Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Nature Notes for January

Hotter weather has caused a very visible change in the white gums that are common in our area. Have you noticed the amount of bark they have shed, revealing smooth trunks underneath, adorned with beautiful patterns of silver, grey, pale green and sometimes slightly orange new bark. The next time it rains the new bark will display the colours in a vivid illumination. The numbers and varieties of spiders have increased. The golden orb spider is often encountered in the mornings with its interesting web stretched between foliage branches. The trapdoor spider lives in a fascinating construction, a neat hole in the ground with a very well fitting lid. A number of plants have responded to better rainfall last year. Fresh epicormic growth is sprouting from the base and often the trunks of many of the mallee trees. Newly regenerated plants, especially wattles, are becoming more visible. Uncoordinated fluttering noises in small shrubby trees attracted the interest of the observers. On investigation the noise was caused not by a bird, or a bat, but by two very large goat moths that seemed to be struggling to find a perch in the tree foliage. Once they settled onto the tree trunk they became almost invisible due to their excellent camouflage. Large patches of the attractive small plants lemon beauty heads have flowered recently. Windy weather quickly knocked over the flowers. Many ruby saltbush plants are currently adorned with masses of colourful red berries that many birds find quite palatable. A Willie wagtail was seen furiously swooping a sand goanna. The goanna was unconcerned. In the shade, the vivid yellow striped markings of the goanna were very noticeable. This month the observers have again enjoyed noting a stimulating variety of plants and animals in only a small local area. Anyone can participate in this satisfying pastime and increase their knowledge understanding of our natural environment.

Wedderburn Conservation Management Network “Observers”

Malleefowl Developments

On the 5th of February a meeting was held between members of the Wedderburn CMN and members of the Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group (VMRG). Two of the objectives of the meetings were; firstly a revision of the alignment of the work of the WCMN with the National Malleefowl Recovery Plan and secondly discussion of the coordination of line searches for malleefowl mounds in the Wychitella NCR. At the conclusion of the meeting it was decided that the VMRG should coordinate such searches to avoid duplication of effort and to ensure that data collected was recorded on the national database.

Prior to this meeting David Baker- Gabb had prepared a Malleefowl Release Plan for the Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve and although it is now realised that further research is required before population supplementation takes place, having the plan in place is a distinct advantage. A brief summary of this detailed document is given below.

Summary of aspects of the Malleefowl Release Plan

When it is decided that population supplementation will recommence the approximately1 year old Malleefowl, before their introduction into the captive program, and before any releases to the wild, will be subject to veterinary checks. They will then be translocated to a pre-prepared semi-captive facility located on a suitable site in the Wychitella NCR. Four such suitable sites have already been identified.

The semi-captive facility will cover c.1ha and be surrounded by a approximately 2m high predator-proof galvanised ‘chicken netting’ fence with a covering of soft ‘bird netting’ supported by 3m tall poles and wires overhead to exclude raptors. The facility will encompass natural Malleefowl habitat with shrubs and trees up to 3m that will allow the young birds to learn to roost well above the ground.

When local conditions are suitable, for example, after a wet Spring, the Malleefowl will be allowed to move out from the semi-captive facility into a surrounding larger approximately 10 ha soft-release site that has an electrified fence surrounding it to exclude mammalian predators. Birds will only be allowed into the outer soft release facility if their weights are similar to or heavier than when they arrived. The young Malleefowl will continue to be fed in this larger enclosure and will be able to fly in and out of it as they choose. The diet for the captive Malleefowl will be the same as that recommended by the Little Desert Lodge and other captive facilities.

All Malleefowl will be fitted with a single metal ABBBS leg band and two coloured metal bands so that they can be individually identified in the aviary and field. All captive Malleefowl will be fitted with ‘backpack’ radio-transmitters that have been used successfully on captive-released birds elsewhere. The ‘backpacks’ will be fitted at the start of the bird’s confinement in the captive-release facility at Wychitella, but not activated until their release to the wild, so that any impacts on the birds can be monitored closely and corrected if necessary. Included in the plan are contingency measures for dealing with such emergency situations as distressed bird.

Article by Michael Moore

Julie Whitfield - helping to save rare plants

We had the pleasure, at our January monthly meeting, of listening to Julie Whitfield, a Biodiversity Officer from DSE, describe the work that she is doing and intends to do to help secure the future of some of Victoria’s rare plants including plants that are found in the Wedderburn CMN’s area of concern. Julie spoke of the efforts to conserve such rare plants as the Kamarooka Mallee, Jericho Wire-grass, Dainty Phebalium, Velvet Daisy Bush, Spiny Rice-flower and the Northern Golden Moth Orchid among others. Julie’s work takes her to various parts of Victoria but she is keen to recruit members of the WCMN and interested members of the community to help her in her work within the Wedderburn / Wychitella area and maybe a little further afield.

Two of our members assisted Julie with her collection of seed from Jericho wiregrass plants growing at a conservation reserve at Teddy Waddy, just outside Charlton, on the 21st of January. The group left from Jacka Park Wedderburn, spent a pleasant hour at the task then detoured round by Buckrabanyule looking for more of these plants before returning to Wedderburn. It was an enjoyable and worthwhile day.

Article by Michael Moore

Cootamundra Wattle: Good or Bad?

Driving into town the other day I noticed a planting of a row of Cootamundra Wattle. As I cut these species out routinely on the blocks I manage, I had adopted the belief that this was now a declared noxious weed in North-Central Victoria and was therefore surprised to see new ones go in. I automatically assumed the planters were in breach of the Catchment and Land Protection (CaLP) Act 1994.

To my surprise I couldn’t find this wattle on the list of noxious weeds when I made it home later that day. As a matter of fact, three out of the four most common tall woody weeds of our district are not on that list. Only the African Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) is listed as a controlled weed. The Peppercorn and a wild Olive (Olea europaea ssp.) are the remaining two species.

This doesn’t mean we can ignore these plants and leave them be. All four are equally invasive and have a serious environmental impact. All four replace native vegetation and form monocultures where they are not controlled. They cause serious loss of biodiversity through competition and through the destruction of native indigenous food sources and habitat. There are reports from NSW that wild olives have taken over entire nature reserves and I have seen the complete domination of Peppercorns along the ephemeral creeks of the dry inland. The Boxthorn is a favourite hideout of that most destructive of introduced pests, the rabbit. The Cootamundra Wattle has its own method of creating havoc. It simply won’t allow too many other native species to grow under its canopy so it does not need to share the water in the soil directly underneath.

It is not necessarily illegal to grow these kinds of plants but that does not mean it is a good idea to put them in your garden or to use them as a hedge plant on your boundary fence. The list of noxious weeds is currently under review and will include a fair few species now still for sale in nurseries in the near future. Some pro-active councils have already included the Cootamundra Wattle on their list of weed species.

In the meantime I will keep cutting and pasting these woody weeds out of the reserves of Bush Heritage Australia and Greenhouse Balanced in the Wedderburn district, hoping these blocks will not be reinvaded by new garden escapees.

Article by Jeroen van Veen

Loddon Plains Landcare Network


The Loddon Plains Landcare Network is up and running and looking forward to a great year in 2010! The Network has secured a $10,000 Second Generation Landcare Grant for use in what could be considered a practical and also symbolic network wide activity in Spring. The activity will involve up to 40 volunteers working with network members planting 2000 trees in four selected sites across the network. The executive is also currently developing a partnership proposal to submit to the Norman Wettenhall Foundation for funding.

The LPLN was formed at Serpentine on 11th September 2009 at a meeting of interested participants from different natural resource management (NRM) groups across the Loddon Shire but primarily north of the hill country. Discussion was held concerning the composition of the network with the most favoured model being one in which the network should have a Working Group and an Executive.

The Working Group (made up of members from 9 NRM groups) agreed on a set of guiding principles for the network moving forward. A fundamental principle is that all groups must fully retain their individual identities.

The other agreed principles recognise that the network provides a critical mass of like-minded people in a defined geographic area who are provided with greater opportunities to:

· Achieve connectivity across the network’s landscape via both vegetation corridors and cultural heritage trails.

· Recognise, value and share local knowledge about both the natural environment and sustainable farming practices.

· Share the diverse skill base that all members bring.

· Attract public and private funding for on-ground works to improve the condition of the natural environment that are critical to the goals of both the broader network and the individual groups.

· Participate in research trials across different landscapes.

Network member groups to date include; Loddon Vale Landcare, Wychitella and District Landcare Northern United Forestry Group, Salisbury West Landcare, East Loddon Landcare, Wedderburn Conservation Management Network, Inglewood Landcare, Yando Landcare, Kamarooka and North Central Landcare. Friends of Kooyoora have also agreed to participate in the new network. It is expected that other landcare groups will join the network in the near future.

As mentioned above the Executive is in the process of working through a procedure with the Norman Wettenhall Foundation (NWF) that involves firstly the accumulation of information about the network’s area such as; demographics, the acquisition of reliable and informative mapping, environmental assets and the activities of member groups etc. If funding is obtained then in the next step a Project Officer would be appointed and an action blueprint assembled. From this blueprint the judicial selection of high priority asset areas is made, these high priority asset areas are termed “ecoships”. Further funding is then sought, with the aid of the NWF, for the adaptive management and development of these selected areas. The cyclic process then begins again anew until objectives set in the blueprint are achieved.

Article by Mal Brown and Michael Moore

First National Invasive Cacti Forum

It was an instructive experience to attend the first National Invasive Cacti Forum held at the Waite precinct of Adelaide University. Some of the positive points I was pleased to note were:

  • There were highly qualified and experienced representatives from WA, SA, NSW, ACT and QLD present.
  • Wheel cactus was high on the agenda but not the only cactus of concern.
  • Wheel cactus is now on the list of Opuntioid cacti that is considered suitable for bio-control.
  • The outbreak of wheel cactus in the Flinders Ranges is steadily being brought under control: contractors spraying with Grazon with volunteers mapping and mopping up being their method of control.
  • From work done in South Africa there is a lot more understood about the cellular structure of wheel cactus and of its predators.
  • A spontaneous destructive outbreak of cochineal beetle has occurred on stored wheel cactus on a property in the Flinders Ranges. This is being nurtured and developed with a view to possible biological control.
  • A South Australian Opuntioid Management Plan was launched.

On the negative side I was disappointed to see that I and another Land Care member from Nuggety were the only Victorian representatives: no government, academic or scientific people at all so as I did the overview for Victoria, I had to explain mine was a report from “on the ground” It was a very good day, good to see a problem being really worked at.

Article by Janet Richardson