Yellingbo: A Special Place

Yellingbo. A biodiversity hotspot

The Woori Yallock Creek sub-catchment has been recognised by all levels of government and the general community for its natural values. The portion of the Catchment in the vicinity of Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area (YNCA, renamed in Dec 2021 from Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve) that adjoins private landholdings and other bushland remnants on private and public land further upstream are of particular biodiversity significance. The Helmeted Honeyeater, Leadbeater’s Possum and a host of other rare and threatened plants and animals inhabit the remnant bushland in this populated rural area just 50km from Melbourne.

Take a virtual walk with us, alongside current and previous volunteers of the Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater through the eyes of Marilyn, one of our nursery volunteers (see video).

Below are a handful of the special species found at YNCA. If this whets your appetite… Yellingbo: a special place is a coffee table style book published by the Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater. It profiles the fauna, flora and history of this very special part of the world. Jason Edwards is the principal photographer. Foreword by John Landy. Yellingbo: a special place can be purchased here.

Original inhabitants of Yellingbo

The original inhabitants of Australia have the longest continuing culture in the world, unbroken for more than 50,000 years. The land and everything on it – mountains and valleys, rocks and waterways, everything that grows and everything that lives on it – all this is sacred, belonging to “The Dreaming”. The Dreaming lives on at every level of aboriginal life, passed on from the ancestors to every new generation in art, songs, dances and stories, always old and always new.

The First Nations people who live in and around Yellingbo are the Wurundjeri. This name is derived from their word wurun for Manna Gum and djeri for white wood grub people. Their leaders were the most experienced and intelligent of their group, often great songmen and story-tellers.

FLORA and PLANT COMMUNITIES

Common (Pink) Heath Epacris impressa

Common Heath, also commonly known as Pink Heath Epacris impressa is Victoria’s floral emblem. Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area is the only place in the world where our floral emblem co-exists with our two faunal emblems the Helmeted Honeyeater and Leadbeater’s Possum.

STATUS: Listed as

• Yarra Ranges Council conservation status: Locally common within its preferred growing conditions (Reference: YRC plant directory)

SIZE: 0.5-1.5m high x 0.2-0.6m wide
FLOWERING: March–November. Masses of white, pink or red flowers.

OTHER ATTRIBUTES:

• Attractive rockery plant
• Makes an excellent cut flower
• Provides nectar for honeyeaters and insects.

You can purchase Epacris impressa from the Friends Indigenous Plant Nursery or help us to grow it by becoming a nursery volunteer.

Green Scentbark Eucalyptus fulgens

Green Scentbark is one of the many Eucalypt species found in Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area. There are few known populations in Victoria, most of which are within the Yarra Ranges Council area. YNCA and its surrounds are a strong hold for this species.

STATUS: Listed as

• Endangered under criteria A2c on the IUCN Red list.
• Endangered under the FFG Act 1988 (June 2023). A taxon is Endangered when it is considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
• Rare under DSE’s Advisory List of Rare or Threatened Plants in Victoria – 2014. On-ground actions that address threatening processes for this species, including habitat quality, predation and competition are considered a funding priority. See the Victorian Investment Framework for Natural Resource Management: Statement of Priorities 2011-12.
• It is not listed under the EPBC Act 1999, but is considered at high risk of decline.
• Yarra Ranges Council conservation status: Rare in Victoria with few known populations, most of which are within the YRC. (Reference: YRC plant directory)

SIZE: 12-20m tall x 7-15m wide
DESCRIPTION: Medium tree with coarsely furrowed rough bark to small branches, branchlets smooth. Egg-shaped to elliptic blueish-green juvenile leaves to 7.5cm long x 2cm wide. Adult: long, lance-shaped, glossy green leaves to 18cm long x 1.8cm wide.
FLOWERING: Seven clustered funnel-shaped buds with pointed caps. Fruit: cup-shaped, valve slightly protruding. Flowers white flower in January-March.
GROWING CONDITIONS: Moist loam soils of valleys in the foothills. Full or partial sun.

OTHER ATTRIBUTES:

• Provides food (nectar and insects) and habitat for birds
• Food plant for caterpillars.

Sedge-rich Eucalyptus camphora Swamp

STATUS: The only known occurrence of Sedge-rich Eucalyptus camphora Swamp is within the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area. Sedge-rich Eucalyptus camphora Swamp has been listed as a threatened community under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG Act).

IMPORTANCE: The only known breeding territories of the Helmeted Honeyeater occur within Sedge-rich Eucalyptus camphora Swamp. The endangered Lewin’s Rail Rallus pectoralis and the vulnerable Swamp Skink Egernia coventryi have been recorded within Sedge-rich Eucalyptus camphora Swamp. Other significant records include a large breeding population of Southern Emu-wren Stipiturus malachurus and breeding records of the uncommon Spotless Crake Porzana tabuensis. The conservation of the Sedge-rich Eucalyptus camphora Swamp has the potential to significantly contribute to the conservation of these other species.

Swamp Gum, Eucalyptus ovata

STATUS: Listed as

• Assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2019. Eucalyptus ovata is listed as Vulnerable under criteria A2c.
• Yarra Ranges Council conservation status: Eucalyptus ovata var. ovata. Locally common within its preferred growing conditions. (Reference: YRC plant directory)

REPTILES and AMPHIBIANS

Swamp Skink (Eastern Mourning Skink) Lissolepsis coventryi

STATUS: Listed as

• Endangered in Australia under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)
• Endangered in Victoria under the FFG Act 1988 (June 2023).

A taxon is Endangered when it is considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

Much of the Swamp Skink’s habitat is either fragmented or greatly altered with the swamps being drained and native grasses cleared since non-indigenous settlement of the land. It is one of the many reptile species recorded in Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area.

It was formerly named Egernia coventryi. In 2008 a thorough review of Egernia was undertaken and a subsequent paper published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. It has split that formerly rather large genus into a few new ones, including Lissolepis. So since then Lissolepis coventryi (after the late John Coventry) is the current name.

SIZE: medium sized, up to 100mm long.
DESCRIPTION: Back usually olive green, with prominent black stripes along its sides, from shoulder to base of tail. Pale stripe along the upper lip.
BREEDING: Mating occurs in October. Being viviparous (producing live young), the Swamp Skink normally has between one and six young (mostly three) in late January or early February.
HABITAT: Often restricted to densely vegetated swamps and associated watercourses, and adjacent wet heaths (Melaleuca or Leptospermum thickets), sedge lands and salt marshes.

OTHER ATTRIBUTES:

• This species basks upon fallen timber, driftwood, sedges, and tussocks
• It is aggressively territorial and will chase other Swamp Skinks away from its territory
• It has a home range of about 10m from its burrow and juveniles disperse up to 200m.

Glossy Grass Skink Pseudemoia rawlinsoni

STATUS: Listed as

• Endangered globally under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species under criteria B2ab(iii).
• Currently under EPBC Act threatened listing assessment, due 30-Apr-2024.
• Endangered in Victoria under the FFG Act 1988 (June 2023).

Come back soon. Information being updated

Growling Grass Frog Litoria raniformis

STATUS: Listed as

• Vulnerable in Australia under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)
• Vulnerable in Victoria under the FFG Act 1988 (June 2023).

It has declined alarmingly throughout its entire range in the past 15 years, particularly inner Melbourne and NSW. The Growling Grass Frog Litoria raniformis is listed as It is one of the many frog species that has been recorded in Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area, however concerningly, there have been no recordings in recent years.

SIZE: Large species; males around 65mm long, females up to more than 100mm long. Tadpoles up to 100mm long.
HEARD CALLING: August-April
HABITAT: Usually found in permanent lagoons, lakes, ponds and dams, especially those with bulrushes and emergent vegetation.
THREATS: The threatening processes that are driving the decline of this species are poorly understood, but are likely to include chytridiomycosis (an infectious disease of amphibians) caused by an aquatic fungus and habitat modification or degradation.

OTHER ATTRIBUTES:

• Preys on other frogs
• Active by day, spending long periods basking in direct or filtered sunlight
• As a defence mechanism, secretion emitted through glands in the skin can have a toxic effect on other animals, and can cause skin irritation in humans.

BIRDS

Powerful Owl Ninox strenua

STATUS: The Powerful Owl Ninox strenua is listed as vulnerable in Victoria under the FFG Act. It is one of the many nocturnal birds-of-prey species found in Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area.
SIZE: Largest owl found in Australia with an overall length of 60-65cm. The male is larger than the female.
DESCRIPTION: Adults are mottled dark grey-brown above and white below with bold grey-brown chevrons (chest barrings); legs are feathered to the tarsus (shins), with dull yellow feet. Immature birds (owlets) are whiter, having paler back and wings, a whiter face with dark eye-patches and sparse fine dark streaks and faint barring on the flanks.
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? A characteristic double-note ‘whooooo-hooooo’, occasionally only a single ‘whoooo’.
HABITAT: Generally favours dense gullies for roosting and breeding sites. It prefers older forests where large tree hollows provide nesting sites and arboreal prey items are plentiful. Resident breeding populations are also known to exist in the outer suburbs of Melbourne.
BREEDING: Nesting occurs during winter. Usually two eggs are laid in a large hollow. The eggs hatch after 35-38 days and the owlets fledge at approximately 10 weeks of age. The young remain dependent for up to eight months of age. During February and March they disperse and establish new territories of their own. They mate for life.
THREATS: The major threat is habitat modification or loss.

OTHER ATTRIBUTES:

• Preys mostly on marsupials such as Ring-tail Possum and Sugar Glider
• Most of the time they live alone or in pairs.