Fungi presentation and excursion with John Walter – Friday 8 June 2018

Posted on 6 June, 2018 by Tanya Loos

The guest speaker for the June general meeting of the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club is Drummond-based naturalist, John Walter. His presentation is about FUNGI: the rare and the where and how you can make a difference.  

John writes:
‘I have an extensive library and will bring some of my collection of fungi books with me for members to examine. I would also like to demonstrate some of the web-based resources available for people to use.  FungiMap has a focus on some rare or rarely seen species and I have been fortunate enough to make some very interesting fungal finds so they will form a key part of the presentation and I will also show some of the incredible fungal diversity to be seen in our region.’

Parasol Mushroom, Macrolepiota clelandii, photographed by Tanya Loos.

John’s presentation is on Friday 8 June from 7.30 pm in the Fellowship Room on Lyttleton St, Castlemaine VIC (behind the Uniting Church, next door to the Castlemaine Art Museum). There is no cost for entry, and both members and visitors of all ages are welcome and encouraged to attend.

John will also kindly lead the excursion the following day, to search for fungi in the field. The destination is likely to be at Blackwood, but this is to be confirmed at the meeting on Friday evening.

The excursion will depart on Saturday 9 June at 1.30 pm sharp from the Octopus U3A building on Duke St, Castlemaine (opposite the Castle Motel). Car pooling will be available, and please bring along some afternoon tea. Again, visitors and members all welcome and encouraged.

For further information please contact Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club.

Painted Button-quails in the garden

Posted on 29 May, 2018 by Tanya Loos

Connecting Country staff member Bonnie Humphreys has seen small, quail-like birds wandering around her garden for weeks, even on her doorstep. Until now, they’ve escaped Bonnie’s efforts to capture a photo and confirm identification as Painted Button-quail! The two birds seen here were resting quietly together.

Button-quails are a truly Australian group of birds. Although they look a lot like quails, DNA analysis suggests that button-quails are quite distant from all living groups of birds. Their behaviour is certainly very unusual!

Unlike most birds, it’s the brightly coloured female who calls, and attracts a male. They are polyandrous, with one female mating with several males in an area. After mating, the female builds a domed nest near the ground in a shrub or grass tussock, and lays three or four small white eggs. The male then incubates the young until hatching. Once hatched, the tiny little chicks fledge right away and the male feeds them for the next ten days or so. After this, the young button-quails can fend for themselves.

The birds pictured above could be either males, or immature birds. In females, the reddish patch is brighter. However, the depth of the colour red is quite variable according to light conditions and the position of the bird. Hence it’s quite tricky to identify the sex of the bird. (Happy to hear local birder expert opinion on this one!)

Bonnie’s visiting button-quails are a group of three birds, and the Handbook of Australian and New Zealand birds says they are most often seen in small family groups. At this time of year, breeding has finished, so maybe they are just being companionable and foraging together until the female starts her ‘booming’call.

Their foraging technique is also most unusual. Painted button-quails often feed in pairs, in grasses and leaf litter on the ground. They scratch and glean, spinning on alternate legs to create distinctive circular depressions, known as platelets. Platelets are often the only visible sign that the bird is present. The photo below shows the typical look of platelets in bushland with plenty of leaf litter.

There’s been extensive feeding activity in leaf litter and lawn areas at Bonnie’s place. It was hard to capture on camera the sheer extent of the ground being worked over by these enthusiastic little birds.

Painted button-quails are a member of the threatened Victorian Temperate Woodland bird Community. They are notoriously difficult to capture during typical (20 minute, 2 ha) bird surveys, so we welcome any sightings and observations. You can download a sightings sheet here, and let us know where and when you’ve seen button-quails, or their platelets.

In 2011, Echidna Walkabout Tours captured this amazing footage of a Painted Button-quail foraging in leaf litter in urban Port Melbourne! Do watch the whole video because at the end the female puffs herself up like a frog and starts calling her booming call. The low frequency call is difficult to hear on the video, but you can see the amazing behaviour!

Come frogging for World Environment Day – 5 June 2018

Posted on 23 May, 2018 by Tanya Loos

Celebrate World Environment Day 2018 with local ecologist Karl Just and Connecting Country on a special evening ‘frogging’ workshop.  

Karl Just will share his extensive knowledge of our local frogs, and help participants learn how to identify frogs by their calls, and by sight. The evening will also cover how we can look after frogs and their habitat. The workshop is free, and includes hot drinks and snacks and a frog identification guide.

A Spotted Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis) photographed by Peter Robertson

When: Tuesday 5 June 2018 from 4:30 to 7:30 pm

Where: Meet out the front of Newstead Community Centre (9 Lyons St, Newstead VIC) and carpool to a private property in Strangways

What to bring: Sturdy shoes, long pants, warm and weather-appropriate clothes, torch (as it will be dark around 5:30 pm)

The workshop will be strictly limited to fifteen participants so make sure you book!

RSVP: to Asha by Monday 4 June to asha@connectingcountry.org.au

Enquiries: (03) 5472 1594

Swift Parrot surveys on 19 and 20 May 2018

Posted on 10 May, 2018 by Tanya Loos

Swift Parrot survey season is upon us again, with a monitoring weekend coming up on 19 and 20 May. BirdLife Australia’s Swift Parrot monitoring program is essential for assessing where our beloved swifties are, what resources they are feeding upon, and their numbers.

Our regional coordinator for swift parrot surveys is Beth Mellick from Wettenhall Environment Trust. If you would like to be involved in this Autumn’s swift parrot count, contact Beth via email to be assigned a site (email: beth@wettenhall.org.au). And regular watchers – don’t forget to let Beth know where you are surveying so we can make sure we cover our whole region!

This beautiful Swift Parrot was photographed by Connecting Country member Micheal Gooch, visiting his bird bath in Clunes (www.outsidefourwalls.com)

Chris Timewell (formerly of Connecting Country and now with BirdLife Australia) provided this update on Swift Parrot (and Regent Honeyeater) surveys:

We are again seeking volunteers to search for both species across Victoria, NSW, ACT and Queensland, as Swift Parrots make their way up to the mainland from Tasmania and Regent Honeyeaters move about the landscape in search of flowering Eucalypt trees to feed on. The May 2018 Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater survey weekend is coming up soon on May 19th and 20th. As always, we are happy for people to undertake their searches up to a week on either side of the survey weekend. Opportunistic sightings from any time of the year are also welcomed. 

So far this season there have been scattered Swift Parrot sightings from across its mainland range – with the highest clusters around the north-eastern fringes of metropolitan Melbourne and returning birds to favourite haunts such as Mt Majura (ACT) and the Cessnock forests of the Lower Hunter (NSW). There are Spotted Gums noted flowering on the South Coast of NSW (e.g., Marramarra National Park), Coastal Grey Box is flowering in the Lower Hunter and Swamp Mahogany is starting to flower in coastal areas – each of which are attracting large number of lorikeets and other nectar-feeders. 

If you are new to the plight of this Critically Endangered parrot, the BirdLife website has a profile on swift parrots here.

Volunteers needed for nest box checks

Posted on 12 April, 2018 by Asha

Connecting Country is once again monitoring our nest boxes. These boxes were installed across the shire in 2010-11 to provide habitat for Brush-tailed Phascogales.

The boxes have all been monitored at least once during autumn in the survey periods of 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016. A summary of the results to date across the whole of the survey periods, and other information about the monitoring program, are available on the Connecting Country website – click here.

Please contact us if you are interested in assisting as a volunteer with the nest box checks by emailing asha@connectingcountry.org.au. You won’t be climbing trees or ladders, or handling animals, rather helping with carrying equipment and recording data. It is a great opportunity to see some interesting and special places in our local landscape, and learn more about phascogales and other species.

Updates on the nest box monitoring program will be provided after the autumn monitoring. For further info on our nest box program, see our  monitoring page of our website – click here.

Connecting Country nest box

Have you got gorse? – Victorian Gorse Taskforce survey 2018

Posted on 22 February, 2018 by Asha

The Victorian Gorse Taskforce (VGT) has developed a survey to gain an understanding of the types of support that communities need from VGT to manage gorse in their local area. The VGT uses government investment to establish and support community-led projects, which aim to eradicate gorse where possible across Victoria. Gorse is a highly invasive weed.  It can adversely impact on agriculture, waterways, amenity and native vegetation, as well as harbour pests such as, rabbits and foxes. 

In Victoria, gorse is:

• Regionally prohibited in the East Gippsland catchment.
• Regionally restricted in the Mallee catchment.
• Regionally controlled in all other Victorian catchments.

The results from this survey will help the VGT identify opportunities where they can provide better support to you or your networks. If you know or suspect gorse on your property please take five minutes to fill out the survey so the VGT can work to provide the right support.

The survey should not take any more than 5 to 10 minutes to complete, and you can go in the draw to win 1 of 3 $50 Woolworths vouchers.

The survey can be accessed via this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VGTsurvey

The survey closes 5 pm on Tuesday 13 March 2018.

Rabbit Buster Month

Posted on 21 February, 2018 by Asha

February is Rabbit Buster Month. Now is the time to strike!

John ‘Rabbit Buster’ Matthews (Biosecurity Manager, Agriculture Victoria) tells us:

‘The right time, using the right tools, to the correct standards will ensure your investment and effort into rabbit control results in long term control’.

John’s key points include:

• Collect baseline information. You need to know the scale of your problem before you try to manage it.
• Know your goal. Rabbits can seriously impede regeneration of many native species.
• Support and learn from your peers. Local knowledge is powerful. Take some time to learn from your neighbours, landcare group and even local contractors.

Success will come from a committed and coordinated community working simultaneously, using best practice techniques, with high rates of participation at a landscape scale.

CLICK HERE to download the North Central Chat February Newsletter and read a more detailed account of how to ‘Hop On Board’ with rabbit control.

CLICK HERE for more information about rabbit monitoring and control options.

Wallabies at the bird bath – Nature News 7 February 2018

Posted on 12 February, 2018 by Tanya Loos

For this month’s Nature News, local landholder Jane Rusden talks about the many animals, both feathered and furred, that use the bird baths at her bush block in Campbells Creek. This article was featured in the Midland Express on 7 February 2018.

Birdbaths are very popular right now.

Birdbaths are a win-win for both the native animals enjoying the water, which is so important in this blistering hot weather, and the humans that get to watch them. I have several sizes of bird baths in different locations on my bush block, suiting different species of birds and other animals.

The pedestal bird bath with gently sloping edges is very popular with the small to medium sized bush birds. It’s so attractive because there are shrubs nearby that the birds can dart into if feeling threatened or unsure. Everything enjoys a drink as well as a good wash and swim:  from all twelve White-winged Choughs in a family group trying to cram in at once, to tiny Striated Thornbills. Surprisingly, the Yellow-footed Antechinus also favours this bath, with the vertical pedestal and the underside of the concrete bowl no obstacle to their agility.

On the ground there is a ceramic birdbath, with gently sloping sides to provide a gradient of water depth, and a small shrub or two nearby. It is preferred by the ground foraging Common Bronzewing, but Crimson Rosellas, Brown-headed and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters use it for drinking and swimming as well.

All the waterweed in the trough has been eaten by the hungry wallabies!     Photo by Jane Rusden.

The deeper cattle trough in the shady courtyard is frequently visited by the echidna, who enjoys a long drink by sticking its nose in up to its eyes and blowing bubbles. In this extremely hot weather, Magpies and Fuscous Honeyeaters will stop by for a drink and a rest in the cool, while the wallabies have taken to jumping right in and sitting there while they cool down and drink at the same time.

We don’t have a TV, but don’t wish for one, as we can spend hours watching the local wildlife use the different birdbaths in their own unique way.

For more on birds and bird baths, see our recent blog post bird-baths-tips-for-keeping-birds-cool-and-safe

Lovely large lizards on the prowl – seeking monitor sightings

Posted on 11 January, 2018 by Tanya Loos

In the last couple of years we have received several reports of very large lizards on people’s properties in the northern parts of the Mount Alexander Shire. They could be two different types of goannas, also known as monitors: the Lace Monitor (Varanus varius) and the Sand Goanna (Varanus gouldii).

A magnificent looking creature – with a heavy banded snout and huge feet with massive claws. Photo from Wikipedia Commons.

The Lace Monitor is listed as Endangered on the Victorian Threatened Species Advisory List (2013), so it’s great to hear of sightings from Baringhup, Shelbourne and Axe Creek. These lizards can grow up to 2.1 metres long, and once they are adults have few predators. Unfortunately the small striped young are eaten by foxes, so much so that in some areas it is feared that only old lizards are left.

Lace Monitors need large, well-connected areas of bushland with lots of woody debris and large hollows to shelter in when the weather is cold. As an apex predator, monitors need healthy woodland habitats filled with abundant insects, reptiles, young birds and eggs. We were delighted to see this photo from Heather and Newton Hunt of two monitors on their property in Shelbourne.

Two large Lace Monitors. Photo by Heather Hunt.

The Sand Goanna is another large lizard that may be found in the area. It is not a threatened species. Sand Goannas may be distinguished from the Lace Monitor by the the stripe it has running through its eyes, rather than prominent bands around the snout. They are also smaller in size.

A Sand Goanna. Photo from Wikipedia Commons.

These large lizards are excellent indicators of ecosystem health, so if you see them on your block or favourite bushland area, let us know!  Reports of young monitor lizards would be fantastic, providing hope that these lizards will be stalking our woodlands for generations to come.

To submit a record of a monitor sighting in Victoria, go to the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (VBA) – click here

For more information on the VBA, read our blog post – click here

If your monitor sighting is within the Mount Alexander region, you are welcome to download a Special Sightings sheet here or email us at info@connectingcountry.org.au

A batty visitor to a phascogale nest box

Posted on 4 January, 2018 by Tanya Loos

Elevated Plains landholder, Richard Pleasance sent us some fantastic video footage of a small bat or microbat visiting his nest box. I posted the footage online to the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria Facebook page and a bat expert identified the bat as a type of long-eared bat;  either a Lesser Long-eared or a Gould’s Long-eared bat, both of which are common in this area. Please click on the link below to view the bat movie – the bat arrives several seconds in…

Bat-video-RPleasance-01-2018

These two bat species live on insects, and use their incredible ears and skills in echolocation  help them locate crickets, moths, grasshoppers and other prey.  Both species roost in a range of locations, such as peeling bark, small hollows and, in the case of Lesser Long-eared bats, disused Fairy Martin nests, old coats or under piles of bricks in sheds!  Come breeding season, the females live in maternity colonies, which may be in hollow trees or sometimes in houses.

A Lesser Long-eared bat, by Matt Clancy

This bat was probably a single male, as they often roost alone. Richard built the box himself, using recycled materials, with the aim of attracting Brush-tailed Phascogales. Below is a photo of a phascogale inspecting the box. According to Richard ‘the box is on a stringy bark located in lovely bush close to a ridge but still a bit protected from weather’ and it faces south east.

A wildlife camera captures an evening visitor…

Richard doesn’t carry out any manual inspections of his nest boxes, preferring to set up wildlife cameras to monitor usage. This is a great option as it is safer than using a ladder to inspect, and minimises disturbance to the creatures within. And there is more! This nest box was also visited by a third species: a Sugar Glider (see below).

What a wonderful fluffy tail!

If you would like to monitor your nest boxes this summer, you could try wildlife cameras. We have a small number at the office to lend to landholders, or you could try another non-invasive technique known as stagwatching. A stag is an old dead tree with hollows, but the stagwatching process may be used to check nest boxes too. Stagwatching involves using the natural light at dusk to check the box usage, simply by waiting quietly by the box for some time. A very meditative experience, provided you cover up adequately against mosquitoes!

To found out more about nest boxes and how to stagwatch, see our website here and download the guide: NestboxFieldGuide

Many thanks to Richard for the wonderful footage and photos.

A gallery of photos to say Merry Christmas from the Connecting Country team

Posted on 21 December, 2017 by Tanya Loos

It has been quite a year at Connecting Country! We would like to warmly thank all of our friends and supporters, our landholders and volunteers, the many groups we work with, and our funders for their ongoing involvement and support of Connecting Country.

We have some exciting on ground works and community engagement programs planned for 2018, and we very much look forward to announcing these early next year.

Bonnie and Tanya have compiled a gallery of flora and fauna pics from the year to scroll through. Many of these photos have been sent in to us by you, our subscribers (thank you!).  The beauty, colour and variety of these photos is a testament to the rich and abundant landscape we live in, and to our enthusiasm for capturing this beauty.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a peaceful holiday season, and a wonderful 2018…

Landcare Adapting to Change – Site Visits

Posted on 19 December, 2017 by Asha

As part of Connecting Country’s ‘Landcare Adapting to Change’ project, our resident botanist Bonnie teamed up with Landcare Facilitator Asha to do ten site visits with local Landcare groups. The aim was to offer Landcare groups access to additional knowledge to help identify specific plants, and answer any questions about priority weed control actions, choosing plants for revegetation, and other areas of land management for conservation.

Here is a gallery of photos from the site visits – hover your mouse over the right hand side of the picture and click on the arrow to move through the gallery.

If any other Landcare or Friends groups are interested in a site visit with Bonnie in 2018, please contact asha@connectingcountry.org.au or call 5472 1594.

Bird Baths – tips for keeping birds cool and safe

Posted on 14 December, 2017 by Tanya Loos

Bird baths – there are mosaic ones, terracotta ones, deep ones, shallow ones. What makes a great bird bath, and how do we best care for them?

Types of baths – for a variety of  bathing styles 

Very small birds like thornbills stand in shallow water, crouch down and then flutter their wings at unbelievable speed to bathe. Honeyeaters and fairy-wrens seem to dip into to deeper baths and almost swim through the water. Larger birds like rosellas wade in to a deep bath and create a massive splashy mess to their great enjoyment!

White-throated treecreepers creep up the side of a nearby log or branch, and then back into the bath. You can almost hear the reversing beep!

I have three baths of differing depths and heights, and each are used by different birds. As the bird bath enthusiasts among us know, bird baths are also used as baths and a source of clean drinking water by animals such as echidnas, wallabies, kangaroos, and frogs and reptiles.  Occasionally a bird bath is used as a clever lure for the hunters among us – see the stunning images from the Yellow-footed antechinus and Grey fantail story here.

Location of the bath(s)

The placement of the bath is important for a few reasons. If it is in full sun, it will get too hot, and the birds are too exposed to aerial predators such as goshawks. Birds also need a place to perch and preen their feathers after their bath.

Pardalotes are very cautious at my place. They wait until the bath is jam-packed with happy visitors and then come down to the bath, checking for danger at many different perch heights as they approach. They visit the bath that is located under a a tall fruit tree and protective shrub.  The White-browed scrubwrens and fairy-wrens share the deep mosaic bath on the ground with the rosellas.

Another reason to have plenty of perching spots around the bath area is that queues form on very hot days! Birds will wait nearby until there is enough room to fly down and have their turn.

Safety for the bathers

Ensure the bath is beyond the reach of cats – hang it from a tree or use a pedestal bath if cats are around. If you have a pedestal bird bath, some dead branches placed across the bath may make it more attractive for smaller birds.

Keep the water cool, fresh and clean. It’s a good idea to locate bird baths near your plants that need watering on hot days, so you can water your plants and refill the bird baths easily at the same time.  It’s best to keep the bath clean by giving it a regular scrub with a brush, to avoid the spread of diseases such as Beak and Feather disease, which affects parrots.

If the bath is bucket shaped or deep, always provide a sturdy stick or series of stepping stones for small animals to climb out. I have seen skinks and young rosellas drowned in water that was too deep with smooth sides.

Finally, if you are going away,  ask your neighbour to refill your bird bath, so your birds and other creatures don’t lose their water supply.

Here is a series of images from our staff member Bonnie Humphreys. Bonnie has three baths at her property in Barkers Creek. Note how clean and fresh the water is! Click on the arrow on the right hand side to move through the images…  Thanks Bonnie!

Say Cheese! – New Reptile and Frog Photo Gallery

Posted on 23 November, 2017 by Asha

Large Striped Skink in Welshmans Reef (Photo by Linda Craig)

Jacky lizards, geckos, pobblebonks, and ‘Tuk’ the turtle are all stars of our new reptile and frog photo gallery. CLICK HERE to go to the page, where we share photos of reptiles and frogs sent in by community members. Most of these photos are from landholders involved in Connecting Country’s reptile and frog monitoring program (CLICK HERE to read more), which uses ceramic roof tiles as artificial habitat for reptiles and frogs. Tile monitoring is fantastic, but these photos also capture species that don’t use tiles as habitat, like goannas.

Thank you to everyone who shared their photos!

If you have any interesting photos of reptiles or frogs that you would like to share in our photo gallery, please send them to asha@connectingcountry.org.au

Pobblebonk in Elphinstone (Photo by Sylvia Reeves)

Baby Common Long-necked Tortoise in Strangways, dubbed “Tuk” (Photo by Leanne Crisp)

Fun with Phascogales – Jess Lawton’s Talk

Posted on 9 November, 2017 by Asha

 At their recent AGM, Newstead Landcare invited Jess Lawton along to talk about her research on Brush-tailed phascogales (Phascogale tapoatafa). She shared some facts above about this special species, along with some interesting results from her PhD research with Andrew Bennett from La Trobe University. Jess used camera traps and habitat surveys to gather information on the habitat requirements for phascogales across central Victoria. Fifty of these sites were in the Mount Alexander region at some of Connecting Country’s nest box sites.

Brush-tailed Phascogale cartoon by Jess Lawton

Jess set up two cameras at each site, pointing towards the ground where she set up a small bait station. She collected these again after 40 days, and found she had a total of 69,611 photos to go through! These included 488 phascogale records in the Mount Alexander region. One brown treecreeper also had some fun with a camera and took 952 selfies (CLICK HERE for GIF)!

Taking into account site factors such as the amount of native forest in an area, elevation, productivity, predators, tree species, number of large trees, structural complexity, logs, and leaf litter, Jess found that phascogales were present at 82% of sites. Interestingly, she found that the amount of native forest in an area was not a big influence over whether phascogales were present at a site or not. However, this could have been due to the time of year data was collected, when males may have been using sub-optimal habitat during breeding season.

The two biggest habitat factors that Jess found influenced phascogale detection were tree species (box versus gum) and leaf litter. Sites with more box species and/or more leaf litter had more phascogale records. This is probably because these provide habitat for invertebrates, which are a critical food source for phascogales.

Jess finished with some tips for landholders who wish to help with phascogale conservation:

• Protect existing hollows and put up nest boxes.
• Keep it messy – leaf litter, logs, and tree stumps and all important for phascogales.
• Help reduce predator pressure by keeping pets inside at night and walking them on a lead.
• Care for your local bush by getting involved with your local Landcare or Friends group.

Thank you Jess and Newstead Landcare for an interesting and engaging talk. Here are some pictures Jess provided from her camera traps – well worth a look!

Brush-tailed Possum

Bat (possibly Lesser Long-eared?)

Brush-tailed Phascogale

Brush-tailed Phascogale

Brush-tailed Phascogale

Eastern Pygmy Possum

Fox

Goat

Koala

Tree Goanna

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Phascogale Facts!

I am a small nocturnal marsupial.

I am threatened species.

My range in Victoria has contracted.

My home range area is 40-100 hectares (40-50 hectares for females and 100 hectares for males).

I rely on large tree hollows with small entrances for nesting and breeding, and will use several hollows within my range.

Females of my species give birth to eight young each year. Once weaned, the litter will weigh three times the weight of the mother.

I belong to the Dasyurid family and feed mainly on invertebrates, such as insects, spiders and centipedes.

Tuan Talk by Jess Lawton – Newstead Landcare AGM

Posted on 17 October, 2017 by Asha

This Thursday evening, 19th October 2017, Newstead Landcare Group is hosting a presentation by PhD candidate Jess Lawton. Jess is studying the Tuan or Brush-tailed Phascogale, a threatened and declining species of the Box-Ironbark country. The presentation will start at 8pm at Newstead Community Centre and all are welcome. A gold coin donation would be appreciated.  Afterwards there will be supper and a brief AGM.

Jess says,

“The Brush-tailed Phascogale is a rare, threatened species, and is declining in Victoria. Our understanding of its conservation biology is limited because it is sparsely distributed, ‘trap-shy’, and has been difficult to survey using traditional techniques. We know that this species has a rapid reproductive cycle, whereby all males die of stress and exhaustion after their first breeding season. We also know that this species often has a large home range of up to 100 ha. Therefore, the current thinking is that it requires large areas of intact forest for a population to persist. However, this species still occurs in modified habitats, such as paddock trees, roadsides, and isolated remnant patches. The aim of my study is to see if the occurrence of the Brush-tailed Phascogale in a modified landscape relates to patch size and patch connectedness.

Connecting Country set 150 nest box sites in 2010 to provide habitat for this species through the Mount Alexander Shire. They have since monitored many of these nest box sites every two years, and now have a number of years of data on this species occurrence in the region. I selected 50 of these 150 sites, stratified according to landscape context (ie. the amount of tree cover surrounding each nest box site). Between April and June 2016, while Connecting Country conducted their nest-box checks, I set two cameras at each of these 50 sites.

In this study, I model the occurrence of Brush-tailed Phascogales in the Mount Alexander Shire with landscape attributes, such as the size of a forest patch, and a number of habitat attributes collected in the field, including forest productivity, forest structure, logs and leaf litter, and tree size and species.

One property near Axe Creek was home to a particularly active population of Brush-tailed Phascogales, and you can watch a video of the sort of footage we detected” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTklMGskLyYc

Wetland Ecology and Training Courses: October 2017 – March 2018

Posted on 31 August, 2017 by Connecting Country

Registrations are now open for Rakali’s popular wetland courses commencing October 2017 through to March 2018. The courses are presented by SERA 2016 award winning ecologist Damien Cook and Elaine Bayes. Don’t hold off as the NEW courses may be a once off depending on level of attendance and it’s the last time the Wetland Plant ID will be held in the North Central region of Victoria. Click on the following headings to find out more:

NEW: THE WONDERFUL WETLAND ECOLOGY BUS TOUR, 12 & 13 OCT 2017

Join us on a bus tour through some of northern Victoria’s most ecologically diverse wetlands that will be looking their best because of recent rainfall and flooding. Learn how ecological drivers determine wetland ecology.  Dixie Patton, Barapa Traditional Owner will share knowledge on aboriginal uses of these amazing wetlands.  Other land managers will meet us along the way.

NEW: WETLAND RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT, 16 & 17 NOV 2017

Learn about wetland restoration and management over 2 days with Damien Cook by visiting ‘Waterways’; a SERA 2016 award-winning wetland restoration project which he was involved in planning and implementing, followed by the 200 hectares of coastal park at the Victorian Desalination Plant, Wonthaggi.  Learn more about these projects here.

WETLAND PLANT IDENTIFICATION DAYS, STARTS OCT 2017 – MAR 2018

Learn to identify the most common wetland plants. In order to manage or restore a wetland you first have to thoroughly understand it.  Wetland plant species, condition and placement within a wetland can inform you as to what is going on. You can choose 1, 2 or all 3 days – Each day is timed to follow the wetting and drying of the stunning Reedy Lagoon at Gunbower Island or nearby wetlands so each plant guild can be seen in their splendor.

• Day One:  Sedges, Grasses and Rushes
• Day 2:      Aquatic Plants
• Day 3:      Mudflat specialists.

Click here for more information and to REGISTER. Alternatively contact Elaine Bayes at  Rakali Consulting 0431 959 085 or email elaine@rakali.com.au. Each course can be done as an individual unit or as a complete package (ask Elaine about discounts).

Click here to read some articles on the importance of understanding wetland ecology and using plant knowledge for effective wetland management.

New Map of Wheel Cactus in Victoria

Posted on 22 August, 2017 by Asha

The Tarrangower Cactus Control Group (TCCG) has recently completed a project aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge about the noxious weed Wheel Cactus (Opuntia robusta), funded by Wettenhall Environment Trust. One of the valuable outcomes from this project is the construction a new map showing the distribution of Wheel Cactus infestations in Victoria. 

Our well-known former Landcare Facilitator, Max Schlachter, was employed as project officer by TCCG and has collated 345 recorded sites of Wheel Cactus within our state. These sites covered 105 different localities around Victoria, mostly in a band from the northwest to Melbourne, but including some surprising outliers elsewhere. The majority of the sites (69%) were new records, and the rest were existing records taken from current government maps, such as the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas.

Some alarming conclusions from this mapping exercise were that within some of these localities, for example ‘Maldon’, there are too many infestations to record, plus there are very likely many infestations that were not able to be captured. The information gathered through this project will help communities and land managers better understand how Wheel Cactus spreads and how best to manage it.

If you want to know more about Wheel Cactus and how to control it,  you can go along to TCCG’s next Community Field Day on Sunday 27^th August, CLICK HERE for more details.

Flora of Castlemaine and surrounds – the online guide is launched!

Posted on 9 August, 2017 by Connecting Country

On 1st August 2017, the online edition of the Wild Plants of the Castlemaine District was formally launched.  This comprehensive guide contains details on the identification, locations, preferred habitats and history of hundreds of native and introduced plant species found in Castlemaine and surrounding areas.  It can be viewed at the following stand-alone website location – https://www.castlemaineflora.org.au.

In November 2016, local natural historian – Ern Perkins – sadly passed away.  Ern’s passion for the understanding the intricacies of natural environment was matched by his passion for sharing his knowledge with others.  A few months before his passing, he first launched this compendium of local plant species as a freely available resource via USB memory sticks.  Ern had developed this guide based on information that he and others had collected and compiled over more than 40 years.  With the support of Ern’s family since his passing, the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club has worked with a local IT graphics firm to make this guide available as an online resource, allowing it to reach a much wider audience.  Financial contributions and other support towards this important project has also been provided by the Friends of the Box Ironbark Forests (FOBIF) and Connecting Country.  Each of these organisations will have a link to this flora guide from their websites.  A permanent link to it has been established from the Connecting Country website here.

It is intended to be a dynamic website, with updates made over time in response to taxonomic changes, new photographs and new findings.  Landholders, Landcarers, students and many other people from the Mount Alexander Shire and beyond will appreciate this valuable and easy-to-use resource.

Pint-sized carnivore devours a Grey Fantail

Posted on 7 August, 2017 by Tanya Loos

We love it when Connecting Country landholders send in photographs of interesting flora and fauna observations. In April 2017, Tamsin Byrne sent us an astonishing series of photos of a Yellow-footed Antechinus hunting and eating a Grey Fantail at their bird bath. Tamsin and her family live on a beautiful Trust for Nature property in Sedgwick.

For those new to the Antechinus – they are small carnivorous marsupials related to Brush-tailed Phascogales or Tuan, Eastern Quolls, Tasmanian Devils – comprising a group know as the Dasyurids. Most are nocturnal, but the Yellow-footed Antechinus is actually diurnal, and so observed by landholders and birdwatchers during the day. Geoff Park has taken some wonderful portraits of these endearing mammals on his blog Natural Newstead; CLICK HERE. With their golden colour, round ears, sweet little paws, and confiding nature, the antechinus are very sweet and well-liked by all.

However! Appearances can be deceptive, and they are actually a top level predator! Large arthropods such as centipedes, insects, eggs and nestlings are commonly listed as prey items – but now we must also add adult birds to that list. Tamsin added some great captions to the photographs – please click on each photo with your mouse to go through each photo in the set. Many thanks to Tamsin for this exciting series of photos of nature “red in tooth in claw”!