Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

There will be a presentation on Thursday 21 November at Newstead Community Centre, Lyons Street, Newstead at 8pm. The subject is ‘The Secret Life of Mistletoe’ by David M Watson. All welcome. A gold coin donation would be appreciated.

David M Watson is Professor of Ecology at Charles Sturt University and an international expert of mistletoes. In addition to the ecology of parasitic plants, his research focuses on large-scale connectivity conservation and developing innovative approaches to biodiversity monitoring and measuring ecosystem health.

Newstead Landcare Group is delighted that Prof. Watson is coming to Newstead to present a talk on this enigmatic group of plants. Lacking roots, depending on other plants for their survival and relying on animals for dispersal, mistletoes have inspired a range of beliefs throughout the world. Some people regard them as magical, endowed with special powers; others as destructive weeds that devalue native habitats. In his talk David will review two decades of his research on these plants and share his emerging view of these plants as beautiful native wildflowers that support wildlife and boost productivity.

Prof. Watson will have copies of his book for sale at the event, “Mistletoes of Southern Australia” published by CSIRO.  It is the definitive guide to all 47 species of mistletoe found in southern Australia. This new edition consolidates current knowledge about the natural history, distribution, biology, ecology and management of mistletoes in one convenient source. Illustrated with beautiful paintings as well as photographs of mistletoes and the animals that depend on them.

Eastern Spinebill on Box Mistletoe, photographed by Prof. David Watson

The weather’s warming, and reptiles are out. It’s time to be careful wandering in grassy areas. And of course it’s time to pay attention on the highway, so as not to be part of the ongoing slaughter of our reptiles.

Midland Highway, October 22: dead reptiles are a far too common sight on our highways.

The photo above is of an Eastern Brown snake on the Midland Highway. It’s one of the country’s most venomous, but like any other creature it has its fascination: and it’s worth reading the fascinating information on the National Museum website. Here are a few excerpts:

‘The species’ known predators include birds of prey and feral cats. They appear to have immunity to the venom of a would-be predator, the Mulga Snake (Pseudechis australis), as well as their own species (one snake that had been swallowed by another Eastern Brown was regurgitated an hour later, apparently not too much worse for wear). However they are not so fortunate with the effects of cane toad venom and rapidly die from ingesting them…

Continue reading →

Elaine Bayes has supplied us with details of a terrific program of activities designed to improve knowledge of the Eltham Copper Butterfly. Details are below:

If you would like to help protect Eltham Copper Butterflies or would simply like a purpose while walking out in the bush, then come and join us in finding where ECB are so that they can be protected from threats.

If you are just curious and want to learn more about ECB then come along to the ECB monitoring education session or Castlemaine Field Naturalist talk.

If you would like to become an ECB Monitor and carry out searches either with our group or on your own, then join us on the ECB Monitor Training Events, so that you can learn how to contribute to conservation of the amazing Eltham Copper Butterfly. Contact Connecting Country  to attend this years events, which are supported by the Norman Wettenhall Foundation and Mount Alexander Shire Council.

7.30 pm Friday 8 November 2019: ECB talk at Castlemaine Field Naturalist Club, Uniting Church (UCA) Hall (enter from Lyttleton St.) (General information on ECB biology, monitoring)

1.30-4 pm Saturday 9 November 2019   (Field trip to Kalimna Park, see ECB habitat and learn method of ECB search). Contact Castlemaine Field Naturalists for details at castlemainefnc@hotmail.com

12-4 pm Saturday 16 November 2019 ECB Monitor Training event. -Introductory Session. This is a training day on how to monitor ECB.  The following ECB training sessions will be carrying out ECB searches.

1-3 pm Sunday 17 November 2019 Butterfly Celebration Day, Botanic Gardens: Family event with art and music and ECB habitat tours of northern botanic gardens

2–4 pm, Sunday 1st, 15th and 21st December: ECB Monitor Training event – Practical Session carrying out ECB searches as a group. – Contact Connecting Country.

Trained ECB Monitors are also invited to join Karl Just and Elaine Bayes on their searches throughout Nov/ Dec on the following dates (these may change depending on the weather, so contact us at elaine@rakali.com.au if you would like to be updated).

• Friday 15 Nov 2019
• Friday 29 November 2019
• Thursday 19 and Friday 20 December 2019
• Friday 27 December 2019

The latest instalment of DELWP’s Future of our forests newsletter is now online. The newsletter is part of the government’s procedure in updating the Regional Forest Agreement [RFA]. This is a long and complicated story, but FOBIF is a little cynical about the process, for two reasons: first, because the RFA’s have failed to deliver the goods on forest health (you can see a detailed argument on the subject here);

Trail bike damage, Fryers Forest: in our darker moments, we’re tempted to think DELWP considers this use as equal in value to any other.

and second, such processes have a tendency to put a whole lot of points of view into a bag, shake them up, and come up with a ‘community consensus’. It might be a bit unfair to say so, but it’s tempting to believe that if such a process elicited these views from the community:

‘I’m a scientist and I’m concerned about ecological health’

‘I’m a career criminal, and I like to bury bodies in the forest, so I need some quiet private areas’

‘I’m a field naturalist, and I like to look for native flora’

‘I’m a developer, and I want to build a gigantic ecologically sensitive casino in the middle of the forest’

‘I’m a trail bike rider, and I like to gouge a bit of dirt, and make some noise’

…then DELWP would be inclined to try to give equal weight to all these points of view, including giving the crim some private space for his preferred activity.

Unfair, of course. But there’s a very slight suggestion of this in the September newsletter, where we read:

‘Throughout the engagement process Victorians have made it clear they enjoy accessing and using forests for many reasons including for recreation, health and wellbeing and want to continue to access forests.’

We had to have extensive consultation to find this out? As we’ve said before, being sensitive to community needs is great, but having a clear idea of your responsibilities and getting on with them is part of that.

In spite of our tendency to be negative, however, we recommend you keep in touch by reading the newsletter in the link above.

Several FOBIF members have organised an excursion to the Wewak Track on Wednesday 23 October to have a look at the Matted Bush-pea Pultenaea pedunculata in flower as well as other spring wildflowers. See this previous post for more detail on this area. We are meeting at 9.30 outside the Guildford Post Office and then driving in convoy to the start of the excursion. The walk will be fairly short and we will be back by midday. Bring morning tea. All welcome. Contact Bronwyn Silver on 0448751111 for more information. 

Our regular monthly walk is on this Sunday (20 October). See walks page for details.