Category Archives: News

If it’s flowering, that eucalypt must be…

Posted on 18 February, 2016 by fobif

A few species of Eucalypt are flowering profusely at the moment, in spite of dry conditions. Why does one specimen of a particular species flower, and another not? Local conditions play a part, but some of it is still a … Continue reading →

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Autumn Fungus forays and workshops

Posted on 17 February, 2016 by fobif

Alison Pouliot is running her wonderful fungus forays and workshops again this year. This is a list of some that are reasonably close: Saturday 23 April 2016 – Trentham   Foray – Fungus Foray in the Wombat Forest Thursday 28 April 2016 … Continue reading →

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Trees ain’t trees

Posted on 14 February, 2016 by fobif

Where did the idea get about that our trees all ‘look the same’? The problem has been around for a long time: in 1770 Captain Cook wrote about the NSW coast: ‘the woods do not produce any variety of trees.’ … Continue reading →

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Some positive news for FOBIF

Posted on 14 February, 2016 by fobif

Memberships and donations are rolling in FOBIF wishes to thank all its members for the generous donations they have made both last financial year and this current year. In fact the donations received have totalled fifty percent of the membership … Continue reading →

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2016 FOBIF walks start soon

Posted on 1 February, 2016 by fobif

This year’s FOBIF walks’ program has been finalised and can be viewed here. The first walk  (20 March) will be a combined FOBIF/Connecting Country event. The focus will be on birds and three experts will lead several short walks on Andrew Skeoch and … Continue reading →

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A dump here, a dump there, but rainfall is well down

Posted on 1 February, 2016 by fobif

A summer storm caused flash flooding in parts of Castlemaine on Thursday, putting the railway station underpass under water, and creating a brief swamp on the Western Oval, but, like its predecessors, leaving plenty of areas dry. Figures for 2015, … Continue reading →

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Here’s a reason to celebrate

Posted on 26 January, 2016 by fobif

There seems to be some kind of controversy bubbling about the Australian flag and Australia day in Castlemaine. FOBIF doesn’t get involved with debates of this kind, but we’re always looking for an excuse to celebrate, anyway. And if we … Continue reading →

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How do they do it? [3]: Out of a pile of rocks…

Posted on 25 January, 2016 by fobif

Goldfields landscapes are dotted with mullock heaps: and one of the curiosities of these heaps of apparently useless rock is that they often feature quite healthy trees. How can these trees get a foothold in material you definitely wouldn’t be … Continue reading →

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Parks Vic 2: ‘God’s in His heaven and all’s well’

Posted on 25 January, 2016 by fobif

Not that you’d know about pressure and stress by reading the Parks Victoria Report. As is the nature of these documents, it’s nicely illustrated, and full of good news. It might be unfair to call the general tone gaga, but … Continue reading →

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Great response to our call for photos

Posted on 11 January, 2016 by fobif

We started off with 17 photos on our new Flickr page, Trees of the Mount Alexander Region, and after our call for photos in December we now have 73. The quality of the photos submitted has been impressive and, as you can see from the … Continue reading →

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