Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

Due to government regulations about the number of people allowed to gather outside we need people to register for the FOBIf walks next Sunday (June 20).

If you would like to go on the Mount Alexander walk contact Jeremy on 0409933046. If you would like to go on the Fryers Ridge walk contact Bronwyn on 0448751111 or silverbronwyn6@gmail.com Details of the walks can be found here.

Check this website before the walk in case the situation changes. 

The shorter of the two walks on offer on 20 June will be a 5km loop in Fryers Ridge Nature Conservation Reserve a few kilometers west of Taradale, led by Frances Cincotta and Bronwyn Silver. We will be focusing on the diverse flora: Common Correa will be in full flower and we will see heaths, at least 5 native pea species and 12 wattle species. We will have copies of “Native Peas” and “Wattles of Mount Alexander Region” available for perusal on the walk and to purchase. Bring a hand lens if you want to learn how to tell the difference between some of the trickier pea and wattle species. The walk is all on wide, well-formed tracks with some up and down but nothing steep. Bring morning tea and lunch. We will get back to Castlemaine approx 1.30pm.

More information: Frances Cincotta 0491 108 766 or Bronwyn Silver 0448 751 111.

The photos above were taken last Wednesday in the Reserve where the walk will take place.

Click here to find out about the long Mount Alexander walk on 20 June.

We may need to introduce a registration system for these walks if there are government regulations still in place which restrict the number of people allowed to gather outside. Check this website next week for information.

A strong group of walkers followed Joy Clusker and Dianne Davies on a route through the Pilcher’s Bridge Nature Conservation Reserve yesterday. This was FOBIF’s first excursion ‘north of the border’ into the City of Greater Bendigo, and guess what? The country was pleasantly familiar and interestingly different! This irregular block of land was radically cleared by the 1930s, and recovery is intriguing, highlights including some impressive pink flowering Ironbarks and promising fungi and moss sightings.

Our thanks to Joy and Di for their stimulating route planning—plenty of participants are already planning a return in the wildflower high season, and a repeat trip next year is on the cards.

Noel Young provided us with this bird list from the walk. Most birds were seen or heard in the first part of the walk, especially near some flowering eucalypts.

Magpie
Musk Lorikeets
Red Wattlebirds (lots)
Grey Shrike-thrush
White-throated Treecreeper
White-winged Choughs
Grey Fantail
White-naped Honeyeater
White-plumed Honeyeater
Fuscous Honeyeater
Crimson Rosella
Scarlet Robin
Striated Pardalote
Yellow (?) Thornbills

Next month we’re offering a choice: a shortish walk in the Fryers Ridge NCR, or a longish one on Mount Alexander. There will be a detailed post on these walks in the next few weeks.