondering what our cockatoos are doing. 🤔
Georgina Wilson took these photos last week. This was the second time that she has seen up to 20 Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos on the ground or on rocks near the Etwell Street entrance to the Sandpit, appearing to be eating small stones or sand. 😯
Some birds, like poultry, need shell grit because they cannot chew. Poultry are in the large category of Passerines, which includes more than half of all bird species; these birds have three toes pointing forward and one back to facilitate perching. @sam7clarke at @kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre advises that Passerines need grit and Psittacines (parrots) generally do not.
Sometimes animals may also exploit these resources if they are rich in some minerals so, perhaps, this is what is going on here?
Presumably it’s important as the birds are at risk when they are at ground level (the Sandpit is currently fenced off and locked so they are safe from off-lead dogs).
Does anyone know about this behaviour we’re witnessing? We’d love to hear from you. 🙌💚
Photos by Georgina Wilson (photos are cropped as the cockatoos were in the distance).
Post by Fiona
The Friends are caring for Jirdarup by watering and weeding Saturdays and Sundays between 7 and 8.30. Thank you to everyone participating 😀 Any questions? Our email is admin@friendsofjirdarupbushland.org.au or call Vicki (0416 049 550) or Fiona (0404 069997). ☎️
Want to contribute in a different way? Our Containers for Change ID is C10408106 (the QR code is also on our website, www.fojb.org.au). Your kind donation every now and then will help us in our activities, such as running community events and buying plants to support the cockatoos. 🙌 Thanks!
Main photo and post by Fiona, smaller photos by Georgina Wilson. 📸❤️
Last week was our Black-Cockatoo walk and talk event and here are some lovely photos taken by folks attending, either on the day or in the same week. 🤩 Thanks for sharing them with us! 🙌
If you’ve taken photos in Jirdarup and want them shared (we’ll credit you as photographer, of course) then please email them to us at admin@friendsofjirdarupbushland.org.au. Email us if you aren't on our mailing list and we'll keep you informed of future events.
Photos by Rosie Fletcher and Georgina Wilson. 👌 Thanks!
Post by Fiona
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Acknowledgements
All photographs featured here were taken in Jirdarup Bushland by Robert Audcent (FoJB member and one of the judges).
Benefactor
James Audcent - Web Design & Digital Marketing Agency
By providing business development consultation and services such as website development & design, online & digital marketing, and technological implementation & support, to small businesses and not-for-profits, I aim to level the playing ground. Services once only available to large corporations are now yours to enjoy at a price that accounts for your demands as a business owner.
Contact Us
Vicki
0416 049 550
Robert
0418 448 887
