“Observers” observing range temporarily restricted

Getting out and about and encouraging readers to take lots of interest in our natural environment has been one of the key messages for “Observers” reports for the past 2 years. A few temporary physical restrictions has seen the Observers wanderings around the bush somewhat restricted for the past couple months. Although initially it seemed lack of physical mobility would correspond with a decline in observing opportunities, in fact it has opened up a whole new awareness of nature much closer to home.
This was precipitated by a pair of Brown falcons nesting in a large tree on a fenceline which borders the Wychitella Nature conservation reserve. Making regular use of binoculars has been a great tool, and the birds have stayed within close range even spending long periods perched on the clothesline!
More time at home has allowed greater observations of the delightful antics of the yellow footed antechinus even seen scampering along the verandah rail. However a few days later the less delightful but also realistic part of nature was observed. The young goanna which had been regularly seen around the house had caught the antechinus and was eating it.
There is not only nature, but also the threats to biodiversity that can be noted domestically. Late afternoon a very large feral cat was spotted, sitting in the yard like he owned the place.
At present the peace of sitting on the verandah is interrupted by the noisy and very industrious work of the Mud dauber wasps. There seems to be huge numbers of their large mud nests under construction on brick walls, in sheds and on infrequently used vehicles.
So even if you can’t move far from home, enjoy what nature has to show you in your own backyard.

Wedderburn Conservation Management network “Observers”

Attached photograph is of a Brown Falcon

Progress of the Loddon Plains Landcare Network (LPLN)

Progress of the Loddon Plains Landcare Network (LPLN)
The LPLN, a network of ten Landcare groups, two Friends groups and the Wedderburn CMN continues to make progress towards the realisation of a biodiversity blueprint for the northern part of the Loddon Shire. Leah Cripps, the Project Officer for the network, has completed her work of gathering a tremendous amount of information from all groups and presenting this information in the form of maps, photographs, lists and written descriptions of the area of interest. This information will act as baseline data for assessing future environmental progress.
Funding for this aspect and immediate future planning has been provided by the Norman Wettenhall Foundation and the North Central Catchment Management Authority.
This baseline information has been assessed by a reputable environmental scientist and the Committee of Management of the LPLN. It is now planned to hold workshops around the area to involve the community in establishing priority projects for which further funding will be sought.
The network applied to house one of the newly announced local Landcare Facilitators and has been successful in this application. This Facilitator will work closely with the LPLN Committee of Management to assist in bringing plans to fruition.
Article – Michael Moore

Alison Pouliot Fungi Workshops

The Wedderburn CMN will again host two fungi workshops conducted by Alison Pouliot. These workshops are scheduled for Saturday June 2^nd and Sunday June 3^rd at the Parks Victoria office in Inglewood.

The Saturday workshop will be an introduction to the fungi world workshop and the Sunday workshop will be a more advanced workshop. Places are limited to 23 people each day, so please if you are interested let Michael Moore or Wendy Murphy know. Last year’s workshops filled very quickly with people travelling from all over the State to attend. There will be a small charge, but more details will be made available closer to the event.

Article – Wendy Murphy

Ballarat Region Seed Bank Workshop

Along with 6 other participants I attended an all day workshop at the Ballarat Region Seed bank and Seeding Victoria office and nursery located at Sawpit Rd Creswick. Four of the participants were associated with the nursery industry and the other 2 worked in public relations for environmental organizations.

The workshop topics were the collection, extraction cleaning and storage of indigenous seed. I discovered that all of these procedures could be accomplished without specialist equipment and that the most difficult task for me would be

· Accurate plant identification

· Determining whether the seed was ready (ripe) to ‘pick’

Dan Frost (our instructor) spent a long time discussing the concept of provenance and then gave us his key guideline

Only collect seed when you know what you are going to do with it and only after you are confident of its provenance.

Dan talked a little about seed orchards and acknowledged that there was considerable scepticism from academics as to whether seed orchards could deliver provenance.

Seed collection requires a seed collectors permit (obtainable from DSE) and then permission from the land manager of the area where you intend to collect seed. National Guidelines for collection methods are available at www.florabank.org.au

Dan talked about the Seed bank’s operations which have been wound down with only a couple of employees left. They used to provide large quantities of seed for half a dozen Catchment Management Authorities in western Victoria but the business has almost halted.

Dan now spends a lot of time investigating germination rates and advising customers who may be getting poor germination rates, on how to plant the seed and how much seed they will need to purchase for their project.

Article by Barrie Taylor

25th Anniversary Landcare Grant

The Wedderburn CMN was successful in gaining a North Central CMA 25^th Anniversary Landcare Grant to conduct works along the Nardoo Creek Walking Track. Dedicated community people have done work along the path in previous years, but due to aging volunteers and the floods in January, the walking track has become overgrown and damaged.

Works to be funded include plantings of native vegetation, track repair, weed works, a history of the walking track and a community BBQ. All this is scheduled for late March and it is hoped that many Wedderburn community groups will be involved. As they say, many hands make light work. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase and improve a great Wedderburn community asset.

Article – Wendy Murphy

Fox Baiting Resumes

The Wedderburn CMN is undertaking fox baiting in the Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve. FoxOff baits containing 1080 are being used. The blocks being baited are the Skinners Flat block, Wychitella block and the Wedderburn block. People are encouraged to keep a close eye on their pet dogs and to keep them on leads at all times if utilising the Reserve. The WCMN have been conducting fox baiting programs for seven years in these blocks primarily for the protection of the breeding malleefowl and the emerging chicks. Monitoring results suggest that fox numbers have been reduced and malleefowl numbers have risen.

Wendy Murphy is conducting the baiting and is keen to hear from landholders about their experiences with foxes including sightings and den locations. Her contact details are at the end of this newsletter.

Article – Wendy Murphy

WCMN Members at the Box Ironbark Ecology Course

The Box Ironbark ecology course was held again this year between the 4^th to the 8^th of October at Nagambie in Victoria. Six members of the Wedderburn CMN attended this well respected environmental experience. The following is a brief description of the course taken from a DSE publication followed by a report of one day's activities by a WCMN member.

Extract from a DSE publication

“The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) is convening the popular Box Ironbark Ecology Course this October at Nagambie for the thirteenth consecutive year.

Leading scientists and experts will come together to share up-to-date thinking and research about box ironbark landscapes in changing conditions, focusing particularly on the relationship between soils, plants and animals in these landscapes.
This field based course will emphasise ecological understanding and teach field techniques that improve observation and data collection skills.
“We are pulling together a wide range of people with diverse expertise across the spectrum of box ironbark ecology in this International Year of Biodiversity.
Topics to be explored include landscape management to enable ecological sustainability, biodiversity conservation, soil health assessment and management, and the impact of human use on box ironbark

Extract from WCMN member Report

On arrival we broke into 6 groups with instructions to spend 2 hours walking over a 300 acre Trust for Nature property south of Violet town, and make an inventory (assets and threats). Following this, all groups joined together in the marquee to pool results and discuss a management plan for this property.

We were oriented with a lecture on the theory of land management for ecological restoration.

By the time of the group session to consider actions appropriate for this property, all 30 participants had developed strong and diverse views. Because lunch and packup time was looming the passionate forum had to be shut down before any resemblance to consensus was reached. We were reminded again of the key point in the lecture of the need for an adaptive management strategy ie the management of the property must be constantly monitored and reviewed well into the future".

The following is a description of the history of the property and our inventory.

Over the last 150 years the property has been in turn a gold mine, a dairy farm and a sheep farm. Concurrently it has been a timber/firewood lot. A water course with large red gums lining it runs through the property. The rest is Box Ironbark country with a tiny patch of mallee at the top corner of the property. Significant regrowth is occurring in patches around old vegetation. The cleared part of the property is covered in indigenous grass which is very thin on the upper slopes. There is no real weed problem, probably because the soil is so poor.

Also our leaders suggested that the original pre European top soil was now completely gone so that the current top soil layer was really the second soil layer.

Another perverse inventory item was the dams. Healthy aquatic invertebrate populations were found in the dams and reminded us that the pre gold rush creeks were mainly a series of clear water holes. However we had observed significant overgrazing throughout the property and we decided that the permanent water provided by the dams was supporting excessive kangaroo and rabbit populations which in turn put excessive pressure on the fragile soil. Overall we learned a tremendous amount and this was only the end of the first day – a very worthwhile experience.

Article by Barrie Taylor