Category Archives: Nature Observations

What’s eating our red gums?

Posted on 15 August, 2016 by fobif

For some months now, local Red Gums, especially around Mount Alexander, have been looking pretty bedraggled, attacked by some leaf eating insect we’ve been unable to identify. It seems to prefer only Red Gums: many Australians are unable to tell … Continue reading →

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Find out about wetland plants

Posted on 20 June, 2016 by fobif

Local environment experts, Damien Cook and Elaine Bayes, are running two wetland plant ID courses this year: This course is aimed at anyone interested in wetland plant identification and ecology. The course will run over 3 days and each day will … Continue reading →

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Some dog park questions

Posted on 21 March, 2016 by fobif

FOBIF has written to the Mount Alexander shire regarding the off lead dog park proposed for the Botanical Gardens. The relevant parts of the letter follow: ‘While FOBIF believes that an off lead park is a good and common sense … Continue reading →

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A dump here, a dump there, but rainfall is well down

Posted on 1 February, 2016 by fobif

A summer storm caused flash flooding in parts of Castlemaine on Thursday, putting the railway station underpass under water, and creating a brief swamp on the Western Oval, but, like its predecessors, leaving plenty of areas dry. Figures for 2015, … Continue reading →

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A great local archive

Posted on 25 January, 2016 by fobif

Webmaster of the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club, Chris Timewell, has put the newsletters of the Club from 1976 online. They can be found here. This archive is a fascinating record of Field Nats observations and reflections on our region over … Continue reading →

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Great response to our call for photos

Posted on 11 January, 2016 by fobif

We started off with 17 photos on our new Flickr page, Trees of the Mount Alexander Region, and after our call for photos in December we now have 73. The quality of the photos submitted has been impressive and, as you can see from the … Continue reading →

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How do they do it? [1] Making something out of nothing

Posted on 14 December, 2015 by fobif

It’s been a bleak period in our bushlands this year, but even in the bleakest of times, something surprising can be seen: and, as during the millenium drought, one of the most surprising is the sight of this delicate looking … Continue reading →

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How do they do it? [2] Surviving in the pollution soup

Posted on 14 December, 2015 by fobif

The picture below is a Common Long Neck turtle [Chelodina longicolis] sun baking in the horrible pollution soup that is Forest Creek at the Wheeler Street bridge. Turtles have been seen in this unpromising location for many years, and seemed … Continue reading →

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Spring prowl

Posted on 18 October, 2015 by fobif

A typically strong group rocked up for FOBIF’s October walk on Sunday, expertly and entertainingly led by Elaine Bayes and Damien Cook through the Morgan’s Track area of the Diggings Park. In spite of the dry season there was plenty … Continue reading →

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Blackwood: a link to a great Australian tradition

Posted on 13 September, 2015 by fobif

Blackwoods are flowering around the place at the moment, though more prolifically in the country to our south. Is there a better example of an Aussie battler than this attractive tree? ‘It tolerates drought, poor drainage, any soil, salt air, … Continue reading →

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