Hooray the lastest newsletter is here. If you are a member of the long standing Land for Wildlife program you should have received the link to the newsletter. If you have the sign on your gate but get no yearly newsletters then head to the DEECA website and request a visit or to be added to the email list. Please be aware this program is severely under-resourced and a vist may take a while and you may have to do a virtual one.
Last weekend we went for a walk along the Werribee River at Bacchus Marsh. It is a popular walk for locals and is on both sides of the river with a good walking surface. Before the walk we drove further up river to see what the water was like. It wasn’t clear but probably the colour you would expect after about 40mm the night before.
Along Werribee Vale Road we saw the huge amount of earthworks associated with house building and other works taking place on both sides of the river. The colour of the water down stream of the subdivisions indicates a lot more work needs to be done to stop run off.
Recent surveys have found that platypus do manage to exist in the river but for how much longer? Platypus are now listed as a vulnerable species. Look at this short video to see that runoff from subdivisions is not a new issue. The silt in the water settles on the bottom and impacts the food source for platypus. Builders’ rubbish and what flows from storm water drains from adjoining properties also has its effect. Learn how to be a platypus buddy
This is not just a Bacchus Marsh problem it must be happening in lots of places and recent reports indicate the Yarrowee River in Ballarat is suffering from the same lack of oversight. The Bacchus Marsh Platypus Alliance are doing their best to highlight the issues and the Friends of the Werribee River through Bacchus Marsh are continuing with rubbish collection and planting days. Council, other authorities, developers and builders need to lift their game.
If you have dropped off the email list or missed the latest yearly newsletter for Land for Wildlife Victoria here it is. This must be the one of the most under resourced but most useful programs for property owners with an interest in wildlife habitat around. 40 Years is an amazing effort and a big thank you to the handful of people who have managed to keep the program and newsletter going.
I don’t know why I have an interest in weeds but it began years ago when studying horticulture and I had to collect a range to make a herbarium. Since then weeds seem to jump out of the environment at me. Here is a new one to me that until someone else decides otherwise I am identifying as Crepis vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia, Dandelion Hawkesbeard. It has been removed from the side of the road but we will be alert for any others. It doesn’t look particularly invasive but that is how they all start out.
Has anyone seen this before? These common tussock plants have germinated on while on the seed head. I must say this speeds up the propagation process and you can cut off the seed heads, remove the little plant and put them straight into a pot. This is what I have done but they may not grow roots!
These are sawfly larvae which cluster together in the day time and then venture out at night and become eucalypt leaf eating machines. If you disturb them they rear up and vomit a yellowish liquid made up of eucalypt oils. Some people call them ‘spitfires’ and they can defoliate young trees starting at the top and working their way down. They are a natural part of the environment but on a small tree you may like to interfere and remove them by hand.
After all the years of waiting finally something has used one of our nest boxes. While this is exciting it probably indicates that we have enough natural hollows for most of the local species that need them. Crimson Rosellas have raised some young in a nest box that was put up on 14 September. It doesn’t matter that the box was designed for a ring-tailed possum that was squeezing into a smaller adjacent box.
The species we really want to see is a phascagale. We know they were in the area as a dead one was found next door a few years ago. We probably won’t see one now as the adjoining land has been subdivided, the local cat population has increased and the new next door neighours have raked their patch of bush and burnt or removed all the fallen timber and stumps so their horse can graze.
Meanwhile we will continue maintain our nest boxes, plant a tree every time we hear the chainsaw start up and value natural hollows, stumps and fallen timber.
Here is a link to the latest newsletter. We are not sure what is happening with the Land for Wildlife program. The newsletter still appears once a year thanks to a dedicated editor but not much else seems to be happening. The focus and support seems to have shifted to the Gardens for Wildlife program. Both are programs that need to be well supported as more people find their way back to connecting with nature. LFW_Newsletter_Spring2020 Continue reading
Here I go again singing the benefits of having sensor cameras in the garden. A koala came for a visit over a week ago and we only know because it is on camera. Koala sightings are becoming less regular and the last actual sighting is from November 2017. This looks like a young one.
After visiting hundreds of properties, a few years ago I came up with a list of some of the questions to consider before buying a block of land. It is a big commitment to buy some land and often not easy to sell that same block if you decide it doesn’t suit your purpose and/or you can’t build on it, for example. Here is a link to the list of questions and suggestions on where to do some background checks.
Understanding the difference between common tussock grass and serrated tussock has a big implication on future management actions. Serrated tussock is a declared noxious weed that is difficult to control and of little nutritional value to stock.
Serrated Tussock
Natural Habitat Highlights 