To assist in the identification of mosses for the proposed field guide, scanned diagrams can be downloaded here.
If you are interested in joining the Moss and Liverwort Field Guide group, ring Beth Mellick on 5472 1316.
Other common birds you are likely to see in the forests include the Silvereye Zosterops lateralis which frequents a range of habitats from town gardens to open forest. They often move about in flocks searching for food.
Silvereye, Castlemaine. Photo by Damian Kelly, 22 July 2011
A bird that is hard to identify, but is common wherever there are flowering eucalypts is the Musk Lorikeet Glossopsitta concinna. Often to be seen hanging from foliage as it searches for nectar amongst the trees.
Musk Lorikeet. Bells’ Swamp. Photo by Damian Kelly, 28 July 2011
One intriguing feature of Arn Tolsma’s Connecting Country talk on August 27 [see our post], was his reference to the 1853 Selwyn map. It’s quite an aborbing exercise to pore over this map and line it up against the landscape of 2011.
Click here to download map.
Apart from some puzzling omissions [the Muckleford area is largely blank], landscape presented on the map sits interestingly alongside the one we can see today. In the case of the Tarilta creek and Porcupine ridge, for example, the descriptions ‘grassy gully’ and ‘bold rocky scrubby ranges with stringybark and box destitute of pasture’ remain broadly accurate.
Some background to the map, and how it came to be produced by the Victorian Colony’s first geologist, can be found here .
POST SCRIPT 2013: For our review of the 2013 Bendigo exhibition of the map click here.
When walking along Forest Creek recently we came across a series of freshly dug holes that varied in shape and size. Ones made by the hungry echidna (see below) were a delight to see as it meant that the rehabilitation work being done in this area was making this a healthier place for it to live.
August 2011, Photo by John Ellis
The other holes (see below) made by people who had heard about the increased price in gold made a mockery of a landscape in the process of recovering from previous gold diggings. Prospectors should have a license and follow the Code Of Practice that requires holes to be filled in. It would be even better if they dug up a gorse bush rather than a dianella!
August 2011, Photo by John Ellis
Fifteen people took part in a fascinating moss field day at Clinkers Hill Bushland Reserve on 27 August. This was part of the Moss and Liverwort project that is working on producing a brochure about local mosses and liverworts. The group spent two hours identifying, photographing and recording ten varieties of moss.
Beth Mellick from the Norman Wettenhall Foundation supplied magnifying glasses and recording materials for everyone.
The afternoon was led by postgraduate student Cassia Read. She wrote this summary of her background:
I’ve been studying and working in the field of ecology for the last 15 years, starting out with a botany degree at Melbourne Uni, followed by a mixed bag of jobs, including Fungimap coordinator, researching the evolution of plant architecture, and reporting on the impact of climate change on biodiversity in national parks. I’m currently doing a PhD at Melbourne Uni on biological soil crusts of the Mallee and Wimmera. Crusts are intriguing communities of moss, lichen and fungi that live at the soil surface in arid environments. These crusts have an important role in ecosystem function. I’m particularly interested in how they influence seed germination and survival and how they recover following livestock exclusion, as stock with hard hooves remove moss and lichens and expose the top soil to erosion. I’ve recently moved to Castlemaine. While my family and I are all enjoying the bush my two young daughters have quickly turned into ‘moss monsters,’ ripping up moss when we’re out walking so they can please mum with a handful of the precious green stuff.
Two of the mosses the group studied are pictured below in magnified form.
Breutelia affinist with male "flowers" (red/brown centre on the crown of the moss). Photo by Bronwyn Silver
Barbula crinita. This moss has a long golden hairpoint and the apex of the leaf meets the hair at an obtuse angle. Photo by Bronwyn Silver
The project is supported by Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests, the Norman Wettenhall Foundation and Connecting Country. If you would like to find out more information contact Beth Mellick on 5472 1316.
Sunny weather made for a great FOBIF walk on 21 August. There were thirty walkers on this excursion to the Muckleford bushlands. Paul Hampton from Muckleford Landcare was the leader with Doug Ralph providing a commentary on the mining history of the area. As usual Frances Cincotta shared her expert knowledge of the local plants. It was wonderful to see early wildflowers, particularly the many massive clumps of Greenhoods.
FOBIF walkers in Muckleford Bushlands. Photo by Marie Jones
During the morning, walkers detoured from the track to view see exclusion zones that were established ten years ago. Viewing the Sticky Boronia Boronia anemonifolia that had benefitted from this protection was a highlight of the day.
Sticky Boronia and Frances Cincotta explaining the history and purpose of the exclusion zone. Photos by Noel Young
The more noisy and active of the birds are the Honeyeaters, often flying rapidly between trees, calling loudly and chasing one another. The Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculatais is the largest and most aggressive, chasing all comers away.
Red Wattlebird. Castlemaine. Photo by Damian Kelly, 30 April 2011
One of the most common honeyeaters in the Castlemaine area is the New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae. WIth a striking black and white plumage with a hint of yellow, it is hard to mistake it for anything else.
New Holland Honeyeater. Castlemaine. Photo by Damian Kelly, 30 April 2011
Another very active honeyeater is the White-plumed Honeyeater. A pale green and grey bird that is often in groups flitting quickly through the foliage.
White-plumed Honeyeater. Bells Swamp. Photo by Damian Kelly, 28 July 2011
The Fuscous Honeyeater Lichenostomus fuscus has a similar colouration to the White-plumed, but has yellow rather than white highlights. Another fast moving bird seen in lower vegetation.
Fuscous Honeyeater. Gowar School area. Photo by Damian Kelly. 19 July 2011
We have received a reply from the Mount Alexander Shire to our concerns about the incremental widening of the Kalimna Tourist road. We have been assured by the Infrastructure manager and Superintendent of works that road crews are aware of the problem, and conscious of the natural values on roadsides like this one.
We have no reason to doubt these assurances, but the brute fact remains that the road is getting wider. The sad sign half concealed in vegetation at the top of Lyttleton Street, warning us: ‘Danger–Narrow Road’ is a sign of a past era. The road is now over eight metres wide in places, and the widening is most pronounced on slopes, where workers have had to put in gutters to get excess water away.
Kalimna Tourist road: the problem of incremental widening needs to be looked at for unsealed roads generally.
It’s not our business to be telling Council how to do its job, but there is clearly a problem here. A similar problem arose two years ago in the National Heritage Park. When FOBIF complained to Parks Victoria about road widening, Parks responded by drawing up more specific guidelines for road maintenance. This may be an option for Council, and we have written suggesting it as a possible solution.
A meeting took place recently to plan a new field guide about mosses and liverworts. You can find out more about this project by clicking here. Recording sheets for moss observations can be downloaded here and here.
DSE’s proposed Fire Operations plans and Fire management zones for our region are available for comment until August 29, and FOBIF members are urged to seek them out and have a say about them.
The plans are available at
or they can be seen at the Mathieson Rd Castlemaine office of DSE/Parks Victoria on Fridays from 9 am to 4 pm.
The amount of area proposed to be burned is significantly higher under this plan, presumably as a response to the Royal Commission recommendations.
FOBIF representatives will be attending a DSE briefing on the plans on Wednesday August 24. At this stage we have two main concerns:
First, we have been consistently disappointed by the conduct of burn operations. The photos below show the area burned by DSE at the Wewak track in Autumn last year. While we would love to see an independent expert assessment of this operation, common sense would suggest that the operation increased the fuel load in the area, while destroying a significant number of old trees.
Wewak Tk, August 2011: the management burn was so severe numerous trees were killed, causing this massive regrowth of seedlings. In a few years these will present a greater fire risk than existed before the burn.Photo: Bernard Slattery
Wewak tk, area adjacent to the management burn: the fuel load here seems lower than that created by the management burn. The forest structure also seems healthier and more open.
We are also very concerned about large [500+ hectare] burns planned in the Tarilta gorge and Muckleford forest. We cannot at this stage see the point of the first operation, and are concerned that the second is listed as an ‘asset protection’ burn—meaning that it will be burned more severely than would happen if it were zoned otherwise.
It seem to us that DSE is under political pressure to burn more hectares, and does not have the resources to do this properly. We will publish a more considered view on these operations after Wednesday’s meeting. In the mean time we urge FOBIF members to look at the plans, and to express an interest in them: it is important that DSE is aware that citizens are closely observing what they do.
White Everlasting Daisy (Chrysocephalum baxteri)
Slime Mould
Dunns Reef
Tall Greenhoods
Gnat Orchid
Blue Caladenia
Downy Grevillea (Grevillea alpina)
Coliban river upstream of the Gibbons bridge
Coliban river upstream of the Gibbons bridge.
Coliban river upstream of the Gibbons bridge.
Sailors Gully ruin
Loddon River near Vaughan
Cortinarius archeri
Mycena subgalericulata
Cortinarius rotundisporus
Cortinarius cystidiocatenatus,
Ramaria sp.
Pink Heath
Mount Alexander
Mount Alexander
Click on image for info/order page
Click on image for info/order page
Click on image for info/order page