6 July 2014 – Alex Wild to talk on Ants
Posted on 31 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
Meat Ants, Iridomyrmex purpureus, at Yandoit, copyright www.alexanderwild.com
Mid-winter doesn’t seem to be the best time to watch ants or other insects. Many species will be passing the season as eggs or unseen juvenile forms and many of our ants will have retreated underground. Yet there will be plenty of insect life to be seen when American photographer and entomologist Alex Wild visits Newstead Landcare on Sunday 6 July to give a presentation on: ‘How ants run ecosystems in Australia and around the world’.
Alex is a research scientist specialising in insects, especially ants, but also beetles, bees, wasps, and various other arthropods. He is also widely known as an insect photographer and teacher of macro photography – his photographs appear in numerous natural history museums, magazines, books, television programs, and other media.
Luckily for us, Alex has previously visited our corner of the world, documenting a good number of our local ants. But his talk won’t just be about ants – as Alex says: ‘Since ants have their muddy little tarsi in everything, though (preying on things, dispersing seeds, aerating soils, scavenging, all sorts of mutualisms & mimicry), the talk will cover a lot of other taxa too.’
If you are interested in ants, insect photography or a good natural history tale, mark this date in your calendar. The talk will take place at 3.30 pm at the Newstead Community Centre. The event is presented by Newstead Landcare in conjunction with The Norman Wettenhall Foundation and Connecting Country. Meanwhile, you can see more of Alex’s work on his website.
4 & 5 June 2014 – Grazing management and pasture cropping
Posted on 29 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
The North Central CMA has organised two information days on ‘Grazing management and pasture cropping’ in the Maryborough area (Bowenvale Hall) and St Arnaud (Paradise Hall) on 4th and 5th of June respectively.
Colin Seis and Graeme Hand are the presenters. They will focus on regenerative agricultural methods including:
- Improve soil health at a profit
- Lowering seasonal and market risk
- Address the cause of weeds
- Address the cause of perennial pasture decline
29 May – 2 June 2014 – Reconciliation Week Exhibition
Posted on 27 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
Local artist, Eliza Tree, is holding an exhibition of the Indigenous Cultural Landscape of Jarra Country in Reconciliation Week. There will be an official launch on Thursday 29 May at 5 pm and the show will run until Monday 2 June between the hours of 12 and 5 pm. The address is 94a Lyttleton Street, Castlemaine. Click here to download a flyer.
FOBIF produces 2 new resources
Posted on 23 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
The Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests’ publication, Mosses of Dry Forests in south eastern Australia, is now available. The book will be launched by Frances Cincotta on 31 May 2014. The launch invitation can be downloaded here. Everyone is welcome to attend.
The guide contains an introduction explaining the life cycle of mosses and their importance in the ecosystem; tips on how to approach identification; detailed descriptions of common, striking species; and appendices carefully distinguishing mosses from liverworts and lichens.
The book is a community project of the Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests with generous support from The Norman Wettenhall Foundation. Connecting Country also supported the project. An order form for the book can be downloaded here.
FOBIF has also produced an attractive and informative poster on Fungi of the Mount Alexander Region. The A2 sized poster will be available for sale ($5) at the launch of the FOBIF moss guide. This production of this poster has also been supported by The Norman Wettenhall Foundation. An order form can be download here.
You can also purchase both these resources from Beth Mellick (Norman Wettenhall Foundation) at The Hub, Office 5, 233b Barker St, Castlemaine (enter via glass door on Templeton St) or the Environment Shop, 325 Barker Street, Castlemaine.
25 May 2014 – Cactus Control Field Day
Posted on 22 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
The next Cactus Community Field Day will be held next Sunday 25 May. As usual the morning will start around 10.30 am.
The venue is a property about 7 km north of Maldon on the Maldon-Bridgewater Road.
More on this event can be found on the Tarrangower Cactus Control Group website. The website also contains a report on the launch of the 2014 Cactus Control season by Lisa Chesters, Federal MP for Bendigo.
31 May 2014 – Parks Victoria Volunteer Recognition Event
Posted on 22 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
On Saturday 31st May, Parks Victoria are holding a Regional Volunteer Recognition Event in Maldon. The event will acknowledge the outstanding contribution volunteers make to the Victorian parks system.
Northern Region Ranger-in-Charge, David Major, says that “It’s an opportunity to meet other like-minded people in the community, share any publications or stories with others, cheer on recipients of the Parks Victoria Kookaburra Awards and hear about volunteer achievements in the region.”
When: 12noon to 3.00pm, 31 May 2014, lunch included
Where: Victorian Blue Light Youth Camp
16 Phoenix Street, Maldon
RSVP Friday 23 May 2014
Email marlene.thomas@parks.vic.gov.au
Phone 5430 4620
Click here to see an invitation with a map to the venue.
All things great and small
Posted on 15 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
A gully at Baringhup, with remnant bulokes and other trees, provided us with shelter from the biting wind and a chilly autumn day for our second workshop session, “Biodiversity in the Paddock” on Sunday May 4th 2014. The spot also provided a more permanent home to an array of flora and fauna, all contributing to local biodiversity on the property.
Thanks to property holders Jacqui and Lachlan Brown for providing their farm as an ideal location to explore concepts around biodiversity, productivity and restoration.
Guided by Lachy, Jacqui and our expert ecologists we moved between scales; from the broader landscape, down to the property and paddock level and back, to identify what makes up ‘biodiversity’ and how we can improve and monitor the health of a landscape.
Cassia Read, Karl Just, Bonnie Humphreys and Chris Timewell led us through a hands-on foray for the obvious to the often overlooked – in this case plants, birds, mosses and lichens, ants.
Jim Radford takes us on a journey of species, genetics, processes
Karl, Bonnie, Cassia, Lachy, Jacqui and Chris
More information, photos and links from the session as well as Jules Walsh’s summary of the session, can be found here.
For more information: email (janet@connectingcountry.org.au) or call Janet on 5472 1594.
Registrations Open for Box-Ironbark Ecology Course 2014
Posted on 15 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
We have been informed by the organisers that registrations are open for the 17th Box-Ironbark Ecology Course. This five-day residential course in Nagambie commences on Monday 6th October and concludes on Friday 10th October, 2014.
The course is for those interested in gaining a general understanding of ecological processes and principles specific to Box-Ironbark Country, as is complementary to the workshops being run locally be Connecting Country.
The course involves five absorbing days of field studies and is taught by a number of expert ecologists including: Cathy Botta (soil), Andrea Canzano (insects), Garry Cheers (birds), Paul Foreman (plants), Lindy Lumsden (wildlife), David Meagher (mosses and liverworts) and Neville Rosengren (geology).
Have a look at their course flyer for more information on the location and topics. Note that this is not a Connecting Country event. Contact Kate Stothers (katelance1@gmail.com) if you are interested in attending.
This area of Box-Ironbark Forest has a Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) and Red Ironbark (Eucalyptus tricarpa) overstorey. Not all ‘Box-Ironbark’ forest contains these two eucalypt though.
17-18 May 2014 – Swift Parrot survey weekend
Posted on 14 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
We are fortunate to live in a part of central Victoria which is a hot-spot for the threatened Swift Parrot – although the numbers of birds seen during their migrations varies dramatically from year to year.
Over the past 20 years, Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club members and other local birding enthusiasts have conducted surveys for this species on the two annual survey weekends (always the 3rd weekend in May, and first weekend in August). Across south-eastern mainland Australia, these surveys have been coordinated by BirdLife Australia (and its predecessor Birds Australia). The surveys also focus on the Regent Honeyeater, although this species is now highly unlikely to be found in the Mount Alexander Shire. The last confirmed local Regent Honeyeater sighting was about ten years ago of a single bird near Newstead. A powerpoint presentation on the surveys and these species is available on the BirdLife website (click here).
A copy of the datasheet is available here (click here). Across the official survey weekend – and the weekends on either side – BirdLife Australia are interested in the results of all bird-watching surveys – irrespective of whether Swift Parrots are seen or not. Even unsuccessful surveys are of interest to the scientists studying this species. The datasheet can also be used to document observations of the Swift Parrot made at other times of the year.
There was a recent article published about the impact of Sugar Gliders in killing Swift Parrots and their fledglings and eggs at their nesting sites in Tasmania (click here).
New edition of ‘chat’
Posted on 14 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
The April edition of the North Central CMA publication, chat, is now available and can be viewed by clicking on the banner above. As well as news about awards, local events, courses and resources, this issue includes interesting night photos of a fox and a wallaby taken on Mount Alexander using a camera trap set up by Regional Landcare Facilitator, Max Schlachter. It also contains a beautiful image of Grey-crowned Babblers by Chris Tzaros.
Hawkweed Alert
Posted on 14 May, 2014 by Connecting Country
People who have recently purchased plants or flowers at markets in the region are being asked to check their purchases after a State Prohibited Weed, Orange Hawkweed, was being offered for sale.
This pretty looking flower has demonstrated itself to be a highly invasive species that thrives in cooler climates. It can be identified by its hairy leaves and stems. The flower has vibrant golden petals with orange tips.
It is illegal to trade, display, transport, or propagate any State Prohibited Weed.
If you do find this weed, do not dispose of it yourself, officers from the Department of Environment and Primary Industries must be contacted to conduct the removal.
This article first appeared in Macedon Ranges Environmental eNews.