Woodland birds with DJAARA – a chirping success

Posted on 13 December, 2021 by Ivan

Connecting Country was thrilled to partner with DJAARA and BirdLife Castlemaine to deliver two popular community events focusing on woodland birds and cultural education at Kalimna Park (Castlemaine VIC) and Greater Bendigo National Park (Bendigo VIC). Both the recent 2021 events were well-received and booked out quickly. We also streamed the events via Facebook Live, so anyone could watch them online. A total of 62 tickets were booked, with the online audience topping 600 views so far following the two events, reaching people as far as Hobart and Adelaide via the streaming platform.

These events were funded by DJAARA, who is managing aspects of Kalimna Park (Castlemaine) and Wildflower Drive (Greater Bendigo National Park). Local Dja Dja Wurrung man Harley Douglas provided the audience with insight into cultural practices, and the Djaara names and significance of various plants and animals in the parks. The events featured a bird talk and walk with local bird gurus, Damian Kelly and Jane Rusden of BirdLife Castlemaine, and cultural and landscape awareness with Harley Douglas – a great combination of insight, knowledge and experience.

For those who missed the events, you can still watch the videos on Connecting Country’s Facebook page (no account required). To view, please – click here

Harley Douglas engages the audience at Kalimna Park (photo by Ivan Carter)

 

Harley highlighted some of the surveys and management practices that DJAARA has developed to manage these parks for biodiversity and cultural preservation, which was refreshing and welcomed by the audience. The events were part of a four event series funded through Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation. Two further events in March 2022 will focus on nest boxes and providing habitat for marsupials.

Damian and Jane from BirdLife Castlemaine provided excellent insight into the calls, habitat and life of many woodland birds spotted or heard on the walks, including birds like the Grey Butcherbird, which imitate and mimic the calls of other birds! Also of interest was a welcome from a Wedge Tailed Eagle, at the beginning of the Kalimna Park event, when Harley was setting up.

We would like to warmly thank our presenters and all the people who attended the event, which has generated extremely positive feedback.

Please enjoy some photos from the events, taken by Frances Howe.

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Bird watching is a great way to connect with nature and community

Woodland birds

The Mount Alexander and Greater Bendigo regions are home to some special woodland birds.  Connecting Country has embraced woodland birds as a focus for landscape restoration.

We focus on birds because:

• Different bird species tend to use different habitats, hence their presence or absence can tell us about habitat type and quality.
• Birds are relatively easy to count and can indicate whether our revegetation efforts are successful in creating habitat.
• Woodland birds are in serious decline, with the Victorian Temperate Woodland Bird Community is listed as a threatened community under Victorian legislation.
• Birds are engaging! BirdLife Australia has been harnessing the enthusiasm and skill of citizen scientists for decades, with great success.

Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya

The ‘Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya’ project spans across four years with a focus on site-specific management plans for the two identified areas of Dja Dja Wurrung Country: Kalimna Park in Castlemaine; and Wildflower Drive in Strathfieldsaye.

The project focuses on how to:

• Increase community connection with nature.
• Grow visitation rates.
• Encourage healthy use of each sites.
• Maintain and improve diversity.

The project will also promote Djaara employment opportunities and facilitate Djaara connections with traditional and contemporary practices to improve land management outcomes.

For more information on the Walking Together Project, please – click here

Healthy landscapes guide – gift a copy now!

Posted on 9 December, 2021 by Ivan

Looking for a healthy and sustainable Christmas gift this festive season? We still have copies of Connecting Country’s Healthy Landscapes guide for sale.

Healthy Landscapes is a practical guide to caring for land in the Mount Alexander region of Central Victoria. It is targeted to local landholders and Landcarers, or anyone interested in caring for our special local environment.

Here’s just some of the feedback:

• Sensational! A must-read for anyone with a property from 1 to 1,000 acres. (Yapeen landholder/farmer)
• I wish we’d had this guide when I first moved here 25 years ago. (Golden Point landholder)
• Wow, what a fabulous publication. It covers all bases and is an essential read for all landowners. It has particular relevance for anyone doing due diligence before purchasing rural acreage, however big or small.  (Walmer landholder)
• I was in Castlemaine today and suddenly remembered this item about the book being available at Stonemans. They had it at the front desk and we are reading it now back at home. It is really outstanding and very relevant. Thanks to Connecting Country for their dedication. (Welshmans Reef landholder)

For more information about the Healthy Landscapes guide – click here

To get your copy ($15) head to:

Mount Alexander Animal Welfare (MAAW) Op Shop
12 Johnstone St, Castlemaine VIC
For shop information and opening hours – click here

Castlemaine Visitor Information Centre
44 Mostyn St, Castlemaine VIC
For centre information – click here

Stoneman’s Bookroom
101 Mostyn St, Castlemaine VIC
For shop information – click here

The Book Wolf
1/26 High St, Maldon VIC
For shop information – click here

A copy of the guide has been made available free of charge to each local Landcare and environmental volunteering group in the Mount Alexander region. This project was made possible through support from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, through funding from Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Last chance to book: Woodland birds of Wildflower Drive with DJAARA – 4 December 2021

Posted on 3 December, 2021 by Ivan

During the event we will:

• Learn about Dja Dja Wurrung country and the woodland birds of Wildflower Drive, Greater Bendigo National Park.
• Explore the Wildflower Drive environment with local cultural and ecological guides.
• Hear about how Wildflower Drive is managed for biodiversity, cultural preservation and woodland birds.

We will have the opportunity to explore the landscape with members of the Djaara community and hear about the significance that birds play in the broader landscape of Greater Bendigo National Park.

The Mount Alexander and Greater Bendigo region is home to some special woodland birds.  Connecting Country has embraced woodland birds as a focus for landscape restoration.

We focus on birds because:

• Different bird species tend to use different habitats, hence their presence or absence can tell us about habitat type and quality.
• Birds are relatively easy to count and can indicate whether our revegetation efforts are successful in creating habitat.
• Woodland birds are in serious decline, with the Victorian Temperate Woodland Bird Community is listed as a threatened community under Victorian legislation.
• Birds are engaging! BirdLife Australia has been harnessing the enthusiasm and skill of citizen scientists for decades, with great success.

Booking

The event will be on Saturday 4 December 2021 from 10.00 to 11.30 am in Wildflower Drive, Greater Bendigo National Park, VIC. It’s sure to be popular and tickets are limited. To book please – click here

Due to COVID-19 limitations, please bring your own refreshments. Please come equipped for potential weather extremes, wear sturdy shoes and bring adequate water and nourishment. Bring binoculars if you have some.

Live-streaming via Facebook

This event will also be streamed live on Facebook, for those who cannot make it or miss out on tickets. To watch the Facebook Live Stream, on the day please visit: facebook.com/connectingcountry

Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya

The ‘Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya’ project spans across four years with a focus on site-specific management plans for the two identified areas of Dja Dja Wurrung Country: Kalimna Park in Castlemaine; and Wildflower Drive in Strathfieldsaye.

The project focuses on how to:

• Increase community connection with nature.
• Grow visitation rates.
• Encourage healthy use of each sites.
• Maintain and improve diversity.

The project will also promote Djaara employment opportunities and facilitate Djaara connections with traditional and contemporary practices to improve land management outcomes.

For more information on the Walking Together Project, please – click here

Five tickets remaining, Woodland birds of Wildflower Drive with DJAARA – 4 December 2021

Posted on 29 November, 2021 by Ivan

During the event we will:

• Learn about Dja Dja Wurrung country and the woodland birds of Wildflower Drive, Greater Bendigo National Park.
• Explore the Wildflower Drive environment with local cultural and ecological guides.
• Hear about how Wildflower Drive is managed for biodiversity, cultural preservation and woodland birds.

We will have the opportunity to explore the landscape with members of the Djaara community and hear about the significance that birds play in the broader landscape of Greater Bendigo National Park.

The Mount Alexander and Greater Bendigo region is home to some special woodland birds.  Connecting Country has embraced woodland birds as a focus for landscape restoration.

We focus on birds because:

• Different bird species tend to use different habitats, hence their presence or absence can tell us about habitat type and quality.
• Birds are relatively easy to count and can indicate whether our revegetation efforts are successful in creating habitat.
• Woodland birds are in serious decline, with the Victorian Temperate Woodland Bird Community is listed as a threatened community under Victorian legislation.
• Birds are engaging! BirdLife Australia has been harnessing the enthusiasm and skill of citizen scientists for decades, with great success.

Booking

The event will be on Saturday 4 December 2021 from 10.00 to 11.30 am in Wildflower Drive, Greater Bendigo National Park, VIC. It’s sure to be popular and tickets are limited. To book please – click here

Due to COVID-19 limitations, please bring your own refreshments. Please come equipped for potential weather extremes, wear sturdy shoes and bring adequate water and nourishment. Bring binoculars if you have some.

Live-streaming via Facebook

This event will also be streamed live on Facebook, for those who cannot make it or miss out on tickets. To watch the Facebook Live Stream, on the day please visit: facebook.com/connectingcountry

Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya

The ‘Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya’ project spans across four years with a focus on site-specific management plans for the two identified areas of Dja Dja Wurrung Country: Kalimna Park in Castlemaine; and Wildflower Drive in Strathfieldsaye.

The project focuses on how to:

• Increase community connection with nature.
• Grow visitation rates.
• Encourage healthy use of each sites.
• Maintain and improve diversity.

The project will also promote Djaara employment opportunities and facilitate Djaara connections with traditional and contemporary practices to improve land management outcomes.

For more information on the Walking Together Project, please – click here

Ten tickets left – Woodland Birds of Kalimna Park with DJAARA – Saturday 27 November 2021

Posted on 26 November, 2021 by Ivan

During the event we will:

• Learn about Dja Dja Wurrung country and the woodland birds of Kalimna Park in Castlemaine VIC.
• Explore Kalimna Park with local cultural and ecological guides.
• Hear about how Kalimna Park is managed for biodiversity, cultural preservation and woodland birds.

We will have the opportunity to explore the landscape with members of the Djaara community and hear about the significance that birds play in the broader landscape of Kalimna Park.

The Mount Alexander region is home to some special woodland birds.  Connecting Country has embraced woodland birds as a focus for landscape restoration.

We focus on birds because:

• Different bird species tend to use different habitats, hence their presence or absence can tell us about habitat type and quality.
• Birds are relatively easy to count and can indicate whether our revegetation efforts are successful in creating habitat.
• Woodland birds are in serious decline, with the Victorian Temperate Woodland Bird Community is listed as a threatened community under Victorian legislation.
• Birds are engaging! BirdLife Australia has been harnessing the enthusiasm and skill of citizen scientists for decades, with great success.

Booking

The event will be on Saturday 27 November 2021 from 10.00 to 11.30 am in Kalimna Park, Castlemaine, VIC. It’s sure to be popular and tickets are limited. To book please – click here

Due to COVID-19 limitations, please bring your own refreshments. Please come equipped for potential weather extremes, wear sturdy shoes and bring adequate water and nourishment. Bring binoculars if you have some.

Live-streaming via Facebook

This event will also be streamed live on Facebook, for those who cannot make it or miss out on tickets. To watch the Facebook Live Stream, on the day please visit: facebook.com/connectingcountry

Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya

The ‘Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya’ project spans across four years with a focus on site-specific management plans for the two identified areas of Dja Dja Wurrung Country: Kalimna Park in Castlemaine; and Wildflower Drive in Strathfieldsaye.

The project focuses on how to:

• Increase community connection with nature.
• Grow visitation rates.
• Encourage healthy use of each sites.
• Maintain and improve diversity.

The project will also promote Djaara employment opportunities and facilitate Djaara connections with traditional and contemporary practices to improve land management outcomes.

For more information on the Walking Together Project, please – click here

Bird of the month: White-winged Chough

Posted on 25 November, 2021 by Ivan

Welcome to our twentieth 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 lucky to have the talented and charismatic Jane Rusden from BirdLife Castlemaine District writing about our next bird of the month, with assistance from the brilliant Damian Kelly and photos by Ash Vigus and Damian. 

White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanorhamphus)

Favouring open Box woodland with leaf litter and fallen timber in which to forage, the White-winged Chough is yet another fascinating species of bird with complex and unusual family dynamics. They will use a variety of habitats such as wetter forests, farmland, pine plantations and urban areas, but need to drink daily so a water source is vital. They have interesting inter-species communication including unique displays with bulging bright red eyes fully engorged with blood, and wing and tail fanning, which exposes the white on the wing of this otherwise black bird.

Their broad diet is omnivorous, including insects, spiders, fruit, plant tubers and, on occasion, eggs of nesting birds. I have witnessed them attempting to take a newly fledged Grey Shrike-thrush (I don’t know if they succeeded) and Damian’s photo shows a White-winged Chough about to swallow a large frog.

Mmmmm tasty, a very large frog for dinner (photo by Damian Kelly)

DNA studies show the White-winged Chough is closely related to the Apostle Bird. Both live in large gregarious groups and are sedentary cooperative breeders. A bird banding study showed 94% of White-winged Choughs moved no further than 10 km from the banding site, and the maximum distance was 31 km. Mobs of White-winged Choughs vary from four birds, the minimum viable breeding group, to 20 birds. Breeding groups consist of a dominant breeding pair with generally sons and daughters from previous broods, including young birds, helping at the nest. The dominant pair will often be the sole breeders, over multiple years. Research shows that a group of four birds will only be able to raise one young, a group of seven can raise more than one young, and a group of seven or more can raise four fledglings. The nest is a neat mud bowl like construction, firmly attached to a horizontal branch high in a eucalypt.

An adult sitting on the bowl shaped mud nest of the White-winged Chough (photo by Ash Vigus)

It takes four years for a bird to reach maturity and they live up to 14 years in the wild, and longer in captivity. Mobs of White-winged Choughs break up on occasion, usually when the dominant breeding pair dies or becomes too old. Other than during the breeding season, there can be some mingling and overlapping of groups. Depending on the habitat, they need a home range of up to 50 hectares.

White-winged Choughs LOVE to bathe, both in fine dust and a good splash in water. They often turn the fresh water in my bird bath to opaque yuckiness, as all dozen of them try to cram in at once. I recommend spending the time to sit and watch a mob of White-winged Choughs – you’ll most likely be thoroughly entertained with their interactions.

The blood filled eye, red gape (mouth) and the (usually hidden) white on the wing of a displaying White-winged Chough (photo by Damian Kelly)

To hear the call of a White-winged Chough, please – click here

Jane Rusden
BirdLife Castlemaine District

Book now for Woodland birds of Wildflower Drive with DJAARA – 4 December 2021

Posted on 15 November, 2021 by Ivan

During the event we will:

• Learn about Dja Dja Wurrung country and the woodland birds of Wildflower Drive, Greater Bendigo National Park.
• Explore the Wildflower Drive environment with local cultural and ecological guides.
• Hear about how Wildflower Drive is managed for biodiversity, cultural preservation and woodland birds.

We will have the opportunity to explore the landscape with members of the Djaara community and hear about the significance that birds play in the broader landscape of Greater Bendigo National Park.

The Mount Alexander and Greater Bendigo region is home to some special woodland birds.  Connecting Country has embraced woodland birds as a focus for landscape restoration.

We focus on birds because:

• Different bird species tend to use different habitats, hence their presence or absence can tell us about habitat type and quality.
• Birds are relatively easy to count and can indicate whether our revegetation efforts are successful in creating habitat.
• Woodland birds are in serious decline, with the Victorian Temperate Woodland Bird Community is listed as a threatened community under Victorian legislation.
• Birds are engaging! BirdLife Australia has been harnessing the enthusiasm and skill of citizen scientists for decades, with great success.

Booking

The event will be on Saturday 4 December 2021 from 10.00 to 11.30 am in Wildflower Drive, Greater Bendigo National Park, VIC. It’s sure to be popular and tickets are limited. To book please – click here

Due to COVID-19 limitations, please bring your own refreshments. Please come equipped for potential weather extremes, wear sturdy shoes and bring adequate water and nourishment. Bring binoculars if you have some.

Live-streaming via Facebook

This event will also be streamed live on Facebook, for those who cannot make it or miss out on tickets. To watch the Facebook Live Stream, on the day please visit: facebook.com/connectingcountry

Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya

The ‘Walking Together – Balak Kalik Manya’ project spans across four years with a focus on site-specific management plans for the two identified areas of Dja Dja Wurrung Country: Kalimna Park in Castlemaine; and Wildflower Drive in Strathfieldsaye.

The project focuses on how to:

• Increase community connection with nature.
• Grow visitation rates.
• Encourage healthy use of each sites.
• Maintain and improve diversity.

The project will also promote Djaara employment opportunities and facilitate Djaara connections with traditional and contemporary practices to improve land management outcomes.

For more information on the Walking Together Project, please – click here

Bird of the month: how to feed birds safely

Posted on 27 October, 2021 by Ivan

Welcome to our twentieth ‘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 – except this month! We’re excited to join forces to deliver you a different bird each month, seasonally adjusted, but this month we thought it would be helpful to reflect on another important bird topic: how to safely feed birds.

This special edition of bird of the month article was written by the well-versed Damian Kelly, with photos by the talented Jane Rusden and Damian. 

Feeding birds

If you want people to appreciate the environment, they must be engaged – to see wildlife up close and personal. Research has demonstrated that a lot of people are already engaged and feeding birds. Encouraging this and ensuring good feeding practices are essential.

In the past, it was common advice to not feed birds but just plant a native garden and provide water. However, more recent research has begun to question that. It is not possible to cover the whole topic here, but suffice to say that if you are interested, you should read these books by Professor Daryl Jones, a behavioural ecologist at Griffith University in Queensland:

• ‘The birds at my table – why we feed wild birds and why it matters’ (Cornell University Press, 2018) 
• ‘Feeding the birds at your table – a guide for Australia’ (NewSouth, 2019).

The second book provides lots of practical advice, based on science.

The trend to native gardens has encouraged plant nurseries to develop long-flowering species, and this alone can change the mix of birds in gardens. In some areas, such long and intense sources of nectar encourage aggressive species such as Noisy Miners and Red Wattlebirds, which tend to drive away other species. Sometimes there can be unintended consequences of garden changes.

The same can be said if you feed lots of meat, which favours Butcherbirds and Kookaburras – species that are predators of smaller birds. A lot of mincemeat can also lead to disease issues due to a lack of the nutrients needed by birds.

So – if you want to feed the birds then it is best to be informed, and make sure you are providing the best food and plenty of cover, along with clean water for them. You will be rewarded with a variety of birds in your garden to enjoy.

In summary, Daryl Jones recommends:

• Ensure that the feeding station is cleaned daily and is located out of reach of potential predators such as cats.
• Provide high-quality food. Do not provide bread, fatty meat, or honey and water mixes. Instead use nectar mixes, good quality seed or meat with a low-fat content.
• Vary the type of food provided and when it is available. Alternate between nectar mixes and seed for example. Set it out at different times and not every day.
• Monitor the types of birds using the feeder. If introduced birds are becoming more common or populations that are visiting the feeder are becoming very large, then take a break from feeding for a while and then recommence with a different food type.
• Provide a birdbath

Birdlife Australia now provides detailed recommendations for feeding birds. A good place to start is the Birds in Backyards website – click here

Red-browed Finch feeding on quality birdseed (photo by Damian Kelly)

A waterlogged Sacred Kingfisher flies off after a good swim in a birdbath (photo by Jane Rusden)

You never know who else might enjoy some water in your garden: Swamp Wallaby has a drink (photo by Jane Rusden)

Damian Kelly

Endangered butterfly finds new hope in central Victoria

Posted on 29 September, 2021 by Ivan

We recently received a great article from the newly formed ‘Wetland Revival Trust‘, highlighting our beloved Eltham Copper Butterfly and the search for new habitat in our region. The trust has been setup by Damien Cook and Elaine Bayes, who are co-directors and ecologists at Rakali Ecological Consulting, which has been operating since 2012. The article gives us hope, that threatened species can return from the brink, with support from the community and government, and adequate habitat managed for its ecological values. Please enjoy the article below, developed by Connecting Country on behalf of the Wetland Revival Trust.

Endangered butterfly: New hope in central Victoria

The endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly (Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida) represents one of the most fascinating stories both due to its co-dependency in nature and how people have rallied for this species.  This is a rare, good news story within the extinction crisis across Australia, proving we can save species from the brink with the right care and resources.

It is a story of lost and found and lost and found again. The little butterfly was formally described in 1951 having been collected from several sites around Eltham (then north east of Melbourne) during 1923-56.  Subsequent lack of records over the next 37 years, combined with vegetation clearing for housing development where they once thrived (Tallarook, Murtoa, Dimboola, Keilor, Broadmeadows and Yarrambat), lead scientists to conclude the butterfly had become extinct. Then the butterflies were rediscovered at Eltham in 1987 on a property about to be subdivided. Community campaigning for this tiny insect resulted in the purchase and protection of eight hectares of land around Eltham and Greensborough. The 1987 discovery also triggered funding of a state-wide search. Nine colonies were discovered in 1988, including two in new regions: Castlemaine (central Victoria) and the Kiata-Salisbury area (western Victoria).

Finding where a threatened species lives is the first step in conserving it, but protecting it from threats is the key to survival.  Sadly, since 1988 three known populations were lost through housing development in Melbourne’s north eastern suburbs (Montmorency and Eltham) and from grazing and weed invasion in western Victoria (Salisbury).  It is likely that butterfly populations were also lost from other areas where they were not yet discovered.

The Eltham Copper Butterfly is only the size of a ten cent piece (photo by Elaine Bayes)

However, bursts of effort over the decades have led to the discovery of new populations, mostly in north central Victoria. In 2011, a 3,000 ha search found eight new populations around Bendigo and Castlemaine.  All the newly-discovered populations are very localised. Although the populations are located within a larger area of what looks like suitable butterfly habitat, the butterfly only occurs in 3-25% of habitat. Numbers of butterflies within these areas are also small, with populations of around 50 butterflies peppered across an area.  Why they are found in some areas and not others is unclear, and what makes good butterfly habitat appears very complex.

Eltham Copper Butterfly is a small attractive butterfly with bright copper colouring on the tops of its wings and lives in dry open woodlands. A member of the blue butterfly family, it has a fascinating ecological dependency with two other species – a Notoncus ant and the Sweet Bursaria plant (Bursaria spinosa), which is the sole food source for the butterfly larvae. It’s survival also relies on an unknown array of environmental factors including availability of food for the ants, relationships with predators, site aspect and soil type.

The symbiotic relationship works like this. The adult Eltham Copper Butterflies lay their eggs on or at the base of Sweet Bursaria plants. The eggs hatch and the larvae make their way to the ant nest where they are tended and guarded by Notoncus ants.  This amazing service is achieved through a mixture of trickery and treats. Trickery in that the larvae of this family butterflies are believed to give off chemicals and make noises that can pacify ant aggression, mimic ant brood hormones, and attract and alert ants if the butterfly larvae is alarmed. Treats in that the butterfly larvae produces sugary secretions from their body in proportion to how many ants they need to guard them. These nocturnal ants then lead the butterfly larvae out at night to browse on the Sweet Bursaria leaves, and defend them from the many nocturnal predators that see the larvae as a juicy snack. Larvae pupate in or near the ant nest, with adult butterflies emerging from October to March each year, peaking from November to January. The adults then feed on nectar of Sweet Bursaria flowers, before they lay their eggs at the base of the plant, and on the cycle begins again.

The Eltham Copper Butterfly emerges in December on days over 25 degrees. Photo: Elaine Bayes

Elaine Bayes is one of the leading ecologists championing the future survival of the Eltham Copper Butterfly in northern Victoria. Elaine has conducted numerous surveys for the butterfly and its preferred habitat over the past decade, along with her colleague ecologist Karl Just and a team of citizen scientists, uncovering new populations along the way. Elaine recently obtained funding through the Victorian Government’s Biodiversity On-ground Action Program to map and monitor current known populations, and conduct further surveys for suitable habitat across central and western Victoria. Elaine is excited about the chance of finding further populations of the special butterfly. ‘We have the opportunity to conduct surveys in locations that we have not previously surveyed, but we know have great habitat potential. The next six months will see our team survey locations around Castlemaine, Chewton and Kiata, with the hope of discovering new populations, which is very exciting and vital to the survival of this endangered species.’ noted Ms Bayes.

A citizen science event in Castlemaine in 2019 attracted a strong crowd and interest in the Eltham Copper Butterfly (photo by Frances Howe)

Although there are several known populations around the state, the future of this special butterfly remains uncertain. It is listed as threatened under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and as endangered under the Commonwealth Environmental Conservation and Biodiversity Act 1999. This places considerable importance on managing the small number of known population sites and locating any potential new sites so they can be protected from threats.

‘Land clearing and fire are two of the main one threats to this species. It is critical that we search for unrecorded populations so they can be protected, particularly from planned burns. The habitat around butterfly populations is vital and must be protected from over burning for the butterfly and their complex ecological relationships to survive,’ said Ms Bayes. Recent surveys from ecologists and the community have resulted in important changes to fuel reduction burns, allowing land managers to still reduce fuel load but ensure vital habitat is maintained for butterfly breeding.

Larvae pupate in or near the ant nest (photo by Elaine Bayes)

How can you help?

To contribute, get involved in the protection, conservation and management of remnant bushland on your property or in your local area, as there are increasingly rare and threatened species living within them. In particular, retain and restore any native understorey plants on your property, and if appropriate to your area, plant Sweet Bursaria.

For updates about the butterfly population in Eltham-Greensborough and associated volunteer events, there is a Facebook page – click here

For the Eltham Copper Butterfly populations in northern Victoria, get involved locally in management, monitoring or raising awareness. From early November to January, walk through areas where Sweet Bursaria grows and look for the copper sparkle of flying adult butterflies.

You can report sightings of this elusive butterfly on the new and amazing Butterfly Australia App. For information visit – www.butterflies.org.au

This 2021 Eltham Copper Butterfly project is funded by the Victorian Government’s Biodiversity On-ground Action Program.

Bird of the month: Kestrel

Posted on 27 September, 2021 by Ivan

Welcome to our nineteenth 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 lucky to have the talented and charismatic Jane Rusden from BirdLife Castlemaine District writing about our next bird of the month, with assistance from the brilliant Damian Kelly and photos by Ash Vigus.

Australian Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)

A member of the Falco genus which includes Peregrines and Hobbies, Kestrels are widespread across the world, with 13 species recognised. A few overseas species migrate with the seasons, but most are non-migratory, although they will move about depending on food availability. Their diet includes small birds, mice, reptiles, locusts and grasshoppers along with some other insects, spiders and other terrestrial invertebrates. They will readily move to areas of abundance during mouse and locust plagues. Within Australia, many areas have resident pairs. Juveniles spread widely after fledging and may move long distances.

Kestrels often hover in one spot searching for a variety of prey including insects and rodents (photo: Ash Vigus)

Australia has one species – the Australian or Nankeen Kestrel. It can be found all over the Australian mainland and on some outlying islands including Tasmania, most Bass Straight islands as well as Christmas, Norfolk and Lord Howe islands. It has occasionally been recorded as a non-breeding visitor to Papua New Guinea, the Torres Strait islands, New Zealand and Java. It is likely that they have expanded in both population and distribution with the clearing of forests for farmland, as they prefer open country. They have also readily adapted to taking the introduced House Mouse as well as the Common Starling, which often comprise a significant part of their diet.

It is the smallest Australian Falcon with a length of 30-35 cm and a weight range of 165 g for males to 185 g for females. They are great fliers, soaring and hovering with ease. Quite spectacular to watch.

Generally, breeding occurs between August to December. Australian Kestrels are quite adaptable and will utilise tree hollows, cliffs, old nests of other birds, nest boxes and even the broken tops of anthills. There are also records of them using sinkholes in the ground and mine shafts. They are known to use the nests of White-winged Chough, Australian Magpie, Whistling Kite, crows and ravens and even the top of Chestnut-crowned Babbler nests. Certainly very adaptable!

Clutches of eggs range from 1 to 6, but usually 2-3. Most of the incubation is done by the female with the male feeding her. Upon hatching the female generally feeds the young, often with food brought to the nest for her by the male.

There are some remarkable records of fostering, with young kestrels being reared by Black-breasted Buzzards and even a Black Falcon feeding young kestrels at the nest.

To hear the call of an Australian Kestrel, please – click here

Jane Rusden
BirdLife Castlemaine District

How to get help for injured native animals

Posted on 22 September, 2021 by Ivan

We love our wildlife and are very proud of the amazing work wildlife rescuers do every week across Victoria. It is a tireless and stressful job that provides an important service for our wildlife and community. We are often asked about how to report injured or sick wildlife and who is the best contact in our region. Please read on for further information courtesy of  Wildlife Victoria and a local wildlife rescuer, that covers the basics and some interesting facts.

Wildlife rescue deals with hundreds of calls each day during the busy periods over summer (photo: Wildlife Victoria)

Wildlife of the Box-Ironbark Country – new edition

Posted on 8 September, 2021 by Ivan

One of our most treasured nature books by legendary nature enthusiast Chris Tzaros is about to get an update with the release of the second edition.  ‘Wildlife of the Box-Ironbark Country’ has been a bible to many living in and around box-ironbark country, with amazing imagery and detailed information on the fascinating animals that call our local forests and woodlands home.

Chris was a guest speaker at our 2020 sell-out event, ‘Tricky Birds’, and is one of the nation’s leading bird photographers and experts on the box-ironbark regions.

The second edition of ‘Wildlife of the Box-Ironbark Country’ is now available via pre-order and is due to be delivered in the coming weeks. No doubt the second edition will feature glorious imagery and a comprehensive overview of the ecologically significant Box–Ironbark habitats and their wildlife.

If you can’t wait for it to hit local bookshops, you can pre-order a copy now from CSIRO Publishing – click here

Overview (courtesy of CSIRO Publishing)

A comprehensive overview of the ecologically significant Box–Ironbark habitats and their wildlife. Victoria’s Box–Ironbark region is one of the most important areas of animal diversity and significance in southern Australia. The forests and woodlands of this region provide critical habitat for a diverse array of woodland-dependent animals, including many threatened and declining species such as the Squirrel Glider, Brush-tailed Phascogale, Regent Honeyeater, Swift Parrot, Pink-tailed Worm-Lizard, Woodland Blind Snake, Tree Goanna and Bibron’s Toadlet.

Wildlife of the Box–Ironbark Country gives a comprehensive overview of the ecology of the Box–Ironbark habitats and their wildlife, and how climate change is having a major influence. This extensively revised second edition covers all of the mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs that occur in the region, with a brief description of their distribution, status, ecology and identification, together with a detailed distribution map and superb colour photograph for each species.

The book includes a ‘Where to watch’ section, featuring a selection of national parks, state parks and nature conservation reserves where people can experience the ecosystem and its wildlife for themselves.

This book is intended for land managers, conservation and wildlife workers, fauna consultants, landholders, teachers, students, naturalists and all those interested in learning about and appreciating the wildlife of this fascinating and endangered ecosystem.

Features:
• Covers 267 species, each with a detailed description, high-quality colour photograph and updated distribution map
• Includes new species accounts for fauna that now reside permanently or regularly visit the Box–Ironbark region
• Provides a list of parks and reserves, including maps and descriptions of 16 locations to observe Box–Ironbark wildlife

About the author

Chris Tzaros is uniquely placed to write about the fauna of Victoria’s Box–Ironbark country. Brought up near Bendigo, he has had a passionate interest in wildlife since childhood. Chris has 25 years’experience working on wildlife research and conservation projects, largely focused on threatened woodland birds, for both government and nongovernment environmental and conservation organisations. He is an award-winning wildlife photographer and has produced the majority of the photos in this book. Chris is currently an independent wildlife ecologist and nature
photographer based in north-east Victoria but enjoys working among nature right around Australia.

Bird of the month: Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Posted on 19 August, 2021 by Ivan

Welcome to our eighententh 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 lucky to have the talented and charismatic Jane Rusden from BirdLife Castlemaine District writing about our next bird of the month, with assistance from the brilliant Damian Kelly and photos by Ash Vigus

Fan-tailed Cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis)

More questions than answers are thrown up by this often secretive species. However, occasionally the Fan-tailed Cuckoo will show itself in plain view, as I had the opportunity to witness recently whilst doing bird surveys in the Whipstick (north of Bendigo in Victoria). The bird was hanging around, low to the ground, in a patch of Cassinia, which is good habitat for small birds. I’m sure of no coincidence…

In short, the Fan-tailed Cuckoo inhabits open woodland with dense, tall understory, preferably in a gully. Locally that means Golden Wattle and Silver Wattle, and occasionally mallee shrubs. As partial migrants, in winter it appears birds generally move north and return in spring. However, some birds remain all year.

Apparently, some birds stay close to where they hatched, others migrate and return to near where they hatched, and others move on. In short, their complicated movements are not well understood. Recapture in banding studies is low and the studies few, leaving us scratching our heads to some extent. What is obvious is that calling is heard in spring and generally not in winter. Is this due to winter migration or are they just keeping quiet?

The Fan-tailed Cuckoo enjoys hairy caterpillars in its diet, but will also take a variety of other insects and their larvae (photo by Ash Vigus)

The diet of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo consists mostly of insects, including Lepidoptera larvae (caterpillars), often foraged close to or on the ground, or in sallying flights. Interestingly, Fan-tailed Cuckoos can be found in mixed foraging flocks of the exact insectivorous bird species whose nests they parasitise. Wow, another question … why would a small woodland bird tolerate the presence of a larger bird who kills their eggs?

Talking of killing eggs, the whole point of cuckoos is that they lay eggs in other birds’ nests, who then raise the cuckoo chick to fledging. Let’s start at the beginning. Some cuckoo eggs mimic those of the host species, but Fan-tailed Cuckoo eggs do not. Their host species are Speckled Warbler, Gerygone, White-browed Scrubwren, heathwrens, fairy-wrens and thornbills. However, studies show that Brown Thornbill and White-browed Scrubwren are the most common victims. One thing in common with these species is their nests are domed or enclosed and close to the ground. At times Fan-tailed Cuckoos will also lay in cup-shaped nests built by robins and occasionally honeyeaters.

Fan-tailed Cuckoos are found throughout eastern Australia, south-western Western Australia and Tasmania (photo by Ash Vigus)

The Fan-tailed Cuckoo will lay one egg in a host’s nest. It has been suggested that the egg is placed via their bill or by holding in the foot, but there is little evidence of actual laying. How the host’s eggs are removed is unknown. There are records of Pallid Cuckoos removing a Fan-tailed Cuckoo egg, and visa versa, from the host’s nest. Now that’s a pickle! Generally, cuckoos leave the feeding and raising of their chicks to the poor overworked host parents. However, there are a few records of Cuckoo parents supplementing the feeding of their chicks, but not reducing the work for the host birds in any way. It just means a very well-fed Cuckoo chick.

Have you now got more questions about Fan-tailed Cuckoos, than answers? I know I do.

To hear Fan-tailed Cuckoo calls, please – click here

Jane Rusden
BirdLife Castlemaine District

The Great Southern Bioblitz: 22-25 October 2021

Posted on 19 August, 2021 by Ivan

For several years the iNaturalist citizen science platform has run the City Nature Challenge – a gentle competition between cities and regions around the world to see which location can collect and identify the most sightings of life-forms in their area over a week-long period each March.

In 2020 the Great Southern Bioblitz was born. This is a similar event to City Nature Challenge but held in October (southern hemisphere spring) when more plants are flowering, animals are more active and fungi are still plentiful. This year, the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club is hosting the Great Southern Bioblitz for our region of central Victoria, i.e., the Mount Alexander Shire and the eastern half of Hepburn Shire.

All are welcome and encouraged to contribute. You simply photograph as many plants and animals as you can within the region during the Bioblitz period, 22-25 October 2021, and load your sightings into iNaturalist via your phone or computer. Even if you are unable to record your own sightings you can still contribute by identifying the observations that others have uploaded.

Great Southern hemisphere bioblitz is a chance to engage with nature (photos: Euan Moore)

The Great Southern Bioblitz is not only fun, but an important way of recording the life-forms that are present in our area. Once you add a sighting to iNaturalist, others can help with or verify the identification. Data are then fed into repositories such as Atlas of Living Australia and state biodiversity databases such as Victorian Biodiversity Atlas.

To find out more:

• Visit the Great Southern Bioblitz website – click here
• Check out the 71 groups (10 in Victoria) taking part so far – click here

To download the iNaturalist app to your device or create an account on your computer – click here

The Great Southern Bioblitz is coming from 22-25 October 2021 (photo: Great Southern Bioblitz)

Training workshops

The Great Southern Bioblitz organising team has scheduled some training workshops to help people learn how to use iNaturalist and how to take part in the Bioblitz. This training will be useful beyond the Bioblitz as it will enable you to submit sightings from anywhere at any time.

Register for training at the following links:

• A beginners guide for using iNaturalist
  Tuesday 17 August 2021 from 8:30 – 9:30 pm AEST
  To register – click here
• Advanced tips for using iNaturalist
  Tuesday 7 September 2021 from 8:30 – 9:30 pm AEST
  To register – click here
• A beginners guide for using iNaturalist
  Tuesday 28 September 2021 from 8:30 – 9:30 pm AEST
  To register – click here

A big thank you Euan Moore from the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club for the text and photographs for this article. To learn more about Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club – click here

Hot off the press: Healthy Landscapes guide

Posted on 11 August, 2021 by Ivan

It has been nearly a year in the making, and we are super-happy to announce that Connecting Country’s Healthy Landscapes guide has arrived fresh from the printers! And, it looks amazing (in our humble opinion!). The 44-page guide has been developed to assist our local farmers and landholders to manage their land for multiple outcomes, benefiting wildlife, property and landscape health. It is targeted to the Mount Alexander region of central Victoria, which makes it unique to our special local area. It forms part of Connecting Country’s Healthy Landscapes project, a Smart Farms project that delivers a series of educational workshops and a land management guide for landholders.

The Healthy Landscapes guide provides background context on our region’s natural assets, as well as eight concise sections on actions landholders can take to protect and restore habitat on their properties in central Victoria.

Topics included in the guide are:

• Protecting remnant vegetation.
• Make a plan.
• Control weeds.
• Control rabbits.
• Revegetate your land.
• Help hollow-using wildlife.
• Manage your dam as habitat.
• Care for paddocks.

The guide features a variety of stunning images, such as these on the front cover from Bronwyn Silver (bush sunset), Jane Satchell (gnarly wood) and Geoff Park (Yellow-footed Antechinus).

‘Landholders often ask us about where they can find information relevant to our region on how to manage their land to benefit the environment and farming,’ said Jacqui Slingo (Landscape Restoration Coordinator at Connecting Country). ‘We are thrilled to have produced a guide that allows landholders, especially the many new property owners in our region, to get started with caring for their property by protecting native vegetation and wildlife habitat through actions like weed and rabbit control.’

We would like to send a huge thanks to the many wonderful contributors in our community, including photographers, volunteer reviewers and experts who generously contributed their time and talents to the guide. Thank you! Thanks also to Jane Satchell, who illustrated and designed visual aspects of the guide, and led us through the layout process through to printing.

Connecting Country would like to thank the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, through funding from Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, for supporting this project.

Copies of the guide will be offered to Landcare and community groups, and available for general sale (around $15 per copy) in Castlemaine through the Castlemaine Visitor Information Centre, Stoneman’s Bookroom and Mount Alexander Animal Welfare (MAAW) Op Shop. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, or would like further information.

To read more about the Healthy Landscapes project – click here

Mysterious stockpiling frenzy hits the bush!

Posted on 5 August, 2021 by Ivan

We have all heard about the shortage of toilet paper across the nation, but it appears to have reached new levels in the bush blocks of Muckleford! We received a series of intriguing images from Connecting Country’s very own President and advocate, Brendan Sydes, showing some baffling theft of toilet paper courtesy of an unknown animal. We have a mystery to solve! Who took the roll of toilet paper from the outdoor toilet, to their home?  Let us play a game of ‘guess who stole the toilet paper’, revealing the clues in each image, and letting our audience guess the clever, resourceful and likely beautiful culprit.

A big thank you to Brendan for capturing this interesting mystery and sending us the photographs. Brendan noted that ‘The blue stuff in the box is a puppy chew toy which has also been commandeered by the occupant. The nest box has been there for about seven years and has been occupied by various native animals and bees before its present occupants’.

Let us know your thoughts and insights!

Landcare Week: 3-9 August 2021

Posted on 5 August, 2021 by Ivan

National Landcare Week

Throughout the first week of August, Landcare Week celebrates the tireless efforts and commitment of volunteers who help to maintain and restore our natural environment. In its 30-year anniversary this year, Landcare Week provides an opportunity for people to come together and learn more about Australia’s environment to help take care of our most precious resource. The annual Landcare Week campaign celebrates and acknowledges the thousands of Landcare networks and groups, facilitators, and other environmental care community groups, and volunteers across Australia working on conservation and sustainable land management activities in their local area.

Landcare is an important part of our community (photo: Jacqui Slingo)

From 3-9 August 2021, Landcare week will be aiming to raise awareness of all the vital environmental work being done across the country and to get people involved with taking care of our natural resources. It doesn’t take much to participate in Landcare Week and help make a positive difference. There are plenty of ways to contribute that don’t take up a lot of time.

Here are six ways to get involved with Landcare Week, courtesy of Landcare Victoria:

• Plant native trees, shrubs and grasses to create habitat for native animals to improve biodiversity.
• Put a birdhouse or nesting box for different species in your backyard. Every animal needs a home!
• Ensure your dog is kept on a leash when near bushland and keep your cat inside overnight as they often hunt birds and other small native mammals.
• Avoid chemical pesticides and herbicides in your garden to help protect bees and insects and use natural alternatives instead.
• If you can’t reuse or re-purpose an item, try to recycle it to reduce pollution. Many household groceries still come in soft plastic wrapping. Most supermarkets will recycle these for you if you bag them up and bring them with you the next time you go to the shops.
• Use public transport or riding a bike instead of driving to reduce your carbon footprint. Or if it’s necessary to drive to work, try to organise a carpool.

Revegetation of degraded woodlands is a common theme of our local Landcare projects over the past decade (photo: Gen Kay)

National Landcare Conference and Awards: Virtual event (courtesy of Landcare Australia)

The feature of this year’s Landcare Week celebration is the gathering of thousands of landcarers from across the nation, joining together at the virtual 2021 National Landcare Conference and Awards events to share the latest innovations, technologies and tangible ideas to take action on.

From Australia’s biggest cities or the most rural locations, anyone can participate as a free online delegate on Thurs and Fri, 5-6 August 2021.

The program comprises a diverse range of over 60 speakers from the landcare community, government representatives and academics in 40 sessions across the four conference streams: Sustainable Agriculture; Environment and Climate Change; Community Partnerships in Action; and Landcare Impact. Delegates will also have the opportunity to attend the following panel discussions:

• Landcare Farming: Landcare and farming, is the connection still valued?
  Bushfire Recovery and Resilience: Landcare’s role in recovery of communities, natural assets and farms after bushfire events.
• Wellbeing and Mental Health Panel: Landcare Is ALL about trees right?
• Cultural Land Management Panel: Integrating Indigenous Perspectives for better land management.

The conference will be live streamed and recorded, so attendees can dip in out and catch-up later. Free registration provides access to the National Landcare Awards presentation, educational resources and more.

Landscape architect, environmental educator and television presenter with an all-consuming passion for plants and people, Costa Georgiadis is the MC for the events. Costa is a long-time champion of landcare and also a Junior Landcare Amabassador.

Author, filmmaker and Indigenous fire practitioner, Victor Steffensen will be a special guest speaker along with Barry Hunter, for an engaging talk on Country, sharing the advantages and benefits that embracing cultural burn methods can bring to help the Landcare community tackle climate change. The panel will include a conversation on how farmers and landowners can get started and have conversations with Traditional Owners. The Cultural Land Management panel has been scheduled at a very special time of Friday afternoon to close the conference along with young landcare leader and Kalari Wiradjjuri woman, Dhani Gilbert.

A highlight of the conference program is the 2021 National Landcare Awards to celebrate the 69 finalists from the 2019 State & Territory Landcare Awards, where winners of the nine National Landcare Awards categories will be announced. The winners of the Bob Hawke Landcare Award and the General Jeffery Soil Health Award will also be announced.

A lonely tree makes plenty of friends

Posted on 29 July, 2021 by Ivan

Connecting Country has long advocated for raising awareness of paddock trees and their importance in providing habitat in a disconnected landscape.  To the credit of many local farmers and landholders, we often see paddock trees spared from cropping and clearing, allowing them to support many species of birds, insects and arboreal mammals. You can find a number of blogs we’ve published over the years on how to manage paddock and lonely trees – click here and here. 

We recently discovered a great article published on The Conversation, which highlights why and how lone trees can be managed in the landscape to support wildlife to move through agricultural landscapes. The article covers examples and research in a number of countries and concludes that lone trees are vital to provide wildlife stepping stones between healthy patches of habitat. Please see the published article below courtesy of The Conversation. We would love to see some photos of your favourite lone trees in the landscape!

A lone tree in a paddock in Guildford, providing important refuge for travelling wildlife. Photo: Ivan Carter

A lone tree makes it easier for birds and bees to navigate farmland, like a stepping stone between habitats

Vast, treeless paddocks and fields can be dangerous for wildlife, who encounter them as “roadblocks” between natural areas nearby. But our new research found even one lone tree in an otherwise empty paddock can make a huge difference to an animal’s movement.

We focused on the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, a biodiversity hotspot with 1,361 different known species of wildlife, such as jaguars, sloths, tamarins and toucans. Habitat loss from expanding and intensifying farmland, however, increasingly threatens the forest’s rich diversity of species and ecosystems. We researched the value of paddock trees and hedges for birds and bees, and found small habitat features like these can double how easily they find their way through farmland.

This is important because enabling wildlife to journey across farmlands not only benefits the conservation of species, but also people. It means bees can improve crop pollination, and seed-dispersing birds can help restore ecosystems.

Connecting habitats

Lone trees in paddocks, hedges and tree-lined fences are common features of farmlands across the world, from Brazil to Australia.

They may be few and far between, but this scattered vegetation makes important areas of refuge for birds and bees, acting like roads or stepping stones to larger natural habitats nearby. Scattered paddock trees, for instance, offer shelter, food, and places to land. They’ve also been found to create cooler areas within their canopy and right beneath it, providing some relief on scorching summer days.

Hedges and tree-lined fences are also important, as they provide a safe pathway by providing hiding places from predators. For our research, we used satellite images of the Atlantic Forest and randomly selected 20 landscapes containing different amounts of forest cover.

We then used mathematical models to calculate the habitat connectivity of these landscapes for three groups of species — bees, small birds such as the rufous-bellied thrush, and large birds such as toucans — based on how far they can travel. And we found in areas with low forest cover, wildlife is twice as likely to move from one natural habitat to another if paddock trees and hedges can be used as stepping stones.

We also found vegetation around creeks and waterways are the most prevalent and important type of on-farm habitat for wildlife movement. In Brazil, there are legal protections for these areas preventing them from being cleared, which means vegetation along waterways has become relatively common compared to lone trees and hedges, in places with lower forest cover.

Insights for Australia

For example, in Australia, many koala populations depend on scattered trees for movement and habitat. In 2018, CSIRO researchers in Queensland tracked koalas using GPS, and found koalas used roadside vegetation and scattered trees for feeding and resting significantly more than they expected. Likewise, lone trees, hedges and tree-lined fences can also facilitate the movement of Australian fruit-eating birds such as the Olive-backed Oriole and the Rose-crowned Fruit Dove. Improving habitat connectivity can help these birds travel across landscapes, feeding and dispersing seeds as they go.

In fragmented landscapes, where larger patches of vegetation are hard to find, dispersing the seeds of native plants encourages natural regeneration of ecosystems. This is a key strategy to help achieve environmental restoration and conservation targets.

To read the full article, please click here.

Help with identifying local frogs

Posted on 29 July, 2021 by Jacqui

With some better rainfall in our region over the past few months, you may be noticing frogs calling in our local creeks, dams and wetter areas.

If you hear a frog call that you can’t identify, the FrogID App can be handy with identifying tricky frog calls of our region.

FrogID is Australia’s first national citizen science frog identification initiative – a project led by the Australian Museum in partnership with Australia’s leading natural history museums and IBM. It is free but you do need to create a profile to record frog calls which then uploads the records to the Australian Museum frog experts for species verification.

One of the reasons to use the FrogID app is to ensure that all frog records are verified prior to entering records into the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), the largest database of flora and fauna records in Australia. Records entered directly in the ALA are not verified, and it was recently discovered that there were some incorrect records of frog species entered in the Mount Alexander region. The ALA contains a number of sightings in our area of Striped Marsh Frog, which was previously rare in this region. However, upon closer assessment by frog experts, they suspect the frog recordings are actually the Spotted Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis), not the Striped Marsh Frog (Limndoynastes peroni). The two calls are similar and easily confused.

This is an important case study of how incorrect identification can potentially affect distribution datasets. This is not the case with the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas, as every record submitted by users is verified for possible errors or mistaken identification.

The frog recordings submitted via the FrogID app are often verified in less than 24 hours, and it is a great resource to improve your skills and learn a lot more about frogs along the journey.

In just one year, FrogID generated the equivalent of 13% of all frog records collected in Australia over the last 240 years – an amazing effort! The submitted recordings have resulted in over 66,000 validated calls and detected 175 of Australia’s 240 known native frogs.

The data has provided information about:

• Impacts of climate change and pollution on Australia’s frogs including the first evidence of the decline in Sydney of the Australian Green Tree Frog.
• Spread of the invasive Cane Toad.
• Breeding populations of 28 globally threatened and 13 nationally threatened frog species.

The FrogID science blog has some interesting articles on frog ID and what happens for frogs in urbanised environments.

To download the FrogID App – click here

Location of all frog records for the first year of FrogID in Australia (image: ALA)

Bird of the month: Powerful Owl

Posted on 29 July, 2021 by Ivan

Welcome to our sevententh 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 lucky to have the talented and charismatic Jane Rusden from BirdLife Castlemaine District writing about our next bird of the month, with assistance and photos from the brilliant Damian Kelly.

Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua)

These guys are huge, Powerful Owls are enormous, amazing and BIG! However, for such a massive bird they can be extremely difficult to find, even when you know their location. My partner has excellent bird spotting eyes (that’s why he’s a ‘keeper’ and I really hope he doesn’t read this) and he describes them as looking like a dark basket ball very high in the canopy, in the biggest tree around. If you’re really lucky, have the patience and magic like Damian Kelly does, and a very long camera lens, you can see Powerful Owls as clearly as Damian’s stunning photos.

I tell you, Bird of the Month would be pathetic if it weren’t for Damian Kelly, but regular readers have probably guessed that.

Back to Powerful Owls and a closer look at their magnificence.

I’ve said they are big and they are in fact Australia’s largest owl, with a body length of 60cm and wingspans of 110cm to 140cm. It appears pairs mate for life and may be together for up to 30 years. Males are generally larger than females, she will do all the 35-38 days of egg sitting through winter, while the male feeds her. If you see a Powerful Owl through winter, it should be the male snoozing with the food he has hunted for the female, in his talons. Usually a possum such as a Ringtail, or Glider, as well as some bird species including cockatoos, ravens, magpies and choughs, which would have been snatched from their roost during the night. Looking at the species Powerful Owls eat, it’s evident they are all arboreal, in fact 95% arboreal. The remaining 5% is not preferred food and is made up of rabbits and larger insects when obtainable, like longicorn and scarab beetles. Pellets of partially digested bones and fur that are brought up can sometimes be found on the ground under roosts, along with whitewash, which is their poo.

Cryptic adult on the higher branch, and juvenile Powerful Owl with pale breast. Photo: Damian Kelly

Data shows Powerful Owl populations have fallen to around 30 breeding pairs in what remains of Box-Ironbark Forests, and they are listed as “threatened” as populations continue to struggle. Pressures include lack of large old trees with suitably sized hollows, as well as declines in arboreal mammal populations. Additionally, with a home range of 300ha to 1500ha, suitable habitat for these huge owls is not be easy to find. Having said that, they will roost in non-native trees as well as natives, and can be found in a variety of habitats from moister to dryer forests, but have also been found in urban areas of Melbourne and Sydney. Clearly an adaptable bird, but with limits, perhaps due to its large size.

As a note, the whereabouts of Powerful Owls is kept a bit of a secret, this is due to their rarity and susceptibility for disturbance by humans. If you wish to go looking for them, expect long hours in the cold and wet, a sore neck by the end of it and a high chance of failure, however rewards are huge if you manage to spot a Powerful Owl, and please make sure it is not disturbed in any way.

To listen to the Powerful Owl distinctive call and for more information about local Owls, see our previous blog here.

A Powerful Owl with its dinner, probably a magpie. Photo: Damian Kelly