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The St Arnaud Field Naturalists Club hosted a “Natural Seed Collection and Storage” Workshop at the St Arnaud Raillery Hub Community room on Wednesday 15th April. The Buloke and Northern Grampians Landcare Network kindly sponsored the event. The Workshop was presented by Mr Lindsay Ezard, a well-known St Arnaud resident, who has been in the native seed collecting and selling business for over 20 years. Lindsay gave a very informative presentation and later back at his shed, showed us some methods and demonstrated tools and equipment he uses to separate, store and scarify seeds. A couple of examples of the interesting information gained from the workshop: Buloke and casuarina seeds are only viable for three months after harvest. Sow with a very light covering of sand. The commercial value of seeds is notable. Orange picking bags make good seed collection bags. You need to know the common and botanical names of the species you pick seeds from. Ethical seed collection requires permission, if it is not from your own land holding. If you missed this event and need more information about this and other events that the St Arnaud Field Naturalists will organise in the future, please contact the St Arnaud Field Naturalists Club by email starnaudfieldnats@gmail.com .

One of my favourite trees for our district is Eucalyptus woodwardii . Native to Western Australia, this species comes from dry inland regions with low rainfall, open sunshine and well-drained soils — conditions not unlike our own here in St Arnaud. Perhaps that’s why it settles in so comfortably and performs so reliably in our climate. With our hot summers, modest rainfall and often gravelly or sandy soils, it proves itself year after year. It establishes readily, grows quickly, copes well with dry conditions and tolerates frost without fuss. Its growth habit is both upright and gently drooping, giving it a graceful yet sturdy presence in the landscape. The large, glaucous grey leaves — beautifully powdery and bold — stand out against our dry country backdrop. Then come the flowers — big, brilliant yellow blossoms that light up the tree and provide valuable nectar for pollinators. At a time of year when colour can be scarce, they are a real highlight. What I admire most is its toughness. It is truly a no-nonsense tree: resilient, adaptable and dependable. For St Arnaud gardens and landscapes, Eucalyptus woodwardii  offers that rare combination of strength, beauty and practicality. It may hail from Western Australia, but it feels perfectly at home here. Carol.

We show you an outline of what St Arnaud and surrounding district have to offer St Arnaud and Region Pastoral development in the region began before 1836 with the explorations of Major Mitchell. What followed has been a rapid clearing of the landscape for agriculture and industry, allowing little more than 5% of the native vegetation to remain. The two primary bioregions of the region are: The Western Goldfields bioregion; characterised by Box-ironbark vegetation communities, and The Wimmera bioregion; characterised by Buloke woodlands and Black-box/lignum wetlands. Landscapes across the area are highly fragmented, with remnant vegetation occurring largely across private land and Public Land Reserves, including but not limited to the Kara Kara National Park, St Arnaud Regional Park, Bolangum and Tottington Conservation Reserves, Wooroonook Lakes, Lake Buloke, Lake Batyo Catyo, Walkers Lake, Dalyenong Conservation Reserve, and Mt Wycheproof. These few remaining sites provide critical habitat to native species, some of which are now endangered or regionally extinct, including Buloke tree, Stuart Mill Spider orchid, Powerful Owl, and Growling grass frog. Reconnecting these landscapes remains a priority project for the Buloke and Northern Grampians Landcare Network (BNGLN). https://www.bnglandcare.org/ https://windharphorizons.org/ Click this link to show a map showing parks and reserves around St Arnaud Places to Visit Around the Town The St Arnaud Regional Park surrounds the Town so there is plenty of opportunityto walk or ride along tracks in the Box Ironbark forest. The St Arnaud Field Naturalists have helped Parks Victoria to develop the following nature reserves within the St Arnaud Regional Park. Wax garden Flora Reserve Viewpoint Bell Rock Heritage Reserve The Basin - St Arnaud State Forest Click on any of the brochures to download them. Local Tours Tour guides featuring ‘Historic Buildings in the Town’ and it’s ‘Mine History.’See ‘Historic Walking Trail’ and ‘Mine History Trail’ produced by the St Arnaud Historical Society. Where to get more information Pamphlets, brochures and booklets are all available at The St Arnaud Tourist Information Centre St Arnaud Community Resource Centre The Raillery Hub, St Arnaud St Arnaud Silo and Wall Art Trail Features paintings and portraits by local artist Kyle Torney. Starting in St Arnaud the trail links the Wimmera & Mallee’s small towns through 700km of roads. Read more here . Bike Riding Trails See the Booklet ‘Cycling Trails Around St Arnaud’ Less than one hour to visit Cope Cope area Browns Lake / Lake Cope Cope Lake Nurrumbeet Lake Grassy Round Lake Swanwater West Cemetery … woodland birds in undisturbed buloke woodland Dalyenong Nature Conservation Reserve Kooyoora State Park well managed park, facilities, camping - take a picnic Mount Bolangum Nature Conservation Reserve again take a picnic Kara Kara National Park Teddington Reservoir Teddington Campground Walking trails and birdwatching, situated within Kara Kara National Park. Wooroonook Lakes camping, water recreation, birds Visit the local Facebook pages for great photos Friends avon plains lakes Friends bluegum rise Further afield - weekender / big day out Avon Plains Walkers Lake - camping, water recreation Hollands Lake … a bird haven Banyena River Walk Burrum Burrum Cemetery (remember country cemeteries are rarelydisturbed by the dead or living, making them a haven for bird life and our endemic plants) Bealiba begin at Evans Hotel. Picnic at Bealiba Reservoir, old gold diggings Boort lake cabins, water sports, canoe hire Camping in the Goldfields (around Maryborough and St Arnaud) Butts Reserve Goldfield Glamping Hamilton Crossing Kooyoora State Park Hard Hill Tourist Reserve (near Wedderburn) Laanecoorie River Reserve Moliagul Campground Paddy’s Range Camping Pyrenees Glamping Retreat Secret Lead Slaty Creek Campground Teddington Camping Area Tullaroop Creek Tullaroop Reservoir Waanyarra Camping Grounds Canoe Trails Serpentine Creek CT, Laanecoorie CT, Loddon River CT Central Goldfields Visitors Centre Maryborough Railway Station, Maryborough https://visitmaryborough.com.au Dunolly Museum 75 Broadway, Dunolly for history Goldfields – current UNESCO review for inclusion Running from Mt Buninyong to Bendigo the Goldfields Track (210km) meanders through numerous Parks. Parks near Maryborough and Castlemaine include: Castlemaine Diggings National Park Paddy’s Ranges State Park Maryborough Regional Park Moliagul Historic Reserve. Walk the ‘Welcome Stranger’ discovery walk Visit htpps://www.parks.vic.gov.au Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) https://www.visitgrampians.com.au Laanecoorie Reservoir Walking tracks, birds Mt Arapiles Can drive to top and view the plains below. Nearby quaint town of Natimuk. Rock climbing, bushwalking, bird watching Mt Wycheproof Standing 43 m above surrounding plains is the smallest registered mountain in the world. Visit https://www.visitbuloke.com.au Pyrenees Unearthed Wine and Food Festival At the beginning of April, our winemakers celebrate harvest - a day of sensational wine, delicious food, local produce and live entertainment. Head to Moonambel www.visitpyrenees.com.au Sea Lake Home of ‘big skies’ and Lake Tyrell Talbot Court House Hotel, monthly farmers to stock up for that bush picnic Victorian Goldfields Railway Heritage Goldfields Rail linking historic gold mining towns of Castlemaine and Maldon Visit https://www.VGR.com.au or email info@vgr.com.au Pyrenees Rail Heritage Trail Round circle Tour from Avoca via Amphitheatre, Elmhurst, Crowlands, Landsborough and Navarre. Farmers Markets ... for that picnic Avoca – 4th Sunday of month Talbot – 3rd Sunday of month Carisbrook – 2nd and last Sunday of month Castlemaine -1st Sunday of month Dunolly - 4th Sunday of month Maldon – 2nd Sunday of month

Fungi Mosses Orchids Flora Landscapes Butterflies & Moths Insects Reptiles Native Birds Fauna Amphibians Unless otherwise noted, all pictures on this Website are acknowledged to have been produced by Mrs Anne Hughes

View downloadable documents on prjects and list of Brochures Documents Useful Websites https://www.fncv.org.au/publications/ https://www.csiro.au/en/research/plants/native/identifying-eucalypts-made-easy https://apps.lucidcentral.org/euclid/text/intro/index.html https://www.urbanfieldnaturalist.org https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa https://www.ala.org.au https://seana.org.au/becoming-a-field-naturalist/