Author Archives: fobif

Poolside

Posted on 23 November, 2011 by fobif

Last summer saw an amazing explosion in numbers of dragonflies and damselflies around our creeks and dams. This year there are already significant numbers of these interesting and important creatures. The Forest Creek pools near the walking track are playing … Continue reading →

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MAS Municipal fire management plan

Posted on 20 November, 2011 by fobif

Along with other northern Victorian councils, Mount Alexander is currently in the process of getting together a Municipal fire management plan. These plans are part of the State’s integrated fire management policy mentioned in our post of September 5. A … Continue reading →

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Make yourself comfortable!

Posted on 16 November, 2011 by fobif

The brush tailed Phascogale, or Tuan, is FOBIF’s chosen symbol for a number of reasons: it’s an iconic box ironbark species, it’s endangered, and, let’s face it, it’s cute. One of the interesting things about the Phascogale is that it … Continue reading →

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What’s its name?

Posted on 15 November, 2011 by fobif

Doug Ralph recently found this caterpillar attached to a Tall Sundew. Does anyone what it’s called? Another one of Doug’s recent images is this lacework-like gumleaf.

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A management plan for Forest Creek?

Posted on 13 November, 2011 by fobif

A draft management plan for forest Creek, prepared by Max Shlacter for Connecting Country, in consultation with various community groups [including FOBIF], residents and agencies, is now in circulation. It can be found here The informative and interesting plan divides … Continue reading →

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It’s hard to like them, but they’re quite at home with us…

Posted on 8 November, 2011 by fobif

The picture below is of a dead Redback spider, Latrodectus hasselti, found in a Castlemaine garden. The species is infamous for its alleged propensity to lurk on toilet seats, but is actually quite shy, though it has made itself comfortable … Continue reading →

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Promises, promises?

Posted on 7 November, 2011 by fobif

Readers will remember our criticisms of DSE’s conduct of the Smutta’s track management burn early this year [see our posts of April 26 and May 2]. Specifically we were concerned by the destruction of a very large tree near Hunter’s … Continue reading →

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Fire management: so what’s new?

Posted on 7 November, 2011 by fobif

DSE is in the process of reviewing its Code of Practice for fire management on public land. The review is being done in the light of the Bushfire Royal Commission’s recommendation 59. This recommendation required that the Code  ‘provide a … Continue reading →

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Next Moss and Liverwort Group activity

Posted on 31 October, 2011 by fobif

The Moss and Liverwort Group will be holding their third activity on 26 November at 10.30am at 8 Preshaw Street, Castlemaine. Cass Read is going to lead people through this session which will look closely at the 20 most common local … Continue reading →

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Monitoring the Box Ironbark Thinning Trials

Posted on 26 October, 2011 by fobif

A re-monitoring of the Box Ironbark Thinning Trials begun in 2005 is currently underway in four locations across the Box Ironbark estate, including Castlemaine. The company undertaking the monitoring, Australian Ecosystems, is in need of some volunteers to assist with … Continue reading →

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