Author Archives: fobif

Poverty Gully: achievements, and puzzles

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

Posted in Fire Management, News | 1 Comment

Another side of Kalimna

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

Posted in News | Comments Off on Another side of Kalimna

Poverty Gully reduction burn completed?

 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

Posted in Fire Management, News | Comments Off on Poverty Gully reduction burn completed?

Poor Coliban

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

Posted in News | Comments Off on Poor Coliban

How to shoot birds

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

Posted in News | Comments Off on How to shoot birds

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

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

Posted in Fire Management, News | Comments Off on Sunday 14 April – Nature Search Day, Maldon Historic Reserve 9am – 4pm

Butterflies feeding on sap

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

Posted in Nature Observations, News | 1 Comment

Want to buy a premium penguin product?

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

Posted in News | Comments Off on Want to buy a premium penguin product?

FOBIF walk in Maldon Historic Reserve

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

Posted in News | Comments Off on FOBIF walk in Maldon Historic Reserve

Don’t try this yourself!

Bird netting which lies loosely on the ground can be a menace to small animals like echidnas…and also to snakes, as the picture below shows. Doug Ralph was asked by a local to help out when a brown snake about … Continue reading

Posted in Nature Observations, News | Comments Off on Don’t try this yourself!