Author Archives: fobif

Invasive species: new legislation in prospect

Posted on 10 October, 2012 by fobif

FOBIF has made a short submission to the Department of Primary Industries as part of the consultation process for the preparation of a new Invasive Species Management Bill. The submission is in response to a discussion paper released by DPI. … Continue reading →

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Get to know your weeds

Posted on 10 October, 2012 by fobif

The North Central Catchment Management Authority has released a Weeds Identification Guide for the region. In many ways it’s an improvement on previous guides, because the photos are better and many species are illustrated by more than one picture. Unfortunately … Continue reading →

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Fire: DSE responds to FOBIF submission

Posted on 7 October, 2012 by fobif

We have received a response from DSE to our submission on the draft Fire Operations Plan. We will be making a comment on this response and the state of consultations on fire management after the upcoming meeting between DSE and … Continue reading →

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Local water birds

Posted on 2 October, 2012 by fobif

The diversity of water bodies in and around Castlemaine provides the opportunity to view a variety of birds. One of the largest is the Great Egret. This bird can be seen along the edges of swamps and larger dams such … Continue reading →

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Garden birds around Castlemaine

Posted on 20 September, 2012 by fobif

Damian Kelly was the guest speaker at the FOBIF AGM in August. His presentation was about observing local birds in our gardens and he included many excellent photos, including the three below, of birds from his Lyttleton Street garden. Damian … Continue reading →

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Hear Don Watson reflect on ‘The Bush’

Posted on 20 September, 2012 by fobif

Don Watson will be the guest speaker at this years Muckeford Landcare Annual General Meeting. ‘Xartec’ from the Lancare Group writes that Don Watson is one of Australia’s wittiest, original thinkers and raconteurs, and is currently completing a book on … Continue reading →

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Get informed about National Parks

Posted on 20 September, 2012 by fobif

Parkwatch, the magazine of the Victorian National Parks Association, has gone online in an easy to read ‘flipbook’ format. The magazine is quarterly: it’s professionally produced, very informative…and it’s free. To subscribe, click here. The current issue contains, among others, … Continue reading →

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Heavy response to Fire Operations Plan

Posted on 19 September, 2012 by fobif

A DSE forum on the draft North West Region Fire Operations Plan has been postponed from mid September to early October to allow DSE to process the exceptionally heavy response to the plan: more than 200 submissions have been received, … Continue reading →

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A walk in the Park

Posted on 18 September, 2012 by fobif

Thirteen hardy walkers braved dire weather forecasts of rain and cold to do a circuit at the very south end of the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park on Sunday. The weather turned out, in fact, to be mild. The walk … Continue reading →

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‘The only effective way of measuring change’

Posted on 11 September, 2012 by fobif

The August meeting of the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club featured a talk by Ern Perkins on systematic environmental monitoring over time: ‘the only effective way of measuring change.’ The following report is based on a more detailed account in the … Continue reading →

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