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A native of China and Japan.  Japanese Honeysuckle is a vigorous climber with soft green leaves and pale yellow, sweetly scented flowers which self layers and quickly grows up and over shrubs and small trees, smothering them. The black berries are carried by the birds.

Japanese Honeysuckle is a vigorous, fast growing scrambling and climbing shrub with distinctive pinkish new stems. Old stems can become thick and gnarly.

 

Spring is a good time to identify Japanese Honeysuckle, a creeper with its distinctive small yellow cream to white flowers with a pink tube. Flowers occur in pairs and mostly in spring to autumn. Flowers are fragrant and nectar-filled.

Small shiny black berries 6–10 mm long occur in autumn.

 

Impact on bushland

Japanese Honeysuckle grows rapidly and forms a dense shade over shrubs and low canopy trees, blocking the light, breaking branches and causing loss of biodiversity.

Control

Japanese Honeysuckle twines in and around other plants, making it difficult to control.

Vines climbing up shrubs or trees:

  • Scrape each stem as far as possible and paint; suspended vines can then be cut and left in place.
  • Suspended vines are easily identified as they look like gnarly paperbark vines.
  • Cut and paint large crowns and scrape and paint as many roots as possible.

Vines growing on the ground:

  • Pull out by hand, making sure all root and stem parts are removed. Cut material can be spread out off the ground. Once dead, it will decompose in place.
  • Where the foliage is dense, treat with herbicide if there are no native plants or water nearby.

Berries are spread by birds, so treat plants before they fruit.

Do not pull dead or alive vines out of trees as this may damage the tree and it may be habitat for microbats and other small animals.


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Birds in Mt Wilson/Mt Irvine

 

Australian brush turkey

 

Brown quail

 

Ducks and swans

Australian wood duck

 

Australasian grebe

 

Australasian darter

 

Herons and egrets

White-necked heron

 

Ibises and spoonbills

Straw-necked ibis

 

Masked lapwing

 

Eagles, kites and goshawks

Brown goshawk

Grey goshawk

Wedge-tailed eagle

 

Pigeons and doves

White-headed pigeon

Brown cuckoo dove

Common bronzewing

Brush bronzewing

Crested pigeon

Bar-shouldered dove

Wonga pigeon

 

Cockatoos

Yellow-tailed black cockatoo

Gang-gang cockatoo

 

Parrots and lorikeets

Galah

Rainbow lorikeet

Australian king parrot

Crimson rosella

Eastern rosella

 

 

Cuckoos

Fan-tailed cuckoo

Shining bronze-cuckoo

Horsfield’s bronze-cuckoo

Channel-billed cuckoo

 

Owls

Powerful owl

Southern boobook

Sooty owl

Eastern barn owl

 

Frogmouths and nightjars

Tawny frogmouth

 

Kingfishers

Azure kingfisher

Laughing kookaburra

 

Superb lyrebird

 

Treecreepers

White-throated treecreeper

Red-browed treecreeper

 

Fairy-wrens

Superb fairy-wren

Variegated fairy-wren

 

Pardalotes

Spotted pardalote

 

Scrubwrens, thornbills and gerygones

Pilotbird

Rockwarbler

Yellow-throated scrubwren

White-browed scrubwren

Large-billed scrubwren

Brown gerygone

Brown thornbill

Striated thornbill

 

Honeyeaters

Red wattlebird

Little wattlebird

Bell miner

Lewin’s honeyeater

Yellow-faced honeyeater

White-eared honeyeater

White-naped honeyeater

Crescent honeyeater

New Holland honeyeater

Tawny-crowned honeyeater

Eastern spinebill

Jacky winter

 

Australian robins

Scarlet robin

Red-capped robin

Flame robin

Rose robin

Eastern yellow robin

 

Eastern whipbird

 

Whistlers and allies

Golden whistler

Grey shrike-thrush

Crested shrike-tit

Black-faced monarch

 

Fantails

Grey fantail

Rufous fantail

Willie wagtail

 

Cuckoo-shrikes

Black-faced cuckoo-shrike

 

Currawongs and allies

Grey butcherbird

Pied butcherbird

Pied currawong

Grey currawong

Australian magpie

 

 

Ravens and crows

Australian raven

 

White-winged chough

 

Satin bowerbird

 

Finches

Red-browed finch

 

Mistletoebird

 

Swallows and martins

Welcome swallow

Tree martin

Fairy martin

 

Songlarks

Rufous songlark

Brown songlark

 

Silvereye

 

Bassian thrush

 

Introduced birds

Red-whiskered bulbul

Common blackbird

Common starling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Update about the Gospers Mountain Fire to the north of us, posted Wednesday, 11 December.

Gospers Mountain Bushfire Update - Plan to begin backburning today.

Gospers Mountain Fire on 10 December 2019

The Gospers Mountain bushfire seen yesterday from Smiths Hill was about 6 kms from Mount Irvine

The Fire

While we have a good weather window MWMIRFS Brigade will commence back burning into the area below Mount Irvine today to take advantage of the better conditions for creating a safety burnt area around Mt Irvine. This will involve lighting the bush from the fire trails around Mount Irvine then Mount Wilson to remove the fuel between the villages and the Gospers Mountain fire thereby protecting property in the villages. The back burn is a lower intensity burn usually lit at night and going downhill so as to reduce the impact on the surrounding bush while removing the fuel and protecting the area from the bushfire coming into the villages on a bad day. 

On Tuesday the fire was holding on Bungleboori Creek (see yesterday’s Update map), north of Mt Wilson / Mt Irvine, but quite active on the Newnes Plateau. The back burn started at Mountain Lagoon has progressed as far as Bilpin. After a very hot day yesterday we are entering a good weather window until about Friday.

Access to the Mounts

A road block at Mt Wilson Road and the Bells Line of Road will restrict access to all vehicles other than residents and emergency services. Expect this to be in place for a couple of weeks.

Letters of authority were distributed last night to all residents providing access to named people on the presentation of the letter and ID like a local rates’ notice or a driver’s licence. If you need an authority for anyone else (other than Mount Wilson or Mount Irvine residents) please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. stating: first name, family name and email address. A personalised authority letter will be sent to the nominated person.

The trigger point for fire plans

The start of backburning is the trigger point for people to carry out their fire plans.  If you plan to leave, today is the time to relocate. Leave, stay or come to the Mounts this is also the time to contact your Street Coordinator and tell them what you will be doing. A fire warning message may be sent to all mobile phones in the area when fire reaches a preset zone around both villages . Do not be alarmed by this, just follow the prompts and check with your street coordinator if the situation or conditions may have changed. 

Once backburning starts we will see an increase of smoke in the area. From today expect increased movement of trucks, activity around both community halls and fire stations and road closures in areas as the backburn progress from Mount Irvine to Mount Wilson and on along Mt Wilson Road to Bells Line of Road.

Please slow down on the local roads, if possible pull over and let tucks pass. Do not enter the fire trails or the burn area as there will be many hazards, machinery operating, steep trails, falling trees and hot ash beds.

Anyone who would like to assist with Catering or Station work please contact the Brigade Station Officer on 4756 2168. 

Peter Raines
Senior Deputy Captain
Mt Wilson-Mt Irvine RF Brigade

 

Map of Fires in NSW with the current status of each fire, Fires Near Me.

The map can be zoomed to show fires in our area. 


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Help By Monitoring Fire Trail Condition While Walking

In late 2021 David Howell, Senior Deputy Captain encouraged the Brigade members and the community to walk fire trails in their own time and report any hazards, such as fallen trees, branches or other obstacles which might impede the safe passage of fire trucks or firefighters. As a result, he has developed a system to allow each person to report any problems located on any trail into a spreadsheet.

 

To access this spreadsheet please use this link  and bookmark or save it for future use. You may find you will be asked for a sign in, just click on the link again.

 

There are some considerations to contemplate which are important. You have the option of walking trails taking normal personal responsibility and then reporting anything you find which causes concern by using the link above to access the Fire Trails spreadsheet and enter a brief description of any concerns observed.

 

Or, if you are a Brigade member, you can regard this as a Brigade task attracting the usual RFS protections when we undertake RFS undertakings. If you wish to regard it as a Brigade task:

  1. You must sign in on the attendance book at the Mt Wilson or Mt Irvine Station. Members should know how to access the building from previous briefings. If in doubt, please ask a senior officer.
  2. Contact David Howell on (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), or phone 4756-2091 or 0418 771 664 providing the following details:
    1. When you’re heading off - advising him what trail you’re walking, start time and estimated finish time, who’s in your party.
    2. If you see a fallen tree, branch or other hazard/obstacle make a note, take photos if you can and make a record of the location of the hazard/obstacle(s).
    3. Importantly, when you complete your walk, call or text David to let him know that you’ve safely completed your tasking.
  3. Use the link to access the Fire Trails spreadsheet and enter a brief description of any concerns observed.

 

If you see a tree or branch over the trail, please don’t attempt to remove it unless it is small and light enough to do so safely by hand. Once you report any large tree hazard, the Brigade will arrange for a member certified to use a chainsaw to remove it or if very large, have Council remove it.

 

One suggestion made was that members might like to monitor a particular fire trail. Even though this means we’ll have some regular fire trail walkers, that doesn’t mean that others can’t use those trails.  We encourage members and the community to familiarise themselves with ALL fire trails. The Brigade would like all fire trails to be monitored at regular intervals – say, 6-8 weeks to ensure that we have current information 

 

Any specific questions on this type of tasking please contact David or another senior officer.


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Himalayan Honeysuckle invades sensitive moist bushland such as Blue Mountains swamps where it forms thickets and dense shade, displacing native vegetation. 

A deciduous multi-stemmed shrub to 3 m high. Stems are erect, hollow and bamboo-like. A native of the Himalayas. Leycesteria is a vigorous arching shrub with large, soft green leaves and drooping panicles of white flowers which are followed by clusters of shining dark purple berries spread in December and January by the birds. These plants grow well in the semi-shade of the rainforest.

Fruits are ovoid fleshy berries, dark crimson when ripe. Each fruit contains more than 100 small seeds.

Control

  • The plant should be fully and continuously suppressed and destroyed
  • Dig out, or cut off and poison every stem.
  • Spray large areas November to March.