Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

Powerful Owl and prey at Newstead by Patrick Kavanagh.

Newstead residents and readers of the Natural Newstead blog may be familiar with the spectacular and rare Powerful Owls, which have very successfully raised young down by the Loddon River. But what are the lives of these magnificent nocturnal hunters really like? And how do they sustain themselves and feed their young? Newstead Landcare member and PhD student Emmi Scherlies has been researching the lifestyles of these remarkable birds and will let us into their secrets at Newstead Landcare’s October presentation and AGM.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to discover more about Australia’s largest owl. The presentation will be on Thursday October 15^th starting at 8pm at Newstead Community Centre and will go for about an hour. A very brief AGM will follow and then some light refreshments. All are welcome to attend. Gold coin donations would be appreciated. Bookings not necessary.

For more information ring Frances Cincotta on 5476 2691 or Patrick Kavanagh on 0437 663 345.

The Federal Department of the Environment estimates that estimated that weeds ‘cost Australian farmers around $1.5 billion a year in weed control activities and a further $2.5 billion a year in lost agricultural production. The real cost of weeds to the environment is difficult to calculate, however it is expected that the cost would be similar to, if not greater than, that estimated for agricultural industries.’

John Ellis has unearthed the item at left from the Mount Alexander Mail, December 1857. The thistle was declared as a noxious weed in Victoria in 1856. Apparently the Mail‘s urgings weren’t heeded, because it’s now Victoria’s most widespread weed ,  and covers over a million hectares around Australia. Before you get depressed by that figure, it’s worth noting that this is only a fifth of the area it covered before control programs started in the 1960s. Weeds can be fought!

There’s an interesting moral in the Mail‘s sermon, too: get in early, before the problem gets out of hand. If only we’d done that with bridal creeper, for example: a few years ago its spread was a fraction of what it is now. That’s more motivation for those attacking outbreaks of Chilean Needlegrass.

It’s well known that one of the problems with walking on the GDT is the lack of water, which probably discourages some walkers from undertaking ambitious distances on the track.

A small dent in this problem is about to be made, with the launch of the GDT’s  FIRST watering point on the Leanganook Track section of the Goldfields Track (between Bendigo and Castlemaine) next Friday [October 16].

It’s located East of the Goldfields Track, next to the Coliban Channel and near the Parks Victoria dry campsite.  Mandurang South Road is close by. It’s on map 30 of the Goldfields Track Walking Guide .

Coliban Water is GDTA’s partner in this great initiative and importantly, they have announced that they will ‘host’ the tank for track users. If the system works for walkers and bike riders there’s a chance more tanks will be put in on the track.

The launch will be at 11 am, and it’s catered. FOBIF members are invited to attend: RSVP to Alison Lanigan at gdtatrail@gmail.com

We’ve received a response from DELWP to our questions about the scalping of Fryers Ridge Road. You can read it by clicking here: Fryers Ridge Rd DELWP response

The key paragraph runs as follows:

‘Roadside scalping is sometimes used where the verge needs heavy vegetation and debris removed and the ground profile flattened to allow future maintenance to be carried out by slashing; to widen the mineral earth part of the road as part of planned burning preparation…; and if resource limitations have prevented an annual slashing program to be maintained causing an accumulation of heavy growth on the roadside.’

There are three reasons here, the first two of which do not apply to the Ridge Road. The third, however–the reference to ‘resource limitations’– confirms our suspicions: that scalping is used as a cheap method of achieving your ends when you’re short of cash. So, although it’s generally considered a bad way of going about things, managers are forced to use it anyway.

It’s clear also, from this letter, that roadside clearing often happens in ignorance of what might be getting scraped into oblivion: there’s no effective monitoring of its biodiversity effects. And although managers generally need to comply with clearing regulations, these only come into play if something ‘important’ is known to be in the relevant area. In the absence of detailed monitoring, this often comes down to the judgement of the manager in question.

We have serious disagreements about the decisions made to scalp the Ridge Road, and other tracks in the Fryers Ranges, and believe that in most areas there was no ‘heavy growth’ on the roadsides.

In another communication to us from the Environment Minister, we’ve been invited to discuss values of roadsides with the responsible Terrestrial Biodiversity Manager. We’ll take up this invitation.

The Mount Alexander Shire will be undertaking works on the Guildford Big Tree, which, as we’ve previously reported, was badly damaged in February. From a Council briefing:

‘The severe storm in February 2015 caused considerable damage to the
canopy of this significant tree causing the loss of several large
sections of the canopy.  This loss has exposed a number of branches
within the remaining canopy which have the potential to shed during
relatively mild weather conditions.

The Big Tree: works will be undertaken to try to forestall further damage to the old feller.

‘To protect the tree, reduce potential branch loss and improve overall
tree health, the following works are scheduled to occur within the
next few weeks:

‘1. The tree will be pruned to reduce over-extended and exposed
branches.  The pruning will reduce the potential hazard associated
with these branches and leave a well-balanced tree with an
aesthetically pleasing appearance.  All pruning will be undertaken in
accordance with Australian Standards, AS4373-2007 Pruning of amenity
trees.

‘2. Several large branches that remain below the tree will be relocated
from beneath the trees canopy and remain on-site as informal seating
for visitors.  Some of the other branches will be taken to Guildford
Primary School.  Any other remaining branches will be removed.

‘3. The existing grassed area beneath the tree will be mulched.
Mulching of the existing grassed area will reduce root competition for
soil moisture and nutrients, prevent soil compaction by mowing
equipment and improve tree health.’

FOBIF has made a submission to the Tarran Valley rezoning advisory committee. This committee has been appointed by the planning minister, Richard Wynne, to consider a proposal to develop land in the Sandy Creek area near Maldon. We have objected to the development. Our submission can be found here.

This matter dates back to 2006, and our background posts on it can be found by tapping Tarran Valley into the search box at top right of this page.

Our objections relate to fire risk and development in catchment areas. We also point out that population trends used by Council in its original decision to approve the development were significantly exaggerated: ‘[The Mount Alexander Urban Living Strategy 2005] has a population projection for 2021 of 21,930, compared with the more realistic population projection of 19,291 from the Victoria in Future [VIF] 2015 study.  The urban living strategy thus over estimates the population, in comparison to VIF, by 2,639 which translates to an over estimation in housing lots needed at this date of over 1,000 lots.’

The committee will report to the minister in due course–possibly not till next year.

Noel Young sent us this report on the September FOBIF walk:

True to its name the Wattle track was rich with flowering wattles. In pleasantly mild conditions, walkers covered nine and a half kilometers through a variety of bush with many plants awakening to flower a little late after a cool dry winter. The flowers I managed to list were Downy Grevillea, Early Nancy, Hovea, Billy Buttons, Purple Coral-pea, Guinea flower, Handsome Flat-pea, Grey Parrot-pea, Common Heath, Common Beard-heath, Pink Bells, Gorse Bitter-pea, and the only orchid found – a patch of Nodding Greenhoods.

Birds were abundant along the way, their presence mainly indicated by calls. I listed those I could recognise as: Spotted Pardalote, White-throated Treecreeper, Crimson Rosella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Grey Shrike-thrush, Fuscous Honeyeater, Superb Blue Wren, Long-billed Corella, and Grey Fantail. Others added Galah, Oriole, and Yellow-faced Honeyeater.

Liz Martin sent us this photo collage.

And here are some photos from Dominique Lavie (first photo) and Noel (last 3 photos). Click to enlarge.

The map below tells a pretty sobering story: most of northern and western Victoria is in serious rainfall deficit over the last three years. It’s taken from the Catchment Management Authority’s Climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy. This document was the subject of community consultations in our region through August.

We’ve already noted the climate projections for our region, which forecast lower mean annual rainfall, with declines especially in autumn and winter. The question is, how should we ready ourselves for this decline?

The practical responses suggested in the CMA strategy are as follows:

‘– Implement a property planning and education program (with a sustainability focus) for landowners

‘– Enable an ecological thinning program on both public and private land

‘– Implement a scientifically rigorous, biodiversity monitoring program using woodland birds as a key indicator of ecosystem health

‘– Implement an on-ground restoration program that achieves connectivity and increases the extent of native vegetation

‘– Include some drier climate species and wider genetic material of existing species in revegetation programs

‘– Put stricter controls on development in bushland areas or adjacent to public land

‘– Support the risk based approach to prescribed burns to protect the community and natural assets

‘– Manage grazing pressure along rivers to protect the riparian zone

‘– Support the development of mechanisms in local government planning schemes and the Victorian Planning Provisions that identify and enable strategic biolinks

‘– Implement large-scale carbon sequestration across the landscape.’

Most of these are not new ideas. Some have already been vigorously debated and effectively rejected by Government– the control of grazing along river frontages being one that comes to mind; and the State is still dithering about whether to adopt a risk based approach to prescribed burns. It remains to be seen how many of these ideas will be put into practice.