Recently flooded Lake Learmonth is supporting more than 100 swans’ nests at present.
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This is a surprising number, not least because the lake is filling very slowly.
It is not deep – in fact, it is hardly deep enough for an adult swan to swim in, with the deepest places only 25cm. The swans have been walking and standing, rather than swimming, for a couple of months or more.
The major nest-building material for the Lake Learmonth swans is blown grass, commonly known as fairy grass.
This grass is not only the material used for making their nests – it is also their main food at Lake Learmonth, and has been since autumn.
As far as nesting material goes, the fairy grass is fine and weak.
It’s very different from the rushes and reeds used to make substantial nests in other places, such as Lake Wendouree.
A lot of work would be needed to construct and maintain a nest of fairy grass.
Swans incubate their eggs for about six weeks, so the first Lake Learmonth cygnets should appear in about week or so.
Most of the nests probably contain five or six eggs. Some nests are only a few metres apart, a shorter distance than is often the case.
Lake Learmonth’s many swan nests are best seen with binoculars from the southern side of the lake. They are not readily seen from the town side. Foxes will be a threat to any cygnets appearing.
Lake Wendouree has not yet produced any cygnets, but the first broods should be appearing soon. There are several nests being watched.
In July, there was a single Cape Barren goose at Lake Learmonth.
It was probably from a group at Tinakori, near Clunes, where breeding occurs each year and the geese are free to come and go.
RED THREAD PLANT
Looking very much like fine red thread, red dodder is a tangled, parasitic plant of pasture country.
We found it this week at Skipton, clinging onto small plants in a paddock situation. Its red, thread-like stems caught our attention. It may have arrived there via hay or cattle.
Red dodder is an introduced annual parasite, getting its water and nutrients from other plants.
It parasitises plants in the pea family, with lucerne often affected. It does not parasitise grasses or woody plants.
At this time of the year, it is visible only as small patches of very fine red threads.
Its white flowers appear later in spring and into summer.
Red dodder is an introduced plant, not a native.
