Category: Natural Values

I know it’s not at all a FOGG activity but I do have enquiries from FOGG members about it.
The new gates are in and are getting enthusiastic reviews. We lost a few new plants in that sudden burst of heat in November, but most are looking very healthy. We’re having talks with DSE on whether the garden can play a role in rescuing rare plants from the bulldozer by relocating them.
Offers from FOGGS to help with watering over the summer (only the new ones), or in general maintenance would be very much appreciated.… Read the rest

Weather has interrupted several of the planned excursions. Rain caused a hasty end to the spiral sun orchid survey of September 24th, but not till after a new patch was discovered – but no flowers to be seen.
Hot weather then caused the cancellation of several other searches for borya and pimelea.… Read the rest

In November Denis Crawford treated us to a fascinating and entertaining photo-talk on our insect life. We are lucky to have such a keen entomologist living locally who is happy to share his knowledge in a way that is relevant to us in our daily encounters with ……. Insects!

Denis is a regular contributor to Gardening Australia and Co-author of Backyard Insects.

Did you know that less than 1% of our insects are pests – out of the more than 85,000 species known in Australia? Maybe it will be a surprise to learn that half of these are beetles and moths, and approx. half feed on plants.

We also learnt that beetle species were one of our 1st important pollinators and that termites have been around for about 25 million years, diversifying their feeding as grasses then flowering plants developed? (I think I have that more or less right)….

As … Read the rest

DECEMBER 2009
BALLAMBAR – season of butterflies.
Early Summer (Mid November to late January)
(from Brambuk’s website)

The weather stabilises.
Heat starts to dry the country.
Butterflies chase in the warm sun.
Beetles and moths collect around lights at night.
Small birds are moulting.
Echidnas dig for ants.
There is cumbungi and water ribbon growth in streams and wetlands.
Wildflower displays now on the higher peaks.
Banksias are in full flower.
Murnong is flowering in heathlands.

The website http://bird.net.au/ from the South West Integrated Flora & Fauna Team adds:
December is a time for seed development for many plants, there is a transition from the winter flowering eucalyptus to the summer flowering eucalypts. The grasslands are in their prime with forbs and grasses in flower, whilst many native orchids have completed their flowering and have seed developing.

Fauna
Koala; females giving birth to cubs (Nov – Jan).
Bats – start … Read the rest

… Read the rest

This is a message mainly for those FOGGS who are neighbours of the Park. There is a concern that quite a few of the macropods are suffering from a kind of hookworm. This attacks their digestive system, and oedema develops in their faces because of the amount of time their heads are held low while grazing. So keep an eye out for kangaroos with swollen faces; it is not lumpy jaw but a symptom of the hookworm infestation. Avoid handling any faeces. Pam Whitely at the University of Melbourne Veterinary faculty is heading this project. They are also interested in reports of psittacine (beak and feather) circoviral disease in parrots and cockatoos.  They’d appreciate your help with the following:
1.Reporting sick and dead free ranging wildlife for investigation
2.Sending photos and videos of wildlife health events including the date, location, species, and your contact information. Photos and videos can be … Read the rest

Don’t forget that FOGGS would appreciate photos of current activities for our web site and older ones for our archives, and also Environment Victoria is 40 this year and have asked our members if they would like to send photos of their work and maybe the people in the group and their stories about protecting the environment and the work they are doing.… Read the rest

FROGS
Researchers studying Wimmera frogs hope the onset of wet and cool conditions in August will provide a clearer picture about the distribution of the amphibians. Dry conditions across t he region earlier this year provided ‘patchy’ distribution information. Wimmera Community Monitoring coordinator Harvey Champness said a March Finding Frog Census revealed as much about how dry the region was as it did frog distribution. “But these results are critically important. Results showed that many monitoring areas that might have been home to frogs in the past were now dry and no longer featured frogs calling, ”he said.
So, are they still around? Have they moved on or are they doing something we don’t
know about? This is what we’re keen to find out. ”
Volunteer monitors recorded the calls of frogs at six of 16 sites across the region between March 22 and 28. They recorded the calls of … Read the rest

As reported previously, PV’s insurance policy will replace the infrastructure burnt at the walk in January 2006, but not the table stolen in 2008.

We have had various discussions as to what to do with the walk now it is so changed and with sections completely overgrown. It does not receive a large number of visitors, and most of our original interpretive signwork won’t be relevant for many years to come.

It was decided to keep open only a portion of the original walk, a shortish loop, with a straight section leading to the (now burnt and fallen) huge old “walk through” tree. PV have already replaced the “wishing well” noticeboard near the car park and will fund a number of signs along the track. The signage will focus on the forest’s response to fire. We are hoping to reuse some of the original drawings by Sue McInnes and Ken … Read the rest

So far the Grampians Gariwerd National Park has escaped any significant fire, but of course the danger period is far from over. The Horsham fire on Saturday February 7 was racing towards Laharum when the wind changed and turned it North East. One of our Advisory Group members had his garden badly damaged but his house was saved. Some significant cultural sites in the Horsham area were damaged. Our Park staff worked hard alongside the CFA to combat this fire.

But this fades into insignificance compared to the suffering in the rest of the state. Our hearts go out to all who have lost loved ones and their homes. And to those here in the Grampians region who went through the Mt Lubra fires. So many painful memories have been reawakened.

I do not know if there is any role for FOGG in assisting any other Friends’ Group. Maybe we … Read the rest