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Welcome to a new year of Landcaring

We hope you have had a relaxing and renewing Christmas and new year and are feeling energised and ready to face the new year!

At the deer farm, Christmas is always very low key and new years resolutions are never made so disregard the above paragraph if it doesn’t apply! We are very busy with hay, fawning and calving, sorting out groups in readiness for the rut; and this summer, fencing. We have lived here for for 35 years, and some of our original fences are looking the worse for wear and time. Deer are not kind to infrastructure. I continue to annoy Michael with my massive redesign and extension of the garden which is taking far longer than it could have. Knee deep mud and now hot weather means that quite a few things were held up. In some spots I couldn’t even use a wheelbarrow without being bogged right to the end of spring, now some days are too hot to bother. Oh well - this year should see more progress made. I still prefer too wet to too dry.

Speaking of progress - our projects are moving forward; we have four currently running plus ongoing things like our bird monitoring. Please consider getting involved in our activities - they can be rewarding from both an environmental and personal perspective.

Bird monitoring is this Wednesday 18th

When; Wed, 18 January, 16:00 – 18:00

Where; Meet at the Bird monitoring sign on the Rail Trail next to the Black Spur Creek bridge (map) Disregard the need to walk back to Koonwarra, there is a rail trail entrance right across from the rec reserve gates.

Bring binoculars, camera, bird ID book or app if you have them, water, sunscreen and a hat.

We usually have expert birders on hand so don’t stay away just because your bird ID skills are sketchy. But… you might like the event below.

South Gippsland birdlife - attracting, identifying and monitoring birds on your property

SATURDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 2023 FROM 10:30-12:30

Jane Taylor is presenter at the upcoming “South Gippsland birdlife - attracting, identifying and monitoring birds on your property” event - Saturday Feb 4 at the Kongwak Hall.

Jane is an Environmental Educator who grew up in South Gippsland. She has worked overseas and interstate in various conservation and ornithology roles, most recently as warden at the Broome Bird Observatory, WA and teaching at Kongwak Primary School.

Here is the link to the Facebook event

You can contact the group directly at kongwakhillslandcare@gmail.com

LANDCARE EASTERN CLUSTER MEETING - FEB 1 2023

DATE: Wednesday, 1 February 2023

TIME: 10.30am - 12.30 pm, followed by lunch.

LOCATION: Leongatha Tennis Club, Cnr Turner & Roughhead St

We need a couple of people from our group to attend! Please let Sue know on 0432 379 119 if you would like to attend this meeting on behalf of the group. I will probably be going, but it would be nice to have other group members involved.

WOODY WEED ID & CONTROL WORKSHOP

Join SGLN for a Woody Weed ID and Control practical session where you will learn about local woody weeds and the various techniques used to control them.

• When: Saturday, 11 February 2023

• Time: 10.00am - 1.00pm

• Where: Tanderra Park, Tompkins Rd, Meeniyan. (Park behind shops on Tompkins Rd)

RSVP to Nick Stephens: nick.stephens@sgln.net.au

Mobile: 0499 271 251 (Tues-Thurs) or leave a message.

What to expect:

• How to identify some local woody weeds

• How they disperse and invade natural areas

• How to control woody weeds

What to bring?

• Gloves, hat and sun-smart clothing

• Small axe (hatchet) or pruning saw

• Any plants you want identified

• Mug (for tea/coffee) & Note pad

Please note: Herbicides will be used at this event.

This event is sponsored under the Gippsland Transport Environmental Projects, Regional Roads Victoria.

Learn more

Want to learn more about pollinators?

Every year in November the Australian Pollinator count is held. To take part, you have to have the skills to identify pollinators in the area you are surveying. To achieve the necessary level of accuracy to have the citizen science be meaningful, they have developed a guide to pollinator identification. This guide is extremely useful to increase your skills in pollinator identification. Pollinators including native bees are active now, so it is a good time to use the guide to see which insects are active in your area.

Here is a link to the Australian pollinator week website, which has heaps of resources that are useful all year round.

Here is the link to the learner guide

Images clockwise from top right: Lipotriches sp. native bee; common brown butterfly Heteronympha merope, reed bee (genus Exoneura), banded Amegilla bee. (all from my Koonwarra garden over the last two weeks)

Working bees are held on the second Tuesday and last Sunday of the month. Contact Robert for more details: Ph 0401 839 229

The North-East Region landcare community is hosting the Victorian Landcare Forum in Beechworth from Thursday, 23 (evening) to Saturday, 25 March 2023. The Forum will provide a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge and experience from around the State, to meet others directly involved in landcare and to see first-hand the achievements of landcare in the North-East. An exciting program is currently being finalised, and we will be opening registrations soon - but for now, please pop this date in your diary and keep an eye out for registration information.