Lorax Project 2012

The Upper Goulburn Landcare Networks revegetation 'Lorax Project' has finished for another year after a very successful year of tree planting throughout the fire affected areas of Murrindindi Shire.

JBWere volunteers at Buxton

This year 452 volunteers from NAB, ANZ, JBWere, Camberwell Secondary College, Strath Creek Landcare Group, Kevin Heinz Garden Centre, Conservation Volunteers Australia, Kinglake Landcare Group and the Salvation Army helped plant a total of 12110 indigenous plants.

ANZ volunteers at Kinglake

We also had great support again from Fifteen Trees who were able to provide much needed funds to purchase many plants for our project.

NAB volunteers planting trees funded by 15Trees

The Kevin Heinz Garden Centre with funding assistance from Rotary again grew many thousands of plants for us and even came up for a day to plant some at the Kinglake Lions Park.


Kevin Heinz Garden Centre volunteers at Kinglake Lions Park

We developed a great project with the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority which allowed us to fence and revegetate many kilometres of riparian areas along the King Parrot Creek and Spring Creek in Flowerdale.

NAB volunteers planting along the Spring Ck at Flowerdale

We revegetated 32 hectares of farmland and waterways on properties at Strath Creek, Flowerdale, Kinglake, Glenburn, Buxton and Murrindindi.


ANZ volunteers at Glenburn

The Lorax Project will continue in 2013 and thousands of seedlings are being grown as we speak in preparation for next years planting season.

NAB volunteers at Buxton

We will also be helping the Strath Creek Landcare Group with the tree planting component of their biodiversity project.

Volunteers at Strath Creek

Anyone interested in volunteering with our project in 2013 or landowners interested in getting tree planting carried out on their properties contact Chris Cobern on 5736 0104.

Long-nosed Bandicoot video footage

As part of the recent landcare fauna survey weekend on private bushland at Toolangi we captured the following footage of Long-nosed Bandicoots.

Click on the play (>) symbol and wait a few moments for it to load.



  You can certainly see why they are called Long-nosed Bandicoots.

                     The bandicoots long sharp claws are ideal for digging up grubs and worms.

This female looks like she has a pouch full of young.

Fauna Survey Weekend - Toolangi

Over the weekend of 23-25 November members of the Kinglake Landcare Group and local residents carried out a fauna survey at a bushland property in Toolangi.
 

Native Bush Rat

Led by Peter Homan from RMIT and the Field Naturalist Club of Victoria the volunteers carried out trapping for small mammals and bats, spotlighting for possums and gliders, bird watching and reptile searches.

Volunteers setting up the harp trap

Weighing trapped mammals

Over the weekend we were lucky enough to capture Native Bush Rats and Agile Antechinus in the Elliott Traps and five different species of small insectivorous bats in the Harp Trap including Large Forest Bat and Lesser Long-eared Bat.

 

Agile Antechinus

Spotlighting observations included Sugar Gliders, Ringtail Possums, wombats and Swamp Wallabies.

The reptile searches turned up McCoy’s Skink and Southern Water Skink and bird watching resulted in the recording of 17 species of birds including Rufous Whistler and Tawny Frogmouth.

Remote sensor cameras were also set up and we were able to get some great footage of Long-nosed Bandicoots.

Bat in the harp trap

This fauna survey event was funded by the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund.

All field work was conducted under a DSE issued Scientific Research Permit.

Buxton wetland fauna survey

The UGLN fire recovery fauna project has now extended into the Buxton area.
We recently installed our remote sensor cameras at the property of Buxton residents Anthony and Tracy who have a wonderful wetland area on their farm.
The wetland was fenced off a couple of years ago with the assistance of funding provided by the DPI.
The area has regenerated well since the fires and is providing great habitat already to many birds.

Lewin's Rail

Anthony had recently found a road-kill Long-nosed Bandicoot on the adjacent roadside and I found what appeared to be Long-nosed Bandicoot diggings around the wetland. Unfortunately we weren't able to get any photo's of bandicoots. We were lucky enough however to capture photographs of the threatened Lewin's Rail (Lewinia pectoralis) and also a pair of the more common Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis).

Pair of Buff-banded Rails

As well as many native Bush Rats (Rattus fuscipes) and a wombat. We also installed six nest boxes built by the Kinglake Scouts and Rotary on the surrounding Swamp Gums. The boxes are designed for Sugar Gliders and Brush-tailed Phascogales.


The native Bush Rat

Chris Cobern.
Landcare Coordinator
Upper Goulburn Landcare Network

Kinglake Wildflower Walk

On Sunday 19th August we had a small group of eleven adults and children on an enjoyable wildflower walk through the Kinglake National Park presented by a very knowledgeable Richard Francis from ABZECO.

Kinglake Landcare members Peter and Will and kids

The group got to see the early blossoming wattles, Love Creepers, Early Nancy lilies, Pultenaea and Daviesia species and emerging orchids with the occasional one flowering. 

David & Laurie Wakefield from Strath Creek Landcare

Epacris impressa (Pink Heath)

The rain stopped for the day and the group had a pleasant lunch at St Andrews Hotel.

The day was held by the Kinglake Landcare Group and funded by the Victorian Bushfire Fund.

Richard Francis (left) & Roger Cook

For those who missed the event we are running another one on Sunday 16th September.
Attendance is free and lunch provided.
Contact Kinglake Landcare President Tim Connell on 0408 599 485 to register.
Photos by John Stewart.

REVEGETATION WORK CONTINUES

Plantings to establish new native vegetation continue on both Crown Land reserves and private properties throughout the Murrindindi Shire.

Last week a volunteer group from the ANZ Bank’s corporate headquarters in Docklands planted out 480 sedges, grasses and shrubs on the Break O Day Reserve in Glenburn.

The ANZ group came prepared for the wet day with their gumboots and suitable clothing.

We later shared a BBQ lunch at the new Alf Miller Park in Glenburn.

ANZ volunteers at Alf Miller Park Glenburn

We have another nine days of planting already booked for the remainder of the year at locations throughout the Murrindindi Shire.

NAB volunteers at Buxton

We were fortunate in receiving a Federal Government ‘Caring for our Country’ grant to purchase the plants, materials and tools for the project.

Since 2010 we have planted over 33,000 plants, many grown locally at Flowerdale from seed collected locally together with some more propagated for us at the Kevin Heinze Garden Centre in Doncaster and the Euroa Arboretum.

JBWere volunteers at Murrindindi

To enquire about getting assistance with revegetation for your fire affected property or to volunteer phone Chris Cobern on 5736 0104 or by Email: ugrecovery@gbcma.vic.gov.au

Long-nosed Bandicoot Recovery

The Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) pictured here was recently killed by a vehicle on the Whittlesea-Yea Road and is unfortunately one of five known road-kill bandicoots in the past few months, mostly in the Stony Creek area at Kinglake West.

Long-nosed bandicoot road-kill at Kinglake West

There is conjecture about the reasons for this spate of road deaths. One theory, looking on the positive side, is that, although disturbing to see these lovely animals being killed, it may indicate a large increase in the local bandicoot population following the bushfires in the area in 2009.

This may be as a result of the past two relatively wet years providing soft earth to dig in and a flush of insects and fungi, which constitute a large part of the bandicoot’s diet.

Long-nosed bandicoots forage in leaf litter and often dig characteristic conical holes to locate invertebrates and underground-fungi. The bandicoot also eats lush plant material and the prolific regrowth of vegetation after the fires provides both food and cover from predators.

Long-nosed Bandicoots are most active during the night. It is more likely that you will see evidence of the animal’s conical diggings on your property before you see a bandicoot.

Long-nosed Bandicoot near King Parrot Creek

Long-nosed Bandicoot near King Parrot Creek

At one site near the King Parrot Creek we have been able to capture dozens of photos of living Long-nosed Bandicoots by using movement activated cameras.

If you do see a bandicoot, alive or dead, or possible evidence please let us know by phoning 5736 0104 or

email ugrecovery@gbcma.vic.gov.au

Spring Creek Rehabilitation

Landowners along the Spring Creek in Flowerdale have been taking advantage of UGLN's fire recovery fencing and revegetation programs. In conjunction with the GBCMA waterway grants for fencing and off stream watering.

Volunteers constructing fences on the Spring Creek

With our assistance to date six landowners along Spring Valley Road in Flowerdale have fenced off their streams and remnant vegetation to assist the ecologically important riparian land along there waterways recover from the impacts of fire and grazing pressures.
Their are many benefits associated with fencing off waterways including reduced erosion, better water quality, shelter effects for stock, increase in capital values and a healthy ecosystems.

Volunteers from GPT Group

The group of volunteers pictured from GPT did a great job constructing 300m of fencing despite a wet and boggy day.

Recent plantings on the Spring Creek

Narbethong Holly control project

The Friends of Marysville Walks and UGLN have been carrying out a very successfull project to control Holly in bushland and along waterways in the Narbethong area.

Working with and under the direction of Marilyn Connor from Friends of Marysville Walks, UGLN have controlled many hectares of holly on private and public land along Fisher Creek, Dom Dom Creek and Hermitage Creek by using our Recycling for Recovery funds to employ specialist weed control contractors.

Marilyn Connor with CVA volunteers at The Hermitage.

We have also supervised many volunteer days cutting out and poisoning holly at the‘The Hermitage’. Which is a heritage-listed building in Narbethong set amongst the tall Mountain Ash forest at the summit of the Black's Spur.

Our most recent day was with 10 volunteers from Conservation Volunteers Australia on the 15th June. Funding for this day was generously donated by the Kinglake Landcare Group from their Kinglake Stream Restoration Project.



CVA volunteers removing holly from bushland at Narbethong

Tree planting time.

Now is the perfect time to plant a tree and with the help of many volunteers we have been doing just that.

NAB & JB Were join forces

JB Were volunteers planting on the Spring Creek

Camberwell High School students in Flowerdale

So far this season as part of our fire recovery revegetation project we have planted 3760 plants with the help of volunteers from JB Were, NAB, CVA and Camberwell High School students.

Our aim is for about 10,000 plants by the end of the season. If you have a fire affected property that needs some revegetation or you are interested in volunteering on one of our days phone Chris Cobern on 5736 0104.

More help from the Scouts

The Kinglake Scouts recently helped us to build and paint another 14 nest-boxes. These boxes were designed for Brush-tailed Phascogales and Sugar Gliders and will be installed on properties throughout the Kinglake Ranges and King Parrot Creek Valley.

Kinglake Scouts building nest-boxes.

Team work - an important part of Scouting.

The great work by the Scouts also helped them to achieve their Landcare award.

Painting the nest-boxes.

Fencers Without Boundaries 2012

The Upper Goulburn Landcare Network fire recovery fencing program 'Fencers Without Boundaries' is now into its fourth and final year.

To date volunteers with our fencing program have contributed over 3000 days to rebuild 236 kilometres of fencing on fire affected properties throughout Murrindindi and Mitchell Shires. Only a fraction of the estimated 3,500 kilometres destroyed in the 2009 fires but significant for those landowners we’ve assisted.

Volunteers fencing off bushland at Kinglake

Volunteers at a Flowerdale property

This year our priority is for fencing to protect native habitats such as waterways, native vegetation and revegetation sites.  As seen in these photos of volunteers constructing fences for a revegetation corridor and a section of the King Parrot Creek in Flowerdale.

To volunteer or to find out more about our fencing program phone Chris Cobern on 5736 0104.

Wildlife Recovery

Our sensor cameras were recently set up on a fire affected property in Toolangi and I was able to capture these photos of the Long-nosed Bandicoot.

Long-nosed Bandicoot

Long-nosed Bandicoot

Also some amusing photo's of some more common species.

Bobuk

White-winged Chough

Swamp Wallaby

Common Wombat

Lorax Project 2012

Our revegetation project (Lorax Project) has kicked off for 2012.
We recently have had volunteers from NAB, Aspect Personnel, Camberwell Secondary College and Conservation Volunteers Australia planting trees and shrubs along the Spring Creek, Stony Creek, at South Cathedral Farm in Buxton and the Kinglake Lions Park.

South Cathedral Farm - Buxton

NAB at Kinglake Lions Park

CVA at Stony Creek

Buxton Burger Lunch

For enquiries about tree planting on your fire affected property or to volunteer phone Chris Cobern on 5736 0104.

More Agile Antechinus in our nest boxes

Agile Antechinus

These nest boxes were the first lot we installed as part of our fire recovery nest box program. They are on the King Parrot Creek in Kinglake West and were installed by the Kinglake Scouts in December 2009. They contain a family of at least four Agile Antechinus.

Of the eight boxes we recently checked here four had Agile Antechinus present or their nest and two had Sugar Glider nests.

Agile Antechinus