Member Groups; The Lismore Land Protection Group, Weering-Eurack Landcare Group, Leslie Manor Landcare Group, Cundare Duverney Landcare Group, Weerite Landcare Group & Mount Elephant Community Management
Protecting Brolga Habitat at Pink Lake Pura
Breaking Down the Stubble Myth
Are You Interested in Revegetation Plantings in 2018 and 2019?
What are the Benefits of 20 Year of Revegetation Plantings
COMING EVENTS
Cundare Duverney Stubble Incorporation Field Walk and Talk
Want to know more about the Platypus
Lismore Land Protection Group Annual General Meeting
Coming up
Lismore Land Protection Group monthly meeting
7:30pm Thursday 13th July 28 High St, Lismore
Mount Elephant Community Management Meeting
7:30 pm Monday 10th July, Mount Elephant Centre
Mount Elephant open day
Open every Sunday from 1pm to 4pm
Stubble Incorporation Field Walk 10.00 am -12.00 Wed 19th July 270 Cundare Duverny Rd Duverney (Ross Alexanders)
Corinne Celestina will be on hand to talk about the results of her PhD research into deep organic matter placement trials and soil microbial activity. More info contact Rod 0458 390146 or Justin 0498 388391
'Protecting our unique platypus'
Jen Ellison of 'Platypus Education' is visiting Lismore to speak on these fascinating and elusive creatures. Lismore Hotel Friday 21st July Speaker 6.00 pm followed by dinner for those that want to stay. RSVP to Shari on 0409 070089
Lismore Land Protection Group Annual General Meeting Lismore Hotel Thursday 10th August
6:30pm AGM, election of office bearers
7:15pm Dinner
8:15pm Guest Speaker Chris Pitfield, keen bird watcher who also works on climate change at Corangamite CMA, will discuss changes in patterns of bird species and numbers across the region. All welcome. Please RSVP by 7th August to Shari or Rod.
Memberships Now Due (actually past due)
A reminder that memberships for the Lismore Land Protection Group, Cundare Duverney Landcare Group and Weering Eurack Landcare Group are now due. If you haven’t received a renewal notice (only sent to current members), or would like to join as a new member or rejoin, please contact Rod at LLPG, Bill Charles (Cundare Duverney) or Donald Lang (Weering Eurack).
20 Million Trees Round Three – Are You Interested?
Are you interested in participating in revegetation plantings in 2018 and / or 2019? Round Three of the Federal Government’s 20 Million Trees Program has been announced, and total tubestock numbers will be capped (due to limits on the grant funding), so it will be first in with their names and (approximate) numbers. If you are interested contact Rod at LLPG and put your name down soon, as we are already over halfway towards filling the quotas.
Revegetation Sites For 2017 – Are You Ready?
For participants in this year’s revegetation plantings, the tubestock will be here around end of August. Are you ready? By now sites should have been sprayed out, disced up to improve soil tilth and mounded. If not, please hurry along and get them done. If, as the forecasters are indicating, it turns dry in the spring, good site preparation and timely, early planting can make a big difference to tubestock survival rates and make your efforts worthwhile. We should be starting with a fairly full profile of soil moisture, so don’t let this advantage slip away. If you have any problems or changes please let Rod know ASAP
Good preparation helps to achieve high survival rates and fast early growth.
Revegetation Plantings Provide Migration Pathways
For this year, and the past 2 years, Round 1 and Round 2 of the Federal Government’s 20 Million Trees Program has helped fund revegetation plantings across the Corangamite Lakes Landcare area. While aimed at providing a method of capturing and storing carbon, these plantings have also contributed to the establishment of almost 80 hectares of Eucalyptus woodland vegetation and about 60 kilometres of shelterbelts, and add to the many hectares planted over past years by our members.
Aside from benefits of shelterbelts for the landholders, these plantings play an important role for the movement of native species, particularly birds. “Over recent years we have noticed that in drier years there is significant increase in the number of woodland birds from further north, seen down south around the lakes and at places such as the forested areas near Pomberneit,” says Chris Pitfield, keen bird watcher and naturalist. “It is fairly likely that all the revegetation plantings around Leslie Manor, Lismore and Mingay, are facilitating this migration by providing stepping stones of habitat between the woodlands around Ballarat and forested areas further south. These patches of habitat and migration pathways will become increasingly important into the future as their northern habitat warms and species are pushed further south. ”
Chris will talk more about this at the LLPG Annual General Meeting on 10th August.
Revegetation Corridor along waterway
Shelterbelts also act as Wildlife Corridors
Protecting Brolga Habitat at Pink Lake, Pura
The estimated number of brolgas in Western Victoria is now down to about 450, with our local area hosting maybe 100 of these. Landholders fortunate enough to have a nesting site and resident pair that return to nest year after year are generally quietly proud of “their brolgas”, and justifiably so. However, while we pride ourselves on the presence of these majestic birds, do we ever think about why they come to be here, and what it will take to keep them as a viable population.
Brolgas face many threats, such as predation of eggs and young by foxes, and windfarms affecting their flight patterns and behaviour as well as posing a physical threat through collision with blades. Perhaps one of the biggest threats is the loss of their wetland habitats.
A DELWP study in 2009 found only 2% of wetlands in the East Grampians region were impacted by cropping activities. However, a review in 2016 found a significant increase with 45% of wetlands affected (drained). (Casanova & Casanova 2016). In Corangamite region it is expected to be a similar situation. This includes semi-permanent swamps, as well as many low lying, seasonally wet areas that provided a variety of “wetland” habitats. These wetlands, and the areas surrounding them are important to brolgas for nesting, as well as feeding and foraging, roosting, and resting.
An impressive sight is to see brolgas flocking together in Autumn. At “flocking sites” it is not unknown for 50 or more brolgas to congregate. In the past it would have been hundreds gathering. Flocking sites are few and far between and are also becoming increasingly threatened, so it is good see a landholder in our area undertaking actions to preserve a flocking site.
With a $14900 grant from Landcare Australia’s Workplace Donations program, Glenn and Steph Rogers, at Pura are undertaking the “Protection of Brolga Habitat at Pink Lakes” project. Pink Lake, and, neighbouring Salt Lake and Blue Lake form part of the highly significant Nerrin Wetland Complex, a chain of wetlands scattered across the volcanic plains of Western Victoria.
The lakes and surrounding swampy areas contain extensive areas of reeds, rushes and marshes, providing habitat for broglas as well as rare and threatened plants and faunal species such as Growling Grass Frog and Corangamite Water Skink. “I have counted up to 70 brolgas here at any one time” said Glenn.
The grant will be used to fence the wetland and riparian areas. “We recently purchased the property, and it is quite difficult to contain and move sheep about as there are very few fences, and the lakes divide the property” says Glenn. “The fencing will keep stock off the lake beds and also help us to control the tall wheat grass with grazing, as it is fairly invasive and getting out of hand. In the longer term we will look at reducing the tall wheat grass, but at the moment we have been busy controlling other weeds."
Foxes pose another threat. “Spotlighting and a fox drive by a local shooting group has taken out about 30 foxes to date” said Glenn “and it will be an ongoing task”.
“This wasn’t known as one of the best farms in the area, but it does have its own inherent values” says Glenn, “and it is something special to see 70 or so Brolgas gathered at once around the Lakes”.
“We appreciate that people are prepared to put their hand in their pocket and make a donation through Landcare Australia towards helping us protect these habitats for future generations,” added Steph.
Breaking Down the Stubble Myth
In February four local landholders incorporated some of their wheat stubbles into the soil as an alternative to burning. Locally, this practice had been tried previously by others, however one major barrier to broader use of the practice was the failure of the stubbles to adequately breakdown prior to sowing, resulting in blockages to airseeders and hairpinning.
With assistance from a Landcare Australia Workplace Donation Grant to Cundare Duverney Landcare Group, these landholders have trialled ways to improve the breakdown of the incorporated stubbles by using;
Extra fertiliser to assist microbial activity
Biological blend of humates, nutrients & coal dust
Stubble digesting beneficial fungi
Although the wet autumn caused delays, three sites are now sown, with one yet to be sown due to a low lying area being wet. On the three sites sown, the wheat stubble was sufficiently decomposed for sowing with minimal problems of blockages. “We were fortunate to get good autumn rains while the soils were still warm to help with decomposition of the 10 tonne per hectare wheat stubble” said participant David Manifold. According to James Christenson, who sowed the paddock to beans “it was a bit sticky and wetter in the drains between the beds but probably no worse than the rest of the paddock. We sowed it with minimal problems”.
“It was a six tonne wheat stubble. We were delayed a bit, but it was the same for the rest of the paddock” said Justin Alexander of their site, adding “although a bit spongy, it was no stickier than the rest of the paddock, and we sowed it with almost no blockages”.
A field walk to inspect Justin Alexander’s site (at 270 Cundare Duverny Rd Duverney) will be held on 19th July at 10.00 am -12.00.
This newsletter has been funded by the Australian Federal Government’s “Victorian Volcanic Plains Small Grants” Program and the Victorian State Government “Local Landcare Facilitator Initiative”
Lismore Land Protection Group
19 High Street (PO Box 28) Lismore, Victoria 3324 Ph: 03 5596 2384 Landcare Facilitators:
Rod Eldridge: 0458 390146 email: llpgrod@westnet.com.au Shari McConachy 0409 070089 email: llpgsharim@westnet.com.au Find us on the Landcare Gateway here
