Our community is lucky to be surrounded by national parks, bushland reserves and a generous coastline, making it a haven for flora and fauna. But just because the temperatures are dropping doesn’t mean nature’s gone quiet.

During the cooler months our stunning floral displays continue to attract and sustain native wildlife and birdlife. You’re less likely to hear cicadas singing and spot fewer reptiles sunbaking, but if you know where to look there’s still plenty going on.

Council is committed to keeping our peninsula’s rich biodiversity thriving. This means monitoring our bushland reserves to gain an insight into the native animals that call our patch home and keep an eye out for pesky introduced predators.

As part of this program, cameras were recently installed off the beaten track at a bushland reserve in Allambie Heights to follow the interactions between local wildlife, pest species and the native heath-leaved banksia (Banksia ericifolia), a popular food source for the threatened eastern pygmy-possum, with fascinating results.

Captured on camera were not one but 9 different native species: the evocatively named spangled drongo, satin bowerbird and scarlet honeyeater, alongside more commonly seen birds including silvereye, yellow-faced honeyeater, white-browed scrub wren, little wattlebird and its larger cousin the red wattlebird. Also dining on the tasty banksia nectar at night were ringtail possums and introduced black rat.

The findings support those of other studies indicating that black rats may have displaced native bush rats in some natural areas. The findings also highlight how important it is to plant winter-flowering species that are local to our area. Species like Crowea saligna, Correa reflexa, Epacris longifolia, Grevillea speciosa and the swamp mahogany Eucalyptus robusta.

To help you support our biodiversity, our green-thumbed team have propagated an array of banksia for 30 locals to encourage wildlife in their own backyard.  

To be one of those lucky locals, email cec@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au quick smart and we can arrange for you to collect your seedling.

If you want to learn more about the plants that are local to your area, please visit our Native Planting Guide.