Local Parks: Mugii Murrum-ban State Conservation Area

The Capertee district is rich in natural wonders and this has been recognised with the establishment of several local reserves, most notably the Capertee and Gardens of Stone National Parks. The most recent addition to the protected Crown Lands portfolio in the area is the Mugii Murrum-ban State Conservation Area which was established by the former Labor State Government in March 2011.

Apart from some perimeter signs there is little
evidence of any changes in this Conservation Area
 since it was established in 2011

This new Conservation Area consists of 3,650 hectares of land which roughly intersects the Capertee NP (to the north) and the Gardens of Stone NP (to the south). Much of the area of the new Mugii Murrum-ban State Conservation Area includes the picturesque peaks of Mount Genowlan and Mount Airly. While not having the full legal protection of a National Park or World Heritage Area this new reserve is an extension of the Gardens of Stone National Park which was originally established in 1994. The Conservation Area is named after the Wiradjuri Elder, Charley Riley. Mugii is Riley's Wiradjuri name and means a Mopoke Owl, while Murum-ban means eldest son in the Wiradjuri language.

According to the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service the new reserve includes more than 340 different plant species as well as distinctive sandstone and shale rock formations. Native vegetation includes several rare and endangered communities including plants associated with dwarf she-oak heathland, as well as 20 metre high Brown Barrel eucalyptus downstream of the "Grotto". Hopefully future National Parks and Wildlife funding will lead to more knowledge of the Conservation Area being known to the public.

Tangible evidence of the former mining village of Airly
 still survives in the newly established Conservation Area

Much of the drive to establish the reserve was the threat from coal mining in the area. Prior to the establishment of the Conservation Area proposed coal mining would have led to major subsidence as well as possible changes to the water table. After the Conservation Area was announced local miner Centennial Coal publicly welcomed the establishment of this State Conservation Area, but in late 2012 their Airly mine was scaled down due to financial reasons.

As well as the notable local geology and the diverse natural vegetation growing in the reserve, the Mugii Murrum-ban Conservation Area also includes archaeological remains of the former shale mining community of Airly, which was active from 1883-1913.While the nearby mining community of Glen Davis is relatively well documented the century old former shale mining community at Airly clearly shows the speed that human habitation turns to dust. Visible traces of this community includes mining ventilation shafts and the remains of several brick and stone dwellings.



Link to National Parks & Wildlife website: http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/

Local Plants: Mistletoe - friend or foe?

One of the most fascinating group of plants growing in the Australian bush is mistletoe, and they are often found growing on native trees throughout the district. These plants are sometimes perceived as worthless parasites that weaken trees prior to their death. While this is partially true their value to our environment has been underestimated. Recent research on these highly evolved native plants has led to a reappraisal of their importance to the ecosystem.

The nectar from this local mistletoe flower
 attracts a diverse range of birds, bees and butterfly's

Mistletoe's are a world-wide group of plants which are found in many different habitats. Most early settlers would have known the European Mistletoe (Viscum album), a commonly seen plant culturally associated with pagan fertility rights.

Australia has 85 species of mistletoe, mostly from the Loranthaceae plant family. There are many different species of mistletoe growing in the Capertee district. Most local mistletoes are found growing on open forest and woodland trees such as Eucalyptus, wattles and She-oaks. While most mistletoes photosynthesise from their own leaves they are usually dependent on the hosts sap for water and nutrients.

Mistletoes are often seen growing on trees near the edge of woodland along roads or near cleared land. A 2004 study by ecologist David M Watson near Albury found that 80% of trees growing along habitat edges carried mistletoe compared with fewer than 5% in the interior.The reason for their preference for habitat edges was, according to Watson, related to increased light, decreased fire frequency, increased run off from roads and decreasing numbers of mistletoe eating animals such as possums and gliders at habitat edges. These environment factors have subsequently led to these plants being abundant on the edges of woodland.

While the presence of mistletoe can have a negative affect on the health of the host tree these plants certainly attract a wide range of animals. Associate Professor Watson found that the presence of mistletoe increased the abundance of bird species by 20% or more when compared to similar bush where the mistletoe had been removed. Watson is of the view that the presence of these well adapted plants is 'one of the key factors allowing our woodland-based animals to survive in what's left of their habitat.'

A drooping mistletoe growing on the left
side branch of a local roadside eucalypt

Many birds, animals and insects feed on the flowers, fruit and leaves of mistletoe. Our best known local bird the Regent Honeyeater likes to feed on the nectar and is also known to use the plant as a nesting site. Other birds found feeding on mistletoe include parrots, Eastern-Spinebills and of course the tiny Mistletoebird which feeds on the sticky fruit of the plant. The spreading of the sticky seed by the Mistletoebird is the principal way that new mistletoe plants grow on other host trees. These plants are also important food plants for bees, butterflies and Christmas beetles.


References and further reading

Misunderstood Mistletoe by David M Watson, published in the March 2004 issue of Wingspan magazine


Mistletoes of Southern Australia by David M Watson, CSIRO publishing 2001 (recommended by us)

The Australian National Botanic Garden in Canberra has a fascinating mistletoe web site which will be of interest. http://www.anbg.gov.au/mistletoe/

A twitchers guide to the Capertee Valley

Congratulations are definatly in order for the people behind the recent publication of the Capertee Valley birdwatching guide. This easy fold out brochure includes a map of the district and a list of 19 easily accessible sites to look out for birds.

The publication also includes a list of 242 birds known to visit the Valley, from the common, to the uncommon, and the rare blow-ins. The bird list is divided into 47 groupings - such as Cuckoos or Parrots -  and includes a box for watchers to tick when a bird is spotted. This publication has been well designed and is suitable for all bird observers be they beginners or experienced.

This no-cost leaflet is available throughout the district in rental places or from the National Parks & Wildlife Heritage Centre in Blackheath. An online edition is available from the following link:
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/4721844/caperteebirdsweb-7-pdf-877k?da=y

Local Plants: Australia's largest mushroom

Both exotic and native fungi are plentiful in the Capertee district especially in woodland and forest areas. While most mushrooms are moderate in size there is one species that is rarely missed due to its massive proportions.

Phlebopus marginatus

This giant mushroom is a native species called Phlebopus marginatus and can be found growing in the area during spring, summer and autumn after rain. The locally found specimen shown above is of typical size, but larger specimens are often found. According to Bruce Fuhrer, in his Field Guide to Australian Fungi, the caps of this mushroom can grow to 1 metre across, and a staggering weight of 29 kg was recorded for one specimen in Victoria.

This mainly solitary mushroom is commonly found growing close to Eucalyptus trees and can sometime be seen on local road verges. The soft, fleshy tissue is a favourite breeding ground for fungus flies and the cap is eaten by their maggots.

This mushroom evolved at the time of the Gondwanan super-continent and is still found growing in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. While not recorded in South America a closely related species exists there. We are unsure whether this plant is edible or not. Wikipedia references two publications that claim the mushroom is edible and mild tasting, while the ever-cautious Bruce Fuhrer records it as poisonous. Best to act on the side of caution and leave the flesh to the maggots.

Eliza Thurston

While Conrad Martens is the best known artist to paint in the Capertee area during the nineteenth century he wasn't the first, that honour seems to go to Eliza Thurston (1807-1873). Thurston painted a number of landscape views in the area during the 1860s. Her best known work in a public collection shows a panorama of the Capertee Valley taken from the Mudgee Road from the Crown Ridge (now known as Blackmans Crown). 

The inclusion of human figures on the lower left corner of the picture was a compositional device popular with artists at the time. These sightseers give the viewer foreground interest as well as a sense of scale which helped emphasize the monumental power of the picturesque subject matter in the background. While not a highly realistic rendering of the scene, Thurston's Mitchell Library work has great charm and shows that the panorama seen from the Crown was as popular then as it is today.

Capertee Valley taken from Crown Ridge, Sydney Road
1868 watercolour by Eliza Thurston
Mitchell Library collection

Eliza came from an established family of artists from Bath in western England. Eliza became an art teacher after she came to Australia in 1853. She lived for a few years during the mid to late 1860s with her (Mudgee based) photographer son Horatio Thurston (1838-1881). While resident there she produced her Capertee Valley works. She died in Sydney a few years later. Her daughter, Eliza West Thurston, was an amateur artist who painted mostly floral subjects. She worked as a teacher in Rylstone and spent her later years living in Mudgee.

For more information about Eliza Thurston please refer to her biographical entry in the Design and Art Australia Online (DAAO) website: http://www.daao.org.au/bio/eliza-thurston/biography/

Song of the old bullock driver by Henry Lawson

Author, poet and balladist, Henry Lawson (1867-1922) would have known Capertee well as he would have passed through the village often, either by road or rail. Around the turn of the last century Lawson wrote a poem about the old bullock drivers that travelled the Mudgee Road with their loads of wool. One of the many high climbs for the bullockies was around the base of Blackmans Crown, a peak located just to the south of Capertee, and Lawson touchingly mentions the assent and its reward of a picturesque outlook over the Capertee Valley.

Henry Lawson. drawing by Lionel Lindsay
Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, ACT

SONG OF THE OLD BULLOCK DRIVER by Henry Lawson 

Far back in the days when the blacks used to ramble

In long single file 'neath the evergreen tree,

The wool-teams in season came down from Coonamble,

And journeyed for weeks on their way to the sea.

'Twas then that our hearts and our sinews were stronger,

For those were the days when the bushmen was bred.

We journeyed on roads that were rougher and longer

Than roads where the feet of our grandchildren tread.

With mates who have gone to the great Never-Never,

And mates whom I've not seen for many a day,

I camped on the banks of the Cudgegong River

And yarned at the fire by the old bullock-dray.

I would summon them back from the far Riverina,

From days that shall be from all others distinct.

And sing to the sound of an old concertina

Their rugged old songs where strange fancies were linked.

We never were lonely, for, camping together,

We yarned and we smoked the long evenings away,

And little I cared for the signs of the weather

When snug in my hammock slung under the dray.

We rose with the dawn, were it ever so chilly,

When yokes and tarpaulins were covered with frost,

And toasted the bacon and boiled the black billy,

Where high on the camp-fire the branches were tossed.

On flats where the air was suggestive of 'possums,

And homesteads and fences were hinting of change,

We saw the faint glimmer of appletree blossoms,

And far in the dstance the blue of the range;

And here in the rain, there was small use in flogging

The poor, tortured bullocks that tugged at the load,

When down to the axles the waggons were bogging

And traffic was making a marsh of the road.

'Twas hard on the beasts on the terrible pinches,

Where two teams of bullocks were yoked to a load,

And tugging and slipping, and moving by inches,

Half-way to the summit they clung to the road.

And then, when the last of the pinches was bested,

(You'll surely not say that a glass was a sin?)

The bullocks lay down 'neath the gum trees and rested -

The bullockies steered for the bar of the inn.

Then slowly we crawled by the trees that kept tally

Of miles that were passed on the long journey down.

We saw the wild beauty of Capertee Valley,

As slowly we rounded the base of the Crown.

But, ah! the poor bullocks were cruelly goaded

While climbing the hills from the flats and the vales;

'Twas here that the teams were so often unloaded

That all knew the meaning of "counting your bales".

And, oh! but the best-paying load that I carried

Was one to the run where my sweetheart was nurse.

We courted awhile, and agreed to get married,

And couple our futures for better or worse.

And as my old feet grew too weary to drag on

The miles of rough metal they met by the way,

My eldest grew up and I gave him the waggon -

He's plodding along by the bullocks to-day.

from Verses Popular and Humorous, first published by Angus and Robertson in 1900