National Tree Day Events Sunday 30 July 2023

Posted on 26 July, 2023 by Hadley Cole

Planet Ark’s National Tree Day is coming up on Sunday 30 July 2023.   National Tree Day is a call to action for all Australians to get their hands dirty and give back to the environment.

With the 2023 planting season well underway, now is a great time to get involved in your your local Landcare group!  To find your closest group – click here

Check in with your local group to see what planting activities they are hosting this season.   As well as celebrating National Tree Day, our local Landcare groups are active all year round.  Getting involved in Landcare is a great way to connect with your local environment and community, as well as providing amazing health and wellbeing benefits for you!

There are a few National Tree Day planting events coming up in July and August July 2023.  Please see details below:

Bird of the month: Painted Button-quail

Posted on 18 July, 2023 by Ivan

Welcome to 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 the brilliant Jane Rusden and Damian Kelly from BirdLife Castlemaine District writing about our next bird of the month, accompanied by their stunning photos.

Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius)

It’s always exciting to find side plate-sized, circular patches of bare dirt in amongst leaf litter, because in the Castlemaine region it can only mean one thing … quiet, cryptic and difficult to see Painted Button-quail. Recently I found these bare patches in the bush by my front gate, hidden in leaf litter under shrubs. These “platelets” of cleared ground are formed whilst the bird is foraging, by standing on one foot and rotating in a tight circle as they scratch the ground with the other foot. In NSW and Qld Black-breasted Button-quail also make platelets, making both species of Button-quail rather unusual. So what are Painted Button-quails searching the ground for? Their delicious dinner of course, which comprises of insects and their larvae, seeds, small fruits, berries and vegetation. So their diet is pretty broad.

A “platelet” made by Painted Button-quail while foraging. Photo by Jane Rusden

Dry open forest with sparse shrubs, and a ground cover of native grasses and dense leaf litter, in Muckleford Forest for example, is perfect habitat for Painted Button-quail. Being such a camouflaged species which tends to walk from cover to cover, historically it’s been difficult to accurately assess their numbers and distribution. However, using newly developed technology such as sound recording, motion-detecting and thermal camera, cryptic species such as the Painted Button-quail have become easier to monitor. Interestingly they have been found in a diverse range of habitats from dry ridges in moister forest, in coastal sand dunes and even forest edges where it abuts farmland. Curiously, Painted Button-quails will move into a newly burnt area after fire, but once the forest returns, they leave. This has been observed in the Otway Ranges and in Tasmania.

The female Painted Button-quail lays her eggs in a saucer-shaped hollow on the ground beneath some cover such as a tuft of grass, small bush or dry debris. She is Polyandrous and after laying 3-4 eggs and she moves on, makes her booming call day or night, advertising for another male to mate with and lay more eggs. She can do this 3 or 4 times in a breeding season. Dad is the stay-at-home parent, he incubates and feeds the young chicks.

We don’t have sand dunes in central Victoria, but I have seen Painted Button-quail on dry ridges and on the edge of forest in Campbells Creek and in the wider area of Castlemaine, Newstead and Guildford. Last spring I stopped the car quickly, as a Dad escorted his 3 tiny golf ball size fuzzy chicks walking across Rowley Park Road, it was the cutest thing you ever saw.

Painted Button-quail doing what it does best, hiding and camouflaging into leaf litter. Photo by Damian Kelly

To listen to the call of the Painted Button-quail – click here

Jane Rusden
Damian Kelly

2023 National Tree Day community planting – Sunday July 30

Posted on 14 July, 2023 by Hadley Cole

Planet Ark’s National Tree Day is coming up on Sunday 30 July 2023.   National Tree Day is a call to action for all Australians to get their hands dirty and give back to the environment.  To celebrate, Connecting Country is co-hosting a community planting day with Mount Alexander Shire Council and Post Office Hill Action Group with support from Birdlife Castlemaine District and Mount Alexander Youth Advisory Group.

The day offers an opportunity for the Mount Alexander/ Leanganook community to come together and take direct on ground conservation action to restore and enhance local biodiversity.

This event has been made possible due to the generous contribution from community members who supported our ‘Trees for the next generation’ GiveNow campaign through June and July 2023.  We know that our local community cares deeply about biodiversity conservation for future generations, but we were still blown away by the generous donations. A big THANK YOU to our generous members, supporters and the broader community who supported this event.

The day is answering a call from the younger generations of our community who, in a recent Council survey, asked for more opportunities to plant trees, make homes for wildlife and to undertake practical actions to address climate change. We’ve been working with our partners to shape a nature celebration event which caters for all ages including planting indigenous plants to restore habitat and interactive activities to learn about our local landscape.  Thanks particularly to Salina from Mount Alexander Youth Advisory Group (YAG) for putting together the great flyer and to other YAG members for their efforts in shaping this event.

Join us for a wonderful morning out in Post Office Hill Reserve in Chewton.

When: Sunday 30 July 2023, 10am to 12pm 

Where: Railway Street, Chewton (Post Office Hill, Chewton). For google maps location please – click here

What to bring: All ages are welcome, with a supervising adult. Bring water, suitable clothes for cold weather and the desire to regenerate our bushland. We will provide a light lunch following the planting day.

All plants purchased for the planting have been sourced be from local nurseries that specialise in indigenous plants to this region. This is vital to ensure plants are adapted to local conditions, support local wildlife whilst supporting local businesses. Experienced volunteers from Landcare will be supporting the planting, making this an effective and highly efficient project.

The ‘Trees for our next generation’ community planting day is a wonderful example of local organisations and community members coming together to take direct on ground conservation action to build resilient habitats across the region and promote local natural landscapes.

We look forward to seeing you there for the fun!

Photo by Leonia Van Eyk.

Walking Together – towards Makarrata NAIDOC Week

Posted on 11 July, 2023 by Ivan

We’re a little late to publish this informative article from Friends of Nalderun about NAIDOC Week (which ended on 9th July) but it’s definitely still worth a good read. The article was written by Floria Maschek, an ally and member of Friends of Nalderun (FoN). Nalderun is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”. 

NAIDOC Week – For Our Elders

The raven/crow or ‘Waa’ in Dja Dja Wurrung, is an important totem to the Kulin Nation which Djaara are part of. Its call aptly wakes me on the morning I complete this column. Country is telling me to get up. There is work to do! I’m a non-First Nations person but connected now to Djaara Country and with responsibilities to it. Elders past and present are foremost in my consciousness, and I acknowledge their care for community, which is integral to Country. 

NAIDOC Week is celebrated from 2 – 9 July this year. The National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week’s theme this year is – ‘For Our Elders’. 

NAIDOC Week is a time when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people celebrate, recognising their history, culture and achievements. Locally, many First Nations People do so without taking on the same level of burden educating non-First People’s as they do for the recent Reconciliation Week. However, on these unceded lands where safety, truth and culture have so often been denied, NAIDOC Week offers an opportunity for all people to learn about and celebrate the oldest continuous living cultures on earth. 

The substantial history behind NAIDOC Week dates back to the 1920’s and 30’s and should be in our national consciousness, including the determined activism of people like Yorta Yorta Elder William Cooper, and one of the first major civil rights gatherings in the world, the Day of Mourning on Jan 26th 1938. These are among  many historical efforts that led to this week of celebration. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders earn their status, not simply by getting older, but by the relationships nurtured over time. They are recognised by their communities for their wisdom, cultural knowledge, care and service. Being an Elder comes with much responsibility. In turn, Elders should be treated with a high level of respect. The amazing Elders in our community are very busy people and it’s important that we know who they are. 

Locally, many will be increasingly familiar not only with local Elders but also other dedicated and hard working First Nations educators and mentors. Protocols around Elder status are more complex than many are aware and I myself am doing my learning around this. 

We are increasingly aware of First People’s culture and the very considerable efforts of these local leaders that go into celebrating First Nations people, culture and community. Young and proud First Nations People are emerging as leaders, listening and learning from the wisdom of the Elders and mentors. 

This year the National NAIDOC Committee 2023 writes: ‘Across every generation, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families. They are cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors, leaders, hard workers and our loved ones.’ 

For more information about NAIDOC week including its history and events visit

www.naidoc.org.au

To learn about respectfully communicating with Elders visit

www.commonground.org.au/article/guide-for-respectfully-communicating-with-elders 

For further information on Djaara Country and the Dja Dja Wurrung people please visit Djaara

www.djadjawurrung.com.au

Floria Maschek is an ally and member of Friends of Nalderun (FoN). FoN members are guided by Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation and are diverse individuals and representatives of many local community networks, supporting Nalderuns visions and work. Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation supports the Aboriginal Community and is led by Aboriginal people while providing many learning and cultural opportunities to the broader community. Nalderun is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”. 

More information can be found at www.nalderun.net.au

Looking for landholders: Habitat trees for Phascogales

Posted on 10 July, 2023 by Ivan

Do you have large old trees on your grazing property? Are you in the Mount Alexander region? Do you want to protect your large old trees and increase habitat for local fauna? 

Connecting Country has been successful in securing funding to create habitat ‘stepping stones’ across the landscape with our project ‘habitat trees for Phascogales’. Working with private landholders we will improve habitat connectivity and resilience of local flora and fauna in times of climatic stress.

The Mount Alexander Shire is home to many threatened wildlife species that survive in the fragmented woodlands across our region. Large old trees and the hollows they provide are vital habitat for many of these species. One of the species that relies on large old trees is the Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa), also known as the Tuan. This a small, nocturnal, carnivorous marsupial, a little larger than a domestic rat and with a very distinctive bushy tail.

In Victoria, the Brush-tailed Phascogale was once widespread, but now has a fragmented distribution. The Brush-tailed Phascogale is a threatened species listed under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and considered Vulnerable in Victoria. One of its strongholds is around Central Victoria and the Mount Alexander region.

Phascogale in a Connecting Country nest box. Photo: Jess Lawton

The aim of the project is to protect large old trees across our region, with a particular focus on enhancing habitat for the Brush-tailed Phascogale. We’ll achieve this through practical on-ground actions including; revegetation, stock grazing exclusion around old trees, installation of nestboxes, and strategic weed and pest animal control. We will work with key landholders and focus on a plan for their property and the old trees it contains.

The Habitat Trees for Phascogales project is supported by the Victorian Government through the Nature Fund and the Ian and Shirley Norman Foundation.

A Phascogale in a large old tree. Photo by Geoff Park

Looking for local landholders

We are looking for landholders in the Mount Alexander Shire area who are interested in participating.

Appropriate candidates will have:

• large old trees in grazing land that can be fenced off from stock grazing.
• a willingness to retain fallen limbs, leaf litter and rocky outcrops in these fenced plots.
• a commitment to ongoing low-level maintenance of plantings and of weed and pest animal control.

If your property is suitable for the project, we will:

• Visit your property to identify large old trees and assess their potential for phascogale habitat.
• Develop a written property management plan setting out on-ground actions to protect large old trees and enhance habitat connectivity on your property.
• Provide contractor support and materials for fencing and planting ‘stepping stones’.
• Provide contractor support for weed and rabbit control within the project area.
• Provide suitable indigenous understory plants to help protect large old trees, increase habitat and food plants for fauna including the Brush-tailed Phascogale.

Landholder expressions of interest

If you meet the criteria above and are keen to protect and restore old trees on your land, please complete our expression of interest form – EOI Click Here

Please return your expression of interest form to Connecting Country via email (info@connectingcountry.org.au). Expressions of interest close on 13 August 2023.

To learn more about the Brush-tailed Phascogale, click here

Large old trees, such as this one, often do not have regeneration to succeed them. Photo: Connecting Country

Habitat Trees for Phascogales: a new Connecting Country project

Posted on 10 July, 2023 by Ivan

Our ‘Habitat trees for Phascogales’ project aims to protect existing large old trees on grazing land for the Brush-tailed Phascogale and other native fauna by protecting and enhancing these habitat stepping-stones in the landscape.

We know that much of central Victoria’s native woodland has been heavily disturbed by a long history of mining, clearing, woodcutting, grazing, and changes in fire and water regimes. The local Box-Ironbark landscape provides habitat for many threatened species, including the Brush-tailed Phascogale, but much of the remaining woodland lacks complexity and is missing hollow-bearing trees that are important for foraging and nesting sites and protection from predators.

Tuan in a nestbox at Welshmans Reef. Photo Jess Lawton

Scientific studies demonstrate an alarming acceleration in the decline of most species within this community over recent years, including the Brush-tailed Phascogale which has undergone a substantial range contraction, decline in numbers and experienced localised extinctions in some regions.

The Mount Alexander region is a likely stronghold for the Brush-tailed Phascogale and is important for the species’ future survival (Lawton et al. 2021, Austral Ecology). However, our region’s woodlands are heavily degraded and large old trees with hollows are now scarce and not being replaced.

Our project aims to protect large old trees from early senescence and facilitate natural regeneration. Over time, other key elements of phascogale habitat, such as fallen logs and leaf litter, will return to these areas.

The iconic Phascogale, is rarely seen but rarely forgotten. Photo by Geoff Park

What will this project achieve? 

Connecting Country will be implementing a range of actions and education activities aimed at addressing this habitat loss and increasing the range for this iconic species.

Short-term actions (within 3 years):

• Engage landholders in protecting and restoring phascogale habitat on their properties.
• Fence strategically selected large old trees to protect them from stock grazing, and promote their health and regeneration.
• Plant understorey tube stock plants, and undertake weed and rabbit control within these areas.
• Provide nest boxes as potential nesting sites where necessary.
• Collect scientifically-rigorous data on Brush-tailed Phascogale distribution, that can be used by land managers to inform decision-making.
• Educate our community to raise awareness of the Brush-tailed Phascogale and their habitat needs.

Stay tuned for upcoming events and on-ground actions

For information on how to be involved in the project click here

The Habitat Trees for Phascogales project is supported by the Victorian Government through the Nature Fund as well as the Ian and Shirley Norman Foundation.

We need you! Community planting event: National Tree Day 30 July 2023

Posted on 3 July, 2023 by Ivan

We did it! We raised enough funds for our Community Planting Event to go ahead! We are now inviting our community to a Family Planting Celebration on  National Tree Day on Sunday 30th July 10am – 12noon.

We are partnering with Mount Alexander Shire Council, Post Office Hill Action Group, Mount Alexander Youth Group and Birdlife Castlemaine to deliver the National Tree Day event.   The day is open to all ages and will include planting indigenous plants for habitat and interactive activities to learn about our local landscape including bird spotting, scavenger hunts and kids craft.

The tree planting event is answering a call from the younger generations of our community who, in a recent Council survey, asked for more opportunities to plant trees, make homes for wildlife and to undertake practical actions to address climate change.

A big THANK YOU to our generous members, supporters and the broader community who supported our ‘Trees for the next generation’ campaign to make this happen.

Photo by John Ellis

We need you! 

Now that we have the local indigenous plants ordered and on their way, along with tree guards, we need your help to plant them into the degraded bushland in Chewton VIC. The planting event is open to all ages, and is a chance to take action to address climate change and restore habitat for our wildlife.

Let’s work together to protect and restore our local biodiversity and nurture the land for our future generations!

When: Sunday 30 July, 10am to 12pm 

Where: Railway Street, Chewton VIC (Post Office Hill, Chewton)

What to bring: All ages are welcome, with a supervising adult. Bring water, suitable clothes for cold weather and the desire to regenerate our bushland. We will provide a light lunch following the planting day.

Photo credit: John Ellis

All plants purchased using from our fundraiser have been sourced be from local nurseries that specialise in indigenous plants to this region. This is vital to ensure plants are adapted to local conditions, support local wildlife whilst supporting local businesses. Experienced volunteers from Landcare will be supporting the planting, making this an effective and highly efficient project.

Photo Credit: Leonie van Eyk

The background story: Degraded bushland

The Mount Alexander region of central Victoria has a long history of removing native vegetation for gold mining, agriculture, and timber and firewood harvesting, leading to many areas of degraded bushland, with little understory, or suitable habitat. In Australia, it can take hundreds of years for trees to form natural hollows. Due to the profound environmental change caused by European colonisation and the gold rush, many trees in our region are still young and have little understory or ground cover. Connecting Country has nearly two decades of experience in restoring these landscapes, and will oversee the event, to ensure the maximum benefit for our local wildlife and community.

Much of our bushland has been turned over and lacks understorey species. Photo: Asha Bannon