We All Need A Home – Video by Chewton Primary School
Posted on 31 July, 2017 by Asha
“We All Need A Home” is a short video created by Chewton Primary School students late last year. It explains the importance of caring for our local wildlife by cleaning up rubbish and creating habitat through a very engaging story. It also includes tiles from Chewton Primary School’s reptile and frog monitoring site which students helped Connecting Country set up and monitor.
CLICK HERE or on the picture below to view the full video. There is a link to another interesting video made by students on the same page, plus a copy of the presentation that the “Coastal Ambassadors” gave on local reptile and frog conservation.
Street Moss – a photography exhibition of our urban mosses
Posted on 31 July, 2017 by Tanya Loos
Street Moss is the subject of an exhibition of photos by Bronwyn Silver and Bernard Slattery that has just opened at Falkner Gallery, 35 Templeton Street, Castlemaine. The show runs from 20 July to 3 September 2017 and the gallery is open each week between 11 am and 4 pm, Thursday to Sunday.
Bronwyn and Bernard are well placed to present a photography exhibition on moss, as both contributed to the very popular Guide to Mosses of Dry Forests in Eastern Australia which was published in 2014. More recently, Bronwyn and Bernard, along with Ern Perkins, co-wrote Eucalypts of the Mount Alexander Region. These books are both fantastic achievements and contribute considerably to the understanding and appreciation of nature in our region.
Below are some words from Bernard to introduce the fabulous photos of “Street Moss”…
Moss never sleeps
The paved streets of our towns and cities are imperfect coverings of a nature always ready to stage a comeback. We’re all familiar with scenes of deserted settlements rapidly growing over with weeds, streets cracked by emerging shrubs and trees. But even bustling towns actively cleaned by teams of usually underpaid workers show signs that humanity is really just holding nature at bay.
The margins of manholes, the gaps between gutter paving stones, the shady neglected corners of industrial sites, all harbour active plant colonies ever ready to expand and undo the work of the bitumen and concrete industries.
The vanguards of these saboteurs of neatness and order are usually moss species. They can bide their time in the town’s narrowest cracks for implausibly long periods of dusty sterility, to flourish suddenly with the first shower of rain. Modest, apparently fragile, improbably beautiful: given time, they could bring down the cloud capped towers of the industrial world!
And they’re great to look at, too.
Street moss grid by Bronwyn Silver
and another beautiful photo…
Parker Street 3. by Bernard Slattery, 2017
New Reptile and Frog Brochure Available
Posted on 28 July, 2017 by Asha
Connecting Country’s newest brochure, Reptiles and Frogs of the Mount Alexander Region, is now out in the world! CLICK HERE or on the picture to download a pdf copy. You can grab a hard copy of this brochure by dropping by our offices, or by contacting asha@connectingcountry.org.au. Our local Landcare groups will also soon have copies available to share. 
The brochure includes beautiful photos of 8 frogs and 30 reptile species found in the Mount Alexander Region, plus tips for landholders on how you can help our local reptiles and frogs. Some of these tips include creating and improving habitat on your property and on public land by:
- Creating ground-level shelter and food sources by ensuring there are plenty of logs, sticks, rocks, and leaf litter around
- Helping degraded land regenerate by planting indigenous species, excluding grazing, and controlling noxious weeds
- Protecting intact native woodlands and grasslands
- Keeping predators such as foxes, cats, and dogs under control
- Joining your local Landcare or Friends group
- Creating a ‘frog bog’ or retrofitting a dam to provide frog habitat
- Refraining from using herbicides and pesticides when rainfall is predicted, and minimising or avoiding their use near wetlands and waterways
Connecting Country’s Reptile and Frog Monitoring Program is being undertaken with the support of the Ian Potter Foundation.
Get your hands dirty on National Tree Planting Day – Sunday 30th July 2017
Posted on 24 July, 2017 by Asha
This happy tree was planted by Baringhup Landcare in 2016
If there’s one day a year to go out and plant some trees, this is it! Two of our local Landcare groups are running National Tree Planting Day working bees this year: Castlemaine Landcare Group and Friends of Campbells Creek Landcare. The events are free and everyone is welcome. Make sure you bring sturdy shoes, warm clothes, water, and some work gloves if you have them.
Castlemaine Landcare has prepared a site at Happy Valley to plant 750 seedlings, followed by a free BBQ lunch and hot soup. You can plant your special tree and come back to visit it over time to watch it grow.
When: 10am, Sunday 30th July 2017
Where: Happy Valley Road at Moonlight Crossing (CLICK HERE for map).
More information: follow them on Facebook (CLICK HERE), or contact Christine on 0418 325 350 or Sally on 5470 6340.
Friends of Campbells Creek Landcare will be planting in the Honeycomb Bushland Reserve in Campbells Creek. It’s a 10 minute walk from car parking to the site, along an bush trail used by recreational walkers, with interesting features along the way. The planting will be followed by a free BBQ lunch for all, catering for a range of dietary needs.
When: 10am – 1pm, Sunday 30th July 2017
Where: Meet at the Honeycomb Bushland Reserve, Campbells Creek, where Honeycomb Road meets the gravel trail (CLICK HERE for map).
More information: follow them on Facebook (CLICK HERE), go to their website (CLICK HERE) or contact Shona on 0408 724 699
Happy planting!
Wombat numbers on the rise
Posted on 21 July, 2017 by Tanya Loos
Wombats thrive in Western Victoria: Staff member Tanya Loos, who lives 7km north of Daylesford, shares a story about our burgeoning wombat population.
Coming home from work a week or two ago, I was just a couple of kilometres from my house. The car in front of me slowed to a stop. A medium sized mammal with a distinctly square bum ambled in front of their car and disappeared into the dark forest.
A wombat! A Common Wombat – also known as the Bare-nosed Wombat – in Porcupine Ridge! There are plenty of Wombats around Trentham, Glenlyon, and throughout the Wombat Forest, but in 15 years of living in Porcupine Ridge I had accepted the fact that while we have koalas, the wombats didn’t occur this far north. However, it seems the fortunes of wombats in western Victoria are changing!
In early 2016, a wombat caused quite a stir as it was photographed in the Gunbower forest, literally hundreds of kilometres from the nearest population. Peter Menkhorst, from the Arthur Rylah Institute was contacted to comment and he stated “The most westerly population of wombats on the Great Dividing Range is around Trentham and Daylesford, where the Campaspe begins”. He believed the wombat may have been an orphan pouch young that was released far from where it was rescued. Read the article in the Bendigo Advertiser here.
A healthy wombat, photographed by Connecting Country’s wildlife cameras at his or her burrow in Sutton Grange. (Ignore the date on the photos – it was taken in 2014)
After seeing my Porky Ridge wombat, I searched online and found a fantastic website called WomSAT. This website is an initiative of the University of Western Sydney, and encourages people Australia-wide to record their wombat sightings. The map is really is easy to use, and enables you to note down whether the wombat was dead or alive, and if it suffered from mange. You can also record burrows. The WomSAT website can be accessed here.
On this map, there were at least eight sightings of living wombats between Bendigo and Daylesford from 2015- 2016, in Harcourt, south of Bendigo in Sedgwick and a big concentration in the Baynton area to the east.
I had a chat with my Connecting Country work colleagues Bonnie and Jarrod who have been documenting an increase in wombat sightings all through the Harcourt and especially Sutton Grange area – one property had a network of burrows with 50-60 entrances!
The same wombat having a little scratch
So what is going on?! My Mammals of Victoria book, also by Peter Menkhorst, states that wombat distribution on a local level is ‘probably most dependent on the availability of suitable burrow sites in association with food supply’. The wombats do not like very dense forest, but any open habitat seems to do – with habitats ranging from alpine heathland, to wet forests, dry forests and coastal scrub and tea tree heath. Most of the burrows noted by Bonnie and Jarrod have been on creeklines which are tributaries of the Coliban River, and surrounded by open forest or woodland.
Wombats were declared vermin in 1906, and there was a bounty on them from 1925 – 1966. This put the already diminishing western Victorian populations on an even deeper downward spiral and they disappeared from the volcanic plains and indeed, anywhere north of the Great Dividing Range.
Anecdotally, the recent increase in wombat numbers has been noticed after the Redesdale fires in early 2009, part of the devastating Black Saturday fires. The fires may have caused a dispersal of the wombats into previously unoccupied territory.
So if you are in open forest along a creekline north of Daylesford and south of Bendigo, keep an eye out, a wombat family could be your new neighbours!
If you are logging sightings on WomSAT or sending us in a sighting on our Special-Species-Sightings-Sheet-2017, make a note whether the Wombat is healthy or not. Sarcoptic mange is a hideous parasite that Wombats catch from foxes. The mites cause the most severe mange affected skin and swelling around the eyes – and the wombat gets very sick indeed, and eventually dies. More information on wombat mange can be found here. Happily, wombat lovers and advocates have discovered that they can add a pesticide ointment to a flap on an affected wombat’s burrow and this treatment saves the wombat without it having to be captured and taken to a shelter.
Dams to Wetlands Workshop – Muckleford Catchment Landcare
Posted on 17 July, 2017 by Asha
Workshop attendees will visit dams like this one in Muckleford (photo by Beth Mellick).
Join Muckleford Landcare to visit two dams and discuss ways in which to improve their function for biodiversity. Everyone is welcome to come along and learn how to turn your dam into a thriving wetland.
The workshop is on this Sunday 23rd July, from 9.30am to 12 noon. Meet at the end of Lyndham Road (off Golf Links Road). For any questions, contact Beth on 0431 219 980 or bethmellick@gmail.com.
Threatened woodland birds get a bodyguard
Posted on 21 June, 2017 by Connecting Country
Threatened woodland bird populations in the Mount Alexander region are being better protected through a new collaborative Connecting Country project. Over three years, $300,000 from the Victorian Government’s Biodiversity On-Ground Action initiative will help to protect, enhance and increase critical bird habitat in Box-Ironbark Forests in the Mount Alexander area. This area is important because it provides core habitat for the Victorian Temperate Woodland Bird Community, which is listed under the Flora and Fauna Guaranteed Act and an indicator of the health of the landscape.
The Diamond Firetail is one of the threatened Woodland bird species to be targeted by the project.
Krista Patterson-Majoor, Connecting Country Director – Project Manager, explains; “Over recent years, we have seen a decline among most threatened species within this bird community. We are taking a team approach with this project and collaborating with Trust for Nature, Dja Dja Wurrung, North Central Catchment Management Authority, Parks Victoria, Landmate, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), local Landcare groups and private landholders to carry out a variety of environmental works to help protect the birds.”
Works funded will include having private land owners undertake weed control and fencing to protect remnant vegetation across 60 hectares. In exchange, the owners will set aside land for conservation for at least ten years, including stock grazing removal and pest control. This funded project aligns with our Woodland Bird Action plan which aims to stabilise and then increase the populations of local species by protecting and expanding their core habitat. Landholders who are interested in finding out more are encouraged to contact Connecting Country or fill out an Expression-Of-Interest-Form-July-2017-Connecting-Country.
DELWP Program Manager, Biodiversity, Jill Fleming, said: “This community-led group has been working for more than 10 years to protect threatened woodland birds in the Mount Alexander region and it’s great to see them receive this funding that will help them, and all the partners, to continue this important work.” DELWP’s involvement will help to broaden the scope of the project and ensure works carried out on private land will be complemented by similar activities on 80 hectares of surrounding public land that has been strategically aligned with private landholders and woodland bird priority zones. “By controlling the weeds and removing stock grazing, we discourage non-native birds, who may displace the native ones, from using the same habitat,” Ms Fleming said.
Twenty-six large scale, multi-partner regional partnership projects totalling $7.7 million have been funded through the Regional Biodiversity On-Ground Action initiative to address major risks to threatened species and ecosystems across the state. These projects will be delivered through regional partnerships between agencies, organisations, community, landholders and traditional owners. The list of projects is available at: www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/biodiversity-on-groundaction
Box Ironbark East Biodiversity Hub Steering Group Members (from left) – Chris Timewell (CC), Jill Fleming (DELWP), Matt Menhennet (Landmate), Tanya Loos (CC), Steve Comte (Landmate) Deanna Marshall (TFN), Krista Patterson-Majoor (CC) Bonnie Humphreys (CC), Britt Gregory (NCCMA), Kirsten Hutchinson (TFN) and Noel Muller (PV) – at our inaugural meeting in Castlemaine. Absent are Rodney Carter (DDW), Steve Jackson (DDW) and Adrian Martins (NCCMA).
Connecting Landscapes Celebration warms hearts on a cool June night
Posted on 15 June, 2017 by Connecting Country
Last Tuesday, 6th June 2017, the Connecting Landscapes Celebration Event saw an engaged community come together to socialise, learn and commit to a future vision of a healthy landscape in the Mount Alexander Region. The celebration acknowledged the achievements of the Connecting Landscapes project over the past five years and recognized Connecting Country’s milestone tenth year. Over sixty landholders who have been part of our on-ground work program were treated to a delicious meal from Growing Abundance and deserts from the Murnong Mummas, trivia competition and an informative talk from David Cameron from Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP) .
Connecting Country President, Brendan Sydes, gives a short history and summary of plans for the future.
Brendan Sydes, President of Connecting Country’s Committee of Management, kicked off the evening with an Acknowledgement of Country and a brief overview of Connecting Country history to date. He also launched our new Biodiversity Hub project to be delivered in partnership with DELWP, Trust for Nature, Parks Victoria and Dja Dja Wurrung.
Connecting Landscapes project coordinator, Jarrod Coote, gave an overview of the achievements of our Connecting Landscapes project, the staff, and what is next for Connecting Country. Funded through the Australian Government, Connecting Landscapes has been Connecting Country’s major project for the last five years. It has seen huge gains for the environment through our on-ground works, monitoring and community engagement programs.
With our targets for the Connecting Landscapes project successfully it reached, we have:
- Protected 1200 ha (3,000 acres) of native bushland on private land
- Revegetated 400 ha (1,000 acres) of “greenfield” sites – i.e. paddocks
- Treated rabbits and weeds over 1600 ha
- Built 40km of fences
- Developed 25 Landholder Management Plans
- Delivered our successful education and monitoring programs
This table speaks volumes about our overachiever tendencies with actual results outstripping our targets in each of the five areas of on-ground works activity.
Tanya Loos, Connecting Country Woodland Birds Project Coordinator, gave an overview of the monitoring component of the program. This included highlighting the various types of ecological monitoring undertaken by Connecting Country and acknowledging the many different groups of people involved including volunteers, landholders, experts and students. A highlight was the results for nest box monitoring with increases in occupation of the boxes for Sugar Gliders and Tuans.
An overall increase in numbers of Tuans and Sugar Gliders occupying nest boxes across the shire is encouraging.
Dinner was served and attendees collaborated on trivia questions which tested their natural resource management knowledge. Well done to the winners of the quiz; with only one question amiss, they secured a nest box each and some plants and guards. Free nest boxes were also given out to lucky door prize ticket holders.
All tables put in a great effort on the quiz.
The final part of the evening was a talk by David Cameron, Senior Botanist and curator of the state Flora Database with DELWP. His extensive knowledge about plants and, in particular, important weed species of the future was welcomed by the audience as useful advice for what to focus on their properties.
David Cameron talked about plant identification and weeds to look out for in the future given the likely effects of Climate Change.
Desert was served with many happy faces exchanging conversation in the cool of a June night. We would like to acknowledge the funding from the Australian Government which made this evening and the Connecting Landscapes project possible. We would also like to warmly thank all of our landholders and groups who have been involved in Connecting Country projects so far – every little bit of change we create helps biodiversity across our landscape. We look forward to more exciting projects like this in the future.
27-30 October 2017- Victorian Botany workshop in Licola
Posted on 2 June, 2017 by Connecting Country
This interesting 4 day live-in workshop is being organised by a group of senior professional botanists on a not-for-profit basis and is aimed at students and early career botanists. The workshop will include two days of field surveys at 2–3 sites representing different vegetation types (subalpine and lowland). Participants will contribute to the collection of floristic data using a number of survey techniques while learning identification characters of different plant groups. There will be opportunity during evenings to use microscopes and reference material, to further skills in laboratory techniques.
Workshop leaders will give short presentation, run focus activities with smaller groups and demonstrate methods in field botany. The workshop will predominantly deal with plant classification and identification with some additional content on ecology and vegetation classification. Day trips will depart around 8 am each day and return mid-afternoon. A timetable will be provided by email prior to the workshop.
To register and to find out more: https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=25471
Help Little Heroes Plant New Habitat
Posted on 29 May, 2017 by Connecting Country
Little Habitat Hero, Sophie Haythorne, looks forward to planting on the 17th of June 2017.
A new story is being woven into the site of the Old Silkworm Farm on Leanganook, within the Mount Alexander Regional Park, this month, as a group of families and Landcare groups join together for the Little Habitat Heroes planting day on Saturday the 17th of June 2017, 9am-1pm. Open to all to participate, this ongoing initiative envisions 10 hectares of habitat regenerated on this historic site over the next few years.
Initiated by a group of new mothers in Castlemaine in 2016, Little Habitat Heroes, was a successful fund-raising campaign aimed at restoring native bush in honour of the region’s newest residents. Over $3,000 was raised by families and individuals, who were keen to see a beloved child in their life have the opportunity for a personal connection with nature.
This was matched with equivalent support from VicRoads to allow over 900 seedlings to be propagated ready for a wet winter start. Committed volunteers from Barkers Creek and Harcourt Landcare Groups, Connecting Country, and Little Habitat Heroes families and friends are providing their time generously to see the project succeed, with support from Parks Victoria.
“It’s amazing what a small group of committed people can achieve”, says Connecting Country Director Krista Patterson-Majoor. “From the start, when we were approached by the mothers’ group, we could see how closely aligned the project idea was with our organisation’s core objectives. We have been delighted to support the initiative, and we look forward to welcoming everyone to the planting day, it will be a lot of fun.”
For many, especially the nearly-two year olds, the planting day will be their first-ever tree planting experience, and an opportunity to see a habitat emerge that will support charismatic fauna such as sugar gliders and woodland birds. The location is exciting to local ecologists too, as it is uniquely suited to trial the return of indigenous species such as the Silver Banksia which once occurred on Mt Alexander and large areas through central Victoria before the gold rush.
“Just by living their lives, our children will no doubt contribute to environmental loss, so this is a chance for us to give something back,” says Little Habitat Heroes mother Meg Barnes, “The planting day will also offer a way to meet like-minded people and spend time at a gorgeous site.”
Little Habitat Heroes Planting Day Details: 9am-1pm, Saturday 17 June, meet at Leanganook Picnic Ground in the Mount Alexander Regional Park. Everyone and all ages welcome. Morning tea provided, BYO picnic lunch which we’ll eat together. More information visit www.littlehabitatheroes.org. To join the planting day or learn more, RSVP to littlehabitatheroes@gmail.com.
Pre-1852 original indigenous trees in Maldon
Posted on 23 May, 2017 by Asha
Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora), estimated age 530 years, Bill Woodfull Reserve, Maldon (photo Frances Cincotta)
Bev Phillips has kindly provided this article about the amazing work Maldon Urban Landcare (aka MULGA) have been doing to protect the trees that have been around Maldon since before the gold rush. Anyone familiar with this landscape knows how precious our large old trees are, so thank you MULGA for helping look after them!
“The primary objectives of this project conducted by MULGA in 2017 were to obtain detailed records for original indigenous trees that were growing before 1852 (pre-European settlement) in Maldon, and to achieve long-term protection for these trees under the Mt. Alexander Shire Council Planning Scheme, or an appropriate alternative scheme. The large, old indigenous eucalypt trees still surviving in the township of Maldon are of significant environmental and historical significance, and are rare examples of pre-European settlement vegetation in an urban setting. The recorded trees are estimated to be aged between 175 and 645 years old.
Initial work for this project was carried out by the late Wendy French in 2009-2010. In early 2017 MULGA members, assisted by Frances Cincotta from Newstead Natives, conducted a detailed survey of trees with a circumference of at least 1815mm, measured at a height of 1.3m. Sites surveyed were the Maldon Primary School, Maldon Hospital, Bill Woodfull Reserve, the Maldon Police Lockup land and St. Brigid’s Catholic Church. In addition two trees on a private property and four roadside trees were surveyed.
Of the 61 pre-1852 original eucalypt trees recorded on public and private land in Maldon, 64% are Eucalyptus microcarpa (Grey Box); there are 8 Eucalyptus goniocalyx (Long-leaved Box), 8 Eucalyptus polyanthemos subsp. vestita (Red Box) and 3 Eucalyptus melliodora (Yellow Box). 49 trees are estimated to be 200-399 years old and there are 3 trees estimated to be aged 400-499 years and one tree 530 years. This means that 80% of the trees are estimated to have started growing between the years of 1618 and 1817.
In addition, MULGA members surveyed 36 pre-1852 eucalypt trees on parts of the Maldon Historic Reserve – the lower slopes of Anzac Hill, Pond Drive, and part of The Butts at the base of Mt. Tarrengower. The species recorded are Grey Box (50%), Yellow Box (28%), Red Box (17%) and one tree each of Long-leaved Box and Eucalyptus camaldulensis (River Red Gum).
CLICK HERE for more information and links to two maps which show the location of all of the pre-1852 eucalypts recorded. There is also a brochure, Living Treasures, available in the Maldon Visitors Information Centre, which includes information and a map for some of the pre-1852 trees.”
20/21 May 2017 – Swift Parrot survey in Castlemaine area
Posted on 11 May, 2017 by Connecting Country
Have you seen this bird? A Swift Parrot feasting on blossom, a beautiful photo by Chris Tzaros.
Connecting Country would like to share news that teams of bird watchers across Victoria will be out on the weekend of 20/21 May to look for Swift Parrots, one of the threatened species being monitored in Autumn each year after they arrive from Tasmania. Surveys in areas around Castlemaine are being arranged by Beth Mellick.
If you are interested in participating and have not volunteered in previous years, contact Beth by phone (0431 219 980) or email (beth@nwf.org.au).
Registrations now open for the Wetland Plant Identification Course October 2017
Posted on 4 May, 2017 by Connecting Country
For anyone interested in wetland plant identification and ecology, the registrations are now open for the 2017 Wetland Plant Identification Course with Damien Cook and Elaine Bayes. Starting in October, the course will run over 3 days and participants can elect to do 1, 2 or all 3 days. Each day will focus on a different wetland habitat and be timed so as to follow the wetting and drying of the stunning Reedy Lagoon at Gunbower Island or nearby wetland.
For more information including the 2017 flyer, program and feedback from past participants please click here. To go straight to the registration page click here.
Biodiversity 2037 has been released
Posted on 6 April, 2017 by Connecting Country
The Victorian Government has released Protecting Victoria’s Environment – Biodiversity 2037. According to representatives from DEWLP the plan “establishes a long-term vision and goals. Specific targets have been developed to deliver on these goals”. Connecting Country made a submission during the the development of this document. To see this submission please click here.
An Implementation Plan to accompany Protecting Victoria’s Environment – Biodiversity 2037 is in development and due for release in 2017.
For more information: and view or download the new biodiversity plan visit: www.environment.vic.gov.au
Now open: Biodiversity On-ground Action – Community & Volunteer Action Grants
Posted on 6 April, 2017 by Connecting Country
Grant applications are now open for the Biodiversity On-ground Action – Community & Volunteer Action Grants.
The Community & Volunteer Action grants:
- are offering funding for projects between $5,000 and $50,000,
- include the option of single or multi-year projects, and
- have a broad biodiversity focus.
Funding of up to $1 million is available for these grants in 2017.
Who can apply: Community groups/networks and not-for-profit organisations primarily focused on environmental projects such as biodiversity conservation or habitat protection and restoration projects.
Grants close: midnight 10 May 2017
Further information: www.environment.vic.gov.au/communityaction
Water in our Landscape workshops – registrations now open!
Posted on 28 March, 2017 by Connecting Country
Water can have a powerful impact on our landscape. If we can slow flows and retain water for longer we can improve soil fertility, habitat quality and reduce erosion. How we might achieve this is the theme for Connecting Country’s 2017 ‘Water in our Landscape’ education program. Three workshops will explore habitat creation in dams, ecological thinning, and gully restoration.
The free Friday morning workshops are being held on public and private land in late April and early May. They are likely to be popular with rural landholders, bush block owners, and local Landcarers. Numbers are limited and booking is essential.
Turning your Dam into Habitat – 21st of April 2017
This workshop features local ecologist, Damien Cook, who will discuss the possibilities and practical steps of turning farm dams into habitat. Participants will learn how to reap the benefits of establishing more wetland plants and animals on their properties. For bookings please visit: https://www.trybooking.com/257169
Ecological Thinning on Bush Blocks- 5th of May 2017
This workshop is designed for those interested in the benefits, challenges, and approaches to ecological thinning remnant vegetation. Participants will visit a four year old thinning trial in Muckleford and will hear from ecologist, Paul Foreman, and local contractor, David Griffiths, about this fascinating pilot project. For bookings please visit: https://www.trybooking.com/270332
Creating Frog ponds and Habitat Corridors – 19th of May 2017
This workshop highlights the approach of the Victoria Gully Group in seeing possibilities and setting priorities for the ecological restoration of the gully. This session is designed to help people to make decisions about land use and habitat creation in low-lying areas. For bookings please visit: https://www.trybooking.com/270312
CLICK HERE for more information about the workshops or CLICK HERE to download a copy of the poster.
Guardians assemble! A new group of custodians is formed…
Posted on 22 March, 2017 by Tanya Loos
The special bird habitats of Clydesdale, Sandon and Muckleford now have a small team of Guardians! These three areas, of both private and public land, are designated as Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) by BirdLife International, and BirdLife Australia.
Connecting Country held a workshop on Saturday 18 March 2017 to recruit KBA guardians and provide training in filling out an Easter Heath Check form each year. Birdlife Victoria KBA coordinator Euan Moore and his wife Jenny kindly took some time out from their busy schedule to present a comprehensive introduction to KBAs, and how to become a Guardian.
The open bushland around the hall was filled with birds – despite being rather hot, we saw a Diamond Firetail, a Mistletoebird and a pair of Peaceful doves – 20 species in all!
There are over 300 KBAs in Australia – and the Easter Health Check is a means to working out which KBAs are in danger – so that lobbying can be done and funding procured. For example, recently the Murray-Sunset and Hattah KBA was saved from an inappropriate burning regime that had reduced the population of tiny, rare birds called emu-wrens by such a drastic degree that they had become critically endangered.
In the case of our Key Biodiversity Areas, the Easter Health check is a means for locals to come together and try to quantify the threats facing our woodland birds and their habitats. Each KBA has what are known as “trigger species” – the key species that are under threat in that habitat – in our area, the trigger species are the Diamond Firetail and Swift Parrot. During the workshop there was much discussion around what these threats are, and the rate that they are causing declines in the Diamond Firetail. A fascinating process! Drought featured heavily, as did grazing, and pest animals such as European Rabbits, Red Foxes, and cats, both feral and domestic.
This young Diamond Firetail faces an uncertain future. Photo by Geoff Park
Connecting Country’s Stewards for Woodland Birds project is delighted to support the Easter Health Check initiative. The Health Checks filled in by our guardians will form the basis for a series of community plans for each area – Clydesdale, Sandon and Muckleford.
If you were unable to make it to the workshop but would still like to be involved – contact us! Not only birdos are needed for this process – anyone with understanding of our local habitats, the trials faced, and the communities working to address these threats is welcome to take part. At the workshop it was decided to form a small Guardians email list so that people can stay in touch – let Tanya know if you wish to be added to the list. Email tanya@connectingcountry.org.au or call 5472 1594.
Thanks to Euan and Jenny for an inspiring and informative workshop – and many thanks to the enthusiastic participants! For more information on KBAs, see BirdLife’s overview: click here
The KBA workshop and the Stewards for Woodland Birds Program are supported by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust.
Nature News March 2017 – Summertime Boom in Forest Creek
Posted on 7 March, 2017 by Connecting Country
For this month’s Nature News, on page 36 of the Midland Express (7th March 2017), Forest Creek resident and Connecting Country’s Works Crew team leader, Fritz Hammersley describes nature’s response to a wet spring through the dry of summer in the Forest Creek catchment.
Last spring, we had to abandon the car late one evening on one side of a rapidly rising Forest Creek. We threw some things to the opposite side, tied others to our shoulders and crossed the knee-deep torrent.
This stunning Yellow Box Eucalyptus melliodora blossom is built for attracting pollinators including bees. Photo: Bronwyn Silver
Our valley is pocked with dredge, sluice and gravel pits from the gold rush. They quickly filled when the creek burst its banks. As the flood receded, the pits became isolated blackwater lagoons saturated with decaying litter, hostile to gilled creatures but no barrier to air-breathing larvae like mosquito. Lizards arrived for the bounty. Five Sacred Kingfishers, Todirampus sanctus, flitted around one low-hanging branch for a couple of months, feasted and moved on.
An unusual patch of Bracken Fern, Pteridium esculentum, commonly seen in wetter climates, sprang to life. Like Coffee Bush, Cassinia arcuata, it will recruit after good rainfall or become denser after fire. Both will eventually out-punch pasture grasses until acacias and eucalypts overshadow and calm them. In the forest these plants know their place, but on cleared land the sky’s the limit.
A Mud-dauber Wasp, Sphecidae sp., built a house in my bookshelf with a dried mud paste. She placed a paralysed Orb Spider, Araneus sp., in each cell and laid an egg on it. The hatchling feeds on the body juices of the spider, leaving only its exoskeleton amongst the shards of its dusty tomb.
Suddenly in the bush this summer we get a faceful of spider’s orbs every time we walk in the bush! Some are preposterous with ridiculous anchoring spans of five metres plus, others opportunistic, like the spider that positioned its orb outside our beehive and couldn’t keep up with the harvest.
Now in this dry summer Yellow Box, Eucalyptus melliodora, found slightly upslope from the creek flats, creates a park-like atmosphere above the dry grass with verdant new growth. Within it the profusely flowering Box Mistletoe, Amyema miquelii, is abuzz with bees. Lilies and orchids may respond to the spring floods of 2016 with a greater floral display next season, there will be fewer mosquitoes around, and eventually this marvellous boom will peter out.
An opportunity to be a part of a global conservation initiative: locally!
Posted on 1 March, 2017 by Tanya Loos
BirdLife Australia is looking for people in each of the Key Biodiversity Areas to complete an “Easter health check” for their local area. Connecting Country has invited Euan Moore from BirdLife Victoria to come up to Clydesdale on Saturday the 18th of March to take us through the process for our part of the Bendigo Box Ironbark area.
The KBA boundaries are outlined in blue, and include Muckleford Forest, Rise and Shine Bushland reserve and the Sandon State forest. And a lot of private land too!
As you may know, Connecting Country is an affiliate organisation of BirdLife Australia. And BirdLife Australia is aligned with one of the biggest conservation networks in the world – BirdLife International. BirdLife International has designated hundreds of areas of conservation importance around the world known as Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA). And we have one here on our very own doorstep – we are part of the Bendigo Box Ironbark area. Our part of the KBA has been designated especially for the Diamond Firetail and Swift Parrot, and covers both public and private land. Your property could be of international importance! For more information on the KBA and the Easter Health check process click here.
This annual check is about assessing habitat and its threats so anyone with a interest in landscape restoration would be most welcome. In fact, the KBA’s used to be known as IBA’s: Important Bird areas – but they changed the Important Bird to Key Biodiversity to reflect the importance of the areas for the whole ecosystem, not just birds! We encourage you to attend this workshop whether you live in the areas highlighted in the map or would simply like to visit the beautiful bushlands.
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A Swift Parrot surveys its woodland home, photo by Chris Tzaros.
When: Saturday, 18 March, 2017
- Time: 10-2pm with lunch provided
- Where: Clydesdale Hall, Locarno Rd
- RSVP is essential for catering purposes to Tanya on tanya@connectingcountry.org.au or 5472 1594
- Please wear outdoor appropriate footwear and clothing as we will be going to the nearby Rise and Shine Bushland Reserve for some of the workshop. Click here for a workshop flyer.
Funding for this workshop has been generously provided by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, as part of the Stewards for Woodland birds project.
Skink Shenanigans – news from our reptile and frog monitoring program
Posted on 16 February, 2017 by Asha
In 2016, Connecting Country set up a new reptile and frog monitoring program across the Mount Alexander region. With the help of 42 landholders and over 20 volunteers, we have recently finished checking the 480 monitoring tiles. These tiles make up 48 sites across the region, distributed between sites of intact woodland, revegetated woodland, and grasslands/paddocks.
We had some interesting finds under the tiles, and we’ll be sharing these results soon. Frogs, juvenile snakes, several species of skinks and many invertebrates all seemed to love living under the tiles. It was often quite a challenge to tell the species apart, especially when they move at lightning speed! Here is a video of two skinks that we’ve seen underneath the tiles. Can you guess what they are?
CLICK HERE to find out more about Connecting Country’s Reptile and Frog Monitoring program including links to some useful resources to help you identify some of your own discoveries. Contact Asha for more information at asha@connectingcountry.org.au or (03) 5472 1594.
Connecting Country’s Reptile and Frog Monitoring Program is being undertaken with the support of the Ian Potter Foundation.