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.

Connecting Country’s “gonna be in a movie”!

Posted on 21 August, 2017 by Tanya Loos

On Monday, 14 August 2017, we were thrilled to spend a day with Chris and Michael, two members of the Wild Melbourne team, as they shot footage for a video about Connecting Country. Just five organisations from around Victoria were selected to be featured in their “Community Conservationists” series. As Wild Melbourne says:

“We’ll be telling the stories of five different community groups that are working hard to contribute to the conservation of Victoria’s plants, animals and ecosystems. We’ll film a short video that tells your story authentically, and highlights and celebrates what you have achieved for conservation in your area”

The Wild Melbourne team were particularly interested in the story of woodland bird conservation – both from the perspective of Connecting Country, and participating landholders. Their questions were thoughtful and considered, and obviously aimed at attracting a broad audience to the benefits and advantages of biodiversity conservation.

Chris from Wild Melbourne films Bonnie undertaking direct seeding.

Our first stop was in Campbells Creek, at the amazing bushland property of landholders Jane Rusden and Martin Tatton. The Golden Wattles were in full flower and birdsong filled the bushland around us.

Our next stop was to visit and interview Marie Jones, our much loved founder and committee member of Connecting Country. Asha and I were then interviewed next to the stunning Forest Creek which has been revegetated and weeded by Golden Point Landcare.

After the time spent in Chewton, Tanya and the crew went to the property of landholder Cullen Gunn, whose property has been direct seeded by Connecting Country a number of times over the past years.

The team have already filmed Jarrod and Bonnie undertaking direct seeding work, and at the National Tree Day planting with the Friends of Campbells Creek. So we would like to say a huge thanks for everyone for being involved.

Chris and Michael were patient and enjoyable to work with (as we were quite nervous!) and  we are really looking forward to seeing the finished film! We hope to have the Connecting Country movie ready for our Annual General meeting in October.

The Community Conservationists filming project has been made possible due to a grant from The Wettenhall Environment Trust.

Cullen is interviewed in front of a row of wattles and other understorey species that are flourishing as a result of a Connecting Country project three years ago.

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.

12 Aug 2017 – Cultural morning at Castlemaine parkrun

Posted on 8 August, 2017 by Connecting Country

Connecting Country’s blogs have rarely – if ever – addressed sports-related events.  However, this weekend’s Castlemaine Parkrun is an exception, as they are holding a special cultural-awareness event, and they are inviting everyone from the local community and beyond to join in.

Parkrun is an not-for-profit organisation that supports volunteers to host free timed 5km events each week at locations throughout the world, to be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities – from walkers to experienced runners, children to retirees, and everyone in between.   It is not a race, but a chance for people to improve their health in a local parkland setting with a friendly supportive atmosphere.

There has been a weekly parkrun held in Castlemaine for more than 2 years, early every Saturday morning at the botanic gardens.  It starts and finishes just near the BBQ and playground area.  Connecting Country’s Co-Director, Chris, is a regular attendee.

As described on their Facebook page, this special parkrun event at Castlemaine will commence on Saturday 12 August at 7:45am and will include both a welcome and a smoking ceremony by representatives from the local aboriginal community.  At 8am, the standard 5km event will occur – 3 laps of the botanic gardens at your own pace. (If on leads, dogs are also always allowed on the walk).  There will then be cultural activities after the run at 9am, as well as food and drink from the Myrnong Mammas.  Attendees are encouraged to get in the spirit of the day by wearing Red/Yellow/Black.

All community members (runners, walkers, onlookers) are invited to what should be a great morning.

As noted above, parkrun is a free event.  First time participants are encouraged to register beforehand, but it is not compulsory to do so (more details on the Castlemaine parkrun homepage – click here).

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”!

North Central Chat – August edition

Posted on 7 August, 2017 by Tanya Loos

The North Central Chat August edition is here! Asha’s Landcare event “Meet your Land Manager” features in this month’s edition – and the results of the Landcare Group Health Survey. The August edition is available to download here.

Another  highlight in this edition is the 2017 Chicks in the Sticks event, to be held on Walkers Lake in the Avon Plains on Sunday 10 September.

“Are you inspired by opportunity and the stories of others? Keen to meet like-minded women who share a connection to agriculture and the environment? Pull on your gumboots, don your favourite frock and add your own native flora accessory…it’s time for the fifth Chicks in the Sticks event, hosted by North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA) in partnership with Project Platypus.”

All the details are in the Chat and here is your link to register: https://2017chicksinthesticks.eventbrite.com.au

11 August 2017 – Talk on central Victorian orchids

Posted on 6 August, 2017 by Connecting Country

The guest speaker at the August meeting of the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club is Emily Noble, a self–confessed ‘orchid nut’  Her presentation, titled ‘Orchids in the Bush’ will be about some of central Victoria’s terrestrial orchids, and will be accompanied by her beautiful photographs of them.

Emily is a professional horticulturalist, the business manager of the Ballarat Environment Network, and secretary of the Ballarat Field Naturalists Club. She and her husband are building a stone home for themselves on a 16 hectare bush block south west of Ballarat. She described the process of caring for the orchids there in her first–prize winning essay: Orchid Conservation at Home. This won the inaugural essay competition of the Australian Orchid Foundation in 2012. She has now, by 2017, identified forty–nine different species of terrestrial orchid on their block.  The essay can be perused on the Australian Orchid Foundation website, under Essay Prize or go directly to the following link (CLICK HERE).

The evening commences at 7.30pm on Friday 11 August 2017 in the Fellowship Room, which located behind the Uniting Church on Lyttleton St in Castlemaine (next door to Castlemaine Art Gallery building).   Members and visitors of all ages are welcome.  There is no entry fee.

For those inspired by Emily’s talk, there will be an excursion the next day led by club members Richard Piesse and George Broadway into the local forests and woodlands.  The excursion departs on the Saturday from the Octopus building car-park at 1.30pm sharp (opposite the Castle Motel).  BYO afternoon tea.  Car-pooling available.

Connecting Country Reconnects

Posted on 4 August, 2017 by Connecting Country

Many people in the local community have seen that Connecting Country are currently advertising for a new Director, and have wondered what is happening.  There have been some significant changes in the various environmental restoration projects that we are undertaking.  While this includes some new projects that will take the organisation into the future, there needs to be some staff changes to reflect their differing scope and size.

Current co-directors, Chris Timewell and Krista Patterson-Majoor, have been working with Connecting Country’s Committee of Management to develop a new structure over the past twelve months.  This has resulted in a newly defined director’s role which is currently being advertised (CLICK HERE).  Other staff roles will continue to support local Landcare groups, coordinate education and engagement activities, monitor biodiversity and provide assistance to landholders to implement habitat restoration and environmental enhancement on their properties.  As part of this, we will be working on some exciting new projects which are already underway including collaborations with organisations and agencies such as the North Central CMA, Parks Victoria, the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, Coliban Water, the Wettenhall Environment Trust, Victorian National Parks Association, Trust for Nature and our local Landcare groups. These will keep our staff and volunteers busy for the next two years at least!

Chris says, ‘Connecting Country is in a healthy and stable position – a great launching pad for its next phase.  With all of the wonderful support of the staff, committee, members and other supporters, its future remains very bright’.

Krista adds, ‘It’s been an incredible opportunity working here over the past eight years and we are very proud of what Connecting Country has achieved, but we feel the time is right for someone new to take the reins.  No doubt we will both stay involved with the organisation to some extent into the future’.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank long-term staff member Naomi, who is taking a break to concentrate on her health and family. Naomi starting volunteering with Connecting Country in 2010 and joined the staff team in 2012. Most recently, Naomi has been coordinating our education program, publicity, and assisting with Connecting Country’s strategic development and future funding proposals. She has been an enthusiastic and committed member of the team and we want to wish her all the best.

Applications are being received for the new director role until the close of business (5pm) on 7 August 2017. CLICK HERE to view details about the role.

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.

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.

Position Vacant at CC – Director

Posted on 19 July, 2017 by Connecting Country

We’ve just announced an exciting new leadership role at Connecting Country.   While we have had joint directors for a while, changes to our funding and future plans have created the need for some changes to our staff team, and we’re now seeking applications for a new Director.

This part-time role is an exciting opportunity for a person with experience in Natural Resource Management to work in our established and successful community run organisation.  This Director position is a leadership and management role responsible for all aspects of the Connecting Country’s day-to-day operations.

Further details about the role, including a position description and key selection criteria, are available at the following link (CLICK HERE).  Applications close at 5pm on Monday 7 August 2017.

(And yes, sadly, this means that both Chris and Krista will be finishing up with Connecting Country soon.  They will both be around for a bit longer, guiding the organisation to this new phase and handing over to the new Director once appointed.  We’ll have more to say later, but the Committee is very appreciative of the amazing contribution Chris and Krista have made to Connecting Country over many years).

What We Found – Results of Reptile and Frog Monitoring

Posted on 14 July, 2017 by Asha

The Plains Froglet (Crinia parinsignifera) or Common Froglet (Crinia signifera) was one of the species found under the tiles (photo by Sylvia Reeves).

Connecting Country’s Reptile and Frog Monitoring results are in! Thanks to the participation of over 40 landholders who have hosted the terracotta tiles, we now have a snapshot of some of the species lurking in our paddocks, revegetation and bushland.

A total of four reptile and one frog species were recorded in the 2016-17 monitoring period. The reptile species included Garden Skink (Lampropholis guichenoti), Bougainville’s Skink (Lerista bougainvillii), Large Striped Skink (Ctenotus robustus), and Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis). The frog species was identified as either Plains Froglet (Crinia parinsignifera) or Common Froglet (Crinia signifera) – further identification was not possible in this case without a permit to handle the animals.

For each of the different habitat types (intact woodland, revegetated woodland, and paddocks), the number of individuals and the number of species was measured. Both the number of individuals recorded and species diversity were highest at paddock sites. There were less individual frogs and reptiles in revegetated woodland than in intact woodland habitats, while the number of species found in these two habitats was the same. We also looked at the differences in how many sites had frogs and reptiles present between the different habitat types. In this case, intact woodland came out the highest and revegetated woodland the lowest. The tiles also proved to be popular homes for many invertebrates, which will hopefully be good tucker for any reptiles and frogs that decide to move in later.

The relatively low number of reptiles and frogs found overall during this monitoring period was not unexpected. The method of using roof tiles to monitor often has a low recovery rate, and these tiles had only been out on the ground for a relatively short amount of time. Connecting Country hopes to continue to work with landholders and Landcare groups to monitor the tiles through citizen science – with the number of species detected likely top increase over time.

The Large Striped Skink (Ctenotus robustus) was found at three of our monitoring sites (photo by Linda Craig).

You can be involved in the citizen science continuation of this project in a number of ways:

• CLICK HERE for a data sheet to monitor reptiles and frogs on your property. You can observe reptiles and frogs by undertaking active searches under tiles or debris on the ground, listening for frog calls, or sitting and waiting near a spot you think they might like to visit.
• Send photos of interesting reptiles and frogs on your property to Connecting Country and we can share them on our Reptile and Frog Monitoring web page and Facebook page.
• Learn more about our diversity and beautiful reptiles and frogs and how to identify them by using the many resources available on our resources page (CLICK HERE).

Please send your data sheets and photos to asha@connectingcountry.org.au or to Connecting Country, PO Box 437, Castlemaine, 3450

Connecting Country’s Reptile and Frog Monitoring Program is being undertaken with the support of the Ian Potter Foundation, and with monitoring tiles provided by the Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning.

Enjoying birds in frosty July – two events to come

Posted on 11 July, 2017 by Tanya Loos

Any bird lover knows that a wintery day is no barrier to birdwatching! The birds go about their business undaunted by the cold; well-wrapped in their feathery coats. If we rug up well, and there is no wind, then winter birding can be a lovely change from huddling by the fire!

This Jacky Winter is well insulated!      Photographed by Peter Turner

There are two events coming up soon for those that are interested in their local birds and their habitats. Both events involve a bird walk followed by a presentation about the birds of the local area.

Sunday July 16, 2017 – Bird walk and Landcare workshop for Guildford area

Bird Walk: Local bird and habitat walk along Casley Lane, near Guildford.  9:15am – 11:00am. Meeting point map sent with your RSVP.

Presentation: Guildford birds and how you can care for them, by Connecting Country’s bird enthusiast, Tanya Loos.  Also hear from Maurie Dynon, Guildford and Upper Loddon Landcare. Morning tea and presentation:  Guildford Hall 11:00am – 12:30pm

Please RSVP (with any dietary requirements) to Tanya Loos on 03 5472 1594 or by email tanya@connectingcountry.org.au

This section of Campbells Creek has been surveyed for birds since 2010. The birdlife is amazing!

Saturday July 22, 2017 – Feathered Friends of Campbells Creek (part of Mount Alexander Shire Council’s Sustainable Living Workshop series)

Castlemaine and Chewton now have beautifully revegetated waterways thanks to the tireless work of local community groups. This has benefited our local birdlife greatly. Connecting Country has surveyed the birds of Campbells Creek for 7 years – and is keen to present a portrait of the creek’s burgeoning birdlife. Dress warmly for a mid-winter presentation, morning tea and bird walk at nearby Honeycomb Rd if weather permits.

The details: From 10.30am to 12.30pm.  Presented by Tanya Loos from Connecting Country.  In Campbells Creek area (the address/location will be provided to registered attendees closer to the date).  To reserve your place for the Feathered Friends walk contact Council’s Healthy Environments team on 5471 1700 or d.giles@mountalexander.vic.gov.au.

These two events are generously supported by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust. 

Mon 10 July 2017 – FOBIF AGM and guest speaker

Posted on 30 June, 2017 by Connecting Country

Brian Bainbridge will be the guest speaker at the 2017 FOBIF AGM.

The Friends of the Box Ironbark Forests (FOBIF) Annual General Meeting will be held from 7.30pm on July 10 in the Ray Bradfield Rooms, next to the IGA carpark and Victory Park in central Castlemaine. More details on the night, including how to nominate for the FOBIF Committee can be found here. Supper will be served and everyone is welcome. The guest speaker on the night will be Brian Bainbridge, an Ecological Restoration Planner whose background is working with the Merri Creek Management Committee.

His topic will be Single species – many outcomes.

Single species conservation projects can have wide-ranging benefits when pursued in a holistic manner. Projects to secure local populations of Matted Flax Lily and Plains Yam Daisy have led Merri Creek Management Committee to build a deeper understanding of the Merri Creek’s changing ecology and the potential for landscape-scale conservation.  The projects have stimulated fresh approaches to engaging with community. 

Dates for the 2017 Regent Honeyeater Planting Weekends

Posted on 30 June, 2017 by Connecting Country

Help build habitat for the endangered Regent Honeyeater by attending a planting weekend in the Lurg Hill near Benalla this year.

Connecting Country’s friends at the Regent Honeyeater Project in the Lurg Hills near Benalla have put out a call for volunteer planters over the coming months. This project has established itself as one of the most active volunteer conservation projects in the nation. It has engaged a whole farming community in restoring remnant Box-Ironbark habitat for the endangered Regent Honeyeater, and attracted ongoing support from a wide cross-section of the community to help farmers with the on-ground works.

Propagation and planting days are organised each year for a thousand students from more than 20 local schools and hundreds of volunteers from universities, walking clubs, church groups, bird observers, scouts, environment groups and the like. The massive scale of their tree-planting work has enormous benefits for landcare in their area as well as for wildlife. Almost 900 hectares of restored habitat is reducing salinity and erosion problems, and improving water quality, stock shelter and natural pest control.

Please find the weekend planting dates for the Regent Honeyeater Project in and around Lurg in 2017 year below:

August 12-13

August 26-27

September 9-10

September 23-24

October 7-8

They have plenty of great sites available that will improve ecosystems and give benefits into the future for the endangered wildlife. The project can supply accommodation in the Scout and Guides halls in Benalla in the form of mattresses and an evening meal on Saturday and an onsite lunch on Sunday.

Please contact field Officer with the Regent Honeyeater Project, Andie Guerin, with any queries and to RSVP via email: andie@regenthoneyeater.org.au

It’s a great time to support our work

Posted on 26 June, 2017 by Connecting Country

This owlet-nightjar was seen at its cosy hollow in a broken off tree stag on Sunday’s Bird Walk led by Connecting Country’s Woodland Birds project coordinator, Tanya Loos . Picture by Peter Turner.

As it’s nearly the end of the 2016-17 financial year, you may wish to consider making a tax-deductible donation to Connecting Country.  Connecting Country is a registered charity and is also listed on the national Register of Environmental Organisations (click here for more details).  The easiest way you can donate is via the secure Give Now online donation platform.  You can also find out more about other ways to donate on our webpage by clicking here.

While most of our activities are funded by grants from government programs or through philanthropic support, donations and volunteer contributions from our members and supporters allow our impact to go much further.  It also gives us greater scope to undertake activities that don’t fall neatly into traditional grant programs, yet are still critically important for achieving our aims.

Although it doesn’t align with most local biological timelines, Connecting Country’s financial year matches most other organisations throughout the country – with one finishing on the 30 June and the next one starting on the 1 July.  As such, we’ve commenced the process of compiling our annual report, and we hope that you’ll enjoy its stories of habitat restoration and nature appreciation across the Mount Alexander Shire. *Watch this space*

We’ve enjoyed bringing the aspirations of our community for improved local landscape health into fruition and look forward to continuing this work into 2017-18.  We thank-you for your support.

CC Membership Renewal for 2018-17 – now available online

Posted on 22 June, 2017 by Connecting Country

Connecting Country’s membership renewal drive for the 2017-18 has commenced, and we are happy to announce that it is simpler than ever.  By following this secure link (CLICK HERE) or by following the secure links from our home page, you can now renew your membership online in a couple of minutes.

Pine Assassins from Castlemaine Secondary College at this year’s Camp Out on the Mount

Among other benefits, annual membership of Connecting Country:

• Continues to be free of charge
• Demonstrates your support for our activities, and our aims of working towards an increasingly healthy natural environment within the Mount Alexander Region.  The support of good membership numbers is critical when we apply for grants and other external support
• Provides insurance cover when you attend our events
• Allows you to vote at our Annual General Meeting – likely to be held in October 2017.

For people applying to become members for the first time, you can use the same form.  However, your application will then need to be endorsed at the next monthly CC Committee of Management meeting before your membership is formalised.

If you would prefer a hard copy membership form instead, please contact us (info@connectingcountry.org.au) to request an emailed PDF or a posted form .

Jida Gulpilil sharing stories and knowledge with the group at the February Landcare Link-up

A sample of our achievements over the past 12 months include:

• Publication of a reptile and frog brochure, and implementation of an associated monitoring program
• Continued community-based monitoring of birds, phascogales and revegetation plots
• More than 10 education events coordinated on various aspects of natural resource management and cultural heritage
• Coordination and funding support for Camp Out on the Mount and Little Habitat Heroes events
• A range of supports for 31 local Landcare and Friends groups, including Green Army teams and grant-writing
• Review and update of the Woodland Bird Action Plan
• On-ground habitat restoration works undertaken across more than 400 ha of land, including actions such as fencing remnant vegetation, tubestock planting and direct seeding and weed and rabbit control

With the end-of-financial year looming, you may be interested in making a tax-deductible donation to support Connecting Country’s work towards habitat restoration and improved landscape health across the Mount Alexander Shire and surrounds.  The membership form will direct you to the on-line Give Now donation page.  Alternatively, you can visit our website for other methods of donating and other details about our tax-deductible charity status (click here).

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).

Little Habitat Heroes planting a huge success!

Posted on 19 June, 2017 by Connecting Country

A friendly and enthusiastic crowd of nearly 100 big and little habitat heroes came together on Saturday the 17th of June 2017. In perfect weather, we planted, guarded and watered-in 900 indigenous understorey plants at the former silkworm farm on Mount Alexander. Little Habitat Heroes exemplifies what Connecting Country is all about – bringing the community and nature conservation together.

Just over a year ago an group of new mums approached Connecting Country with their idea for a novel and meaningful way to mark their babies first birthday; they wanted to raise funds for a community planting to restore habitat. Connecting Country was thrilled to partner with these capable women as they successfully outstripped their fundraising target and worked hard with us over the following twelve months to see the planting day to fruition.

Three big cheers for the Little Habitat Heroes!

Fueled by a scrumptious morning tea and lots of goodwill, the crowd of volunteers put in a great effort which will create amazing habitat on Mt Alexander into the future. It was an honour for Connecting Country staff to be involved and a thrill to look over what we achieved together at the end of the day.

We congratulate and thank all involved – with a massive well done! Special thanks also to our partner organisations  including Harcourt Valley Landcare, Barkers Creek Landcare B-Team, VicRoads, the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, Parks Victoria, and all of the generous donors and volunteers.

We look forward to seeing what projects our amazing community comes up with next and to continuing to work together to restore habitat across our shire.