Category: Natural Values

Another poem from the Halls Gap Historical Association collection.
Chatauqua Peak
 Like to some stately galleon, whose prow
Has lifted to the surge of olden seas,
And weathered all the gales of centuries,
Chatauqua lifts her proud and rugged brow;
Only the clouds break now o’er her great bow,
And, in her wake, foams surf of grassy leas;
Immune from time and tide she takes her ease,
Dozing and all-forgetting, Then and Now;
But, sometimes, when storm-clouds like frigates sail
Over the mountains, lash the hidden bight
Of Hall’s Gap, with sharp hail like to sea rime,
I seem to hear old cordage creak and wail,
And see a mist-blurred galleon, ‘gainst the height,
Ploughing again through infinite seas of Time.

 taken from  The Caravan of Dreams, by
Lindsay Russell, 1923

 Can any members contribute more poems (their own or in their possession)?… Read the rest

A SNIPPET FROM THE WIMMERA CMA NEWSLETTER

A native plant unique to the Wimmera has been a major beneficiary of an environmental water release into the MacKenzie River. The
1000-megalitre flow provided stands of rare Wimmera bottlebrush near Wonwondah, south of Horsham, with their first river drink since 2005. The release from Distribution Heads near Laharum finished at the end of October.
Australian botanist Neil Marriott discovered the Wimmera bottlebrush, which has distinctive pink-mauve flowers, identifying it as a species
unique to the Wimmera in 2005. He estimated at the time that some plants growing along more than 12 kilometres of the MacKenzie River were between 80 to 100 years old.
The bottlebrush, Callistemon wimmerensis, is undergoing assessment for listing under
the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.… Read the rest

Mike Stevens

Introduction
Small mammal trapping in the Grampians National Park has been conducted through Parks Victoria’s Fox Adaptive Experimental Management (Fox AEM) project since spring 2003. The Fox AEM program ceased in 2007 with a comprehensive review of Grampians data provided by Robley et al. (2008). The Victorian Governments is funding $1.3 million over four years (2008 to 2012) for the Grampians National Park to extend the Grampians Fox AEM as “Grampians Ark” joining the flagship state-wide fox baiting initiatives. The Grampians Ark is committed to continue prey response monitoring in attempts to quantify the benefit to biodiversity of landscape-scale fox poison baiting.
Spring 2003, 2004, 2005 displayed promising prey response results (Robley and Wright 2006).
However, in January 2006 a severe landscape-scale wildfire burnt almost half of the Grampians National Park including five of the seven long term study sites established as part of the Fox AEM program. … Read the rest

Mike Stevens

Many people have been asking FOGG’s where have all the Koalas gone and why Koalas are not being released into the Grampians after the 2006 wildfire. We asked Mike Stevens to provide us with some background.

Koalas are considered a single species. However, various forms have been proposed with a northern (Queensland), southern (Victoria) and central (NSW) form with northern animals generally smaller with less fur than the southern animals yet with no genetic differentiation. The Koala is a non-threatened taxa which was unsuccessful in its nomination for national threatened species status and are not listed of conservation concern in Victoria as the species is widely distributed, not under direct and immediate conservation threat and has large population estimates.

However, there are many threats to the species such as vehicle collision, habitat fragmentation, predation and wildfire that can impact vulnerable populations. Additionally, there are certain areas nationally such … Read the rest

FOGGS have been invited to join with Nhill ecologist Clive Crouch on a mammal and reptile survey from New Year’s Eve for 2 to 3 days.  A chance to see Desert Silky Mouse, Mitchell’s Hopping Mouse and lots of skinks, dragons, etc. Mali Dunes” is a private property located on Millers Rd, Yanac North (VicRoads Country Directory Map 24G2).  It’s owned by Bernie and Sue Fox of the Friends Network. It has been chained and farmed in the past (as late as 1995) but is now a Community Land Management (CLM) project site and is fully protected under a ‘Trust for Nature’ covenant.  There is significant natural regeneration supplemented by extensive revegetation of direct seeding and plantings of local provenance. You’ll need to byo everything including water. The camp site has toilets and a fire place. More details available from Bernie Fox 0428 178 747 or … Read the rest

Wildlife Health Surveillance Victoria, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne.
We are seeking people in Victoria interested in wildlife health to develop a network to:
Monitor the health of local free ranging populations, record these, and report your observations to us. We will send an email every 3 months to ask for your reports.
Please phone Pam Whiteley to discuss this 0400 119 301, or email with your contact details if you wish to contribute. (Information is used only for wildlife health.)
Eg. You observe a flock of 10 Crimson Rosellas several times a week. Use binoculars to check health. Signs of health problems include: fluffed up, thin, weak, feather problems, material around eyes or nose etc. In a notebook record the species, number of affected birds, record the signs of disease you observe, AND the number of healthy animals.
We are interested in the rates of … Read the rest

In mid to early October 2009 a few Sacred Ibis were found dead associated with a wetland and breeding colony in Victoria. Later in October a Sacred Ibis was observed to have difficulty standing, and another to be weak in its legs, wings and head. These are typical clinical signs of Botulism. This site has a history of botulism in the past, approximately 5 years ago, 2004?
Botulism toxin acts on nerves that control skeletal muscles and can cause death. Water birds can drown when they cannot lift their heads out of water.
Birds with a low dose of toxin can recover.
Botulism tends to occur in wetlands and along waterways, in drought years, and associated with drying and dropping water levels.
Botulism is caused by the toxin from the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. Bacterial spores persist in the environment.
Carcasses left in the environment are a source of nutrients that … Read the rest

Inka Veltheim from University of Ballarat is undertaking a PhD research project on Brolgas in south west Victoria. The project will aim to identify seasonal movement routes between breeding and non-breeding sites and involve monitoring of breeding sites to gain a better understanding of the Brolga’s breeding success and the survival of young. The success of the project relies on the goodwill of landholders and Inka is currently looking for landholders who may have knowledge on the location of breeding sites in Victoria. She would like to establish a number of sites for monitoring breeding success.  Inka is also interested to hear of any other records (historical or current) including of injured or dead Brolgas in south west Victoria. For all Brolga sightings, Inka can be contacted on <> or <> 0439 557 880… Read the rest