Linda and Roger's Bunhybee Grasslands - Landscape


This is a page within Roger and Linda's Bunhybee Grasslands Web-Site.
Bunhybee Grasslands is a 49 hectare / 120 acre conservation property 35km south of Braidwood, in southern N.S.W.
You can follow through the internal links, or you may find it easier to use the Site-Map.


The property is on a west-facing slope 1km above a creekline that runs northwards and joins the Shoalhaven 4km away. The range to the west, the Tallaganda, is part of the Great Divide. It includes some national park, but is mostly 'state forest', i.e. liable to be clear-felled and replaced with radiata pine at any moment. The valley has been good sheep-country, but with wool's decline is now mostly cattle, and is increasingly subject to subdivision into hobby-farms too small to be viable. Most of the valley is improved pasture, but some patches of native, or largely native, grassland remain.This page contains some basic information about the landscape on and surrounding the property, and some photos, within the following groups:

  1. The Grasslands
  2. The Snow-Gum Woodland along the Western Boundary
  3. The Water Features
  4. Eucalypt Woodlands below Bunhybee Peak
  5. The Vicinity

For larger images, click on the thumbnails.


1. The Grasslands and Surrounds

There are scattered shrubs and occasional trees across the grasslands that make up the majority of the property. In particular:

There's limited birdlife in this sector, but there's a resident lark, and a Richard's pipit was seen on one occasion, seemingly wandered in from the rather better pickings in the improved pasture across the road. A pair of nankeen kestrels has been seen over the property.

An echidna has been seen, as have one of the resident wombats, and various Eastern Grey Kangaroos that have wandered down out of the Bunhybee Peak woodland. Unfortunately, so have feral pigs, and one fox (dead).

From the Ridge, NNW - 20 Apr 08
From the Ridge, WNW - 20 Apr 08
From the Ridge, WSW - 20 Apr 08
From the NE to the Ridge - 20 Apr 08
From the Ridge, WSW - 6 Jun 08
From the NE to the SW - 6 Oct 08
'You've got 20 minutes to be back at the car' - 6 Oct 08
Central-West, Looking West - 15 Nov 08
Rocks, looking NNW - 15 Nov 08
Ridge Rocks, looking W - 15 Nov 08
Pool in the Main Creekline - 15 Nov 08
From the Ridge, WSW - 15 Nov 08
Autumn Contrasts, Near the Gate, Looking West - 25 Apr 09
Fungus, eastern end
of Echidna Ridge
26 Apr 09
Ditto
In the SW corner,
looking Eastwards
6 Sep 09
Ac. Brownii,
near the copse
6 Sep 09

Westwards
over the main dam
6 Sep 09
Ac. Brownii above
the main dam,
looking SE – 6 Sep 09
Echidna Ridge
22 Sep 09
with Leucopogon Virgatus
Pultanaea, L. squamatus,
Trigger Plants – 7 Nov 2009
SW corner, looking W
30 Dec 2009
Grasslands in SW Corner
20 Feb 2010 ...
Towards ESE from SW Corner
Towards NE from SW Corner
5 April 2010
W from Picnic Corner
SW from Picnic Corner
SW from
beside the copse
N along W boundary
Anthurus archeri
(Seastar Stinkhorn Fungus)
... and its location
Leptosperm, Kunzea,
Banksia marginata,
sthn streamline
2 May 2010
Bracken fern
and Lomandra
Rolling hills, NW ...
... West ...
... SW, into late pm sun
6 Nov 2010 – Kunzea,
view westwards ...
... and Pultenaea, SW ...
... and southwards
Colours!
Kunzea and the scrape,
northern block looking NE
Kunzea and the
view SW again
28 Dec 2010
Joycea pallida
Plumegrass and Themeda
16 Nov 2011
Stylidium and View WNW
Goodenia hederacea alpestris
and Hibbertia
10 Dec 2011
Grasslands ...
... and Zero
22 Oct 2012
Rainer Rehwinkel, Echidna Ridge
Tosca and View
at Picnic Corner
Poa Lab.
below Picnic Corner
The northermost waterline
Along the NE fenceline
Tosca introducing
Brunig to his property
Pimelia and Kunzea on
the South of Centre Bock
Kunzea along the wires
at the southern end
14 Nov 2012
Pultanea subspicata ...
... carpeting sections
of the property
Kunzea, Leptosperm,
Poa sieberi
4 Jan 2013
with Sweet Vernal
showing golden-brown
7 September 2013
Gateway Gully
25 September 2013
Leucopogon virgatus
east of central block
Lark on rock,
west end of Echida Ridge
His favourite rocks
have bare patches on top
8 January 2014
Looking SSW from
near the NW corner
20 August 2014
N side of the gate
S side of the gate,
and very wet
Gate Gully,
full wombat-holes
The waterline
beside the track
just inside the gate
Just upstream
Flowing gently,
foaming gently
The spring, 40m
up the slope
Kunzea watch
centre-east
Down ...
... Gate ...
... Gully
The spring
and its waterline ...
... ENE from
the house-block
Lunch on Echida Ridge,
looking W to Tallaganda
High on a wet
Echidna Ridge,
looking NW
Just as wet on the
lower rock-shelves
14 Dec 2014
Grasslands ...
... with Stylidium ...
.. with Chrysocephalum
semipapposum
14 Jan 2015
West from the ridge
And North
incredibly green!
And NW across
Chrysocephalum apiculatum
Lunch at
Peppermint Corner
15 Apr 2015
Top end of the
southern waterline ...
... with blackberries
and without
The view westwards
Themeda
in autumnal red
21 Oct 2015
Tom Roberts Landscape
And Kunzea threatening
Pimelia glauca
30 Jan 2016
New A. mearnsii
beside the house-block
21 Mar 2020
Hibbertia, nthn Gate
Gully, looking W
NNW, with the red
of Themeda stems
W from North Block
29 Mar 2020
Sthn waterline,
looking WNW
14 Apr 2024
Northern Waterline,
looking westwards,
after soaking rains,
the Themeda very red

2. The Snowgums along the Western Boundary

Along the western edge is a narrow rim of E. pauciflora ssp. pauciflora (the lowland sub-species, c.700m, cf. ssp. xxxx, c.1200-1800m). The coverage is generally 25-50%, and the grasslands are apparently a little different here compared with the exposed areas that cover most of the proprety. (But that remains to be explored).

There's a limited but seemingly healthy bird-life in this sector, including a resident grey fantail, diamond firetails (seen on one of four visits during spring), eastern rosellas, 8 crested pigeons, and migrating yellow honeyeaters in spring and autumn (in large quantities, seen going both ways in the first year we were visiting the site).

A blue-tongue has been seen on one occasion. (A dog on a leash is much more likely to pick up something deep in grass than humans are!).

Looking NE 0- 6 Jun 08
Snow Gums and Rocks - 6 Jun 08
The Snow Gum Branch that was also shot by Rainer Rehwinkel and used in the NCT's Sales Brochure - 2 Sep 08
Snow Gums looking East - 6 Oct 08
To the NNW, with Dog - 15 Nov 08
Grasses 30m inside the gate, looking south - 25 Apr 09
Possible E. rubida (candlebark), South Block - 25 Apr 09
Possible E. dives (peppermint), South Block - 25 Apr 09
Snow gums and
Ac. dealbata
(Silver Wattle)
6 Sep 09
Snow gum woodland
11 Nov 09
6 Nov 2010
Xerochrysum and
view westwards
28 Dec 2010
Yorkshire Fog
50m South of the gate

12 Mar 2011
Where the 'dead' wombat was,
but much lusher after rains
NNW from the gate,
past the Leptorhynchus
myrtifolium's new growth
14 Nov 2012
Pultanea subspicata
just outside the canopy
Dead snow gums ...
... in a drainage line
29 Mar 2020
Not Snowgum, but
E. rubida ...
... Candlebark ...
... looking NE
A larger and older ...
... E. rubida close by ...
... looking WNW

3. The Water Features

We distinguish:

Main Dam - 2 Sep 08
Across the Dam WSW - 2 Sep 08
The Family at the Dam - 6 Oct 08
Small Dam, with doomed thistles, looking SW - 25 Apr 09
Small Dam, with rare passing ute, looking NW - 25 Apr 09
Waterline on South Block, with Cassinia longifolia - 25 Apr 09
Southern waterline,
middle, looking upstream
Ditto,
looking downstream,
also on 6 Sep 09
The main dam
6 Sep 09
The main dam
22 Sep 09
The dam wall looking SW
22 Sep 09
The main dam
14 Oct 09 ...
... From the dam, up the main water-line (actually trickling!)
A full dam – 7 Nov 2009
Marker-rocks only a few cm above the water-line
Chain of ponds, just above the dam – 7 Nov 2009
After rain – 20 Feb 2010 ...
... Waterline in SW corner
5 April 2010
Water-Grass ...
... in a full dam ...
... and to the NE
Dam Dog
Dam Wall
2 May 2010
Reeds in sthn waterline
Also in sthn waterline ...
... green gunge
6 Nov 2010
Full dam ...
... with Kunzea
Pond in northern block,
and view westwards
21 Mar 2011
Southern Creek-Line
16 Nov 2011
A full dam ...
... looking to the SW ...
... and with dog
25 Sep 2013
Wombat Pond, at
the very top of Gate Gully
Upper end of
the chain of ponds ...
... on the northern block
8 Jan 2014
Bottom of the chain of ponds
Dam level, mid-summer ...
... good Nov, dry Dec
20 August 2014
Silver Poa (lab.) ...
... in the
northern waterline
The dam over-flowing
15 Jan 2015
Northern creekline,
running happily
Wombat Pond ...
... in the normally dry
Rubida creekline
15 Apr 2015
Unknown red stain
plus usual limestone? white
Top end of the
southern waterline with and
without blackberries
Looking west down
the southern waterline
21 Mar 2020
Main dam full
Chain of ponds

4. Eucalypt Woodlands below Bunhybee Peak

The forest to the north and east of the northern block comprises Eucalyptus Woodlands, and they've encroached back onto Bunhybee Grasslands, particularly in the very north-eastern corner, which we call Picnic Corner. We have every intention of encouraging the emergence of a scalloped forest edge, to soften the abrupt clearance line that's existed since the 1880s.

From a distance, the forest on the Peak appears to have some areas dominated by one Eucalypt species or another, but we haven't spent time investigating that yet.

According to the Management Plan (1.8, p. 8 and App. B pp. 37-41), the main species are:

Additional species since identified (in all cases with reasonable confidence, but without strong scientific claims!) include:

The birdlife is very different in the woodland, and includes magpies, a black-faced cuckoo-shrike, and (heard only) kookaburra, tree-creeper and another non-identified call.

The NE Edge
20 April 2008
... The Differential Canopy ...
... East of the Main Ridge ...
... Bunhybee Forest ...
... Bunhybee Fringe
... From the NE corner
back to the ridge,
with Peppermint
From the NE corner
to the approaching storm
in the West
6 Oct 08
To the NE corner
from the northern edge
15 Nov 2008
10 Jan 2010
Lagenophora stipitata ...
... Blue Bottle-daisy ...
... and its leaves
Patersonia ?occidentalis
... (a swamp iris? up on the hill?) ...
... and Georgie admiring it
Goodenia rotundifolia
From the top of Bunhybee, looking SW
View over Bunhybee and Parlour,
SSW up the Jerrabattgulla valley
4 Jan 2013
Bracken in the Picnic Corner Forest
25 Sep 2013
Northern edge
Within the forest-edge,
in the NE corner
looking SW
From the NE corner, looking WSW
21 Mar 2020
Lunch at Picnic Corner
The view SW
Troy (11), Misha (7)

5. The Vicinity

Jerrabatgulla Creek 2 days after a 100mm rain event,
from the bridge on Krawaree Rd ...
... and a detail from it –
Constable in the Shoalhaven

This is a page within the Bunhybee Grasslands Web-Site, home-page here, and site-map here
Contact: Linda or Roger
Created: 17 November 2008; Last Amended: 16 Oct 2020, 20 Apr 2024