Author Archives: fobif

Government fire program careers wildly on

Posted on 13 May, 2013 by fobif

The State Government has announced a ‘major milestone’ in its management burning program: ‘more than 200,000 hectares of planned burning already carried out on public land this financial year.’ And there’s more to come: we’re heading for the biggest artificial … Continue reading →

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Poverty Gully: achievements, and puzzles

Posted on 26 April, 2013 by fobif

FOBIF members have had a preliminary look at the CAS 107 Zone 2 Arthur’s Track management burn in Poverty Gully this week. The exercise, conducted last Friday April 4, was the continuation of the burning operation begun late last year. … Continue reading →

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Another side of Kalimna

Posted on 25 April, 2013 by fobif

On a perfect Autumn day, geologist Julian Hollis recently led fourteen walkers on the second FOBIF walk of the year, through Kalimna Park. We were lucky to be accompanied by Julian, who is often seen walking in the area and … Continue reading →

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Poverty Gully reduction burn completed?

Posted on 19 April, 2013 by fobif

 DSE completed the second half of its Zone 2 reduction burn in Poverty Gully on Friday April 4. Our reports on the first half of this operation can be found here and here. We will be having a look at … Continue reading →

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Poor Coliban

Posted on 18 April, 2013 by fobif

Travellers across the Coliban River on the Taradale-Metcalfe road recently will have noticed that the river is looking terrible. Although there’s a very small flow,  the water is an unhealthy milky colour and there’s a peculiar scum on it. The … Continue reading →

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How to shoot birds

Posted on 17 April, 2013 by fobif

On Thursday 25th April Chris Tzaros will give a presentation on tips and techniques for photographing birds, at Newstead Community Centre at 7.30pm. “We are really looking forward to having Chris address our group again” said Frances Cincotta, President of … Continue reading →

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Sunday 14 April – Nature Search Day, Maldon Historic Reserve 9am – 4pm

Posted on 6 April, 2013 by fobif

How do management burns change our bushlands? This isn’t an easy question to answer, given the lack of information on ‘before and after’ monitoring. The informal Muckleford Forest Friends Group is confronting this problem by organising a day in an … Continue reading →

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Butterflies feeding on sap

Posted on 6 April, 2013 by fobif

Tony Morton has sent us these observations of butterflies in Kalimna Park. The photos were taken on the west side of Kalimna, in the Castlemaine Copper patch, just above the bench, in mid-April 2012. He plans to look to see if … Continue reading →

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Want to buy a premium penguin product?

Posted on 3 April, 2013 by fobif

The State Government’s decision to open National Parks to commercial development [see above] has its origins way back in the Kennett era, but surfaced more recently in a report published by the Labour Government in 2008. It’s called Victoria’s Nature … Continue reading →

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FOBIF walk in Maldon Historic Reserve

Posted on 26 March, 2013 by fobif

A group of 20 eager bushwalkers emerged from their summer hiatus to participate in the first walk of the 2013 FOBIF calendar.  The walk was led by Chris Johnston, who has built up a considerable body of knowledge about the … Continue reading →

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