Bird of the Month: Grey Currawong
Posted on 27 July, 2024 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 Damian’s stunning photos.
Grey Currawong (Strepera versicolor)
At my home in Campbells Creek, I regularly see the imposing Grey Currawong. The individuals I see are likely to be the same pair I’ve been watching for years. The small birds are a bit scared of the Grey Currawong, with good reason as you’ll read below, but they are an important part of the forest ecosystem despite their small vertebrate munching habits. If you are lucky enough to see one up close, you’ll notice the bright yellow eye, so beautiful against the grey plumage and probably summing you up in a way that feels both intelligent and slightly intimidating.
Grey Currawong in full glory and piercing yellow eyes. Photo by Damian Kelly
Often heard before you see them with their distinctive “clink clink” call, Grey Currawongs are widespread throughout our area. They can be found in a wide variety of habitats ranging from home gardens in town to open forests and in treed areas on farms. They are very adaptable thanks to their omnivorous diet that includes invertebrates, small birds, lizards and small rodents as well as fruit when available. They are opportunistic and can be found foraging mainly on the ground as well as in foliage, often in small groups ranging from 3-11 individuals.
They build large and untidy open cup-shaped nests. Usually, 2-3 eggs are laid although more are sometimes recorded. Most of the brooding is done by the female but both parents feed the young. Occasionally Channel-billed Cuckoos have been recorded being fed by Currawongs.
In wide areas of southern Victoria including our local area, Grey Currawongs overlap with Pied Currawongs. They can be easily distinguished as the Pied Currawong is generally a much darker bird with a lot more white on the tail and wings. Calls are also quite distinct.
Grey Currawong attempting to drink from two bird baths at once. Photo by Damian Kelly
Banding studies have demonstrated that the Grey Currawong is largely sedentary with only limited movements based on food availability. Some studies have shown 99% of birds have moved less than 10km. They are quite long-lived birds with some banded birds that have been known to live 16-19 years.
To find out more about Grey Currawongs and listen to its call, click here.
To find out more about Pied Currawong and listen to its call, click here.
Community champions: Top honours to Marie and Tavish at Landcare Awards
Posted on 24 July, 2024 by Ivan
Local community champions Marie Jones and Tavish Bloom were awarded top honours at the recent Victorian Landcare Awards, highlighting the amazing passion and dedication in the central Victorian Landcare movement. We are very proud of both Marie and Tavish, who have shown countless hours of commitment and hard work in restoring our ‘upside down’ landscapes of the Mount Alexander region. Please raise a glass to toast our well-deserved awardees!
Marie Jones: Joan Kirner Landcare Award
Marie was a founding member of Golden Point Landcare Group and has clocked up 30 years with the local group, as well as stints on the North Central Catchment Management Board and Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forest (FOBIF). She is currently the president of FOBIF, which runs monthly walks, organises photographic exhibitions, and develops educational materials to promote and advocate for the Box-Ironbark Forests of the region. Marie was a founding member of Connecting Country over 25 years ago and continues strong involvement as Secretary on the Committee of Management.
Marie Jones collecting seed. Photo by John Ellis.
Marie has worked tirelessly to ensure that Connecting Country is successful, serving for many years as secretary or president and being involved in multiple sub-committees. Under Marie’s guidance, the network has successfully protected, restored, and enhanced over 15,000 hectares of the region’s landscape.
Director of Connecting Country, Lori Arthur, said ‘We love the gentle way Marie brings our community together and raises awareness of the issues facing our biodiversity and wildlife. I enjoy working with Marie, learning from her wisdom, compassion and kindness through the Landcare movement’.
Marie features on Connecting Country’s Landcare promotion video below, where she is quoted as saying ‘Landcare is everybody’s, and it is our responsibility to look after our local landscapes. It is an honour to volunteer in our community and contribute towards these things’. Well done Marie, very much deserved!
Tavish Bloom: Woolworths Junior Landcare Award
Tavish is an inspiration to the next generation of Landcarers in our region, and at the ripe age of 13 years old, has an enviable track record and passion for our landscape and wildlife. He lives next to the Post Office Hill Reserve at Chewton and has been part of a project installing and monitoring 28 nesting boxes in the Central Victorian reserve as a member of the Post Office Hill Action Group. This project has given Tavish a terrific platform to learn more about our marsupials and birds that call the nest boxes home and has inspired him to tell his story to other young Landcarers and school friends.
Tavish interviewed by Dr Ann Jones at Resource Smart Awards 2023. Photo by Castlemaine Steiner School.
The nest boxes have housed several occupants, including a female Brush-tailed Phascogale using one of the boxes to successfully raise eight joeys last summer. Nest boxes are vital for providing refuge for threatened species in the absence of their usual habitat, such as hollows in large old trees. Tavish has enjoyed the interactions and sharing of the reserve with the Brush-tailed Phascogale, which has enabled him to learn more about the threatened species and ensure they have the habitat to thrive in the future.
As a young child, he spent countless hours observing and recording flora and fauna in the reserve and two years ago joined the Post Office Hill Action Group (POHAG), which cares for the reserve. This reserve was turned upside down during the gold rush in the mid-1800s and then was later used as a rubbish dump and tip for the region. Tavish is inspired to continue restoring the degraded landscape with mid-storey shrubs and nest boxes, which will enable woodland birds and marsupials to thrive in their once-denuded landscape.
Tavish with Costa Georgiadis at the Victorian Landcare Awards. Photo by Joel Bloom.
Well done Tavish, we hope you continue the journey with your inquisitive nature and passion for the wildlife and biodiversity, that is often forgotten about in our busy lives. Landcare Facilitator at Connecting Country, Hadley Cole, said ‘Tavish is such an awesome inspiration for the future of Landcare in our region and has shown that younger members of our community are keen to be involved in land management for a better future. ‘I have seen Tavish educate and inspire others around him, which is such an important role to play in ensuring Landcare continues into the future.’
Tavish now goes on to represent Victoria in the National Landcare Awards later this year. Best of luck Tavish, we’re all cheering for you!
Connecting Country would like to congratulate and thank everyone who contributes to Landcare in our region, and in particular, give a big high five to Marie and Tavish for their extraordinary contributions.
To learn more about Marie and Tavish’s accomplishments head over to the Landcare Magazine’s website to read full articles dedicated to Marie and Tavish – click here
To find out more about Landcare in our region, or to get involved – click here.
Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests AGM 12 August: Geoff Park presentation
Posted on 15 July, 2024 by Ivan
Our friends and project partners at Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests (FOBIF) are having their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 12 August 2024, with local ecologist Geoff Park as a guest speaker. Geoff will speak about locally extinct or rare woodland bird species and discuss what we think we know about the current situation and consider options and possibilities for future conservation efforts. It will be sure to be a great event. Please find the details below, supplied by FOBIF.
Woodland birds in central Victoria – historical observations, current status and future prospects
Woodland birds are an iconic and special element of the box-ironbark forests and woodlands of central Victoria. The impacts of European settlement, from gold-mining to agricultural intensification, have contributed to a steady decline in species diversity and populations. This decline is now being exacerbated by the clear and present effects of climate change.
Geoff’s talk will span some historical perspectives on what are now locally extinct or rare woodland bird species, discuss what we think we know about the current situation and consider options and possibilities for future conservation efforts.
When: Monday 12 August 2024 at 7.30pm
Where: Castlemaine Senior Citizens Centre, Mechanics Lane, Castlemaine VIC
Flame Robin (adult male), Rise and Shine Bushland Reserve, 26 June 2024 (Geoff Park, Natural Newstead)
FOBIF AGM items will also be covered on the evening. There are several vacancies on the FOBIF committee, interested people are encouraged to consider joining. There is a link for nomination forms and more information here.
Midweek Bird Walk – Wednesday 17 July 2024, Forest Creek Trail Castlemaine
Posted on 4 July, 2024 by Ivan
Our friends and project partners at Birdlife Castlemaine District are holding another mid-week bird walk along Forest Creek to observe and discuss the range of birds that make the creek valley their home. It will be a great chance for a casual stroll along an accessible trail with knowledgeable and passionate bird watchers, and an opportunity to learn more about restoring our local landscapes. All welcome and no prior birding experience necessary.
July Midweek Bird Walk
Wednesday 17 July 2024
Forest Creek Trail, Happy Valley, Castlemaine
Following the successful May midweek walk, we have decided to try another in July. This time we will walk along the Forest Creek Trail, Happy Valley. This track is a section of the Leanganook Track which is also known variously as the Happy Valley Walking Trail and the Goldfields Track, depending on the information source. The track is mostly flat providing easy walking.
Habitat is varied with much regeneration work also having been done by the Castlemaine Landcare Group and others. Possible sightings include various Thornbills and Honeyeaters, Pardalotes, Pied Currawong, Musk Lorikeet, Silvereye, Grey Fantail, etc. We may also come across some waterbirds in the creek.
Our walk leader will be Bob Dawson.
Where: The Trail starts at Happy Valley Rd. From the Hargraves and Forest Sts. roundabout, Happy Valley Rd is approx. 800 metres east toward Melbourne off the Pyrenees Hwy (B180). (Note: the beginning of Happy Valley Rd is marked as Burke St on Google Maps, etc., but the street sign says Happy Valley Rd). Turn left into Happy Valley Rd, then the start of the Trail is about 250 metres on the right.
GPS – 37.06874, 144.22776.
When: Meet at the Forest Creek Trail at 9:00 am.
2024 National Tree Day community planting – Sunday July 28
Posted on 2 July, 2024 by Ivan
Planet Ark’s National Tree Day is coming up on Sunday 28 July 2024. National Tree Day is a call to action for all Australians to get their hands dirty and give back to the environment, by planting 1 million trees across Australia. To celebrate, Connecting Country is co-hosting a community planting day with Mount Alexander Shire Council and McKenzie Hill Action and Landcare Group (MHALG).
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 our local biodiversity.
A big THANK YOU to Shedshaker Brewery (through their Keg for Good program), The Good Opp Shop, North Central Catchment Management Authority, Mount Alexander Shire Council in addition to private donors, who have generously funded and supported this event.
The day is answering a call from the younger generations of our community who, in a previous 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 and the wonderful critters that live amongst us.
Join us for a wonderful morning at the Old School Site on Langslow Street, McKenzie Hill VIC
When: Sunday 28 July 2024 10am-12pm
Where: Old School Site on Langslow Street, McKenzie Hill VIC. 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, thanks to Rotary Castlemaine.
All plants 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 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!
“The importance of invisible things” local event featuring Patrick Kavanagh
Posted on 1 July, 2024 by Ivan
Our friends and project partners at Newstead Landcare Group are delivering an exciting event featuring the wonderfully talented Patrick Kavanagh on Tuesday evening 16 July 2024 at Newstead Community Centre. The presentation will feature Patrick’s adventures into the secret works of invertebrates, tiny plants and fungi. It will surely be a wonderful evening from one of our region’s most talented photographers. Please find the details below, supplied by Newstead Landcare.
Newstead Landcare July 2024 Presentation – “The importance of invisible things” by Patrick Kavanagh
Every day, we walk through another world hidden from our naked eye. A tiny world, on a scale of millimetres, best seen through a macrophotographer’s lens.
Join Newstead Landcare for a glimpse into this secret world, in the capable hands of our very own Patrick Kavanagh. Many will know Patrick from his blog posts on Natural Newstead, where he shares close-up photos of invertebrates, tiny plants and fungi, and breathtaking images of the starry night sky.
Mantis Fly in full colour and glory. Photo Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick’s talks are known as a journey of storytelling, getting to know the critters and moments in time captured through each photo. Understanding more about the intriguing lives of invertebrates and their interactions is a joyful, comedic, and yes sometimes horrifying experience akin to the drama of a soap opera!
Peeking into this micro-world underlines the importance of these tiny forms of life most of us know nothing about, some of which are completely unknown to modern science. They are the foundation food for many of our more visible wildlife that we know and love, such as birds and mammals. Their importance to our ecosystems is sometimes forgotten, due to a lack of knowledge and opportunities to connect. Here is your chance to learn just how charismatic they can be when aided by a macro lens.
Patrick has lived near Newstead in Strangways for over two decades and has been Newstead Landcare’s invaluable secretary for the same duration. Many of his photos are taken right at home on his bush block, showing how much biodiversity can be found in one well cared for patch.
Tuesday 16 July at 7.30 pm
Newstead Community Centre
All are welcome to attend and gold coin donations would be appreciated
For more details on Newstead Landcare Group, please click here