Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

Long-leaved Box E. Goniocalyx is now in flower in our region. It generally flowers from March to May. The following photos of the buds, blossom and fruit of a Long-leaved Box at the summit of Mount Tarrengower were taken on 31 March.  (click to enlarge)

At the farewell event for Doug Ralph in the Castlemaine Botanic Gardens early last month Phil Ingamells gave a speech about Doug’s contribution to the environment movement in this region. Phil who lived in Castlemaine in the late 1990s was a good friend of Doug’s and one of the founding members of FOBIF. Phil now resides in Melbourne and works for the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) on their Park Protection Project. One of his memories was about Doug’s part in the re-routing of the Calder Freeway:

There are many stories that could be told about Doug’s endeavours, but I’d like to tell just one. When the Calder freeway’s Taradale bypass was being planned, Doug got wind that it would plough through a small but valuable native woodland on private land. He quickly got a few people together to speak at the planners’ public hearings.

Now, as you drive towards Melbourne, you’ll come to a point where the freeway flies over the Taradale Metcalfe road. Shortly after that, as it starts to bend to the left, you can see eucalypts poking up between the two sides of the freeway. They mark a wildlife corridor between that private land on the western side and another woodland to the east. The freeway then follows a long swooping curve, leaving the threatened woodland very much intact.

Whenever I go that way, I think of it as Doug’s bend.

If you missed Doug’s farewell you can now read the full text of the speech that Phil made here.

The sounds of our natural environment are comprised of many voices; birdsong, frog choruses, seasonal insect choirs, mammal calls… But how have all these varied animal repertoires evolved? What can we learn from studying, or simply listening, to nature’s sounds around us? How may the noise of our modern world be impacting upon this delicate sonic balance, and conversely, how have the songs of nature influenced our own species?

Andrew Skeoch is a bioacoustic researcher, musician and Australia’s best-known nature sound recordist. His nature albums ‘A Morning in the Australian Bush’ and ‘Favourite Australian Birdsong’ have each sold over 50,000 copies. Over the last twenty years, he has journeyed to remote locations in Asia, India, Africa and the Americas in search of some of our planet’s most beautiful and fascinating sounds. 

“I feel that we need to listen to the natural world afresh, and hear ourselves as part of it. Perhaps then we can find more organic ways to express ourselves, and celebrate our natural place in the biosphere”, he says. 

Andrew will be giving a presentation on his work and research at the Castlemaine Library on Thursday the 23rd of April. Featuring his recordings accompanied with sonograms, he will have you hearing birdsong and natural sounds from an entirely fresh perspective. Click here to download a flyer. Bookings are required.

FOBIF has been informed that the Inspector General for Emergency Management has postponed his report on fuel reduction programs, which was due this month. It will now be released at the end of April.

Led by Geoff Park, twenty-five people walked leisurely around the Rise and Shine Bushland Reserve last Sunday (March 16). This was first FOBIF walk for this year. The Reserve is 30 minutes drive from Castlemaine and south of Newstead.

Many people had come on this walk to observe birds with the benefit of having photographer and bird expert Geoff Park as leader. There were many birds about so people were not disappointed. Noel Young has supplied us with a bird list which totalled 24 species!

A further feature of the walk was Geoff and Frances Cincotta’s identification of trees and shrubs, both indigenous and introduced. The history of the reserve which has included 5 separate clearing for timber and the use of the area as a source of gravel was also discussed. The main focus was however birds and walk had attracted some serious photographers.

This bird and photography enthusiast had come up from Melbourne for the walk.

Geoff with some of the walkers in bird observation pose.

Marie Jones hugging a giant Red Gum. Photo by Liz Martin.

This photo of a Striated Pardalote was taken by Geoff Park on our Rise and Shine walk. You can see more of Geoff’s recent bird photos taken in Rise and Shine on his Natural Newstead blog.

The next walk will be in Muckleford Forest. See the Walks page for more details.

Ern Perkins will be the guest speaker at Castlemaine Landcare AGM on Monday 23 March (7.30pm upstairs at Herons Gallery, cnr Lyttleton and Hargraves Streets, Castlemaine – followed by supper). Everyone is welcome.

His talk, Is Our Forest Changing? will be based on his (and Lesley’s) long experience and observation of changing environmental patterns.

Further information: Sally Kaptein, Secretary, 5470 6340

Newstead Landcare’s first presentation for the year will be on Saturday 28th March at 3pm by Dr Lindy Lumsden, a wildlife ecologist at Arthur Rylah Institute  The talk will be at the Newstead Community Centre and everyone is welcome to attend (gold coin donation appreciated to help cover costs).

Lindy has been conducting ecological research on bats for over 30 years. Bats play an important role in controlling insect numbers, including a range of pest species, by eating up to half their body weight in insects in a night.  However, due to their small size, nocturnal behaviour and cryptic roosting habits, these valuable animals are rarely seen and are often portrayed negatively in the media.

Lindy is passionate about trying to reverse these negative perceptions and conducts a wide range of extension activities to educate and enthuse people about the bats. In her talks she describes fascinating and little known aspects of the natural history of these nocturnal creatures. As most people do not have the opportunity to see bats close up, she brings along a live bat to show at the end of her talk.

After the talk Lindy will take a group of 30 lucky people to Green Gully to demonstrate how she goes about discovering what bats are in an area. She will be setting up bat traps and using a bat detector and then we will have a picnic meal (bring your own picnic) while waiting for dusk when the bats start getting active. It’s free for Newstead Landcare members, otherwise $15 a head, children free. There are still a few places left so if you are interested contact Frances Cincotta phone 5476 2691 or  email natives@newstead.vicmail.net

Connecting Country is supporting this educational event.

Little Forest Bat

Black-fronted Dotterel. Photo by Geoff Park. See below for details of Geoff’s photos at Spadeworks in Newstead.

There are a number of local nature and history-based exhibitions as well as a ‘Trees of Significance’ tour that FOBIF members and subscribers might like to view or take part in during this year’s festival period (March 13-22). The information here comes from the Castlemaine State Festival catalogue, the Fringe Events program and the Open Studios in Newstead flyer. There may be some relevant shows we have missed. If so, let us know.

1. Solar Mining
Artist: Yutaka Kobayashi (Festival Program p.59)
Kobayash is a Japanese environmental artist. This exhibition is an ‘ecological installation that draws on the unique cultural heritage of the Castlmaine Diggings, the toll of diggers past and the finite resource: gold.’

2. Unsettled
Artists: Susan Donisthorpe, Frank Veldze, Kate Osborne (Festival Program, p.61)
Set in the Pennyweight Children’s Cemetery this is a sight specific sound and light installation, projected onto a replica of a traditional gold miner’s hut made entirely from mattress wire. Continue reading →

More than 150 people gathered to celebrate Doug Ralph’s life in the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens last Saturday afternoon (7 March).

Bev Geldard who acted as MC began by reading an excerpt from a 2014 interview with Doug published in Earthsong magazine.  Sasha Shtargot was the interviewer.

Doug: I was deeply moved by a book about the Yarra River written by Maya Ward (The Comfort of Water, Transit Lounge 2012). In that she mentioned a story of some monks at a monastery who drew their water from one river all the time. They experienced the river, in a way they became the river. If you are drinking water from a particular area you are that water, you are the food of the area. Aboriginal people understand that – you just become part of the land.

I go for walks in the bush. It’s my way of meditating and sometimes afterwards I don’t know where I’ve been, I just blend with the landscape. One day I was walking in this way in a trance and all of a sudden I stopped – three wallabies were sitting nearby, eating calmly. Normally wallabies run away when a human is near, but these just sat there. I stopped and looked at them and they looked at me. It was a special moment. (Click here to see full interview which Earthsong has kindly provided us with.)

Jan Wositsky then read a eulogy that he had composed soon after Doug had died:

When Doug’s daughter, Lindy, rang and said that Doug had died, in the shock of it all it went through me that a mighty tree in the forest had fallen.

A tree of knowledge, a tree of wisdom, an old tree – a river red gum or a stout box – that had stood through changing generations and cultures of this town, and of this country. Read full text

Continue reading →