Corridor Conversations

Summer 2025/2026

Happy New Year! We hope you all had a relaxing break and are ready for whatever 2026 brings.

Here are some of the activities we undertook this past quarter.

Early Nancy Seed Collection

Early Nancys (Wurmbea dioica) are  beautiful plants that emerge in early spring, with slender stems topped by  small, star-shaped flowers often marked with maroon tones. Early Nancys are  dioecious species, meaning that individuals are either male or female. Interestingly,  a small number of Early Nancy plants show both fruit and pollen, making them  hermaphrodites. John Fitz Gerald from Friends of Grasslands (FOG) explores this in a FOG newsletter (November- December 2025). If you are interested in reading more, click here.

In 2025, Early Nancys were found growing in high abundance across multiple sites in the Corridor. Mitch Korda from the National Seed Bank contacted us to collect seed, and Trust staff joined him to learn more about the process. Sites were visited several times to locate flowering plants, bag them prior to seed release, and later retrieve the bags once the seed had dropped. In the Canberra region, seeds typically mature in late spring as the plants begin to die back, so careful timing is essential to ensure collection before capsules split and seeds disperse naturally. The bagging technique proved highly effective in capturing seed.

Grassland Restoration Site (Scrape and Sow) Monitoring

In October 2025, the Trust team, together with volunteers from Friends of Grasslands (FOG), undertook vegetation monitoring at the grassland restoration site known as the Scrape and Sow. Monitoring has been carried out at this site since 2020 and plays an important role in informing ongoing management. It helps track which sown native species are establishing and thriving, as well as identifying invasive species entering the site which can then be controlled

The Scrape and Sow was created in 2020 in partnership with Greening Australia, where 15cm of topsoil was removed in a 0.28ha plot, and then reseeded with native grassland species. Following the success of this initial scrape, the site was expanded by a further 0.29 ha in May 2024. The monitoring undertaken in October 2025 focused on this 2024 extension and marked the first full-scale monitoring of the new area.

Monitoring was conducted using two complementary methods: circular plot monitoring, which records all species within a set area, and transect monitoring along 10 fixed transect lines. While the results are still being finalised, early observations indicate that 30 native species (sown and not sown) are actively growing across the site, with approx. 12 species occurring in high abundance. However, a high presence of exotic species was also recorded, highlighting the importance of ongoing weed management within the Scrape and Sow.

The Trust has undertaken multiple hand-weeding events with the support of volunteers, as well as targeted spot spraying. This work is ongoing to ensure exotic species do not outcompete the establishing native grassland.

A huge thank you to the FOG volunteers who assisted on the day, particularly Marg and John, who have been involved in monitoring since the beginning of the project. Keep an eye out for the full monitoring report, coming soon.

Frogwatch

Over the month of October, the Trust monitored the frog populations in two dams in the Corridor as part of the Frogwatch 2025 Frog Census. Frogwatch is a citizen science program run by the Ginninderra Catchment Group to monitor, restore, and protect frogs and their habitats in the ACT and surrounding region. October is the best time to monitor frog populations because it marks the beginning of breeding season, leading to the highest activity levels for calling and mating.

The Trust conducted three monitoring sessions over the month and was excited to hear and observe five frog species at one dam and three species at the other. A particular highlight was the continued presence of the Broad-palmed Rocket Frog (Litoria latopalmata), which has now been recorded for three consecutive years. Other species detected during the surveys included Peron’s Tree Frog (Litoria peronii), Smooth Toadlet (Uperoleia laevigata), and Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera).

Nursery

Our Caring for Country Rangers have been giving our little nursery a bit of an upgrade with some guidance from Stephen Bruce and the Environmental Restoration Design and Planning (ERDP) team. A larger shade house has been installed, irrigation upgraded and better drainage systems put in place.  Our nursery provides a space to propagate seeds and cutting collected from the Corridor and grow these plants for our revegetation projects. The recent upgrades will allow us grow more!

Upcoming Events

To keep up with all events happening in the Corridor, check out our website. 

Volunteering Opportunities

To keep up with all volunteering opportunities, check out our website and social media pages.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we live, learn and work, and pay our respects to the First Nations Peoples and their Elders, past, present and emerging.