Here is a terrific opportunity to attend a seed collection workshop run by Seeding Victoria and Connecting Country on Saturday 9th November in Castlemaine. Learn about: how to collect seed, techniques, permits, extraction and storage.
See sheet below for booking directly with the link.
With the ending of native forest logging, what sustainable options exist for working with wood, that most renewable of natural resources? Unlike steel or concrete, trees grow!
Ballarat Region Treegrowers Timber Trip 2024
19/20 October
Curated by Newstead fine woodworker, Lachie Park (in association with the Moorabool Landcare Network), the trip will take you on a ‘small is beautiful’ journey from First Nations ‘forest gardening’ in Leonard’s Hill to small scale sawmilling, framing and woodworking in Newstead and Bendigo.
If you’re interested in working sustainably with wood and want to access local people and resources, this could be a trip worth taking. See flyer for link to full itinerary and how you can register via Humanitix – https://events.humanitix.com/ballarat-region-treegrowers-timber-trip-2024
For more information, contact the host, Lachlan Park via email
The Muckleford Landcare Committee will be undertaking necessary repairs on some of our nest boxes, and members are welcome to join us.
Sunday 6th October, 10am to 12 noon
Walmer South Nature Reserve
(Muckleford Walmer Road)
If any members (or people you know) want bees, you are welcome to come and take them at this time as well.
There’s no need to RSVP as the committee will be there anyway, and we will have tools. Any questions though can be sent to Beth via this email.
Thanks to all our members who came on Sunday to remove the old stakes and guards from the 3,000 plants in the 2022 habitat corridor, and to the owners for providing us with a terrific spread for lunch.
It would be really great to put more corridors around Muckleford, so please let me know if you are interested by emailing Beth here
Hey there, can’t wait to see our awesome members on Muckleford School Road tomorrow, Sunday 8th September. The event starts at 11am and ends at 1pm, with a scrumptious lunch. We will be tidying up some stakes and guards and checking out how much our plants have grown. Hopefully there will be some sun!
Sunday 8th September, 11am
In 2021, we embarked on an exciting habitat corridor project on private land. Let’s come together on the 8th of September to look at the planting, spruce up the stakes and guards, and enjoy a delightful lunch. We will also have our information table set up, complete with free guides and books.
We want to talk to any landholders who are interested in discussing participation in a future deer control program, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us on the day.
A big thank you to the Driscolls for generously providing our lunch! Kindly RSVP to confirm your attendance to Beth.
Enter via Muckleford School Road, opposite the Muckleford Bushland Reserve.
Landcare members Eleanor and Albi attended the Malmsbury Deer Forum recently and here is their report:
It was an extremely informative, professionally run event. Feral deer are an increasingly evolving threat and an understandably hot topic in our area.
There are currently 4 deer varieties in Victoria:
-Sambar deer
-Red deer
-Fallow deer
-Hog deer
The north east of the state is inundated with Sambar deer to the extent eradication is no longer an option. The deer in our area are Fallow deer. They are at a level where they may still be able to be controlled to ensure we do not allow number to get to those in the NE.
This is a map of the current distribution.
There are environmental, economic and community impacts caused by deer. Feral deer NEED to be reported so the various authorities are able to monitor and manage.
We can all do this very quickly and easily via the Feral Scan app.
We, as landholders need to control feral deer now to contain the spread. There are professional deer controllers available to all of us, often they do not charge as they can use the deer for venison. They are extremely professional, ethical and well trained. Ideally, groups of neighbouring landholders can band together and coordinate a shoot. This way a larger area can be covered.
Parks Victoria are responsible for the control of deer in public parks (click here to go to Parks).
We need to act. Deer are not cute, do not belong in our landscape and reap massive damage. If anyone is interested in a community gathering to further discuss options, please get in touch.
There is a massive amount of information and assistance available. A good starting point is: www.vdccn.org.au
If you are concerned about deer on your property, here is a forum you can attend to hear about control programs and your options – book through Connecting Country, 30th June – https://connectingcountry.org.au/central-victoria-community-deer-forum-sunday-june-30-malmsbury/
Thanks to the volunteers that helped with the annual nest box monitoring. Although we didn’t see any Brush-tailed Phascogales this year, there was evidence of fresh nests in some of the boxes.
Our biggest surprise was about 8 Yellow-footed antechinus using a bat box!
Walmer South Nature Conservation Reserve – Species Data
| Species | Numbers by Year | ||||
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Brush-tailed Phascogale | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Sugar Glider | 13 | 12 | 22 | 13 | 20 |
| Common Brush-tailed Possum | 10 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Bats | 11 | 9 | 10 | 18 | 12 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
Notes: other in 2024 refers to Yellow-foot Antechinus in a bat box
Although there are small Phascogale numbers, those numbers don’t reflect the fresh nests that are present without a Phascogale present
Thanks to John and Emma for having us on their Muckleford property yesterday for a sticky beak tour for our members.
Muckleford Landcare members John and Emma self-funded restoration on their 20 acre property. In 2019 they planted (with help) 2,000 native trees and shrubs. The success of these plantings is outstanding – the success seems to be through deep ripping, plants have a better chance of survival because their roots can reach moisture, and natural regeneration also occurs in the rip lines.
Emma is going to be removing the plant guards this weekend, you can join her, and are welcome to keep the guards for your own planting. Contact Beth.
