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.