Windsor Precinct repeat photo
This photo-post tracks the health of native species, as well as encroachment by exotic species within the southern reed (Phragmites australis) community.
The Windsor Precinct repeat photo site is raised and looks south towards the large expanse of southern reeds that dominates the upper estuary shoreline. Reedbeds like this are important nesting and feeding habitat for different types of birds and other animals, but this area is experiencing some encroachment from exotic plant species such as Hawthorne (Crataegus monogyna).
Check out the matched selection of photos that have been submitted for this site below and contribute your own!
The Windsor Precinct repeat photo post.
Photo analysis
Repeat photos can help us see changes that happen so slowly that we’d probably not notice them. One common use of repeat photography is to assess changing vegetation patterns in a landscape.
In the two matched photos below, arrows indicate species other than southern reed (Phragmites australis) growing in the wetland. Green arrows indicate native species, red arrows indicate exotic species, white arrows indicate individuals that have either died or been removed. Solid green or red arrows indicate individuals that were present in the original 2022 image and have persisted until 2025. Stippled green or red arrows in the 2025 image indicate newly observed individuals that were not visible in 2022 or have recruited and grown into view in the intervening period.
March 2022
The 2022 photo indicates one native species (Eucalyptus sp.) and two exotic species (a Yucca sp. and Hawthorne, Crataegus monogyna) growing amongst the Phragmites australis reeds.
October 2025
In the three years and eight months between March 2022 and October 2025 the number of visible exotic individuals in the view has increased from 2 to 13, a more than 5-fold increase . It’s important to note that there may well have been more that two exotic individuals in the 2022 image, but we couldn’t see them yet amongst the tall Phragmites reeds. The Yucca sp. (white arrow in 2025 image) has either died or been removed. The Eucalyptus sp. and Hawthorne which were visible in 2022 have both growth considerably over the past 3 plus years.
