tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.comments2023-01-10T02:02:58.433+11:00Nuts About NatureRussell Besthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08582071631495771194noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-60583589729225093672017-08-30T17:56:46.610+10:002017-08-30T17:56:46.610+10:00Inspirational and beautifully written. Inspirational and beautifully written. DavidFrancishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05417138148822724946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-29533620133002581022015-05-03T05:15:33.701+10:002015-05-03T05:15:33.701+10:00Great article, Ross. Wonder if it is feasible to g...Great article, Ross. Wonder if it is feasible to get a regular (eg. last Saturday of the the month) working bee up and running where attendees enjoy a walk in, while someone drives in with equipment, and systematically knock off the weeds you've listed?<br />Russell Besthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582071631495771194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-78957648413920747622014-04-15T22:48:31.150+10:002014-04-15T22:48:31.150+10:00Just a note. We have spotted a Nankeen night heron...Just a note. We have spotted a Nankeen night heron a few times at our place near the Upper Coliban Reservoir. We have accidentally disturbed it in big pine trees, where it rests during the day. We've only seen one bird. Nadyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03249339701487977816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-90020433548308954032014-04-15T22:41:45.565+10:002014-04-15T22:41:45.565+10:00We get heaps of the Transverse ladybirds at our pl...We get heaps of the Transverse ladybirds at our place, near the Upper Coliban reservoir. Been there for over 30 years and sometimes there are hordes of them in spring. Nadyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03249339701487977816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-17361583480353704302014-02-21T21:18:57.398+11:002014-02-21T21:18:57.398+11:00I'm pretty sure the Nankeen Night Heron was pi...I'm pretty sure the Nankeen Night Heron was picked up by a remote camera at Stanley Park - check with Helen, I think they had a picture of a Sparrowhawk tooKirsty @ Bowerbird Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12511849105347338654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-18382351344145842542013-10-17T15:06:26.417+11:002013-10-17T15:06:26.417+11:00There is an interesting comment about the results ...There is an interesting comment about the results from one person's myna eradication program. See Does capturing and euthanising Indian Myna Birds make a difference? - http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/forum/Does-capturing-and-euthanising-Indian-Myna-Birds-make-difference. The short answer is yes.BillHallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06569184700182975782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-21735124611858596042013-06-13T10:13:51.693+10:002013-06-13T10:13:51.693+10:00Hi everyone awesome pictures of dragonflys! like t...Hi everyone awesome pictures of dragonflys! like the first one!<br />from Lydia BestAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-66570129575973246792013-06-02T20:11:53.835+10:002013-06-02T20:11:53.835+10:00You have been busy!!! I recognized a few of the sp...You have been busy!!! I recognized a few of the species and noted the names. Some of these I've seen around the upper Coliban Reservoir area. Amazing what's out there!!!Nadyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03249339701487977816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-11502909305332903262013-05-12T17:47:46.029+10:002013-05-12T17:47:46.029+10:00My experience is the same as yours David. We have ...My experience is the same as yours David. We have solitary red-headed ants from time to time wandering around the concrete on our verandah and it is very difficult to avoid treading on them - there should be a name for the dance it makes us do in avoiding it. I would guess yours are likely to be the same species. This species seems quite distinct from other members of the genus.Russell Besthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582071631495771194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-76746046165271718642013-05-12T16:44:11.401+10:002013-05-12T16:44:11.401+10:00Thanks for the ID for the Spider Ant. We have one ...Thanks for the ID for the Spider Ant. We have one of these running around the concrete steps outside our front door. We have to be careful not to tread on it. We have seen it there for over 6 months - I'm not sure if it's the same ant but we only see one at a time.<br />David, Mt MacedonDavidFrancishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05417138148822724946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-1597669859594059622013-05-09T21:36:59.500+10:002013-05-09T21:36:59.500+10:00We occasionally get Spoonbills at the Upper Coliba...We occasionally get Spoonbills at the Upper Coliban reservoir, Kyneton. We have the Straw necked ibises and the white Ibis as well. We used to see Eastern Rosellas many years ago. I've seen a few in Gisborne recently.I'll try and take some photos if I can. Nadyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03249339701487977816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-12631259193727418212013-05-08T14:58:36.084+10:002013-05-08T14:58:36.084+10:00Regarding the perceived need to 'up the wattag...Regarding the perceived need to 'up the wattage a bit'....<br />I think an important aspect of volunteer groups such as RCL to remember, and indeed with non-volunteer groups, is that wattage increases and decreases over time, goes up and goes down, has surges and down time....fortunately for RCL we have never had a black out. Having been in RCL since its inception I can point to its surges and its downtime and point to reasons for them. Perhaps worth thinking about looking at a group's longevity, looking at a group's 'activity' across time rather than at any one point in time....<br />Gill Bestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-73062085704171034512013-04-19T10:37:05.785+10:002013-04-19T10:37:05.785+10:00Note how much the midge-orchids actually look like...Note how much the midge-orchids actually look like insects. My guess is that they attract particular species of insects to pollinate them. The next photographic challenge is to try to catch the pollinators in the act of trying to mate with the flowers. Presumably this would be a coup like catching the courting flies on the huge fungus!BillHallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06569184700182975782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-69099126380329456072013-04-09T18:09:04.593+10:002013-04-09T18:09:04.593+10:00Well, you may think this is embarrassing ... BUT ....Well, you may think this is embarrassing ... BUT ... somehow Starlings haven't made it onto the Birds of Riddells Creek collection in NatureShare, so your story has at least added a new species to the list!Russell Besthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582071631495771194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-85880747436834502252013-04-09T09:29:40.377+10:002013-04-09T09:29:40.377+10:00How embarrassing! I finally got a good look at the...How embarrassing! I finally got a good look at the birds. This time there were three together and they were happy to spend some time in the sun clear of grass clumps so I had time to look at them clearly with the binocs. They were female common starlings. <br /><br />We don't have a lot of them on the property, and when we do they are usually in the trees. With no males around with their metallic plumage to give the game away, I guess this is a mistake that could be made.<br /><br />Although the female starlings are conspicuously mottled on their undersides, the mottles don't form clear bars as the Lewin's rails. Also, although the starlings' tails are short compared to many other birds, the feathers are somewhat squared off, and don't converge to form a point as they do in the rail. The other thing that threw me is that the female starlings I saw have a visible chestnut tinge to the upper parts of the folded wings that is not indicated in the field guide.<br /><br />I'm sorry they weren't rails, though. We had a pair of purple swamp hens that bred several times and shared food with the chooks until we introduced a trio of geese that promptly ran them off. We have also had a dusky swamp hen that stayed around for a few months but finally left when no mate appeared. And then there were the buff-banded rails that may have bred on the property.BillHallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06569184700182975782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-29927090837871662822013-04-07T16:18:21.066+10:002013-04-07T16:18:21.066+10:00Sadly I've since been informed that the young ...Sadly I've since been informed that the young Joey was too young to survive and was euthanased. Happily an encounter a few months ago ended more happily with a young wallaby surviving and thriving!Gill Besthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373119936609061760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-85263223012620806262013-04-03T21:52:57.600+11:002013-04-03T21:52:57.600+11:00The musk daisy bush may be the tallest daisy in Au...The musk daisy bush may be the tallest daisy in Australia. However, David Attenborough's recent ABC documentary on the Galapagos Islands showed forests of daisy trees, Scalesia, growing up to 15-20 m tall (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalesia). If you want to know more about the Galapagos daisy trees, you can download a scientific paper published in Pacific Science from http://naosite.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10069/6478/3/PcfSci49_17.pdf.BillHallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06569184700182975782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-20505963334514451182013-04-02T11:33:55.860+11:002013-04-02T11:33:55.860+11:00Clean-Up Australia Day in Barrm Birrm got me think...Clean-Up Australia Day in Barrm Birrm got me thinking about the social side of Landcare. Landcare is about neighbours, and neighbourliness. Knowing that I'll know at least of few of those who turn up for Clean Up day, and that they will appreciate my showing up, makes it easier to make the effort to be there.<br /><br />The second obesrvation I'd make is that Landcare is a long-term proposition. It's been eight years now of the annual clean-up, and the amount of rubbish has dropped to these few bags you see in the photo in Lachlan's post. Not long in landscape terms, but a slow change nonetheless, one that requires doing the same thing year after year. Government programs make a lot of the new, new thing, but Landcare often does the same old thing year after year.<br /><br />The other thing I took note of was the way Landcare circulates local knowledge. Why is there less rubbish in Barrm Birrm? We stood around and pondered this at the end of our sunny, gentle morning. The place is clean, so people respect it more, and leave less stuff behind. Riddells Creek Landcare has been running regular walks to educate people about the area.<br /><br />Then someone suggested a cause I hadn't thought of - that the environmental program at the local primary school has been going ten years now. Maybe, she said, kids are taking the message of care for the environment home to their parents. <br /><br />Our conversation circulates local knowledge. moving understanding and ideas around at local level, so more people draw on those understandings. Care for the land isn't only a technical process. Local knowledge emerges within a social ecology, fed by action and provoking action.<br />Ross Colliver, +61411226519https://www.blogger.com/profile/14774309770846955117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-80867619360748212152013-04-02T09:49:29.630+11:002013-04-02T09:49:29.630+11:00It was back last night while we were having dinner...It was back last night while we were having dinner. It was deadheading the Cats Ears' yellow flowers (saves me a job!) interspersed with what is now lush green grass from the 'lawn'.Russell Besthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582071631495771194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-74437026649177375642013-04-01T21:30:02.406+11:002013-04-01T21:30:02.406+11:00Please ... consider putting the number in your pho...Please ... consider putting the number in your phone now. Here it is again - Wildlife Victoria 1300 094535.Russell Besthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582071631495771194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-21420644302866201972013-04-01T19:06:48.634+11:002013-04-01T19:06:48.634+11:00Hi my name is Lydia and I love the blog I really w...Hi my name is Lydia and I love the blog I really wish that I had my own but this one is basically mine as well!!! The kangaroo story was really sad and the baby had crawled half way out of the pouch!!! Poor thing. Gill Besthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373119936609061760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-90672484955227060672013-04-01T18:20:49.296+11:002013-04-01T18:20:49.296+11:00I'm testing the comment function here.I'm testing the comment function here.BillHallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06569184700182975782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-62088508661115480602013-04-01T17:20:21.313+11:002013-04-01T17:20:21.313+11:00Further note: To follow the blog via email, all yo...Further note: To follow the blog via email, all you have to do is enter your address in the box at the upper right corner.BillHallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06569184700182975782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-56375607766044961442013-04-01T16:31:33.312+11:002013-04-01T16:31:33.312+11:00Good story. Note that I have subscribed to this th...Good story. Note that I have subscribed to this thread so I will be emailed with any further commentsBillHallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06569184700182975782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585550573549293486.post-63269729549145890562013-04-01T10:45:21.568+11:002013-04-01T10:45:21.568+11:00Great to know that you provide such a great haven ...Great to know that you provide such a great haven for our wildlife.Narelle Suttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02913981969084263456noreply@blogger.com