My 121 Ha property, “The Granites” at Carapooee, consists of a granite outcrop with sloping granitic sand terraces at the foot. There is about 7 km of erosion gullies on the property, which represents a serious loss of habitat, resulting in a significant sediment load in the Carapooee Creek and ultimately the Avoca River. The sandy soil of the terraces has very little clay to bind it and so erodes readily. There is an underlying soft sandstone layer which is eroded slowly

Meet some of the inhabitants at Ned's. We carried out some bird surveys as we were going around and put 27 or 28 species on the list- the most exciting being both Butcherbirds- Grey and Pied, a Whistling Kite pair with a nest right opposite the pumphouse and a flock of Black-faced Woodswallows at the pine sandridge. These were the only birds I captured on camera- the plants were easier. On the inlet, late afternoon- Crimson Rosella- yellow form On the big inlet- Black

Ned's Corner has an ambitious program of predator-proof enclosures for the release of some regionally threatened or extinct small mammals- Mitchell's Hopping Mouse, Fat-tailed Dunnart and Gile's Planigale. With funding from the Yulgilbar Foundation (Myer Family) an enclosure of 2000ha is being prepared for these little people. For more information check Trust for Nature's website www.trustfornature.org.au Gile's is a carnivorous marsupial also known as the Paucident Plan

Several members of the Field Nats booked in for 2 nights at Ned's Corner Station in far north-west Victoria during late May. Ned's Corner is the star in the crown of Trust for Nature's conservation properties in Victoria, being the largest and also the largest freehold property. Details for Neds Corner : http://www.nedscorner.com.au From the sandhill, Ned's Corner Station stretches as far as you can see.The road in feels to be made of corrugated iron The 74,000acre prop

On last Sunday morning,13th May 2018, I walked through my new chookhouse, still under construction but looking like the Taj Mahal already. Three gates have cobbled together at the back to prevent (oh yes?) the chooks from accessing the work area. As I went to open the only moveable gate to let the chooks out of their sheds, I noticed a small greyish- brownish blob in the corner against the concrete tank. Taking a good look I realised it was an Australasian Grebe, Tachybapt

Autumn brings a shortage of water and food supplies in the bush and we see an influx of birds into gardens where these 2 commodities are available. On the left is the "owner" of the birdbath, year -round inhabitant of creeklines, the New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae. In the front we have year-round inhabitant of River Redgums, the White-plumed Honeyeater Lichenstomus penicillatus. The interloper at the back right is the Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Lichen

Other places get autumn colours in the trees- ours remain dull, dun and dusty grey-green. The end of Summer is a hard, dry time with everyone looking for water and food; the arrivals at the bird baths show the change of season as surely as falling autumn-toned leaves. Even when the weather is still hot ,you know that Autumn has arrived with the appearance of these three birds. Zipping through the shrubs where it is feeding on eremophila flowers, the Eastern Spinebill is l

After many weeks with very little moth activity at night, the last bit of rain (5mm here) has caused a rash of interesting creatures coming to the kitchen window- lacewings, green and brown, moths ranging in size from 4mm up to the whopping Ghost Moth (Trictena sp) at 95mm and click beetles of different sorts. Although these moths were photographed during the day, they are night-flying and come readily to a light source. Many of our moths and other insects have no common

Autumn is here- and so is Boisduval's Autumn Moth

Next time you are out in the garden check out your flowering plants, clumps of dried grasses and old holey timber - any insects about may...