Wetland Plants Identification Course with Damian Cook

Posted on 25 August, 2015 by Connecting Country

The Mount Alexander Shire is indeed fortunate to have so many specialists in natural history in its midst.  Two of the best are Damian Cook and Elaine Bayes, and Connecting Country is lucky to have them on our Expert Advisory Group.

Through their business – Rakali Consulting – they are running three one-day courses in the identification of  wetlands plants.   Elaine and Damian have told us, “This course is aimed at anyone interested in wetland plant identification and ecology. The course will run over 3 days and each day will focus on a different wetland habitat (water’s edge, deep marsh and mudflat) and be timed so as to follow the wetting and drying of the stunning Reedy Lagoon at Gunbower Island.  Participants can elect to do 1, 2 or all 3 days. ….. [Each] day will be divided between being outside observing plants in their natural habitat and collecting specimens and class time using field guides, keys and microscopes.  There will also be discussion and presentation time. Notes and identification keys will be provided.  Lunch, morning and afternoon tea provided.”

The course is being held at Treetops, Spencer’s Bridge Road (off Cohuna-Koondrook Rd), Cohuna, Victoria which is located on the banks of Gunbower Creek.  Field work will be conducted at Reedy Lagoon and timed to follow environmental water delivery to ensure wetland plants are at their peak.  The cost per day is $319 (inc. GST) or $880 (inc GST) for all three days.

More information on the course, and details on how to register, are available on the Rakali Consulting website (click here).

30 Aug 2015 – Wheel Cactus Injecting Day

Posted on 25 August, 2015 by Connecting Country

Tony Kane from the Tarrangower Cactus Control Group has let us know that they are holding their monthly working bee on Sunday 30th August at a property on the extension of Tarrengower School Road off Watersons Road.  Follow the signs from the corner of the Maldon-Bridgewater Road and Watersons Road, on the north-western side of Maldon.   CLICK HERE for more information from their flyer.

It starts at 10.30 am, and finishes with a BBQ and drinks at lunchtime.  Everyone is welcome to join in the control of this noxious pest.  Instructions and equipment provided on the day.

Award winner at the Sustainable Agriculture forum in Castlemaine

Posted on 17 August, 2015 by Connecting Country

Local orchardist – Katie Finlay – was recently crowned the 2015 Victorian Rural Woman of the Year, and now is in the running for the National Rural Woman award.  At the Castlemaine forum for discussing their draft Regional Sustainable Agriculture Strategy, the North Central CMA has organised for Katie to be the guest presenter.  Katie will speak about her journey towards sustainability.  (As noted in a previous blog – click here – the North Central CMA are also seeking feedback on their draft Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Plan on the same evening and at same event).

From North Central CMA manager Tim Shanahan  “Increasing the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices across the region will strengthen the future of the industry while protecting natural resources such as land and water.”

Further quotes from Tim, additional details about the event and to read a summary of the draft Sustainable Agriculture strategy, follow this link (click here).

The Castlemaine forum is one of five being held across the region.  It is on Monday 31 August 2015 from 7.30 pm at the Campbells Creek Community Centre, Elizabeth St – with a light supper served from 7pm.  To attend, RSVPs have been requested for catering purposes (email info@nccma.vic.gov.au or by phone on 03 5448 7124).

Celebrating a 10th Anniversary in the grasslands of northern Victoria

Posted on 17 August, 2015 by Connecting Country

The good people of the Northern Plains Conservation Management Network are celebrating their 10th anniversary.  With guest speakers, a visit to a specially protected Grassy Ecosystem on private property and a catered morning tea and lunch, they’ve invited us all to join the milestone festivities.

The Northern Plains CMN is located in the central part of the north of Victoria.  It was established in 2005 with the aim to bring together all those involved with and interested in the management and conservation of grasslands and grassy woodlands in the north central area.

Their special event is being held on Friday 4th September 2015, from 10.30am to 3.30pm, in Terrick Terrick East.  Further information is available in this flyer (click here).

To attend the event, an RSVP to the North Central CMA is essential (by 5 pm Tuesday 1 September on 03 5448 7124 or email info@nccma.vic.gov.au).

14 Aug 2015 – Central Victorian Botanical Wonders

Posted on 11 August, 2015 by Connecting Country

The guest presenter for the August meeting of the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club (CFNC) is Rodney Orr, a highly respected ecologist from Bendigo.  Rodney was editor and compiler of the book “The Orchids of Bendigo’, and has also contributed many articles to Whirrakee (the newsletter of the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club) over a number of years and decades.  He is one of the foremost experts on the wildflowers of this part of central Victoria.

His talk to the CFNC is titled “Bendigo’s Botanical Wonders”, and will no doubt be filled with interesting stories and a slideshow full of amazing photographs.

The presentation will be held in the Fellowship Room from 7.30pm on Friday 14 August (although you can arrive from 7pm for a cup of tea and a chat beforehand).  The Fellowship room is located behind the Uniting Church on Lyttleton St in Castlemaine (next door to the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum).  Everyone is welcome and there is no cost for entry.

If you are inspired by this talk, the club’s excursion on the following day (Sat 15 Aug) is to the Whipstick mallee forests to the north of Bendigo.  Details to be provided at the Friday evening meeting.

Hot, but not heated – Bill Gammage at the 2015 Workshop Launch

Posted on 27 February, 2015 by Connecting Country

It was over 35 degrees celcius outside – and probably hotter inside the Campbells Creek Community Centre – but that didn’t deter around 300 people from attending the launch of the Connecting Country 2015 Workshop Program on Sunday 22 Feb 2015.

copies available at stonemans bookroom

The main attraction was historian and award winning author Bill Gammage, who spoke about ‘1788’* aboriginal land management and ‘fire stick farming’. Drawing upon the early records of Colonial explorers and European settlers, Bill has described a systematic and complex system of aboriginal land management throughout Australia, from coast to coast, which included planned and selective burning, to create conditions for prey and plenty. It’s a new way of looking at the Australian landscape; which has led to plenty of conjecture and debate amongst scientists and lay-people alike. Undoubtedly, Bill’s book has struck a chord in the community on many levels.

What is it about the book that draws this level of interest and engagement?

Perhaps because the scope of his text is large enough to encompass – and also exclude – many and varied views, and perhaps because there is always much difficulty in moving from the big picture, down to the more specific and locally relevant scale. For instance, what do central Victoria’s Box Ironbark forests (and their myriad species) need/tolerate/resist in terms of fire duration, intensity and timing? And how does this compare with granitic landscapes on the eastern side of Mount Alexander, or on the basalt plains to the west? And what value do we place today on the areas described as ‘scrub’ – so full of shrubs, ground-layer plants, logs and leaf litter that provide critical habitat for so many declining woodland birds and other species.

Bill’s challenge to all of us is to view our landscape, on both in the large (continent-wide) and lesser (catchment, regional, local, property) levels with fresh eyes.

How much do we really know and understand the inter-relationships of animal, plant, human – and how have they been altered over the past 200 or so years? How can we possibly work to benefit all? We can surmise, through the research of Bill and others such as Ron Hateley**, how it was prior to 1788, but what for the future? How can we learn and benefit from both indigenous and scientific ecological knowledge?

Ultimately, it all comes down to our own particular lens through which we view the world, and our landscapes.

bill, janet, brendan, marie and trent

Many thanks to Bill, to Dja Dja Warrung Traditional Owner Trent Nelson for welcoming us to his Country and talking about the contemporary challenges for all of us, to Mal Brown (Scarlet Consulting) for facilitating the session and as always we thank our Committee members, especially Brendan Sydes and Marie Jones who presented on the day. Thank you to the many Connecting Country volunteers and staff members who made the day a success. Also thanks to Alice Barnes from Sovereign Hill who generously audio-recorded the session and has made it available for us to share with those who couldn’t make the event or had to be turned away because of the venue limitations.

Some images from the session are available in our Education and Resources Section (Click here). To see what people are saying afterwards, or to comment on the presentation, go to the Forum page (click here).  We hope to have the audio from the presentation available on our website soon.

To sign up for one or more of the Autumn workshop sessions register HERE (NB: the session on the 1^st March is now fully booked).

For more information about our education program, contact janet@connectingcountry.org.au or phone 5472 1594.

* Bill uses the term ‘1788’ as shorthand for the beliefs and actions of Aboriginal people at the time of first European colonisation in Australia.

** Ron Hateley’s book, “The Victorian Bush – Its ‘Original and Natural’ Condition.”, published by Polybractea Press, provides a comprehensive and compelling perspective on vegetation patterns prior to European colonisation of Australia.

Bill Gammage Workshop Launch – Seeing History, and the Land, Anew (NB: Altered Venue)

Posted on 3 February, 2015 by Connecting Country

We’ve had a great deal of interest in the presentation by Prof. Bill Gammage that will launch Connecting Country’s Workshop Program on Sunday 22 February 2015 (Note venue change to Campbells Creek Community Centre – but still starting at 4pm). Even though Bill’s publication ‘The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia” was published four years ago, it’s still continuing to create interest, debate, discussion, criticism, and applause. This is your chance to hear from Bill first hand.

Bill is a much awarded academic who has spent over a decade researching ‘The Biggest Estate’. We welcome the opportunity that Bill’s talk gives Connecting Country and the wider community, to look at our local landscapes through an historical lens, to consider another view, and to generate discussion about our landscape and our connections with it. We also hope that others who would not normally come to our talks and workshops might come along to find out more about what we do.

Bill’s book is broad in scope and context, taking a whole-of-continent approach and challenges the conventional history. Bill argues that aboriginal people managed the land with much more complexity than the colonialists and historians recognise/d and we should look more closely to it, and to indigenous knowledge and history, for clues and guidance. This level of complex, ongoing (over thousands of years) indigenous knowledge meant that the land was managed in ways quite specific to the local situation and topography, yet it linked to the broader landscape.

Much of the conversation of late has focussed on the burning question of burning. Bill’s book talks about the ways in which Australians up until 1788 managed the land through fire, and how in the subsequent 200 plus years, much of this intricate knowledge – of specific plant types and species, of landscapes – and the understanding of various fire regimes has been lost, and the lasting evidence is neither seen nor appreciated in that context.

The issue is perhaps not about the finer detail of ‘burning the bush’, but in seeing anew our landscapes and whether we are able to really understand them and also the implications of our management actions. Bill asserts that Aboriginals before 1788 had a clear objective in land management – ensuring food, survival, sustainability – and used their knowledge of plants and animals to achieve it.

The other main aim for the event is to launch our 2015 Workshop Program, “Working with Nature to improve your Property”. We are gathering together another fantastic array of presenters, practical topics and properties from across the region and hope to address some of the questions that Bill’s book raises: How does one ‘read’ a landscape? Or interpret the cultural/settlement history of one? How much do you know and understand about the plants and animals on your own property? What’s your objective for your land? And we’ll also look more closely at the burning question with fire ecologists and CFA experts.

More information and registration forms for the remainder of the Workshop Program will be available at the launch, or you can download them HERE:  Please note that places are limited and we have a preference for participants who are managing properties of acreage (>4 ha). Contact Janet@connectingcountry.org.au or 5472 1594 for further details, or to book for the launch. Please note the Venue Change – to the Campbells Creek Community Centre, on Elizabeth St in Campbells Creek.

Bill Gammage to Launch 2015 Workshop Program

Posted on 24 December, 2014 by Connecting Country

Historian, award winning author and adjunct professor in the Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University (ANU), Professor Bill Gammage will launch the 2015 Connecting Country Workshop series on Sunday February 22, 2015 at the Castlemaine Golf Club (in the clubrooms, near the corner of Rilens Rd and Pyrenees Hwy, Muckleford).

Bill’s most recent book, ‘The Biggest Estate on Earth. How Aborigines made Australia’ won several prizes for history and literature when it was published in 2011 and pieces together details of land management strategies from around Australia, stating that Aboriginal people managed the land in a far more complete, systematic and scientific way than has often been recognised. He challenges the myths that Aboriginal people were careless nomads and that the pre-colonial ecology was purely ’natural’. Based on his research findings from around Australia, Bill will talk about how our knowledge and learnings of the past can inform current land management.

‘The Biggest Estate’ raised plenty of discussion and debate amongst scientists when it was published and this is an opportunity to hear first-hand of Bill’s historical perspective. You can view an earlier video of Bill discussing his book here.  Download the launch flyer and spread the word.

Bill Gammage grew up in Wagga, and was an ANU undergraduate and postgraduate before teaching history at the Universities of Papua New Guinea and Adelaide. He wrote The Broken Years on Australian soldiers in the Great War (1974), Narrandera Shire (1986), The Sky Travellers on the 1938-39 Hagen-Sepik Patrol in New Guinea (1998), and The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines made Australia (2011). He served the National Museum of Australia for three years as Council member, deputy chair and acting chair. He was made a Freeman of the Shire of Narrandera in 1987, a fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences in 1991, and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2005.

The launch will begin at 4:00pm and be followed by a BBQ dinner to celebrate the start of Connecting Country’s ‘Working with Nature to Improve Your Property’ Workshop Program for 2015, supported through funding from the Australian Government. This year’s program is aimed at property holders in the Mount Alexander region who are seeking information, resources and practical skills to improve, protect and restore their land. More information will be available on the evening.

There is no cost to attend the event. RSVPs are not essential, but are greatly preferred for catering purposes. Contact Janet on 5472 1594 or janet@connectingcountry.org.au for more info or to book.

Woodland Bird Brochure launch next Monday (8 Dec)

Posted on 2 December, 2014 by Tanya Loos

It has been a couple of years in the making…
Connecting Country are thrilled to announce that the “Woodland Birds of Central Victoria” brochure is printed and ready to be released into the world.

When: Monday, December 8th 2014 from 5.30pm until about 6.30pm
Where: In the Hub garden, on corner of Barker St and Templeton St (enter via gate on Templeton St)
RSVPs are preferred as we will be supplying drinks and nibbles. RSVP to me, Tanya Loos, on 5472 1594 or tanya@connectingcountry.org.au

The brochure was initially developed by past Connecting Country Woodland Bird Coordinator Kerryn Herman and a team of local naturalists and photographers.  As part of my role of Habitat for Bush Birds Coordinator – I re-ignited the project and added in information on our focal woodland bird species, the feathered five; Diamond Firetail, Hooded Robin, Painted Button-quail, Jacky Winter and Brown Treecreeper.  The subtitle of the brochure is “An identification and habitat management guide” because the birds are ordered into the particular kind of woodland bird habitat we might expect to see them in.

Geoff Park – well known for numerous local biodiversity activities, including his popular Natural Newstead website – is one who has generously contributed photographs to the brochure. He has also kindly agreed to speak at the launch about the brochure and its value – and of course, about our woodland birds!

We hope that landowners, landcare groups, schools and budding bird enthusiasts enjoy the Woodland Birds of Central Victoria brochure.  One free copy of the brochure will be available on the day for each attendee, with a gold coin donation for any additional copies.  All funds raised will go towards future reprints of the brochure.  And for those of you looking for nature-orientated Christmas gifts, copies of Friends of Box-Ironbark’s Mosses of dry forests of south eastern Australia and Tanya’s book Daylesford Nature Diary will be available for purchase.

Photographs and guidance for the brochure were provided by Nigel Harland, Damian Kelly, Greg and Jeanette License, Geoff Park, Chris Tzaros, Debbie Worland, Beth Mellick, Brendan Sydes and Ern Perkins.  Support for the brochure project came from the Victorian Government’s Communities for Nature program and from generous private donations to Connecting Country.

This photograph of a Weebill, a species often found within regenerating woodland habitat, was taken by Chris Tzaros.

The brochure on display next to a very old Wombat skull.

30 November 2014 – Final Cactus Field Day

Posted on 26 November, 2014 by Connecting Country

The final Cactus Field Day will take place this Sunday, 30 November, in Seers Road Welshmans Reef south of Maldon. The Tarrengower Cactus Control Group will also be holding its AGM at this field day.  All are welcome to attend. So come along and help the group finish a great year’s work with another successful day. Further details are in this flyer.

9 Dec 2014 – Webinar about funding

Posted on 24 November, 2014 by Connecting Country

The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) is holding a free ‘Webinar’ about where and how community organisations can successfully seek funding. (A webinar is a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations.) On the day there will be a number of expert speakers and participants will have the opportunity to ask questions.

This is the second in a series of webinars developed by FRRR, with the support of the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, as part of the Creating Inspiring Rural Community Leadership and Engagement (CIRCLE) program.

Click here to view a flyer which includes more information about the Webinar, registration details and links to introductory videos that are designed to help people applying for grants.

14 Nov 2014 – Wildlife Watching in India

Posted on 31 October, 2014 by Connecting Country

The guest speaker at the Castlemaine Field Naturalist Club’s November general meeting is club president Nigel Harland.  The title of Nigel’s talk is Wildlife Watching in India.

Nigel writes. “In February this year my wife and I spent three weeks in India, the main objective was to look at the animals and birds of the country, but we saw many other things, ranging from the utmost poverty to the magnificent historical buildings. Starting in Delhi, which is the same size as Australia, we headed south to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. No matter how many pictures you have seen of it, nothing compares with the reality. We then spent the rest of the holiday in three National Parks to the south of Agra.

These were Baratpur, Bandhavgarh and Khana. Baratpur is a birdwatcher’s paradise, whereas the latter two have many birds but a larger number of mammals. We spent much time in unseasonal rain, but it made little difference to our enjoyment of the trip.”

The meeting is on Friday 14 November, and commences from 7.30pm in the Fellowship Room behind the Uniting Church (on Lyttleton St, next to the Art Gallery and Museum).

16 Nov 2014 – Wetland Ecosystems Field Day

Posted on 31 October, 2014 by Connecting Country

A field day beginning at Melville Caves picnic area will take place on 16 November. (Melville Caves are a little under one and a half hours north-west of Castlemaine.)  The event is being hosted by the Wedderburn Conservation Management Network and others, and will examine the often overlooked and threatened wetland ecosystems of Mt Kooyoora and Mt Korong. Local ecologist Paul Foreman will be leading an educational tour on the day. This is a free event with lunch provided. Further details are in this flyer.

22 & 23 Nov 2014 – Farming & Conservation symposium

Posted on 31 October, 2014 by Connecting Country

Slide Show – Well Organised Children Defeat Pines

Posted on 24 October, 2014 by Connecting Country

The Mount Alexander Regional Park got a big helping hand on Saturday 4^th October 2014 when a group of over 150 adults and children took part in the second Landcare Camp Out on The Mount.

Bronwyn Silver from the Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests has made a great slideshow with photos taken at the event which captures the action.

Armed with saws, loppers, drills and Glyphosate, the group was bused from the Leanganook Camp ground to a site just north of Dog Rocks Saddle to dispatch invasive Radiata Pine trees growing in the Park. The pine trees are a threat to the native forests found on Mount Alexander and participants in the Camp Out are helping to protect important habitat for native plants and animals.

It was hard to tell exactly how many pines were removed amidst claims of ‘hundreds’ by some individuals who were still in early primary school, but a conservative estimate would be 600 trees.

The Camp Out is a project is jointly organised by the Harcourt Valley Landcare Group, Parks Victoria & Connecting Country with support from the Mount Alexander Shire Council and Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests.  This year the Camp Out also received help from Big Tree T-shirts, the Harcourt Lions Club and Hancocks Victorian Plantations.

Well done to everyone involved!

If you have any problems viewing this video, try pausing it and waiting for 15 seconds or so before starting again, closing any other opened browser tabs and windows or viewing it at another time of day when your internet connection could be faster.

2 Nov 2014 – The Natural Soundscape: Birdsong, Music, Evolution and Listening

Posted on 23 October, 2014 by Connecting Country

Click to enlarge.

Andrew Skeoch will be giving a presentation, The Natural Soundscape, at the Newstead Community Hall on Sunday 2 November beginning at 7.30pm. This is a Birdlife Australia event.

Andrew writes: ‘There is a wonderful acoustic diversity to be heard in the natural soundscape – birdsong, frog choruses, seasonal insect choirs… But how have all these varied animal repertoires evolved? What can we learn from studying, or simply listening, to acoustic ecosystems? How may the noise of our modern world be impacting upon this delicate sonic balance, and conversely, how have the songs of nature influenced our own species?’

Andrew explores these questions and presents intriguing conclusions, supported by audio recordings he has made over twenty years, in wild places both locally and around the world.

26 October 2014 – Cactus Control Field Day

Posted on 23 October, 2014 by Connecting Country

The next Cactus Field Day will be on Sunday 26th October at a property at the northern end of Tarrengower School Road.  You can get there via Watersons Road.  Look for the signs from the intersection of the Maldon-Bridgewater and Watersons Roads. Tarrandower Cactus Control Group (TCCG) has had a great year so far and would like people to come along and help make this a record year in the War on Cactus. The morning’s activities will begin at 10:30 am and end at 12:30 pm with an enjoyable BBQ and friendly chat. If you have any queries please contact Ian on 0412 015 807. Click here to see the flyer which includes a map.

Time to Evaluate

Posted on 21 October, 2014 by Connecting Country

We’ve just finished the 2014 workshop program and it’s time to evaluate!

If you attended any of our sessions during the year (including the public talk by Ian Lunt) we are keen to find out what you thought. And here is an incentive to fill in the short survey: besides helping us to improve the program for next year, you’ll also have the chance for some great rewards, including one lucky person who will receive a two-hour session with an ecologist – who will visit your property for a one-on-one session. Perhaps you need help with identification and developing a plant or bird list, planning a restoration project, or have specific property management questions. Also on offer to randomly selected respondents include a nest box to provide an instant hollow on your property for a Brush-tailed Possum or Sugar Glider and a copy of Leon Costerman’s excellent field guide to eucalypts of south-eastern Australia, ‘Trees of Victoria and Adjoining Areas’.

Go directly to the link here: connecting-country-2014-workshop-program-evaluation. If there are two of you in the same household, you can fill out a second survey from the same computer, just return to the link. Respond before 27 October 2014 to be in the running for one of the incentives.

If you missed out on this year’s workshops, you can still catch up on the summaries here. We’ll be running a similar program in 2015.

10 Nov 2014 – Native Grass Direct Seeding Forum

Posted on 21 October, 2014 by Connecting Country

In the discussion at the recent Connecting Country AGM about the screened Landscape Restoration film one of the film makers, Ian Penna, told the audience of an upcoming direct seeding forum. We now have the details of this forum. It has been organised by Flora Victoria and will take place on 10 November in Keilor which is just over an hours drive from Castlemaine.  There will be a range of speakers including Dr Paul Gibson-Roy, head of the Grassy Groundcover Research Project.

The invitation and program for the forum can be found here.

19th Oct – Campbells Creek Landcare Community Day

Posted on 17 October, 2014 by Connecting Country

The Friends of Campbells Creek Landcare Group have invited the local community to their annual Community Day at Campbells Creek Park, opposite Campbells Creek Primary school, Midland Highway. This event is a good opportunity to meet new residents and local families and get to know the secrets of the creek.

Activities on the day (Sunday 19th Oct) include a free fully catered BBQ lunch with delicious salads and their famous fruit punch. Children will be entertained with numerous activities and surprises.

You can join one of the free bus tours which will run through the day, discover interesting locations along the creek and see the results of 14 years of environmental work conducted by the Friends.

The day starts at 10.00am and concludes at 2.00pm. Free BBQ from 12 noon.
They have invited you to bring your family, bring your friends and don’t forget to bring a hat and walking shoes.