Author Archives: fobif

In 2018, BirdLife Castlemaine – the newest regional branch of BirdLife Australia – was launched, and has subsequently held regular walks, talks, nature diary days, surveys and other activities.  The geographic extent of the branch overlaps considerably with FOBIFs area … Continue reading →

A good group braved the chill to walk along Forest Creek yesterday. Led by Marie Jones, the walk started at the Monster Meeting site and walked north along the track to Expedition Pass Reservoir (through Castlemaine Diggings NHP). Pauses were … Continue reading →

Users of FOBIF’s guide to Twenty bushwalks in the Mount Alexander region should be aware that the amenity of Walk 13 has been affected by this year’s Management fire. The section of this walk between Old Coach Road and Dearden … Continue reading →

As we’ve noted before, it’s worth taking a prowl around Department burns, just to observe what happens in the aftermath of a fire. Of course, you need to be careful: as we’ve pointed out, these fires tend to make trees … Continue reading →

FOBIF and Castlemaine Field Naturalists representatives met with fire officers in the Fryers Forest in February to discuss differences of opinion about fire. The discussion was lengthy and clarified [again] the difference in outlook of the two groups. The following … Continue reading →

Our May walk next Sunday starts at the Monster Meeting site on Golden Point Road and follows the Forest Creek Track from Chewton to Expedition Pass Reservoir (Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park). We’ll meet at the Community House as usual … Continue reading →

The guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Castlemaine Field Naturalists will be Professor Tim Entwisle. Professor Entwisle is an author, botanist and former director of botanic gardens in Melbourne, Sydney and London. He also lived for a few … Continue reading →

Here’s a press release from the Conservation Regulator this week: ‘Conservation Regulator and Forest Fire Management Victoria Authorised Officers patrolled campsites statewide and detected more than 40 campfires still alight during a Total Fire Ban, a number that could have … Continue reading →

Readers will remember FOBIF’s occasional tilt at one of Australia’s weirdest windmills: the car commercial. We doubt whether the advertising industry will ever invent a more cretinous TV ad than AAMI’s attempt to persuade us that children should prefer to … Continue reading →

You may be wondering, who or what is the ‘conservation regulator’ mentioned in our above post? We confess we didn’t know either. To find out, check the relevant website here. The interesting part is under the heading ‘Regulatory priorities’. The … Continue reading →