Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

Walks for young people

FOBIF are running lots of events for kids this year. We have bushwalks for small children with their families, youth walks for people who are secondary school age and a June School Holiday program based in the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens. 

Our flyer gives information about all of these events and contact details. Many of the events are free or free for members, so tell your friends and families so that we can foster a love and protection of our local wild places. Click here to see a report on our first young people’s walk for 2015.

FOBIF April walk

At Dunn’s reef: a convenient guide was available for consultation on mosses brought out by recent light rain.

In spite of the months long dry, resilient moss came back after light rain in Muckleford in Mid April.

A wild and windy Sunday morning did not deter the 25 walkers who checked out the landscape of the Muckleford State Forest on Sunday 19^th April. Capably led by Neville Cooper this 7 km walk starting from the Red, White and Blue Poppet Head Mine went past the proposed site for a Castlemaine Hot Rod Centre (CHRC) where plans for a Dynamic Vehicle Testing Facility, Events and Recreation development are being discussed, and then on to a tour of Dunn’s Reef and a quick lunch break. The understorey through this area is gradually recovering and the bird life was taking advantage of this – an always changing landscape!

Next month’s walk will be in the Nuggety Ranges. Check the program for details.

Eight families from across Castlemaine came together to hear about restoration work and environmental values at the Clinkers Hill Bushland reserve on Sunday the 26th April.

Elvyne explaining how to identify a Stringy Bark.

Elvyne Hogan gave an introduction to the site, outlining work done by the Victoria Gully Group, showing little ones which species of eucalypt that occupied the area lead to funding for a project with Connecting Country through their Yellow Box Woodland program.

Cassia Read then introduced the children and adults to the Cherry Ballart and collected insect galls which shortly afterwards became bush creatures with the addition of feathers, leaves and sticks found on site. After a snack and cuppa the children were encouraged to find some ‘habitat’, a big word when you’re four, for their creatures.

Kids and adults enjoyed the bush and company of other like minded families.

A lichen that Cassia pointed out on the walk back.

On the return walk Cassia contiuned to share her knowlege about the plant and moss species found in the reserve.

Thanks to Elvyne and Cassia for their time in presenting to our small people and their families.

(Click on photos below to enlarge.)

James McArdle has contributed the following item on the new Wikipedia article on Doug.

A large number of Doug Ralph’s friends gathered to remember him on 7 March at the Botanical Gardens, Castlemaine, and their diversity was a remarkable tribute the energy that radiated from this gentle man. 

Many of us felt that some lasting memorial to his passion for the bush, and the way that he inspired it in others, should be constructed. Doug liked to communicate in person, and though he left a little of his intimate knowledge of the Box-Ironbark forests and local history in his own writings, some, especially his emails, may not last. However he generously shared a lifetime of experience and understanding with others, who in turn used his insights in their papers, books, submissions and pamphlets.  

To preserve all of this, there is now an article on Wikipedia devoted to Doug’s legacy at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Ralph

The Wikipedia article is a live document, visible worldwide, and awaits any improvements you may have with extra information on Doug,  and in particular verifiable references to instances where his research contributions have been recorded.

Anyone may easily contribute to Wikipedia articles, even anonymously, without registering; you need only follow the format and conventions of an encyclopaedia. Please help. 

While you are there, you might also look to see if articles on the Box-Ironbark Forest and more particularly the Bendigo Box-Ironbark Region, as well as the many entries on individual species found there, can be helpfully expanded.

Contact details for James are included here for anyone who has information on Doug who would prefer someone else entered it on Wikipedia. James is also interested in suggestions of existing articles on Wikipedia which might appropriately link to Doug’s entry.

James McArdle   jmcardle@netcon.net.au   0459690707

The TCCG ready to set out one of their regular Sunday morning battle with local Wheel Cactus.

The Tarrangower Cactus Control Group  (TCCG) in conjunction with Landcare Victoria and the Northern Catchment CMA is holding a major all-day workshop in Baringhup on 14 May. Lunch is provided and there will be field trips as part of the day. RSVPs are required. Click here to see the flyer.

It has been estimated that 10,000 hectares of land across the Maldon, Baringhup, Nuggetty and Sandy Creek districts, including the Maldon Historic Reserve, is infected with Wheel Cactus Opuntia robusta. The TCCG assisted by Parks Victoria has been engaged in a lengthy and vigorous battle with this Weed of National Significance. Their comprehensive website documents much of this activity as well giving a history of the problem and a rundown on eradication methods.

Spread largely by Australian Ravens, small pockets of wheel cactus can now be seen across other areas in our Region. The Cactus Warriors are active in providing advice and practical assistance to landcare groups and landowners to control its spread. In March for example they held an information session in Gravel Reserve for the Muckleford Catchment Landcare Group.

Wheel Cactus along the Muckleford-Walmer Road

Long-leaved Box E. Goniocalyx is now in flower in our region. It generally flowers from March to May. The following photos of the buds, blossom and fruit of a Long-leaved Box at the summit of Mount Tarrengower were taken on 31 March.  (click to enlarge)

At the farewell event for Doug Ralph in the Castlemaine Botanic Gardens early last month Phil Ingamells gave a speech about Doug’s contribution to the environment movement in this region. Phil who lived in Castlemaine in the late 1990s was a good friend of Doug’s and one of the founding members of FOBIF. Phil now resides in Melbourne and works for the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) on their Park Protection Project. One of his memories was about Doug’s part in the re-routing of the Calder Freeway:

There are many stories that could be told about Doug’s endeavours, but I’d like to tell just one. When the Calder freeway’s Taradale bypass was being planned, Doug got wind that it would plough through a small but valuable native woodland on private land. He quickly got a few people together to speak at the planners’ public hearings.

Now, as you drive towards Melbourne, you’ll come to a point where the freeway flies over the Taradale Metcalfe road. Shortly after that, as it starts to bend to the left, you can see eucalypts poking up between the two sides of the freeway. They mark a wildlife corridor between that private land on the western side and another woodland to the east. The freeway then follows a long swooping curve, leaving the threatened woodland very much intact.

Whenever I go that way, I think of it as Doug’s bend.

If you missed Doug’s farewell you can now read the full text of the speech that Phil made here.

The sounds of our natural environment are comprised of many voices; birdsong, frog choruses, seasonal insect choirs, mammal calls… But how have all these varied animal repertoires evolved? What can we learn from studying, or simply listening, to nature’s sounds around us? How may the noise of our modern world be impacting upon this delicate sonic balance, and conversely, how have the songs of nature influenced our own species?

Andrew Skeoch is a bioacoustic researcher, musician and Australia’s best-known nature sound recordist. His nature albums ‘A Morning in the Australian Bush’ and ‘Favourite Australian Birdsong’ have each sold over 50,000 copies. Over the last twenty years, he has journeyed to remote locations in Asia, India, Africa and the Americas in search of some of our planet’s most beautiful and fascinating sounds. 

“I feel that we need to listen to the natural world afresh, and hear ourselves as part of it. Perhaps then we can find more organic ways to express ourselves, and celebrate our natural place in the biosphere”, he says. 

Andrew will be giving a presentation on his work and research at the Castlemaine Library on Thursday the 23rd of April. Featuring his recordings accompanied with sonograms, he will have you hearing birdsong and natural sounds from an entirely fresh perspective. Click here to download a flyer. Bookings are required.

FOBIF has been informed that the Inspector General for Emergency Management has postponed his report on fuel reduction programs, which was due this month. It will now be released at the end of April.