Celebrate National Tree Day at events near you!
Posted on 27 July, 2022 by Hadley Cole
Sunday 31 July 2022 is National Tree Day – a day for the whole country to come together and celebrate the indigenous plants of the nation.
Established in 1996, National Tree Day has grown into Australia’s largest community tree planting and nature care event. The program is a call to action for all Australians to get their hands dirty and give back to their community. Each year, around 300,000 people volunteer their time to engage in environmental activities that educate Australians about the world around them.
Local Landcare groups often celebrate National Tree Day with planting events across the region. If you are keen to get involved see below for events (including the Castlemaine Landcare Group planting we posted about yesterday), happening across the Mount Alexander region this coming Sunday 31 July 2022.
Castlemaine Landcare Group planting
When: Sunday 31 July 2022, 10:00am
Where: You can access the site from Happy Valley Road – see access point E2 on our website https://castlemainelandcare.org.au/where-we-work/
What to bring: As per usual practice – don’t come if you have any COVID symptoms, maintain social distance, wear stout footwear and gloves, plus sun-protection.
Bring your own cup and drinking water.
How to register: Please register at clgvolunteers99@gmail.com with the heading WORKING.
For more information visit the Castlemaine Landcare Group website – here or their Facebook page – here
Friends of Campbells Creek
When: Sunday 31 July 2022, 10:00am – 12:00pm
Where: here on the walking trail near Yandell Street, Castlemaine for a 10:00 a.m. start. There is plenty of space for car parking at the east end of Yandell Street here.
What to bring: Light gloves, sturdy clothing suited to the weather and footwear appropriate for wet ground: gumboots are strongly advised! And your own drinking water if needed.
RSVP: Please email info.focc.org.au@gmail.com for catering purposes. There will be a barbecue provided at midday.
For more information head over to the Friends of Campbells Creek website – here
Tarrangower Wheel Cactus Control Group
Planting trees and other indigenous plants are definitely an important part of building species diversity and ecosystem resilience. However, weed management is just as important in the protection of our native species. This National Tree Day the Tarrangower Wheel Cactus Control Group aka The Cactus Warriors are hosting a field day to demonstrate how to destroy Wheel Cactus.
When: Sunday 31 July 2022, 10:30am and end with an enjoyable BBQ and friendly chat.
Where: The location is on a property a few kms north of Maldon in Baringhup Road, just after the turn off from Bridgewater Road (the route will be signposted).
What to bring: Sturdy foot ware and warm clothing
RSVP: via the website www.cactuswarriors.org
National Tree Day is a fun opportunity to take on-ground action in the protection of our region’s biodiversity. Your action on this day (and every other day of the year) goes a long way in establishing more native and indigenous species in the region which contribute greatly to healthy ecosystems and happy flora and fauna communities!
Seeking planters! National Tree Day in Castlemaine – 31 July 2022
Posted on 26 July, 2022 by Frances
Well, the big day is nearly here and Castlemaine Landcare Group is looking for more planters to join their special planting and celebrate National Tree Day 2022.
Planting at Moonlight Creek – Sunday 31 July 2022 from 10 am to 1 pm
Castlemaine Landcare Group invites the community to join them this National Tree Day. Come along and help strengthen the Moonlight Creek vegetation corridor from Forest Creek to Kalimna Park, adjacent to Castlemaine in central Victoria. This corridor provides a vital refuge for local plants and animals, and helps them move through the landscape.
It is a flat, open site where people can spread out in the fresh air as they plant. The grassy site is suitable for families and wheelchair access is possible.
There will be a free BBQ with our faithful Lions Club. Please put this date in your diary now and ask your friends along.
All are welcome, but they especially need people with experience in identifying local native plants and/or tubestock planting.
For more information about what to bring and where to park, please visit Castlemaine Landcare’s website – click here
Castlemaine Landcare volunteers prepare for National Tree Day 2022 (photo by Castlemaine Landcare Group)
This work is supported by a Victorian Landcare Grant through the North Central Catchment Management Authority.
Bird of the month: Blue-billed Duck
Posted on 20 July, 2022 by Frances
Welcome to our 27th Bird of the month, a partnership between Connecting Country and BirdLife Castlemaine District. Each month we’re taking a close look at one special local bird species. We’re excited to join forces to deliver you a different bird each month, seasonally adjusted, and welcome suggestions from the community. We are blessed to have both the brilliant Damian Kelly and talented Jane Rusden from BirdLife Castlemaine District writing about our next bird of the month, accompanied by their stunning photos.
Blue-billed Duck (Oxyura australis)
Stunning image captured by Damian Kelly on one of the rarer occasions of Blue-billed Duck sightings at Lake Johanna in Castlemaine
July 2022’s BirdLife Castlemaine District walk took us to Bendigo Water Reclamation Plant in Epsom VIC. We were treated to a wonderful tour of Lagoon No. 6, by passionate Coliban Water staff Leon and Rebecca, who were keen to share this wonderful birding hotspot. (Incidentally we saw 58 species and huge numbers of many species sighted.) Along with Musk Ducks, Blue-billed Ducks were among the species everyone got very excited about seeing.
The handsome male is distinctive and easy to identify with its blue bill, glossy jet black head and chestnut body. The female is overall grey with pale barring, a bit like a Freckled Duck or lighter coloured Musk Dusk, and harder to identify for this reason. Blue-billed Ducks are smaller than Musk Ducks, but the two species are closely related genetically.
Due to their shyer nature, these ducks are usually seen at a distance. In the water, Blue-billed and Musk Ducks can appear similar as both swim with a low posture, although the Blue-billed Duck sits slightly lower in the water. Like the Musk Duck, Blue-bills feed mostly by diving to the bottom of the water to collect a variety of vegetation as well as insects, larvae, molluscs and crustaceans. They have been observed diving to depths up to three metres and they can remain submerged for up to 30 seconds. They also swim alongside banks where plants overhang, stripping seeds and other parts.
As they are specialised diving birds, they cannot walk very well on land, with legs set back on the body. They are rarely seen perching on logs, preferring open water and secluded bays. They are also known as stiff tails, because like the Musk Duck, they have a rigid tail to assist in diving.
Preferred habitats are inland swamps with dense vegetation and they have a preference for Cumbungi swamps. They range across eastern and southern Australia as well as the south-west of Western Australia. During the breeding season they tend to remain hidden in dense vegetation, so are often hard to see. Open water is a favourite habit and they can congregate in groups, especially after the breeding season. Large groups have been recorded at times, the largest being about 8,000 birds, but generally smaller groups are most common.
Nesting is in dense vegetation. A domed nest is built with Typha leaves (Bull Rushes) and a cup of roughly woven structure of dead vegetation. Clutch size is generally 5-8 eggs. Unusually, they have a propensity for dump-nesting, where they will lay in the nests of other species, particularly the related Musk Duck. Ducklings are then raised by the other species. Yes, you read that correctly: Blue-billed Ducks are a brood parasitic duck! Young birds are precocial and able to feed themselves almost immediately after hatching. They have been recorded on their second day diving for up to ten seconds in search of food.
Damian and I are always muttering to each other about how we learn surprising things about birds when researching ‘Bird of the month’, and Blue-billed Ducks were no exception. Who knew there were secretive brood parasite ducks, with stiff tails, who can dive to 3 m deep but are barely able to walk on land, resulting in them avoiding anything that’s not water?
To find out more about Blue-billed Ducks – click here
Jane Rusden and Damian Kelly
McKenzie Hill Action and Landcare Group – Landcare recovery planting
Posted on 20 July, 2022 by Hadley Cole
McKenzie Hill Action Group members hard at work (photo by Amelia Stuparich)
McKenzie Hill Action and Landcare Group has been busy planting 300 indigenous tubestock plants to restore habitat in the Mckenzie Hill area. This work was supported by Connecting Country’s ‘Rapid Response Landcare Recovery’ project funded by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust to help Landcare groups regain their momentum following the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on their activities.
McKenzie Hill Action Group member hammering into the hard rocky hillside (photo by Amelia Stuparich)
In late May 2022 the group planted a diverse range of ground covers, sedges, shrubs and trees, including Matted bush pea (Pultanea pudunculata), Tree Violet (Melicytus dentatus ) and Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata), to name a few. The planting was planned and the plants carefully selected with help from Connecting Country’s Landscape Restoration Coordinator, Bonnie Humphreys.
McKenzie Hill Action and Landcare Group reported that ‘It was a very productive planting day at Seventy Foot Hill (Diamond Gully Road McKenzie Hill) with seven intrepid planters making light work of just over 200 plants’. The holes were pre-dug, so it was fast going, with one person making up guards and others planting or lugging buckets of water to sustain the new babies. The remaining plants were put in the following week, by two committed Landcarers. The new plants have made a positive impact on the landscape already, and will add to the biodiversity of the area by providing under story habitats for small birds, animals and insects.’
Plants ready to be placed in their new home (photo by Amelia Stuparich)
Connecting Country congratulates McKenzie Hill Action and Landcare Group for all the amazing work they do to enhance and protect biodiversity in their pocket of the greater Mount Alexander region.
This project was made possible due to the generosity of the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and their commitment to supporting the restoration and protection of sustainable environments across Victoria.
Look at Me: The ants keeping an endangered butterfly alive
Posted on 14 July, 2022 by Ivan
‘Look at Me‘ is a much-loved podcast series featuring weird and wonderful tales of Australian wildlife. It’s hosted by award-winning science journalist Rae Johnston and ecologist Chris McCormack, and is produced in conjunction with our talented friends at Remember the Wild.
We’re not talking about the usual koalas and kangaroos. This podcast delves into the more bizarre but fascinating creatures that most Australians probably haven’t even heard of!
This includes a very special local animal close to our hearts: the Eltham Copper Butterfly. As our regular readers know, the largest remaining population of this threatened species lives in Kalimna Park, right next door to Castlemaine in central Victoria. The podcast features interviews with local ecologist Elaine Bayes, who has worked tirelessly to document, monitor and protect our local Eltham Copper Butterfly population.
Look at Me: The ants keeping an endangered butterfly alive
Imagine outsourcing childcare to a nest of ants? This may not be the best idea for humans but a certain insect is making it work. Now the Eltham copper butterfly’s amazing use of surrogate ant parents has attracted human fans who are using a song to try to save it from extinction.
To listen to the Eltham Copper Butterfly podcast – click here
To find more exciting episodes of the Look at Me podcast – click here
Eltham Copper Butterfly on flowering Sweet Bursaria (photo by Elaine Bayes)
NAIDOC week 2022 – Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up!
Posted on 8 July, 2022 by Hadley Cole
Connecting Country pays acknowledgement and respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands of Leanganook (Mount Alexander) region and extends the acknowledgement to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders residing in the region. We pay respect to the Elders past present and emerging, and acknowledge the care they have taken of Country for tens of thousands of years.
NAIDOC week is a national celebration of the history culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and is on now until 10 July 2022. The theme of NAIDOC week this year is Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up and focuses on continuing to encourage systemic change in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.
In celebration of NAIDOC week the Arthur Rylah Institute held an online forum with the theme ‘Get up, Stand up, Show up!: what this means for country culture and environmental management.’ The panel discussion is held with esteemed Indigenous women; Maddi Miller, Rhianna Kerr and Teagan Goolmeer, who are all amazing women working in the environmental management space. To watch the playback you can click the link below. The discussion touches on self determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the management of Country and Traditional Owner country plans.
Connecting Country greatly values our relationships with traditional owners Djaara and Nalderun.
To find out what celebrations of NAIDOC week are happening locally head over to the 2022 Bendigo NAIDOC week program and find events ranging from trivia nights to art exhibitions, films and sport.